Outcasts

by Susan M. Papp

  "What's perfect?" Suti asked, looking up from his homework. Icuka was sitting close to him, slowly, carefully drawing each letter he was writing down. Their mother, at the kitchen table kneading bread dough for the weekly baking, looked up, smiled at Hedy, and gave her an inquisitive look.

  Hedy smiled back at her and read them the advertisement. "Typing, shorthand, bookkeeping. And the firm is right here in Nagyszollos!" She omitted the sentence about experience. Hedy felt sure she could overcome that small detail somehow.

  Without comment, her mother returned to pummelling and folding the bread dough. She was impressed with the idea of Hedy applying for the job, but she wouldn't say so out loud. Terez never lavished Hedy, or any of her children, with praise. Even when she finished at the top of her class, Hedy didn't need to be told it was expected of her to excel in her studies. She realized that her mother's attitude only made her more industrious, more motivated to excel in her studies.

  "Whose office is it?" Her mother's voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up.

  "Schroeder and Berliner."

  Everyone in town was familiar with the store, which was centrally located on a small street adjacent to the Roman Catholic church. Her mother nodded and went back to the dough. The Schroeder and Berliner families were both well-respected in the community and they operated the only store in town where residents could requisition radios, radio parts, and rubber tires. The store handled salt and yeast requisitions as well - items needed in every household. Since the start of the war these items had been designated "essential" and the government monitored supplies and kept exact records of who requisitioned what. Rubber was also scarce and first priority went to the military. Radios could only be obtained with special permission as they could be used by spies or to listen to the BBC news. The Schroeder and Berliner store handled the paperwork for all of these items. Although she didn't show it or say anything, Terez was proud of her daughter.

  Yes, Hedy thought to herself, I will apply for the job. She cocked her head to the side as she studied the name and address listed in the newspaper. The name of the firm had a distinguished resonance to it.

  Tibor Schroeder

  Electrical and Engineering Enterprise

  Telephone: 11

  Post Office Box: 32

  This wasn't the first time she would have contact with Schroeder and his family. When she was ten, Hedy had been invited to the grand house on the hill by Tibor's sister, Picke. The stately house was situated on a perfect hillside for sledding and, as soon as the first snow fell, the neighbourhood children would all congregate on the hill, their screams and shouts echoing in the distance as they rode their toboggans and sleds down the steep incline. Hedy and Picke had started chattering and laughed all through the afternoon of that snowy day. Picke found Hedy very entertaining and later invited her back to the house for hot chocolate.

  As she stepped into the front foyer, Hedy was overwhelmed by the impressive two-storey atrium filled with rows upon rows of books. She had never seen so many books in one collection. Hedy had the urge to stop there and just run her fingers along the neatly organized spines, to just read the titles, but Picke took her hand and led her inside on a tour of the house.

  Hedy didn't know where to look first. Mahogany chaise lounges and chairs sat elegantly in the front parlour beside side tables and coffee tables with elaborately carved designs on the sides. Bronze statues of ancient Greek mythological deities and porcelain figurines decorated the tables, bookshelves, and glass-enclosed china cabinets. Flowing landscape paintings and portraits of important-looking ancestors hung on the walls. Rich, ornate Persian carpets covered the main areas of the oak parquet flooring. She ran her hand sensuously over the impressive black Bosendorfer grand piano that stood in one corner.

  "Come," sang Picke as she led Hedy into the dining room where the table was being set with Meissen china. Hedy had only seen such china patterns in magazines and watched mesmerized as the maid made her way around the table, polishing the silverware, checking for any spots on the crystal wine goblets as she set three goblets at each place setting. The maid didn't even notice the two young girls as she went about unfolding each stiffly starched white serviette and folding each again as she laid them on the table beside each dinner plate. Each serviette was big enough to cover a small side table.

  Colonel Domokos Aykler as head of the press corps for the Hungarian army in 1942.

  "Let me show you my room, and my dolls," Picke said as she marched out of the room, unaware of her guest's awe. They climbed the massive staircase to the second floor, walking past a room whose door was closed. Hedy looked at the only door that wasn't ajar and Picke noticed.

  "That's my older brother Tibor's room. He is away at technical college in Kassa and he really doesn't like us rummaging through his room. That's why Mother keeps his door locked. We can only go in there when he's home."

  On one side of the house there was a room with a magnificent view of the town. "Look," Picke exclaimed, pointing toward the window. "How many church steeples can you count from here?" As Hedy began adding them up, Picke shouted, "Seventeen!" even before Hedy had a chance to respond. She had never seen Nagyszollos from such a height and Picke seemed thrilled at how enthusiastically Hedy responded to all she showed her. Soon they were exploring all the crawl spaces and crannies of the house. "Okay. Now let me show you my room."

  Picke led Hedy to a corner room with a breathtaking view of the vineyards. There were two single beds in the room, each one covered with white lace and decorated, one with teddy bears and the other with dolls. Hedy caught sight of a doll that had an exquisite painted porcelain face. It was beautiful and its dark blue velvet dress with ecru lace collar matched the fine features of the porcelain visage. She walked tentatively closer and looked at her. There was so much fine detail on the doll; even her socks had a tiny cuff of lace.

  A Sunday at home with the family, circa 1943.

  "I've named her Maria," volunteered Picke proudly. "My Uncle Laszlo brought it back from Budapest for me. It was hand-painted in China."

  Along the walls there were bookcases with row upon row of children's books. There were more books here than even in the local library, Hedy realized.

