The Voyage: A Historical Novel set during the Holocaust, inspired by real events

by Roberta Kagan

  They arrived at her room. She had a private room, so there was no roommate to disturb them.

  For the first time their lips touched timidly as both of their hearts beat in unison. Alex’s hand caressed the maple-colored hair that fell freely about her innocent face. He cherished every small piece of her as if he were Adam, and had been alone on the earth until God bestowed Eve, the greatest of all gifts, upon him. And he relished that gift… His soul sang out in gratitude for the wonder that was Anna. The sharing of their young love, flesh upon warm flesh, and the life giving force of passion took over as the lovers lay in each other’s arms. Hours passed as they tenderly stroked each other’s skin, offering comfort and tenderness, a safe haven in an uncertain world gone mad. But mostly, they knew that they were creating memories… Memories, they both felt sure, would soon enough be all they had left.

  Chapter 23

  When Alex returned to his stateroom, Manny awaited him. Somehow, although he could not be sure, instinct told Manny that Alex had been in bed with Anna.

  “You stole my girl.” Manny’s face was crimson with anger.

  Alex stood looking at Manny, stunned, his arms hanging helplessly at his sides.

  “You knew how I felt about Anna… You knew.”

  “I knew you liked her, but I hadn’t realized your feelings had become serious.”

  “Well, you knew I wanted to be with her.”

  “Yes, but I thought it was just a casual thing with you, Manny… For me, this is not a passing fancy. I love Anna.”

  Manny could not answer. He could not speak.

  “She loves me, too. Soon, we might all be dead. For this moment…for this one moment,Manny, we wanted to be happy… I’m sorry… I’m sorry… The last thing I would ever want to do is to hurt you.”

  Alex reached up, as if petitioning the heavens for understanding. And Manny walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

  Chapter 24

  Manny had enough money to leave the ship. He had enough to leave and then an additional five hundred dollars to start his life. He walked the deck all night rather than going back to the room where Alex waited. In the morning, he would go to the captain and try to buy his freedom. Then he would depart this ship and leave all of this pain behind. Who was this girl anyway? He’d had so many girls before. What was it about her that made him want her so much? Maybe it was because she didn’t want him, he thought…a stupid reason…

  Manny felt sure his friends would perish when the ship returned to Germany. All night he reflected on their future. Poor Elke, she would probably end up a slave to some Nazi officer. And Alex, he would surely find himself back in a concentration camp. His body was strong; he might survive the ordeal, but Anna…never. Anna was too tiny…too petite. Her return to Germany would mean certain death for her. Perhaps if he offered to take her with him, she would go. He had just enough money for two visas. That would leave him with nothing to begin his life, but he would manage. Somehow, he’d find work until he could contact his family. They would send him the funds to come to New York. The plan sounded good… he would go to the captain...but first he would talk to Anna.

  The following morning at breakfast, the four sat together, as always. Manny watched as the lovers held hands and looked at each other with such affection that it hurt his heart. Manny wanted to make his offer known to Anna. After breakfast, he would ask if he could speak to her.

  Once they finished eating, the group walked upstairs to the deck. Havana harbor stood like an unattainable prize hanging just over their heads, only a few miles in the distance.

  “Anna… I would like to speak with you alone.” Manny would not meet Alex’s eyes.

  Anna squeezed Alex’s hand, and Alex nodded at her that it was all right with him.

  “Come this way, please.” Manny escorted Anna to the other side of the deck. Once they were, alone he turned to look into her eyes. “Anna… I care for you very much.” He cleared his throat. “I have enough money for two visas into Cuba. Will you come with me?”

  “Manny, I hardly expected this.”

  “I understand. I realize you were unaware of my feelings for you.”

  “I had no idea.”

  “Well…let me say that I will try as best as I can to give you a good life.”

  She turned away from him and looked out over the water. A heavy silence hung over them for several minutes before she answered.

  “Manny… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I can’t go with you. I am in love with Alex. I must stay with him and whatever his fate is to be…well…it will be my fate also.”

  “You will be sent back to Germany…back to the camps…you will be killed... Most assuredly…you will die.” He grasped her shoulders trying to make her understand that the decision she made was a fatal one.

  “I know. I know, Manny…but this is my choice. I love Alex. I can’t leave him alone to face what is to come. I must be there beside him. You are a dear friend to offer, and I will always be grateful for your generosity, but I must say no. Again, I’m sorry.”

  There was nothing left to say. Manny nodded. Then he turned and walked away, toward the captain’s quarters.

  Chapter 25

  “Captain, sir, I know you are busy but I’ve come to ask if there has been any progress with the negotiations.” Manny stood looking at the captain, who appeared disheveled, as if he carried a personal burden.

  The captain sat at his desk, running his hand over his thinning white hair. “Sit down, please.”

  Manny sat across from him and waited.

  “It doesn’t look good. The Cuban government wants too much money.”

  Manny nodded. He was sorry to hear it but it was the answer he’d been expecting.

  “I have money… I want to purchase two visas.” Manny pulled a wad of Reichsmarks that had been secured with a band from his pocket.

