Kingdom of Twilight

by Steven Uhly

  “Third, it is crucial that we stay at the heart of things, so that we’re needed. The day we’re no longer needed is the day the hunting season opens, do you understand, Obersturmbannführer Josef Ranzner?”

  Ranzner gave a start. He had not heard this name in eleven years, for eleven years he believed he had eliminated all traces that could lead back to this name. And now there was a stranger sitting opposite him who had just said it out loud.

  “We photographed all the repatriated soldiers,” the director said matter-of-factly. “You’re not the only one who came back with a different name. But we are the only ones who can prevent you from having to undergo denazification. We are the only ones who can ensure that Mossad and Simon Wiesenthal never find out that Josef Ranzner, the Butcher of Turck, the man who freed Konin of Jews, is not dead.” He paused and this time he was not sitting behind a two-way mirror, but looking Ranzner directly in the eye.

  “In return I expect unconditional loyalty. Are you prepared to offer that?”

  “Loyalty is my honor!” Josef Ranzner replied automatically.

  The director gave a satisfied nod.

  46

  Outside, winter would not come to an end. Anna and Shimon were no longer alone. The Sweden Pavilion was now so full that Bricha workers had constructed triple bunk beds, They look exactly like the beds in Ravensbrück, the girl above Anna and Shimon said, and for three days she refused to sleep in her bunk. The girl was fourteen years old at most, one of the few Germans in the pavilion, her hair was golden blonde, My mother and my older sisters got away, but the camp commandant’s daughter liked me, she played with me every day, she dressed me in nice clothes, she shouted at me when she felt like shouting, when Himmler came and said we had to be beaten she’d sometimes beat me, I had to sleep when she wanted to play at sleeping and eat when she wanted to play at eating, I was her living doll, I’ve forgotten her name, I can’t for the life of me remember it. What was her name? She burst into tears because she could not recall the name of her childhood tormentor. She called herself Sarah Ninetyeightsixfivefour, she was the first person Shimon had no fear of, the first person who made him forget his mother, I think he’s in love with me, Sarah Ninetyeightsixfivefour said.

  Every day Germans came knocking at the door to beg. They look like we used to, said the boy from the neighboring bed. He was sixteen, the son of a renowned internist in Warsaw. His name was Emil, he said no more than that, he had come to Berlin alone, nobody asked him about his family.

  Peretz was hardly ever there. Lots to do, was his answer, Thousands want to come, he said, the British have closed the Trizone border at Helmstedt, he said, People can’t get from Berlin to the south where the boats are waiting, he said, There are more Jews here now than before the war, he said, The Niagara Falls have frozen, he said. Where are my people? Anna asked, Schlachtensee, Peretz said, Twenty minutes away. I want to go there, Anna said, Not possible, Peretz said, I can’t keep running my own private Bricha, this is about all of us. You’ve got people? Sarah Ninetyeightsixfivefour said with wide eyes. Well, Anna said, I met them on our flight from Poland. Oh, the girl said, disappointed. But that night she lay awake in bed and decided that she would have people again too.

  Once a group of Germans came demanding coal, You lot have more than enough, they screamed. There was a scuffle by the front door. Bloody Jews, one of the Germans cried out. The young men in the pavilion leaped up and drove the Germans away. The following day a group of German policemen arrived demanding entry, Suspected black market activities, they barked. When the Jews refused them access the policemen took out their pistols. Anna was not at the door, she was lying in bed listening to the commotion, later Emil told her, All of a sudden these G.I.s turned up and chased them away, he was still in a state of excitement, We showed them, he said. But from further back an elderly lady called out, My eye! If the Americans hadn’t shown up there would have been people killed like last year in Stuttgart, What happened in Stuttgart? Emil asked, They shot Samuel Dantziger, exactly the same pretext, black market goods, and then they raided the D.P. camp. The confident expression of triumph evaporated from Emil’s face, he mumbled, But how could that happen? The woman behind laughed, How could it happen? One of the Jews recognized one of the policemen and I’ll give you three guesses where they’d met before. Emil said nothing, the woman exclaimed, That’s how it happened! Ever since they’ve not been allowed into our camps, the Americans have forbidden them, but they don’t care, I mean we’re just Jews. Just Jews, Emil repeated gloomily, and the woman gave a loud and furious laugh.

