They walked a few moments in silence.
“I’m sorry, Korinna,” Rita said, who was walking behind the other two girls.
Korinna didn’t stop walking or even turn around.
“I mean it, Korinna. You’re my best friend, and I know your mother is a loyal German. I didn’t mean to sound so suspicious or anything.”
Now Korinna stopped and turned around. “I know,” she said. “I shouldn’t have been so defensive.”
“Are we still friends?” Rita asked.
Korinna opened her arms wide. “Of course.” The two girls hugged each other while Eva watched.
“You’ll always be my best friend,” Rita said.
Korinna grinned. “You, too.”
“Now that that’s settled, can we go?” Eva asked dryly.
Korinna and Rita smiled at each other and started walking arm in arm, which forced Eva to walk behind them. But Korinna didn’t want the other girl to feel left out, so she pushed Rita to the edge of the sidewalk and pulled Eva up to walk beside them. On the rest of the way to the meeting they sang their favorite song, “Now Is the Time.”
Now is the time
The hour calls to action
To cut down evil
To bring about a new world
Where every man on earth will have a good life and home.
On the horizon we see a bright light.
The earth is turning to a new and better future.
As false gods fall
All men will be free ...
As they reached the building where their meetings were held, their voices trailed off.
Korinna took a deep breath. The last time she’d been to a meeting, she’d been slapped. Today she would be sure to do everything right. She didn’t want to be humiliated in front of everyone again.
The Troop meeting passed without a problem. Korinna paid close attention to everything, not letting her mind wander for an instant. The leaders acted as if nothing had happened. They even commended her on carrying extra pamphlets in her book bag because they needed them to give to a new member. Rita collected them from Korinna’s book bag along with some of the other girls’.
Eva had to leave the meeting early to take care of her younger brother, so Korinna and Rita walked home together after the meeting. The bright sky was already fading to darkness, and a cold wind whipped at the girls as they buried their chins in their scarves.
“What?” Korinna said at hearing Rita mumble something.
“I forgot to ask you if you’d heard about the Reinekes,” Rita repeated, this time lifting her face to the wind.
Korinna looked obliquely at her friend, not wanting to lift the lower portion of her face from the warmth of her scarf. She shook her head, but Rita wasn’t looking at her, so she had to lift her head a bit and say, “No, what happened to them?”
“Hans searched their house last night.”
Visions of the search on her own house raced through her head. She wondered if Rita knew that Hans had hit her father. “So?” she said.
“He found something there,” Rita said.
Korinna could hear the suppressed excitement in the other girl’s voice. “What did he find?”
“Jews!”
“Jews?” Korinna felt a sudden painful tightness in her stomach. “Jews?” she repeated.
“Two of them. They were hiding in the pantry. Hans said he sniffed them out, they stank so bad,” Rita said gleefully.
“How do you know all this?”
“Hans came over this morning before I went to school. He was up all night searching houses.”
“Who were the Jews?” Korinna asked.
“Who cares who they were?” Rita said. “They’re Jews, that’s all anyone needs to know. I think they were a husband and wife.”
“What’s going to happen to the Reinekes?” Korinna asked, hoping she sounded casual.
“The Reinekes have been arrested. Hans said they’ll probably be sent to a work camp, if they’re not shot first.”
The knot in Korinna’s stomach pulled even tighter at this news. “What about the Jews?” Korinna asked, trying not to sound too interested.
“Who cares what happens to the Jews?” Rita said derisively. “They’ll be sent away somewhere. Hans told Papa they were trying to leave Germany because they didn’t want to be arrested or be sent to a work camp. Imagine,” she said, shaking her head, “Jews still think they have the right to make choices. The sooner they’re all rounded up and sent away, the better it will be for all of us loyal Germans.”
Korinna nodded briefly in agreement.
“I can’t believe that some of them are still in town. Not that it does them any good with their synagogues closed and their shops closed. I’d think they’d all want to go live somewhere else with other Jews. At least they’d be with their own kind.”
“Isn’t Frau Reineke your mother’s best friend?” Rita continued, once more burying her chin in her neck scarf.
“I suppose they’re friendly. Or at least they were,” Korinna said. She knew that wasn’t exactly the truth. The truth was that they had been the best of friends since they were children, and they still were.
“Well, I certainly hope Frau Reineke’s bad habits didn’t rub off on your mother. Not that I think your mother is anything less than an absolutely loyal German,” Rita added quickly.
“They haven’t seen each other lately,” Korinna lied.
Rita nodded. “That’s good, because any friends of the Reinekes will probably be under suspicion now. At least that’s what my brother told Papa.”
“Did Hans also tell him that he searched our house?” Korinna asked bitterly before she could stop herself. “And that he hit my father? Hans knocked him on the floor.”
Rita looked startled, and she shook her head. “No, Korinna, I swear, he didn’t say anything about that. What happened?”
“He was ruining some of my mother’s photographs and my father told him to be careful. Hans hit my father and made him bleed.”
“I didn’t know that, Korinna. Honest, I didn’t.”
Korinna shrugged as if she didn’t care, carefully taking control of her anger. “Hans was just doing his job. Papa shouldn’t have interfered,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant.
