A Diamond in the Rough

by Marilyn Land

  Franz was quiet as he listened to his friend’s suggestion. Sidney walked about showing Franz that he could make the store smaller and enlarge his living quarters, indicating where he envisioned cases and shelving could be installed. “You can put several chairs out front of the store where customers could enjoy a cigar and visit.”

  At first, Franz wasn’t too keen on the idea, but as Sidney laid out a plan, he too began to envision—The Smoker’s Shop.

  “How involved would it be to turn this place around? I’d have to get rid of most of my merchandise. Of course, I have a lot of materials that can be used to transition the space, and if I do most of the work myself, the job should prove less costly.

  “I know a couple of the vendors that sell their wares at the street markets, and they would probably be interested in some of the inventory. How long would you estimate making contact with suppliers and getting delivery of what I would need?”

  “I think you can probably do it in two months, three at most. The biggest part would be here redoing the shop. As far as orders go, if you wire cash for payment until you set up an account, your merchandise would be shipped immediately. I might add that the factory I worked at is only one of many all over the Island. You would be wise to do business with several. I can recommend contacts and even place the initial orders for you.”

  Franz went to work on his new venture the very next day. He went to the street market in search of Jamilia who sold among other things, ornate wooden boxes that her son Afram carved by hand. The first time Franz saw them, he was amazed at the detailed carvings that featured tribal symbols and African animals. At the time Afram was a small boy.

  He found her at her usual spot, and she greeted him warmly. Years earlier when her husband was killed, Franz helped her find work so she could support herself and her son. Afram was now ten years old, tall, and devoted to his mother. She taught him to read and write English, and instilled in him the importance of learning often telling him if you learn something new each and every day imagine what you can learn in a lifetime!

  Although Franz had sought Jamilia out to offer her his inventory to sell, he left with far more. He hired Afram to help him build the cases and shelves for his new shop, and he commissioned him to supply hand-carved cigar boxes and humidors for his new customers.

  Sidney helped place the initial orders for cigars, and cigarettes. They also ordered an array of pipes and tobacco and ashtrays. Once Franz had disposed of all of his inventory and the shop stood totally empty, Afram came to work to help make The Smoker’s Shop a reality.

  At last, they stood in the street in front of the store looking up at the big new sign that read THE SMOKER’S SHOP—then looking down at the chairs that sat on either side of the front door. The inside was clean and new and smelled of fresh paint. Several of Afram’s hand-carved boxes sat on the shelves; two small humidors sat on the floor. A beautiful handcrafted rug of many colors covered the floor. All that was missing were their shipments from Cuba—due to arrive any day. The cases sat ready to receive the merchandise.

  Even the living quarters in back of the store looked shiny and new. It too had a fresh coat of paint, and Franz purchased a larger rug to cover the expanded room. Everything was in place.

  When the shipments arrived, Afram helped Franz display the cigars, and cigarettes in the cases. They built a special case with hooks to hold the pipes, and the loose tobacco was placed in bins to keep it fresh. The next day they would open for business and Franz told Afram he was expecting him to bring his mother to the Grand Opening.

  After Afram left for home, Franz had one more thing to do. He summoned Ben and Sidney to the store where they lit up three of the best and most expensive cigars, and seated themselves out front on the chairs. If the numerous inquiries of passersby were any indication of how the shop would fare, success was inevitable.

  The town welcomed the new shop, and Franz felt more alive than he had in years. Business was brisk with both locals and visitors. Once again he had come through for Jamilia and her son, but he felt they too had come through for him. The hand-carved boxes proved to be a popular item keeping Afram busier than ever.

  Ben and Sidney kept in touch with Harry sporadically at best. They were each busy in their own world as the years passed into history. Rumors of war were just as rampant in South Africa as in London, especially with the continued influx of immigrants to Cape Town.

  December 1936, the brothers received a letter from Harry telling them of Jacob’s impending Bar Mitzvah the middle of January next. It had been almost seventeen years since they had seen one another. They decided to surprise Harry and Ada, meet their nephew and nieces for the first time, and celebrate Jacob’s becoming a man.

  When Ben told the Zellers of their plans, they urged them to stop by their father’s jewelry store in London and introduce themselves. They planned to be in the London area for one week. They knew that Harry was working for De Beers, and although their primary reason for going was to see what little family they had left, they intended to see as much as possible on this visit; after all who knew when they would get the chance again.

  As brothers growing up, they were close, but fate had cruelly separated them. They felt fortunate they were all doing well and living much better lives than what they had in Russia, but family was family. Ben and Sidney had never married so carrying on the Lyons name fell to Harry.

  Franz and the Zeller brothers saw them off at the dock as they set sail for London, England. They carried with them a hand-carved box holding one dozen cigars—to celebrate Jacob’s Bar Mitzvah. On the lid of the box was a beautifully and intricately carved head of a Lion.

