The Road to Liberation: Trials and Triumphs of WWII

by Marion Kummerow

  “Heinz, you won’t let them take me away, will you?” Tomas asked, his little hand sneaking into Heinz’s larger one. “I know you don’t like me being scared and acting like a baby but I can’t help it. I feel like I don’t belong here anymore. Everyone hates us and I don’t know why.”

  Heinz squeezed Tomas’ hand. He was torn between wanting to stay to fight with the resistance, limited though it was, and doing his duty by his brother.

  “Heinz, please don’t leave me. I’ll do everything you say. I won’t talk, or get on your nerves. I won’t touch your stuff. I’ll even give you Brown-Bear. I hear you walking around at night, I know you find it hard to sleep. He’d help you.”

  Heinz bent down and picked up the younger boy. “Papa gave Brown-Bear to you, Tomas. You keep it, but thank you. You don’t have to bribe me to stay with you. I’m your big brother. I won’t leave you. Ever.”

  Tomas wound his hands around Heinz’s neck, wetting his shirt collar. Heinz couldn’t say a word, his own tears were flowing too. He had to leave but one day he’d come back and have revenge on all those who tortured his family. They would pay, the Dachau guard with the scar on his face most of all.

  The next morning, Heinz had breakfast laid out on the kitchen table before Trudi appeared. She ignored him as she took her seat, Liesl on her lap.

  “Tomas and I will go on the Saturday train. I will see what food I can gather before we go. Aunt Chana will help me.”

  “You will take Liesl too?” Trudi asked. She held her baby so tight the child protested loudly.

  “I think she should stay with you.”

  With that Heinz walked out of the apartment. He had to visit Aunt Chana and say goodbye.

  10

  Station Platform

  “Heinz Beck.”

  “Here.” Heinz moved closer to the man with the list standing behind the row of desks. He stared straight ahead of him despite his stepmother’s pleas to remain invisible. It wasn’t possible for a boy of his height to hide behind the crowds, particularly in this sea of infants and children.

  The man’s gaze flickered over him, his mouth twitching but whether in amusement at Heinz’s bearing or annoyance, Heinz wasn’t at all sure.

  “Your papers.”

  Heinz handed over the papers with the red stamped J on the front. The man glanced at them before staring at him, a challenging expression in his eyes.

  “It says here you are fifteen-years-old.”

  Was that a question? Heinz didn’t know, so he stayed silent.

  “Jewish pig, I am speaking to you. I asked you a question.”

  “Actually, you stated my age.” Heinz staggered back with the force of the blow.

  “Be careful boy or I will have you thrown on the train to Dachau, not put on this children’s day trip.” His lips curled over the word children. Heinz squeezed his hands, the nails biting into his palms. How he longed to hit the man square in the jaw. He heard the voice of his stepmother carrying across the crowd.

  “Excuse me, please Sir. Heinz, take Liesl.”

  “Yes, take the baby. A nursemaid is all you’re good for.”

  Heinz couldn’t believe Trudi had shown him up like that in front of this Nazi thug. He didn’t want her brat.

  Heinz bristled, as the Nazi gloated. He took a step forward but then saw that this was exactly what the man wanted. He was looking for a fight, so he could mash him into a pulp and then blame the Jewish community for not behaving. If it was just the two of them, Heinz stood a chance. He was well-built, although, given the starvation rations at Dachau, he had lost muscle. Still, he would give everything he had and die trying. But he had to think of the children. The little ones around him who waited to get on this train to safety. If he fought back, others would follow his lead and the Nazis would send the train away empty. He couldn’t do that. Not to Tomas, his five-year-old brother now staring at him, a combination of awe and abject terror on his face. It was this that brought him back to his senses.

  Trudi had pushed through to his side. How had she managed that when the parents were detained outside the platform?

  “Heinz, take her, please. You are her only chance. Forget what you think of me. She is your baby sister. Please, for your father’s sake.”

  Papa. That was low. He closed his eyes, determined to block the last image he had of his father from his mind. His bloodied scalp, the broken bones, the… “Heinz, the train. Go, now.”