  Shimon’s my little brother, Sarah Ninetyeightsixfivefour said, taking him in her arms, walking along the narrow gangways between the beds and introducing him to other people. Peretz brought Anna a Hebrew primer. He said, The boat has sailed, you’d better start learning. He returned a week later, saying, The boat hit a storm and had to turn back.

  At the end of March came the thaw. The snow melted into brittle chunks that were slippery to walk on. Day and night fat drops fell from the roofs and trees. The Jews left the pavilion and went down to the shore of the lake, they breathed in the fresh air, they enjoyed the expansive view across the water, they looked at the Villa Minoux, shimmering white a short distance away through the bare trees, an imposing house, they thought of the conference that had taken place there a few years earlier and asked themselves questions to which there were no answers. Anna was happy for Sarah to think of herself as her daughter, If I adopt you, she said, you’ll be called Sarfati. Like Peretz? Sarah squealed with delight. Anna nodded, Yes, she thought, like tall, strong Peretz who comes and goes.

  Spring arrived all of a sudden, the trees turned so swiftly green, overnight the first flowers bloomed, it was as if Nature had merely been waiting, as if it were not just the Jews in the starting stalls, eager to escape at last from this horrific land in ruins, but all of life. But the trees have their roots, Anna thought, They have to remain here. What about us humans? Anna searched for the rest of her own plant nature, When I was young and tender and uprooted, maybe a dandelion clock on a meadow in Nauen, but this was no more than an image without a background.

  Peretz came and told her that Mr. Abramowicz was back, he apologized profusely because he had forgotten to let her know at the time, Too much to do, he said. Anna watched him without opening her mouth. A miracle, said a voice in her head, its tone was impassive, like that of an official whose task it is to organize events into different categories, Miracle Division, Oh yes, here’s the document, filed under A for Abramowicz, summary: joy of reunion. She truly was happy, especially for the children who had a mother again. She said, Sarah’s our daughter now. Peretz glanced in surprise at the girl; embarrassed, Sarah lowered her eyes, Shimon was sitting on Sarah’s lap, gazing at his mother, finally he had found a secure position that allowed him to see his mother in the wider context of the world, her and this man who felt both like a stranger and familiar, We need two more certificates, Anna said, One for Shimon and one for Sarah. Peretz was dumbfounded, wherever his wife went she created a family for herself, Are you blind? said Avi, his driver, afterward, They all do that, the survivors, they need it. But she’s got me, Peretz said, still baffled, and Avi thought, You’re not enough. He kept this to himself and drove the lorry to the assembly center in the Soviet sector for yet another trip to Szczecin. Again and again they were going to Szczecin, still they were going to Szczecin, more people than ever were fleeing Poland, where Jews were being killed once more.

  Peretz had a bad conscience, he called himself an egotist because he had been envious of Anna’s people, especially Ruth, and now he realized it had nothing to do with him. But perhaps that’s it, an inner voice said, Perhaps your idea of love is when everything in Anna’s head is focused on you and you alone. Peretz, the center of the world, ever-present Peretz, Peretz the Almighty. Haven’t you watched yourself isolate your wife from her people while you’ve played the man with good intentions? Could you have brought her to Schlac
htensee? Of course you could. Of course you could have kept running your own private Bricha, come on, you were in full swing, which Jewish woman could have given birth to her child like your wife? All alone in a large house, surrounded by doctors and nurses who thought she owed you her life. You’re a fraud, Peretz, a miserable fraud. Instinctively Peretz pressed both of his palms to his temples. He resolved to make up for everything, he would adopt Sarah, he would take Anna back to her people, he would rise above himself, become a different, a better man, so that his head would finally be at peace, for he no longer wished to hear this terrible voice, how long had it been there, in fact? Did it start with Anna or was it there before? Was he mad, perhaps? Or did everyone have a voice like this in their head? He glanced furtively over at Avi, who sat at the wheel, peering out at the slush, looking as if there was nothing in his mind apart from a focus on what he was doing. Was Avi ultimately a better person than he, Peretz? Avi, who he had always taken for a simpleton, yes, he had even considered Avi’s reliability to be a consequence of the intellectual stillness in his mind. And now he wanted less noise up top himself! I’ve got to throw away that loudhailer, he thought. Just as soon as I don’t need it anymore.