  Harry’s surprise at looking up and seeing Ben and Sidney at the Great Central Synagogue attending Jacob’s Bar Mitzvah was the ultimate blessing.

  The brothers spent the week together—a week like no other in their entire lives.

  Harry and Ada ushered them all around London, and introduced them to Max and Reba Lerner. They stopped by Zeller’s and spent time with Paul and Phil’s father; they went to Hatton Garden—London’s diamond hub—and Harry took them to De Beers, where Marcus Hirsch welcomed them.

  They spent time with their nephew and nieces. When they left Minsk, Ada was barely eighteen, skinny, and somewhat awkward. She had blossomed into a beautiful woman whose contentment with life showed. Ben and Sidney envied their brother, his beautiful family, and their life in the Jewish community.

  In the back of his mind, Ben had thought about asking Harry to join them in Cape Town so they could once again be together. After seeing what Harry had built for his family and how happy they all were sadly convinced him otherwise, and he abandoned his plan.

  The week flew by quickly and although it seemed they had just arrived, it was time for the brothers to leave and return to Cape Town. It was a solemn goodbye at the dock. It took seventeen years to bring them together; they all hoped that their next meeting would be sooner rather than later.

  As year after year of the 1930s peeled away, and the inevitability of war became reality, when and where would the quirks of fate that govern life and death unite them once again?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Ben and Sidney returned to Cape Town and their small circle of friends came to meet them at the dock. The Zeller brothers and their wives, Franz, Jamilia, and Afram were all happy to see them. As they made their way up the hill to The Smoker’s Shop, Franz invited everyone in. He closed and locked the door, and asked Jamilia to help him bring in an assortment of sandwiches, cheese and crackers, fruit, and bottles of wine to celebrate their safe return.

  Although Ben and Sidney were exhausted, they were overwhelmed at their friends’ gesture of kindness. They had all become family.

  They learned Franz’s shop was doing good; Jonah and Norman had been working overtime to keep up with demand; and Franz surprised everyone by announcing he had a lead on a new client
for the Annex—to be discussed in the coming days.

  In turn, Ben and Sidney told them about their experience in London. They spoke of Harry, Ada, Jacob and the twins, and what a fine family their brother had; they described their visit to Hatton Garden and De Beers where Harry worked; and they told them about their visit to their father’s store. Ben reached into his pocket and removed an envelope handing it to Paul. “Your father asked me to give this to you.”

  It was late when everyone reluctantly decided it was time to go home. Although it was only a short walk, the Zellers offered Ben and Sidney a ride home. Jamilia and Afram stayed to help Franz put everything away.

  As much as they enjoyed London, it was good to be home. It was even better to want to be home

  Franz was true to his promise of a new client for the Annex. Allowing Ben and Sidney time to settle back in after returning from their trip to London, he decided after two weeks had passed to arrange a business meeting.

  For the most part, during the week, everyone was busy working; it was on weekends that they generally met at Sabbath Services. On occasion, Franz and the brothers had dinner together, met to discuss or seek advice on a specific topic, or just for a little company.

  Franz realized how important Ben and Sidney’s friendship had become to him in the weeks they spent travelling to, during, and from London home. He and Ben had become friends when each needed a friend; Sidney had been key in turning his life around by coming up with the idea of his new shop. If he couldn’t trust the Lyons brothers, whom could he trust?

  He chose Sunday for the meeting suggesting they meet for an early dinner, after which he planned to invite them back to his living quarters. The store closed, and Sunday normally a quiet day on the streets, led him to believe he could at long last relieve the burden of guilt that he carried most of his life.

  They dined at one of their favorite restaurants next door to the Metropole Hotel. They were all in a good mood. The brothers were pleased with their decision to visit Harry and his family, and they actually were quite taken with London. For a brief moment, Franz felt sad that he had no one—even 6,000 miles across the ocean, but as the moment passed, it only confirmed that he was doing the right thing.

  They arrived at the store and made their way to the back. He offered them cigars; they accepted; and as they sat back relaxed, Franz took center stage.

  From Hamburg, Germany, to Cape Town, South Africa, to the Orange River, he kept his friends spellbound for almost an hour. Speaking from the heart, he left no reason to doubt him. When he reached the end of his story, he stood and left the room, coming back with a bottle of wine and three glasses.

  “I collected thousands of rough diamonds—exactly how many I can’t tell you. I never counted them. I came home after each visit and simply added them to my cache. I had no idea what I was going to do with them, yet I continued to return to the farm, continued to collect the stones, and continued to deny I had a right to them.”

  He challenged Ben and Sidney. “I realize this is a lot to comprehend in one sitting; does anything come to mind? Do you have any suggestions?”

  Ben and Sidney were stunned. For what seemed a long time, no one spoke as they collected their thoughts.

  At last Ben asked, “Where are the diamonds?”

  Franz smiled for the first time. “I keep them in a crate hidden beneath the floor upon which we are sitting.”

  The brothers looked at one another amazed. “Are they secured under lock and key? Weren’t you ever worried that you would be robbed?”