  “The baby needs papers too.” The man held out his hand, his gaze assessing Trudi. Heinz saw the same expression in his face as the SA men had on the train back from Dachau – admiration fighting with disbelief. Trudi didn’t look Jewish, at least not in the way these monsters thought. She was only twenty-one and despite the lack of food, still looked young and very attractive. Heinz knew his friends fancied his stepmother. Even calling her that seemed ridiculous; the woman was barely six years older than he was. Far too young to have taken the place of his darling Mother.

  “Papers.”

  Trudi looked directly into the Nazi’s face. Her bravery was inspiring but then Heinz remembered he hated her.

  Trudi’s voice shook slightly as she said, “Her name is Liesl Beck.”

  “Liesl Sarah Beck, you mean.” The Nazi watched Trudi’s face for her reaction, his delight in his power evident. One of the many Nazi decrees was that all Jewish people were to add Israel or Sarah to their names, depending on their sex. Heinz didn’t glance at his stepmother. He kept his eye on the Nazi, not liking the way he was looking at Liesl. She was an innocent baby, but he’d heard of what some soldiers did to Jewish babies.

  “Yes sir, pardon me.”

  Heinz listened scornfully, as his stepmother acted the part of the down-trodden Jew. Her acting abilities were so good, she should volunteer to be Goebbels’ next film star. She looked as if she was prepared to do anything to get her child on the train. He glanced around at the row of tables lined up, Nazis with lists, children waiting in lines. She wasn’t the only one.

  He saw more than one bribe flow across the table, discretely pocketed by the Nazi who would blame the Jew if it was discovered. He knew, from neighborhood gossip, what lengths the women of his community were prepared to go to, to get their children on a train out of Germany. His mother would never have done something like that. She would have remained dignified to the end. Mother would have spat in this animal’s face, not played up to him, as if he was God’s gift to creation.

  Heinz yanked Tom’s arm forward.

  “Ouch, that hurt. What did you do that for?” Tomas complained but in a whisper. The five-year-old was totally intimidated and who’d blame him. He held on tight to Brown-Bear. Nothing would separate him from the stuffed animal and if he was too old for bears, so what? He knew nothing of a time when the streets were safe for Jews.

  “Tomas Beck. He’s five.” Heinz pushed his brother forward, deliberately using his real name. He wasn’t leaving him behind. Tom was all he had of his mother and the one person Heinz admitted he loved. Everyone else had died. Mother, from cancer. Oma and Opa, distraught at the loss of their only child and the nightmare engulfing their country had taken their own lives only two weeks previously. He could see Opa’s Iron Cross lying on his unmoving chest. Papa… he didn’t want to think about Papa. There was only him and Tomas left.

  “You can go.” The man indicated he take Tomas onto the train. Heinz pushed his brother forward but Tomas wouldn’t move.

  “Liesl has to come too. We have to look after her. She can’t stay here without us. She needs her brothers to protect her. Papa told me it was my job when she was born.”

  “Tomas, leave Liesl with her mother. Come on, the train will go without us.”

  But it was no use. Tom refused. Heinz was pushed forward losing his grip on his brother, leaving the child to run back toward the rows of desks to where Trudi stood. “Tomas, come back. Get back here now.”

  “Get on the train, boy, or face the consequences.”

  The
Nazi guard pointed to a crumpled body on the other side of the tracks. Heinz hadn’t noticed it. He didn’t move until the truncheon came down across his shoulders. Rachel Bernstein pushed him forward.

  “For goodness sake get on the train. Now is not the time. Our time will come but for now, we must do what they say. Move. If you don’t, you will upset the little ones. They look up to us. Stop being such a selfish sod and move your backside, Heinz Beck, or I shall move it for you.”

  Astonished that Rachel even knew street language, he moved forward onto the train, almost in shock. He took a seat in the carriage, craning his neck to see what had happened to Tom. Where was his brother?

  He scanned the crowd. Then he saw her. Standing at the door to the waiting room, back with the other parents not allowed on the station platform. Trudi. Yet she didn’t look like his stepmother now. Her face was ravaged with pain, her expression tore at his heart, not that she saw him. Her gaze was focused on a bundle being carried onto the train. It was Tomas carrying the small baby. Rachel moved forward to help his brother onto the train.