  April came to an end and the days lengthened. The inhabitants of the pavilion spent most of their time at the lake; some even dared to venture into the Wannsee’s chilly waters. One afternoon two men joined them and talked to the young people, boys and girls. Anna watched them from a distance as she made sure that Shimon had enough things to play with. Emil, who was sitting next to her, watched Sarah Sarfati cautiously wade deeper into the water, hunching up her shoulders, jamming her upper arms against her ribs and stretching her forearms away from either side of her body, as if this pose could protect her from the cold. He smiled each time she ventured another step into the lake, pulling up her shoulders even higher. I used to have a sister her age, he said out of the blue, without looking at Anna. With a loud scream Sarah threw herself into the lake, swam a few strokes, turned back and came out of the water. She ran toward her new mother and little brother, more a young woman than a big girl, Emil lowered his gaze, she could have been his sister but she was not.

  The two men came over to them. They introduced themselves as Shlichim, emissaries from Palestine, We’ve been sent by Haganah, the army of liberation, they said, We’re looking for young men and women who are willing to fight for a free Israel. Against the British or Arabs? asked Sarah, the fourteen-year-old. Against both, if we have to, said the shorter of the two men, a wiry fellow with a straight nose and angular chin, both of which looked as if they had been sculpted. I want to fight, said Emil, the orphan boy, I don’t care against whom. It’s dangerous, the taller of the two pointed out, but Emil laughed, You don’t know who you’re talking to, he said. Oh yes we do, the shorter one said, That’s why we’ve come to you. Emil nodded, I want to fight, he repeated. Good, the taller one said, Then you’ll be moved to Schlachtensee, we’re training people there, you’ll be given a weapon.

  And thus it was not Anna and Shimon who went to Schlachtensee, but Emil, to shoot at targets in the remotest corner, beside a copse that contained a newly laid out cemetery. He met Aaron Strauss, who had also volunteered. They were given uniforms, they guarded the camp and even went on marches in the surrounding area to show the Germans in Zehlendorf, We’re here and there’s nothing you can do about it. Through Aaron Strauss Emil met Aaron’s girlfriend Ruth, the Abramowiczes and the old man. In mid-May they went together to visit Anna at Wannsee. A day of gains and losses for Anna. Ruth, still a minor, and Aaron Strauss, in his early forties, both the same age ever since they had lost their families. We’re going to get married, Ruth said, and Aaron smiled, You look good, Anna said, to avoid feeling pain, and heard herself saying these very same words, two years earlier, somewhere in Poland, part of her was puzzled by the advance of time, it had passed so quickly and yet everything seemed so long ago, an inextricable contradiction, The fact is, said the accountant in her, the one who kept everything, ordered everything, maintained control over everything, the fact is that Ruth is going her own way. Aaron said, Your husband asked me to prepare two more certificates, I’ve brought them with me, he got the papers out, a birth certificate for Shimon Sarfati, mother Anna Sarfati, father Peretz Sarfati, a birth certificate for Sarah Sarfati, mother Anna Sarfati, father Peretz Sarfati, Anna took them, Sarah pushed forward, she looked gorgeous in her blue flowery summer dress, thought Emil, who had missed her. Sarah clapped her hands in delight, I’m your daughter, she cried out, the others laughed, Anna said, Yes, and I gave birth to you when you were thirteen, the others laughed.

  Mr. Abramowicz carrying Marja. Before he could say anything, Marja said, You have to say hello to Dana first. Anna obeyed, she said, Hello, Dana, how are you? Marja disguised her voice, saying, Ever since I’ve been a dolly nothing hurts anymore. Mrs. Abramowicz smiled, a peculiar smile, Anna thought, not against the pain, but rather with it. Now you’ve got to say hello to Shimon, Anna told Marja, lifting him up. Marja stroked his cheeks with her crooked index finger and said, I bet you were inside a body that got broken too, weren’t you? Anna flinched, nobody noticed.

