by Anna Schmidt
Josef spoke first.
“In the presence of God and this gathering of Friends, I take this my friend Elizabeth Bridgewater to be my wife, promising with divine assistance to be unto thee a loving and faithful husband so long as we both shall live.”
Beth repeated the same words to Josef, and, still holding hands, they stepped up to a small table and signed the wedding certificate. Once they had again taken their seats, Olaf as clerk of the meeting read the certificate aloud. He sat down, and everyone returned to the silence of worship.
After a while Edvard stood and cleared his throat. “I was sitting here thinking about how these two young people are just at the beginning of their journey while some of the rest of us are coming to the end. May God hold them in the Light as He has blessed those of us gathered here today many times over.”
Around the circle, the worshippers raised their hands in wordless praise and returned to their silence.
Anja’s grandmother was the next to speak. She struggled to stand, her arthritic knees suffering in the damp and cold of the winter day. “These young people have already been tested in ways the rest of us cannot imagine,” she said. “Let us all pray that they continue to find their way—hand in hand—through these difficult times.”
Beth thought about all that she and Josef had faced together. She thought about the day she first met him and how she had looked at him with suspicion because he wore the uniform of a German soldier. How she had prayed that very night for God’s forgiveness that she had judged this man for his outward appearance instead of getting to know the inner man beneath the uniform.
She thought about the train ride with Liesl when Josef had proposed to her, and she understood now that his proposal that night had been every bit as genuine as his love for her was on this day. But again she had doubted. And then she squeezed her eyes closed to hold back tears when she recalled the day she had read her uncle’s note and in that single moment believed that Josef had betrayed them all.
She realized now that God had shown her the way back to Josef and had given her the strength to stand with him in his darkest hours as he faced the judge and the possibility of a death sentence. She took no pride in or credit for her actions that day, but rather saw the events that had led them both to Sobibor as a unique blessing because it had reunited them with Anja and had shown them that in the face of true evil, there were the blessings of friendship and courage and community.
Olaf reached over and shook Edvard’s hand, signaling that the meeting for worship had come to its end. Several of those in attendance stepped up to sign the wedding certificate while Anja and her grandmother set out the refreshments. The room that had been so filled with silence only minutes before was filled with laughter and conversation and good wishes for Josef and Beth. The room and these people felt like family…like home.
Josef held onto her hand as if he intended never to let go of it as they received the congratulations of the others. The language barrier was hardly noticeable, as enough of those present spoke German that they could translate the Danish for the happy couple.
Beth saw Edvard remove an envelope from his pocket, and he smoothed out the wrinkles in it before stepping forward. “This came for you, Josef.”
“It’s addressed to you, Edvard.”
Beth watched as Josef studied the handwriting. “It’s from my father.” His hands were shaking as he opened the envelope. She leaned closer so that they could read the short and simple message together:
Please keep the two barrels in your custody until Frau Buch and I can come to collect them. We are both so very thankful for your kindness.
“They know you are both safe,” Edvard explained. “They just couldn’t risk saying anything that might…”
“I know,” Beth said as tears streamed down her cheeks. “One day soon,” she promised herself and those around her, “we will speak out loud all the joys and concerns that we have had to bear in silence.”
She felt Josef’s arms wrap around her, and she looked up at him. In his eyes she saw that same passion and fierce intensity that had first drawn her to him. And she knew that whatever the future held, they could ask no greater blessing than that of facing it together.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
As a history buff I am fascinated by all of the true but little-known stories of people facing incredible adversity with such courage and determination. I became aware of the White Rose when I visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, for the first time—the arrests of Hans and Sophie and Christoph took place on my husband’s birthday; another trial and execution took place on my birthday; and still another on my father’s birthday. Seeing three familiar dates that signaled such happy times in my life, I was of course determined to learn more about these brave young people. Similarly I stumbled quite by accident onto the true story of the escape from Sobibor.
In any story set in the midst of war, there will be characters—like Anja, Franz, Ilse, and Liesl—whose fate remains unresolved. It is not realistic to think that Beth would be able to discover what became of her aunt and uncle and cousin while imprisoned in Sobibor or on the run. That is why All God’s Children is the first of three books in the Peacemaker series.
Book 2, Simple Faith, tells Anja’s story (and continues the story of Josef and Beth). They will play out their lives in the very real world of what became known as “The Freedom Line”—an incredible underground system where locals helped American, Canadian, and British airmen whose planes had crashed behind enemy lines get back to the safety of England.
And in Book 3, Safe Haven, Franz, Ilse, and Liesl will again play key roles. The story moves to America and upstate New York, where a boatload of refugees from Europe—mostly Jews—were allowed to live out the war in relative safety.
I hope you will be inspired to read all three books. In any case, please stop by my website (www.booksbyanna.com) to learn more about these actual heroes and events or write to me at P.O. Box 161, Thiensville, WI 53092, and share your thoughts. Until then may you—like Josef and Beth—learn to see the blessings of the difficult times and the wonders of those times when your cup indeed runneth over with joy and the Light!
All best wishes!
Anna
Anna Schmidt is the author of over twenty works of fiction. Among her many honors, Anna is the recipient of Romantic Times’ Reviewer’s Choice Award and a finalist for the RITA award for romantic fiction. She enjoys gardening and collecting seashells at her winter home in Florida.
Coming soon from
Anna Schmidt
THE PEACEMAKERS BOOK 2
Spring 2014
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THE WOMEN OF PINECRAFT SERIES