  Next thing he knew the bundle was thrust into his hands. “Your sister, I believe.” Rachel stood in front of him. “Take her. I don’t want to hear it. She’s a baby and she needs you. Now man up and take responsibility. I have enough to do with the others.” Rachel turned her attention to Tomas. In a much warmer tone, he heard her say, “You, Tomas Beck, are a real man. Your sister is a lucky little girl to have such a hero for a brother.”

  Despite the circumstances, Tomas beamed at the praise and immediately straightened his shoulders, wiping his sleeve across his nose. The bundle in Heinz’s arms squirmed, as Liesl protested being held on his lap. She wanted to climb out the window back to her mother. Heinz held her tighter, causing her to squeal in protest.

  “Shut that Jewish brat up, or I will,” another Nazi guard spat in their direction.

  “Heinz, give her to me. I know how to keep her quiet,” Tomas insisted, putting Brown-Bear on the seat beside him before he held his hands out for Liesl. Despite his misgivings, Heinz let his brother hold the baby and watched as she immediately gurgled and smiled. It was almost as if she knew Tomas adored her whereas he… he didn’t even like her.

  No, that wasn’t true. He’d been all set to attack the Nazi guard when it looked like he might hurt the baby. Papa had treated Liesl like a princess. At first, Heinz thought it was because of Trudi but it was more than that. Liesl was such a joyful child, always laughing or smiling at people. She brightened up any room. Papa thought she was a gift from God. Heinz snorted. God would have been better sending them their exit papers, then Papa would be alive and they wouldn’t be sitting, all alone, on this train.

  “Heinz, what do you think will happen to Trudi? She was so sad when she gave Liesl to me. I thought she was going to jump on board too. Why didn’t she?” Tomas asked.

  “She is too old to travel with us; you know the rules,” Heinz replied shortly. He didn’t want to think about his stepmother having feelings, although they had once been close. Mother had engaged Trudi as a nanny to Tomas when she’d first fallen ill. She wanted Tomas to be brought up properly, as befitted the son of a doctor. Trudi was the orphaned daughter of friends of Mother’s. Her family could trace their history right back to the early days of Cologne. Did mother know Trudi wouldn’t wait but a couple of months before she took up all the roles Mother had held, including warming her husband’s bed?

  Papa had only married her when Trudi trapped him, by getting pregnant. That’s what Aunt Chana said, and Heinz believed her. Chana was his father’s eldest sister and shared Heinz’s adoration of his father. Papa could do no wrong in Chana’s eyes. The blame for his marriage and the arrival of Liesl, so soon after Mother’s death, was placed firmly at Trudi’s feet. Chana had liked Mother, and often said she was the perfect mate for her brother. “A proud lady, your mother, she could give the best dinner party in the whole of Berlin. Her table settings were just perfect and the food she provided, Oy Vey, it was always cooked to perfection. Your mother was part of the reason your Papa was so successful. Martha could charm honey from the bees. Of course, she was part of the Rothschild family, you know.”

  When he was younger, listening to stories of Mother’s relatives, Heinz had walked into a Rothschild bank and told the staff he was a part-owner, much to their amusement. Mother hadn’t been in the slightest bit amused and had sent him to his bedroom without any food. He couldn’t understand why she’d gotten so angry until later Papa explained she was, in fact, only distantly related to the Rothschild family, by marriage. They didn’t even know who Martha Beck was.

  “What are you thinking about, Heinz?” Tomas asked, squirming in his seat. The baby seemed to be sleeping.

  “Just stuff. What’s wrong with you? Sit still.”

  “Can’t. I have to go pee.”

  Heinz rolled his eyes. He should have guessed. His brother’s bladder was always full, no matter how many times he went to the toilet.

  “You will have to wait.”

  Tomas turned white and then his cheeks flushed. “Can’t wait. Been waiting since before we got on the train. Trudi wouldn’t let me go. Said I could get lost. I can’t hold it much longer. I’m going to wet myself.”

  Heinz stood up, looking around. He couldn’t see any toilets.