  The captain counted it out. It came to the equivalent of a thousand American dollars. Then he put the money into an envelope sealed it and asked, “What are the names that you would like printed on the visas?”

  “Anna Goldman and Alex Mittelman,” Manny answered.

  Chapter 26

  “I cannot accept this from you.” Alex shook his head as Manny handed him the visas.

  “Don’t do it for me…do it for Anna. If you don’t go with her, she won’t leave the ship. We both love her. Save her life. Alex. You have the opportunity. You are the only one who can do it... You must.”

  Alex looked at the official papers. He touched them and his stomach flopped with nausea. If he left the ship with Anna, they would both have a chance at life, but Elke and Manny… What would become of them?

  “You must,” Manny repeated.

  Trembling, Alex took the visas. “I owe you my life.”

  Manny looked at him and nodded. “Then go… Go and get Anna, and get out of here… Get off the ship... Do something wonderful with your life... Live a life with a purpose... And don’t forget, Alex…tell the story. It is what you were meant to do. Tell what happened. Never let it be forgotten, never. I know you will you do this for me, for all of us. Go now… Hurry and leave the ship.”

  Alex walked over to Manny and embraced him. Manny returned the embrace.

  Then Alex went to find Anna.

  Chapter 27

  Alex and Anna left the ship and entered Havana through a fortress on the bay called El Morro Castle, an ancient structure of white stone that had once served as a political prison. Anna looked out one last time at the ship. “Alex, the sky is turquoise. Look at how it meets the water. And the water is so clean and blue. It’s incredible.”

  “I’ve never seen the sky that color or the ocean so clear.”

  “No, neither have I,” he replied.

  She squeezed his arm. “Alex, I’m so glad we are here, and we are together. I have so many emotions right now. I’m a little scared, a little excited, and…”

  “And in love?”

  “Yes,” she smiled, “in lov
e.”

  “And a little guilty?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

  “Yes, that too.”

  They walked through the old city, with its narrow streets and sidewalks, its open-air cafés and beauty salons, and the lure of Latin music coming from the markets and night clubs filling the warm tropical air.

  “How different this is from Germany,” Anna said.

  “That’s for certain.”

  “I wish my parents were here with us.”

  “I know, Anna.”

  “But it is beautiful, isn’t it?”

  “It is, and so are you.” Alex put his free arm around Anna’s shoulder.

  They passed grassy parks sprinkled with vibrant colored flowers and palm trees swaying in the breeze. They found themselves surrounded by a bustle of humanity, tourists from every country speaking in their native tongues, bargaining with the Cuban merchants. It was easy to see why Cuba was known as the Pearl of the Caribbean.

  “We should find a cheap hotel where we can stay until I can contact my uncle about securing visas for us into the U.S.,” Anna said, as she looked into the open doors of a nightclub to see women dancing in vivid costumes.

  “Why should he take me in? Anna, he is only counting on one person. I don’t want to ruin your chances. I will stay here. You go to New York.” Alex carried Anna’s suitcase, the only luggage they had between them.

  “Are you crazy? I would never leave you. Maybe I was wrong in assuming…”

  “Assuming?” He looked at her puzzled.

  “Never mind,” she said, folding her arms across her chest as she looked down the street away from him to where a woman sat in a manicurist’s salon covered only by a small orange-and-yellow striped awing, in case of rain. The women held her hands out in front of her, smiling and admiring her nails, which were the color of the inside of a ripe cantaloupe.

  Oh… It suddenly dawned on him, and he knew what she was talking about. “Anna, of course I want to marry you, more than anything in this world. But I have nothing to offer you. What kind of a life can I give you?”

  “I don’t expect you to have anything to give me, Alex, just your love…” she said.

  “You have my heart. You know that,” Alex said, as they passed a group of men playing dominos at benches in a small park, their hands wrapped around cups of what Alex and Anna would later learn was strong Cuban coffee.

  “And together we will build a life in America. You know they say that the streets are paved with gold,” she laughed.

  “Yes, I’ve heard.” He smiled, and she glanced over at him to see that his eyes were once again clouded, and she knew his depression was never far from the surface.

  “I’m feeling terribly guilty about Manny. I am glad to be here, to have the opportunity to live again, to be far away from Hitler…from Germany… But, Manny...” Alex said, shaking his head.

  “Oh, Alex, Manny is a survivor. He will be fine. Don’t worry. His family will send him more money. He’ll get out and probably contact us when he gets to the United States.”

  “Do you really think so?”

  “Of course. You know how Manny is. He’s the type of person who will always land on his feet,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong; it was good of him to give us this money. He saved our lives; we are forever indebted to him. But, he will be all right. I know how Manny is. He has important friends and his family has connections. Don’t be troubled about him.”

  “I want to believe you.”

  “Then believe me,” she said, squeezing his arm.

  They found a cheap room in an apartment building where the service people from the nightclubs lived. It was a small kitchenette, already furnished with a double bed and a wooden table and two chairs. When the landlady showed them the room, Anna saw a large black insect that looked like a giant cockroach crawl quickly across the wall. She screamed. The landlady laughed and explained that they weren’t roaches that came from dirt; they were just tropical bugs, and they were everywhere. Anna shook, and scratched her head. To her it felt as if the bugs had built a nest in her hair, and she wanted to cry.

