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

by Roberta Kagan

  “I can’t. I am in love with her. I will give my own life for her if it comes to that.” Viktor put the cigarette into an ashtray and sat down beside Olof. “Please,” he said

  “This is pure folly. You must be mad. Viktor get hold of yourself. You must stop this. The Gestapo won’t play games with you. If you are caught, you will be killed, or at best sent to a camp. Do you understand the seriousness of this?”

  “What can I do? Olof, you are my best friend. You must help me. I have nowhere else to turn.”Viktor grabbed Olof’s sleeve.

  Olof looked away and took a deep breath. Then he turned back to see his friend’s eyes pleading with him.

  “I don’t know why I am agreeing to this. I must be crazy. But you are like a brother to me, so if there is any way that I can help you, I will.

  “I am thinking that if we are forced to go home to Germany I will hide her in the engine room until everyone has left the ship. Then during the night I will sneak her out and keep her hidden in my flat until we can have papers drawn up. Do you know someone who can falsify papers for me?”Viktor asked.

  “Perhaps. I know of someone who has forged some documents and sold them. He’s an old friend I knew from gymnasium. I will look into it, if we return to Germany.”

  “I will owe you my life if you can do this.”

  “You will owe me only your friendship. However, it will cost money. I am sure I will be required to pay him. I don’t know how much, but it won’t be cheap. He, too, will be putting himself at risk.”

  “I have a little saved. I hope it’s enough.”

  “We will have to wait and see what happens. I am not sure that he will even agree to do this. Anything having to do with Jews makes the crime more illicit, and consequently the severity of the punishment if one is caught is far worse. So, again, don’t get your hopes up. We will have to see what my friend can do, and what he is willing to do.”

  Chapter 108

  The following morning the passengers found that they were able to see the coast of Miami from the ship’s deck.

  At breakfast Elke heard several people talking. Another passenger had attempted suicide during the night. He had jumped overboard and had to be rescued. It had posed danger not only to the passenger but to the crew member. Elke searched for Viktor; her concern for his well-being surprised her. When she did not see him at his usual table, she got up and began walking toward his room.

  “Good morning,” Viktor said as he walked out of the radio room. “Have you eaten yet?”

  Elke sighed with relief; the crewmember involved in the rescue was not Viktor.

  “No.”

  “Well, come, let’s have breakfast together.”

  She nodded,

  After that a committee was formed to prevent passengers from jumping overboard and trying to swim to shore. And a suicide watch was put into effect.

  Every day the passengers grew more edgy as their lives and futures hung in the balance.

  And still no word came from President Roosevelt.

  The captain received information that the world press had begun covering the story of the MS St. Louis, and he hoped that somehow this might help his passengers to find a friendly country that would accept them. Or even better, it might stir Roosevelt to answer with a letter of permission.

  People began to talk, their uncertain futures made them panicky and nervous. A distrust of the captain infiltrated the ship like a deadly disease. Rumors began to fly that the entire voyage had been nothing a Nazi hoax from the beginning, in which the captain had played a part. The crew began to fear an uprising.

  Viktor worked in the radio room as the alarm bell sounded, indicating trouble on deck. He raced up the stairs and outside to find that several of the young male passengers had staged a mutiny. The men stood upon the bridge of the ship shouting down to the other passengers who stood dumbfounded, but listening.

  “Our captain pretends to be our friend. But he is nothing but a pawn for Hitler. You can be sure that he was in on this all along. These Nazis wanted us to believe that they would give us our freedom while they plotted to destroy us. We must take control of the ship if we are to live. If you can be assured you are going back to Germany.” Several of the other passengers shook their fists, yelling out in agreement.

  It began to look as if more passengers would join the mutiny, and if enough of them banded together they could be successful. The sounds of chaos filled the ship and more people came up on deck to see what the ruckus was about. As the crowd grew larger, the young men who stood in charge demanded to know what the captain planned to do to ensure everyone’s safety.

  Viktor wished he had an answer. He wished it for them, but more than that, he wished it for Elke.

  Viktor and the rest of the crew climbed the bridge. They must subdue the rabble-rousers before all of the passengers got out of control. Panic spread through the crowd. Several woman and children cried; others screamed and shouted. Men stared at the crewmembers with makeshift weapons in their hands, their eyes filled with rage.

  When the Viktor and his fellow workers reached them, the angry men who were trying to overthrow the ship fought the seamen with fists and bottles that they‘d found on the ship. Viktor, a good fighter, could hold his own with almost any man. Fists flew, blood splattered, and the mutiny was underway. Elke heard the racket from her cabin, and she came on deck to see what was happening. When she saw Viktor fighting she screamed as he took a hit in the face. Blood spurted from his split lip. Elke stood still as the angry mob ran around her in every direction. Her hand covered her mouth in shock and horror. It took the better part of a half an hour, but finally the mutiny was overthrown.