  “No to both of your questions. I never told anyone about the diamonds; I basically had no life; I became a loner. No one ever came to the store except for customers, and honestly I guess I didn’t look smart enough to be concealing anything, let alone thousands of rough diamonds. They saw me as a young man trying to make a living, and they all knew I was a hard worker who had helped Simon immensely.

  “When I took over the store, I was welcomed by the Town, managing to increase business in the early years although I was not yet twenty years of age, and had never run a business. In the ensuing years, I helped a lot of people in the community in any way I could whenever the need arose.

  Once I no longer had ties to Simon’s farmhouse, I started attending services at the synagogue to meet people. I welcomed your friendship Ben, and Sidney’s when he moved here. We’ve been good friends and spent some good times together, have we not?

  “While you were away, I did a lot of thinking about the diamonds, certainly more than I’ve thought about them in all the years since I first found them. I still don’t know what to do with them. I did, however, make the decision to become a client of the Annex that is if you will accept me. I would like to have the rough diamonds cut, polished, and appraised. I will pay you for the services, of course. The time has come for me to know what I have.”

  Sidney turned to Ben and asked, “What do you think? Can we help our friend?”

  “We can, and we most certainly will. On the other hand, we must not act hastily; we must think the situation through thoroughly leaving no loopholes. I cannot justify picking up a new client of this magnitude without discussing it with the Zellers, but I think it best that Franz remain anonymous by setting up an account bearing an anonymous name and paying for our services with bank drafts.

  “We start by counting and sorting the diamonds which will have to be done right here. This limits our time to evenings and weekends when the store is closed. Although I don’t feel you have kept them secure all these years, I cannot deny that they have in fact apparently been quite safe after all. Moving them elsewhere is not an option; there is no way and nowhere safer to move them.

  “Once we know how many stones we are dealing with, we will get a better idea of how to proceed to cutting and polishing. They will have to be given to the Annex in batches based on availability of the cutters and workload. My suggestion is to begin with smaller stones, and appraise each batch as it is finished.

  “I have no knowledge whatsoever of any legal ramifications where you would have to show how you acquired the rough diamonds. I just don’t know. In all the years I’ve worked at the Annex, we have never had an instance where a client was questioned about the stones they sent us.”

  Ben looked at Franz. “Can we see the diamonds? See what we are dealing with?”

  Franz stood and pushed the table in front of the sofa aside. He rolled the rug back and lifted the door, revealing a stairway leading down below to the small storage area that Simon had included when he built the original store. He beckoned them to follow.

  On a bench against the wall sat a large covered wooden crate—it had a latch but was unlocked. Slowly, Franz released the latch and opened the lid. Filled to capacity the crate’s contents sparkled in the dimly lit space. It had been years since Franz had viewed them; and there he stood as much in awe as Ben and Sidney.

  “Diamonds have been in my life since I was born yet I have never seen this many stones—certainly not at one time. This will be a huge undertaking to say the least, but you are a good man and our good friend, and there isn’t anything within my power I wouldn’t do for you. I am sure Sidney agrees with me.”

  Without removing his eyes from the diamonds, Sidney nodded.

  “I welcome you as a client of the Annex. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but proceeding cautiously and diligently is paramount. I will not speak to the Zellers until we are ready to accept the first batch of stones.”

  They shook hands on the deal. Ben promised to formulate a plan with Franz to begin sorting and counting the diamonds.

  Perhaps he never felt the diamonds belonged to him because he had gathered them to help his mutti—the diamonds belonged to her.

  After his friends left, Franz fell into a troubled sleep. He dreamt of his mutti reaching out for help—he hadn’t been able to help her—he was too late.

  He
chided himself how different his life might have been if he had been able to bring her to Cape Town—finding the diamonds would have had meaning, would have changed their world.

  He never learned what had become of his father, his four sisters, and his brother who was an infant when he left. With the rise of Nazism in Germany and fleeing refuges’ reports of their treatment of Jews, he thought about his Jewish grandparents; in all probability they were no longer alive.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  They met as often as they could, on weekdays after The Smoker’s Shop closed and on weekends. Ben suggested that Franz build three crates—small to hold the larger stones, medium to hold the medium stones, and large to hold the smaller stones. They went to work sorting them by placing them in the crates according to size. They were surprised to find that there was an equal amount of smaller and medium stones, but also a fair amount of larger rock-size diamonds.

  By the time they finished sorting and counting, they made plans to move forward. Franz chose Shiloh as his client name—meaning the one to whom it belongs—in Hebrew. He advised the Zeller brothers of their new client, seeing no need to offer the number of diamonds involved or the client’s true identity. Their decision to submit them in batches made the information unnecessary.

  Ben regulated the number of rough stones submitted by Shiloh based on the workload of the Annex. When times were slower, he accepted more; when they were swamped with other orders, he accepted less, but always accepting some regardless of how few.