  “What’s wrong? Sit down for God’s sake, they will come back,” Rachel hissed.

  “Tomas needs to…” Heinz caught himself in time. “He needs the bathroom.”

  “Oh.” Rachel gave Tomas a sympathetic look and then one of the girls sitting with her said, “I need to go too.”

  “Me too,” another girl added. Soon it seemed as if everyone in the car wanted to go.

  “I’ll take them.” Rachel stood up, patting down her skirt. “Look after Liesl.”

  “No, you take the baby. I will take Tomas and the others.”

  “Heinz, sit down and shut up. Things are bad enough without you spoiling for a fight. Not all of the guards are as bad as the one at the station. I’ll take them.”

  Something in Rachel’s tone told him to listen. He held out his hands for Liesl, leaving Tomas to sigh in relief. At his curious look, Tomas grinned. “She was sitting in an awkward place.”

  Heinz laughed; he couldn’t help himself. His brother was a mischievous little soul when he wasn’t terrified. Tomas gave him a serious look.

  “Take good care of her and don’t wake her. She doesn’t like that.”

  With that advice, Tomas disappeared in Rachel’s wake. Heinz sat back into the seat, shifting slightly to get comfortable. Liesl was surprisingly heavy for the size of her. He glanced at the bundle and his heart caught. Liesl was staring straight back at him, not smiling or crying or anything. Just holding his gaze, her big eyes seeming to assess him. She had Papa’s eyes and his thoughtful expression. Then she put her hand out and grabbed onto his finger, squeezing it tight. His heart turned over despite all his efforts to harden it. She kept squeezing, gave a contented little sigh and, closing her eyes, started to snore softly.

  Trudi Beck watched as the train pulled out of the station, taking her heart with it. Her arms ached for Liesl, her precious baby but she also ached for the loss of Tomas and despite Heinz’s reaction to her now, him too. She walked slowly, her shoulders slumped, back to her now-empty apartment. She wasn’t alone, other mothers walked with her, some fathers too, although many were still missing after Kristallnacht. She closed her eyes, not wanting to think about that night, that awful night when everything changed.

  11

  There were some Jewish chaperones on the train, but Heinz paid them little heed. He knew they would accompany the train to England and then return to Germany. Why didn’t they leave the train too and make a break for freedom? That’s what he would do in their position.

  He watched the scenery, as the train moved swiftly along. The tension in their carriage rose as they drew near the Dutch border. They knew, from stories passed around the communi
ty, they faced another Nazi inspection before they reached the relative safety of Holland.

  Rachel came back with Tomas and the other children. To his surprise, she slid into the seat next to him.

  “Do you have any valuables?” she whispered.

  He shook his head. What was she thinking? He glanced around him to check nobody had heard.

  “Heinz, I’m certain you do. Your stepmother wouldn’t have let you make the journey without something. Hide them well, not in anything that can be searched. They will tear everything to pieces in their bid to steal. A friend told me they even stole a Star of David necklace from a child on the last trip. What could they possibly want with that?”

  “Gold!” Heinz spat out. The Nazis plundered the country at every level, from making the Jews pay for the damage they themselves did on Kristallnacht, to stealing apartments, furnishings, gold, bank accounts. You name it, they took it.

  “Mama gave me some diamonds. But just in case anything happens to me, I want you to know I sewed some into the hem of Ruth’s dress.” Rachel leaned closer, the scent of her hair tickling his nose. “She’s too scared to know, as she would give the game away.”

  Heinz nodded and then realized what Rachel had said.

  “Nothing is going to happen to you. You are coming to England with us and that’s final. I won’t let it.”

  She gave him a sad smile but didn’t argue. Instead, for a second, she leaned in closer, leaving no distance between them.

  “You will be a good man, Heinz, when you get control over that temper.” She kissed his cheek. “I never thanked you for what you did for Mama.”

  And then she was gone. Back to caring for the younger children, soothing their cries for their mothers and fathers. Heinz glanced around; it was the children who didn’t cry who bothered him the most. The ones who sat as still as the Catholic statues Trudi had shown him when she’d taken him to see a Catholic church one time.