  Viktor wiped the blood from his face with a handkerchief he kept in his pants pocket; then he walked down the bridge to where Elke stood staring at him, her eyes wide with terror.

  “Are you all right?” she asked.

  “Yes, I am fine. I’ve been hurt worse in a football game.” He smiled.

  “You’re bleeding…”

  “Yes, I suppose I am.” He wiped the cut again.

  “Here, let me.” She took the handkerchief from him and touched it to his lip gently.

  “I’d gladly get a split lip or a broken nose every day if it meant that you would take care of me.” He smiled at her.

  “Oh Viktor, you talk such nonsense,” Elke said.

  His heart ached with longing and love as he saw the worry in her eyes.

  The commotion began to die down and the passengers left the area. Only a group of young children playing with marbles remained on the deck. They sat on the floor at the corner of the ship and pitched the marbles against the wall.

  Elke watched the children play, so innocent and unaware. She wondered about their future. Would they have a future? They were so busy being children that they didn’t even realize the danger. Well, wasn’t that better? A little girl with curly black hair giggled as she picked up one of the larger marbles. The swirls of blue and red shone gaily in the sunshine.

  “I win,” she said, holding the marble up in her small dimpled hand so everyone could see her treasure,” and it almost made Elke want to cry.

  “I have to go back to work,” Viktor said as he reached over to squeeze Elke’s hand. “I will come to your cabin as soon as my shift is finished. Would that be all right?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “I will come and get you and we will have dinner together?”

  “Yes.” She smiled.

  “It looks like I’ll have to go back to my cabin and change clothes.” He shrugged, looking at the blood all over the front of his shirt. But he hesitated, not wanting to leave her.

  “That would be a good idea. You’d best hurry,” she said with a wry smile.

  Once again quiet came over the passengers…the stillness of a bomb about to explode.

  And still no word from America.

  Chapter 109

  “Viktor,” Olof said as he came into the radio room.

&n
bsp; “Yes.”

  “Come with me. You should really see this. It’s sort of horrifying.”

  Viktor gave Olof a confused look. “Why would I want to see something horrifying?”

  “Because it shocked me terribly. Come with me?”

  Viktor put his work aside and followed Olof onto the deck.

  A large group of passengers had gathered together in what appeared to be a meeting.

  “There must be at least three hundred families here,” Viktor said.

  “Yes, I am afraid they are planning another attempt at a mutiny.”

  “Friends, fellow Jews,” a dark, burly man who stood at the front of the ship said, and the other passengers grew silent to listen to him. “We know that with all that has taken place there is a very good chance that we will be forced to sail back to Germany. What awaits us there is beyond comprehension. I believe we will face a terrible death through torture at the hands of the Nazis. That is why I have arranged this meeting. I have a proposal for all of you. Together we must make an impression on the world. The press is following our situation and that is good. It gives us an opportunity, one we must take... We must show all of the countries of the world the horror of Hitler and his Third Reich. Then perhaps they will be forced to pay attention. Now, I realize that what I am suggesting is very drastic. And feel free to leave if you are not with me in this. But I am proposing that once it is decided that for certain we are going to be sent back to Germany, we must agree to commit mass suicide. Only something so shocking and terrible will shake all of these leaders into opening their eyes. It will ring like a warning bell, one they can no longer ignore. And I am aware that we will be sacrificed, and it will not help us, but maybe it will help our fellow Jews who are still in Germany. And for us, well, it is far better to jump into the water and die by our own hands then to be tortured by the Nazis.

  Viktor looked at Olof. “They are not planning a mutiny, they are planning mass suicide.”

  “My God,” Olof gasped.

  “Who is with me?” the burly man asked.

  Slowly everyone in the crowd raised their hands.

  “Then it is decided. Once we are sure that we have no chance and that our fate is sealed, we will meet here on the deck and do what we must do.”

  Women were gripping their children to their breasts. Men held their head in their hands or embraced their wives. As Viktor glanced at the crowd he felt an overwhelming sadness and shame at being German, followed by a pang of terror that shot through him like a hot blade. He must find a way to save Elke from harm, he must.

  Chapter 110

  Captain Schroder was beside himself. He walked along the deck watching the passengers on his ship. He’d taken an oath as captain of this vessel to protect them. They trusted him, depended upon him, and even if it cost him his life, he must do everything in his power to ensure their safety. He stopped to watch a group of children jumping rope and singing songs. Schroder could not imagine anyone forcing these children to suffer and be tortured. It was horrific, inhumane. He refused to send these children back to Germany. He would sink the ship first… But before he took such drastic measures he would try everything he could think of. There must be something he could do.

  Captain Schroder climbed down the stairs and entered the radio room.

  “Gentlemen,” the captain said to the radio operators. “Send another telegram to America; this time addresses it to Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt. Plead with her to allow the children from our ship to enter the United States. Be sure to explain that these little ones will face terrible consequences if they go back to Germany, perhaps death. She is a woman; with God’s help she will find it in her heart to take them. I am praying that she will be willing to do that much at the very least.”