  Ariel had a new book, The Odyssey, he held it up without saying a word and gave Anna time to look at the drawing on the linen cover, the profile of a Greek warrior with a high forehead, straight nose and powerful chin, helmet with a plume of feathers, sheer determination, as if doubt did not exist, as if all that mattered was to be constantly sailing the seas, constantly spiting the gods, constantly fighting against every enemy and finally coming home again. Aaron gave it to me, Ariel said, He thought it was fitting for our journey, That it certainly is, Anna said.

  The old man embraced Anna silently, My daughter, he mumbled, then he took hold of Ruth too and hugged them both, My daughters. He laughed, Anna had never see him laugh before, and exclaimed, I need longer arms for all of you. They laughed against the pain.

  It was a lovely afternoon, Emil talked about Haganah, he knew all about the British, he knew all about the Arabs, Anna listened to him, they watched his face light up as he talked of taking up arms for peace and freedom for his people, she smiled with the pain, There’s no other way for our people, Emil said as if he had aged a decade overnight. They swam in the lake, Sarah stayed with Shimon, Emil stayed with Sarah as Anna vanished beneath a towel and popped out again in a black bathing costume, a tall, slim woman whose beauty elicited furtive glances. Then Anna went into the water, which was already considerably warmer thanks to all the sunshine, and swam away from the shore, out into the expanse of Wannsee, where individual sailing boats glinted, she swam far out, turned round and looked back to the shore, where everything was now tiny. Out here it was quiet, all she could hear was the lapping of the water. Further to her right still stood Villa Minoux, which had once been called Villa Marlier, broad and white it stared out into the lake and called to her from the large balcony in the middle, All Jews must die, Anna could hear the words clearly, they sounded like a divine judgment, We shall move to Israel and then the Arabs will drive us into the sea, we shall go under, we shall sink, we shall be reborn as dolls that no longer feel pain. Now they were waving from the shore, Anna’s thoughts turned to Shimon and she swam back quickly, but Shimon was fine, he was playing with his big sister and the soldier of Eretz Yisrael, Lunch! Mrs. Abramowicz called to her when Anna climbed out of the lake, attracting more furtive glances, the one born from the foam, born from the lather, who now vanished beneath a towel again up to her neck and reappeared shortly afterward in a white dress, nobody would ever tell Anna, You look good, it would feel stale in the mouth, something new was needed, poetry.

  Peretz was no poet. He arrived with his shadow, Avi, at his side, he greeted everybody in turn with a handshake, and they all stuck by him because he had helped them—out of Poland, out of the Soviet zone and soon out of Germany, out of Europe, across the Mediterranean, where the British were waiting, and into the Promised Land, Eretz Yisrael, where the next lot
of enemies were living. Peretz waved at Shimon, to Anna the gesture looked awkward, then he turned to her, he put his arms around her waist and gave her a kiss on the lips, it was a tableau for the others, Anna played along, but at that very moment Peretz dissolved before her eyes and she saw Abba Kovner with his hatchet face. The accountant in her said, That’s new. And said nothing more. Anna latched onto it. When Peretz let go of her she smiled to mitigate the numbness. Then they all sat and had lunch together, a large family reborn from leftovers, and out of the blue Peretz said, The ship has arrived in France.

  Which ship?

  Your ship!

  Is it big?

  The biggest we’ve ever had.

  And beautiful?

  The most beautiful we’ve ever had.

  Is it strong?

  Yes, it will be four and a half thousand Jews strong, no battleship will have ever possessed such weapons, weapons of suffering, weapons of accusation, weapons of pure will.

  They finished their lunch in silence. Peretz said, The head of Bricha is in Munich. He goes by the name Ernst Caro. He’ll let us know when. Then things will move fast.

  Where are we going to board the ship?

  Maybe in Marseille, maybe somewhere else.

  How will we get there?

  Maybe by lorry, and all of them thought, Lorries again. Peretz said, but maybe by train too, and maybe on foot for some of the way. Such a large group of people on the move attracts attention.

  Where are the people coming from?

  D.P. camps in Germany.

  Won’t the British try to stop us?

  Probably, but then you’ll go to Cyprus, where there’s an excellent camp, and it won’t be long after that before you’re allowed into Israel.