  “I’m sorry,” Alex said. “It hurts me that I cannot do more for you, and that I can’t pay for a better place for us to stay.”

  “I know. It will be all right.” She smiled at him, trying not shiver when she thought about the insects.

  “Do you know where I can go to send a wire?” Anna asked the landlady.

  “Down the street past the pharmacy,” the woman answered in broken German, trying her best to communicate with the foreign guests.

  “We should buy some books and try to learn Spanish,” Anna said to Alex. “I am not sure how long we will be here, and it would help if we spoke the language.”

  “I think we are better off trying to learn as much English as possible, if we are going to America. It will be too difficult trying to master two languages at once. While we are here in Cuba, we’ll pick up as much Spanish as we need to survive. I speak some English. Do you?”

  “A little, yes,” she said, and slipped her pocketbook under her arm. “I am going to send a wire to my uncle Max. I’ll be right back.”

  “No, I’ll go with you. We don’t know anything about this country. I don’t want to risk having something happen to you,” Alex said.

  “What could possibly happen to me, Alex? I’m not a child.”

  Chapter 28

  Anna gave Alex a look that told him that he’d better not follow her. Then she left the apartment and headed toward the little store that sent telegrams. The language was unfamiliar, and as she walked down the street, she saw men leaning against buildings in alleyways. They beckoned to her.

  “Hey, lady,” one said in broken English.“You American? What you looking for? I have whatever you want!”

  Anna walked faster...

  “Lady, come here…” one of the men called after her.

  Why was she so headstrong? Her feet could not carry her fast enough. He was gaining on her. She felt her heart beating in her ears to the sounds of the Latin music on the street. She broke into a run.

  “Lady, slow down!” he cried, his greasy hair slicked onto his forehead.

  He was close enough now that she could smell his body odor. She could not out run him; he was faster.

  “God please help me to get away.”

  The man caught up with her; he grabbed her arm with his grimy hand.

  “Why you run? You scared of me?” the man purred as he stroked her arm with his free hand.

  She felt the tears forming in her eyes.

  Chapter 29

  Sometimes Anna really got on his nerves. She had her own mind and could be so stubborn, Alex thought, as he walked around the apartment thinking that he should have gone with her. If I go after her, she will be angry… He sat down in the chair by the window to wait until Anna returned.

  Chapter 30

  “You such a pretty lady.” The man had Anna’s arm. He reached down and pinched her buttocks.

  “Let me go!” she yelled with a confidence she did not feel.

  “Where you want to go? Huh? You tell me, yeah?” The man began trying to pull her into the lobby of a nightclub. Anna fought him as hard as she could; then she started screaming. But nobody paid her any attention.

  “Why you so difficult? I am only wanting to take you inside, have maybe a drink, and visit with some of my friends. You would have a good time.”

  “Let go of me. I don’t want to go anywhere with you.” Anna began screaming again “Help me! Someone help me!”

  “They think you my wife, or maybe I’m your pimp and we having a fight, don’t no one want to get involved. Stop carrying on so much. Let’s have us a little fun.”

  She was hysterical, crying and screaming as he tugged at her arm. He was strong and he almost had her inside the building.

  Chapter 31

  Alex could not sit still. They had no food in the apartment. He decided he would go out and buy a few things. That would al
so give him the opportunity to check on Anna without her knowing. He walked up the street toward the store where Anna had gone to send the wire and heard her screams. Alex ran toward the sound to find Anna being molested by a stranger. Alex came from behind, and although Alex was not a fighter, he whipped the man around and punched him as hard as he could in the face. The man was stunned. He fell backwards.

  “Get away from my wife,” Alex said.

  “Hey, I meant no harm. Don’t be so touchy,” the man said, and he walked away.

  Anna was shaking. “I’m glad you came.”

  Alex took Anna into his arms and kissed her all over her face, hugging her tightly. “Anna, my Anna…”

  She sighed.

  “Are you all right? I was afraid you’d be angry…that I came…” Alex was out of breath. He hated violence.

  “Thank God you came,” she said, and laid her head on his shoulder. What do you think he would have done to me? Do you think he’d have drugged me and forced me into prostitution?”

  “I don’t know, Anna. I don’t know what he wanted. We are in a different culture, and we are not at home. Everything is different. You and I don’t know how things work here, so we have to be careful, you understand?”

  She nodded.

  “Now, let’s go send that wire…” he said, and he kissed the top of her head.

  Chapter 32

  The following day Alex went out to look for work. He spoke very limited Spanish, so he walked the streets in search of anyone who would hire a foreigner. The nightclubs and restaurants required that he speak and write in Spanish, enabling him to take the customers orders. He offered his services as a dishwasher, but all of the jobs were taken. Distraught, he walked the streets until he saw two men sitting on stools with a long table between them. There was a huge barrel of tobacco and a pile of thin brown papers. Alex watched, fascinated, as the men rolled cigars and cut them with a silver guillotine-type instrument. I could learn this, he thought.