Rita nodded. “That’s true, but still, I’m surprised Hans hit your father. Hans is usually so gentle.”
Korinna suppressed a shudder. Visions of Hans kicking Herr Haase the other day popped into her mind. And the Hans she had seen the night he’d searched their house had been far from gentle.
Korinna turned down her path. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She waved to Rita and then stepped into the warmth of her house.
As she took off her coat and boots, she realized her hands were trembling.
She found her mother in the front room. She was sitting in the dark with the curtains wide open.
“Mother?” Korinna said softly, sitting down beside her on the couch. She could see the sheen of tears on her mother’s cheeks. “Mother, what’s wrong?”
“Frau Reineke,” was all she said, reminding Korinna what Rita had told her. Her mother’s best friend had been arrested for harboring Jews. Would her parents be next? she wondered as she took her mother’s cold hands into her own trembling ones.
Suddenly her mother let out a sob, which sounded like it was wrenched from the bottom of her soul. The sound ripped through the quiet of the room and squeezed Korinna’s heart. Frau Rehme put her arms around her daughter and cried against Korinna’s shoulder. Korinna pulled her mother close, feeling helpless, yet somehow in charge.
Her mother had always been there to dry her tears. That’s what mothers were for. But now she consoled her mother, murmuring under her breath and rocking her back and forth. She suddenly felt grown up, something she’d longed to be for quite some time. Only now she wasn’t sure she liked the feeling, or the heavy sense of responsibility that came with it.
Herr Rehme finally came home, later than usual
. He joined his family in the dark front room, enveloping his wife and daughter in his long, strong arms. No one said anything for quite a while. Finally Korinna’s mother said, “The Krugmanns are probably hungry.”
Chapter Twelve
It wasn’t until the last few minutes of the Jungmädel meeting, after school the next day, that Korinna and Rita had a chance to talk.
Korinna eyed her friend nervously for a few moments, then she took a deep breath and said, “Rita, do you remember Anita Scheinmann?”
“That scrawny Jew?”
“That’s right. The skinny little thing who used to live next door to me. Do you ever wonder what’s happened to her?”
Rita glanced up from her tassel. “Every once in a while. Why?”
“Well, I wonder, too. I mean what’s happened to all the Jews who used to live around here?”
“They’ve been sent east to live with other Jews. They’re happier there with their own kind.”
“Do you really think they’re happier?”
“Of course they are.”
Korinna nodded in agreement and didn’t say anything.
Finally Rita broke the silence between them. “Do you think about the Jews a lot?”
“Not a lot,” Korinna said hastily. “Just once in a while.”
“Oh.” Rita lowered her voice. “I think about them more than just once in awhile.”
Korinna raised her gaze from her tassel and stared into Rita’s blue eyes. “Really?” she said.
“Sure. I almost feel sorry for them.”
“You do?” For a moment Korinna felt a wave of suspicion wash over her. Was this some kind of a trap? she wondered. She looked around the room, but no one was taking any notice of them. She looked back at Rita, but her friend was intent upon her project. Korinna felt ashamed of herself for suspecting Rita. Rita was her very best friend. It wasn’t Rita who was lying and keeping secrets, it was Korinna. She was the one not acting like a best friend.
“I feel sorry for them, too,” Korinna whispered under her breath.
“I thought you hated Jews,” Rita said, also keeping her voice down.
“I did until—well, until a little while ago.” As much as she trusted Rita, she just couldn’t bring herself to tell her about the Krugmanns. Not yet.
“I don’t really hate them,” Rita said. “I just pretend so people think I do.”
“I always believed you,” Korinna said. “You should be an actress some day.”
“I’d rather be a nurse. Hans told me they need nurses at the work camps to help the doctors who care for the Jews.”
The camps couldn’t be all that bad if they had doctors and nurses attending to the Jews, thought Korinna. But somehow it didn’t make sense to her to lock up the Jews in work camps, and then give them medical care. She couldn’t help wondering how much “care” they actually got.
“By the way,” Korinna said, “have you seen my black book?”
Rita raised her pale blond eyebrows. “No, why?”
“I can’t find it and I know I had it yesterday. I probably left it at home. It’s just that—”
“Let’s go,” Rita said, interrupting her friend. The leaders were calling all the girls together.
“Wait for me after the meeting,” Korinna said, twisting the extra twine into a ball.
“Oh, I can’t,” Rita said hastily.
“Why not?”
“I have to run an errand for my mother. You go on without me, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Korinna nodded slowly. “Okay,” she said, trying to shrug away the uneasy feeling that suddenly settled on her shoulders like a heavy, itchy wool sweater. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
As soon as Korinna walked in the door her mother called to her from the kitchen.
“What is it, Mother?” she said when she saw the drawn look on her mother’s face.
“Sit down, Korinna,” Frau Rehme said.
Korinna sat down at the table where her mother was peeling and cutting carrots. Cut onions were also on the table, no doubt accounting for the teary look in her mother’s eyes.
“I’ve told you about Herr Krugmann and Ruth, Sophie’s husband and fourteen-year-old daughter?”