  The telegram was sent…marked urgent from the MS St. Louis.

  Chapter 111

  The Office of the President

  Of The United States Of America

  Washington D.C.

  “Give me your tired, your poor,

  Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

  The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

  Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:

  I lift my lamp beside the golden door. “

  From the Statue of Liberty

  Franklin Delano Roosevelt sat quietly in his wheelchair facing the window, sipping a cup of coffee in the small sitting room where he often went to take time to reflect. Today he awaited the arrival of his wife Eleanor. Although her looks disappointed him, and he attributed that to his lifetime of indiscretions, she’d been his best friend, his wisest consultant and most importantly, he trusted her. President Roosevelt had already discussed the matter of the St. Louis with both Hull and Kennedy, and he’d listened to what they had to say, had even taken it into consideration. But in the end, Eleanor’s opinion ranked the highest. He knew that she always had his best interests at heart no matter what happened between them personally. For the fifth time this morning, he picked up the telegram that had arrived the previous week from the MS St. Louis and reread it, a messy business for sure. Soon he would face reelection, and he knew that permitting a ship filled with immigrants in need of food, money and jobs into the already financially depressed Unites States would cause lots of dissention amongst his supporters. And to make things worse, they were Jews. Contrary to popular belief, Roosevelt didn’t have anti-Semitic leanings. In fact, in the prior election he’d enjoyed tremendous Jewish support. However, there was a great show of anti-Semitism in the country and he was afraid that opening the door to a ship full of Jewish refugees would only stir the pot and hurt his chances of being reelected.

  The great mahogany door opened and Eleanor entered. Her hair caught up neatly in a twist at the nape of her neck, she wore a tailored cotton navy blue dress and matching low-heeled shoes. Eleanor gave him the regular half-smile she’d given him every morning since they’d been married; then she walked over and poured herself a cup of steaming coffee. Pulling out the chair, Eleanor sat across the desk from her husband and studied him.

  “Have you eaten breakfast?” she asked.

  “No, I can’t eat.”

  “I am assuming that you want to discuss the St. Louis.” She looked into his eyes.

  “Yes, how did you know?”

  “Because I know you. I am sure it is weighing heavily on your mind.”

  “It is. There are helpless people on board that ship. And isn’t America the world power that’s always ready to help the needy? That’s what makes this country great.”

  “I received a wire myself this morning. It’s from the captain of the St. Louis; he’s requested that I take the children, just the children. He says that if they are returned to Germany there is a good chance they will die. But if we take them in, then they will become wards of the state. America will be responsible for supporting them. Right now, in the state we are in, we can’t afford to do that.”

  “I know. I’ve been working day and night trying to find every avenue I possibly can to create work for Americans. Our own people are standing in bread lines. If we open our doors, refugees from all over the world will come pouring in and our economy would never recover,” he said.

  “And if you refuse, you will look insensitive and anti-Semitic. It’s a dilemma. But still, you must never forget that you were elected by the American people. You promised them that you would rebuild the United States, that you would make America rich and strong again. You, Mr. President, are in the employ of the people of this great country and they have trusted you to put their needs first. That was your promise when you took the oath. You owe it to the people.”

  “If this ship full of Jews is returned to Germany, Hitler, that sadistic bastard, will torture them. Possibly even kill them.”

  “Yes, I am aware, and you must know that I wish we could do something. But there is another thing we must consider. If we antagonize Hitler it could plunge America into a war. Now you have been more than generous with supplies
and money to England and the Americans have accepted that, but there is a strong consensus amongst our citizens against entering this war. And don’t get me wrong, Franklin, I wish we could do even more. But I am afraid of the consequences of all of this.”

  He nodded. “It’s hard to look the other way when a ship of helpless people is begging for your mercy and you feel as if their fate lies in your hands.”

  “Yes, it is. Harder than the world will ever know. And I doubt they will ever understand. But you will do what you must to rebuild America, and someday you will be known as the best president who ever lived,” she said.

  “God willing. I hope so, Eleanor. And God forgive us.”

  Chapter 112

  Elke stayed on deck breathing the fresh air. Only a young couple and a group of children remained on deck. Thoughts of Manny trickled into her mind. How well he’d hidden his pain. She had never suspected that he of all people, carefree Manny, would end his life. The doctors could not determine if he’d committed suicide or accidently taken too many pills in combination with alcohol. She chose to believe his death was accidental. Poor Manny, even after all that he told her about Kristallnacht and what had happened with the girl Lieb, she knew him to be a good soul. Elke had grown up with a selfish, self-serving mother who’d forced her into terrible acts with egotistical men. Knowing Manny had affected her in so many ways. It made her realize that perhaps there were people who were actually cared about others. He cared enough about that girl, Libe, to carry the guilt in his heart, and he’d cared enough about Alex and Anna to give them the gift of a future. He thought of himself as a heatless self-indulgent playboy. Everyone made mistakes.