“Yes, Mother, you’ve mentioned them. Rachel talks about Ruth all the time. What’s happened? Is something wrong?”
“It’s Ruth,” her mother said slowly. “She had pneumonia for weeks, but nothing could be done. She died last night.”
Korinna sat in stunned silence. All she could imagine was Rachel’s face when she heard the news. “Do Frau Krugmann and Rachel know?”
Korinna’s mother nodded. “I told them as soon as I heard.”
“Why couldn’t they call a doctor?”
“There was no doctor in the area who could be trusted,” Frau Rehme said sadly. “They did what they could for her, but living above a barn where it was cold and damp was the worst thing for her.”
“Why didn’t they move her?” Korinna demanded. She couldn’t rid herself of the image of Rachel proudly bragging about her older sister. She must be devastated.
“The family that was hiding her couldn’t move her. There was no safe place to go at the time,” explained her mother. She got up from the table and came around to hug her daughter. “I’m so lucky to have you, Liebling,” she said softly.
Korinna felt her throat tighten. “Can I go see Rachel?”
Frau Rehme hesitated. “You can try. I don’t know if she’ll see you, though.”
Korinna nodded and went upstairs. In her room, she quietly deposited her book bag by the wardrobe and then pulled the curtain over her window closed. She didn’t care if it looked suspicious, she thought with a sudden flare of anger. It wasn’t fair that she had to sneak around and try to act normal when everything was so—so mixed-up!
She knocked on the wall. Slowly she opened up the wardrobe and looked into the dimly lit room.
“Hello, Frau Krugmann,” she said softly, crouching down before the woman. For a moment they just stared at each other in silence. “Can Rachel come out for awhile?”
Sophie looked sadly at her daughter, who was curled up on the small mattress she used as a bed at night and play area during the day. “Rachel, do you want to play with Korinna?”
Rachel shook her head.
“Come out and draw with me,” Korinna said.
“I never want to draw again,” Rachel said in a trembling voice.
“Then just come out and sit with me,” Korinna coaxed. “I don’t feel very happy and I need someone to keep me company.”
Rachel lifted her tear-stained face. Slowly she crawled over to the opening, and Korinna smiled at her encouragingly.
Korinna pulled away from the back room, leaving space for Rachel to come out. Then she pushed the Schrank back against the wall and focused on the little girl sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of her. She looked so small, so fragile. So innocent.
“Why are you staring at me?” Rachel asked in a small, tremulous voice.
“I was just wondering if you look like Ruth,” Korinna said softly.
“Ruth is dead!” Rachel cried.
Korinna waved her hands through the air. “I know she’s dead out here. But in here,” she pointed to Rachel’s heart, “she’ll live as long as you do. As long as you remember her, and think of her, and love her.”
Rachel eyed her suspiciously. “But I’ll never see her again.”
“But in a way you can see her whenever you want. Just close your eyes and think of her, and she’ll be there.”
A small hopeful look came over the little girl’s face.
“Do you remember what Ruth looked like?” Korinna asked, reaching for some paper and some colored pencils she kept in a drawer in her desk.
Rachel nodded solemnly.
“Then why don’t you draw her picture so you’ll never forget. Then, in ten years from now, you can look at these pictures and remind yourself what Ruth looked like.”
Rac
hel hesitantly took the paper and pencils. Then, with increasing determination she started to draw.
Korinna smiled at the girl and lifted one of her schoolbooks from her book bag. She opened the heavy volume and began to read while Rachel drew picture after picture of her sister Ruth.
When Frau Rehme came up with supper for the Krugmanns, Korinna took the pile of drawings from Rachel and began to look through them.
“This is Ruth playing the piano,” Rachel said seriously. “She was the best in the whole world. And this is Ruth at home, lying on her bed. She did that a lot when she wasn’t playing the piano.”
One by one, Rachel explained each drawing. Korinna smiled and nodded at the appropriate moments, though the smile felt awkward. The little girl didn’t seem to notice.
“You can keep this one with the others I gave you,” Rachel said, handing Korinna a drawing.
“Thank you very much,” Korinna said. “Now I think it’s time for you to eat.”
She opened the wardrobe and passed in the food her mother had left for the Krugmann’s supper. She left the wardrobe ajar to let fresh air into the closed up space, and she put Rachel’s drawing on her desk. It was a drawing of Ruth, holding a bouquet of multicolored flowers, staring out of the paper. Korinna’s heart jumped, as it had when she’d been looking through Rachel’s many drawings. In this one, as in all the others, Ruth’s hair was sunshine yellow, not dark as it should have been. And her eyes were light blue instead of brown. She looked like Korinna, and Korinna realized sadly that Rachel had already forgotten what her older sister had looked like.
Chapter Thirteen
Later that night, much later, Korinna heard the soft tread of feet coming up the stairs. And though she had been warned earlier, her heart started to thump anyway. Silently her door swung open and two dark figures entered her room.
“Papa?” she called softly.
“Yes, Korinna, it’s me. This is Herr Krugmann,” her father said.
Korinna could see the second man nod to her through the darkness. “Guten Abend,” she said.
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