  As they were paging through some of the books, Picke's mother walked into the room. Karola saw the look of wide-eyed wonderment on Hedy's face as she stared at the amazing collection of books. She smiled warmly at the girl and invited Hedy back to the house any time to borrow something to read.

  As she sat in the kitchen with the newspaper in her hand and remembered that day, Hedy realized that the warm, engaging woman was Tibor Schroeder's mother as well.

  A few years after that snowy day, Hedy had met Tibor Schroeder himself. She was sure Mr. Schroeder wouldn't remember the encounter but she certainly did. The occasion was Hedy's close friend Babci's wedding. The girls studied together at business school and the tall Babci with the perfect hourglass figure couldn't wait to marry her childhood sweetheart who had, by then, finished his degree in law. Babci was a very bright girl but she had married when she was only sixteen. It was at her dear friend's wedding that Hedy first noticed the handsome Tibor Schroeder. Many of the girls in her class were standing around tittering about this tall, broad-shouldered young man with intense brown eyes. At the reception, he entertained and enchanted the women who were continually flocking around him. Hedy watched him from the corner.

  Now, years later, she would be seeing him again. She folded the newspaper and laid it on the chair next to her. She wouldn't mention that meeting when she met him. She had been a shy, thin schoolgirl at the time and was convinced that Mr. Schroeder hadn't even noticed her.

  Tibor Schroeder could barely contain his excitement as he watched the stunning young woman walk into the office. She was wearing a fitted, light-blue stylish knit suit, her blond hair pinned back in a French twist. He watched through a glass window as his partner, Jaszli Berliner, showed her to a chair in the waiting room. Jaszli
asked her a few questions and took the papers she handed him.

  A few moments later, Jaszli bought her papers into Tibor's office and said in a barely audible voice, "She has no experience." There was a tone of finality in the statement that Tibor understood, but chose to ignore. He had already decided to hire her. For appearance's sake, however, he told Jaszli that he wanted to ask her a few questions, making it look like he was seriously interviewing a potential candidate. He led her into his office and looked at the pages Jaszli had handed him.

  "These are very impressive grades, Miss Weisz. How recently did you graduate from business college?"

  Hedy hesitated for a moment; she didn't want to seem impertinent.

  "Just now," she stated calmly, with a bit of a smile.

  "Of course, of course. It's all here," Tibor replied, studiously examining the transcripts in front of him.

  It was springtime, and Tibor wished he could ask this stunning young woman out for a cool drink on a shady terrace somewhere instead of sitting at a desk across from her in this stuffy office. As she sat there, slowly pulling off her white gloves and revealing long fingers and neatly manicured nails, he pretended to continue studying her transcripts. Tibor glanced up at her occasionally. She was a flawless beauty, there was no doubt about it. There was nothing but perfection about her. He couldn't believe she had grown up in Nagyszollos and he had never noticed her before.

  Tibor looked up from the transcripts. "Miss Weisz," Tibor said, trying to keep a professional tone of voice, "You have the job. When can you start working?"

  Hedy glanced at Jaszli, who was watching Tibor silently.

  "Well, anytime, really. Possibly tomorrow morning," she replied, trying to hide her astonishment at being hired so quickly.

  "Tomorrow morning it is, then," Tibor repeated as he stood up to escort her to the door.

  "Thank you," Hedy said.

  "We thank you, Miss Weisz." Tibor's brown eyes glistened with happiness at the thought of seeing her again so soon. "Until tomorrow morning, then."

  Hedy turned back at the door and asked tentatively, "What time should I be here?"

  "What time?" Tibor looked to his partner for a second and Jaszli promptly replied, "Eight-thirty." She smiled and said goodbye. Once she was out the door, Tibor looked at Jaszli, who just rolled his eyes in exasperation.

  As soon as she was out of sight of the office, Hedy practically skipped home with happiness. She could hardly wait to tell her parents and siblings that she had found a job at an important business in town and that her new employer seemed like a very kind man. She'd keep to herself the fact that she thought Tibor was very handsome, too.

  Hedy began work at her new job the next day. It didn't take long for Tibor and Jaszli to realize that, in addition to her striking appearance, she was proficient at her work. She typed the extensive lists of the requisition slips without errors and kept the books. The piles of papers that had, until then, been such a nuisance around the office disappeared into newly organized filing cabinets. When townspeople and farmers came from the surrounding villages to requisition the necessary raw materials for their businesses, Hedy processed the applications efficiently. Everyone liked her.

  Tibor was twenty-five years old and had quite a bit of experience with women. Although he had been infatuated before, he had been determined not to get entangled with any of the spoiled daughters of well-to-do provincial families in the region. Hedy was different. He had never met anyone as intriguing as her before. She was intelligent and witty and, more importantly, she had something that he was looking for in a woman and rarely found: charisma.

  Overnight, Tibor became devoted to his work. Everyone around him noticed how enthusiastic and animated he became when he talked of the business. He made up excuses to spend long hours in the office just to be near Hedy and frequently walked behind her chair to get a whiff of her scent. He was often tempted to touch her hair, her hands, her face, but somehow managed to keep a sense of decorum between them.

  Within a week of her employment, he offered to take her to lunch at a nearby café. Hedy looked at him in shock. It was such a small town and there were only two restaurants. But he acted as if it was the most natural thing to do. They both knew they could never go into a café together, but Tibor didn't seem to care. It had been a year now since the law had come into effect making it illegal for a Christian to marry a Jew and qualifying sexual relations between them as a "defamation of race." But Tibor didn't concern himself with laws, especially those that tried to legislate whom he could fall in love with. He simply didn't care what people knew or what they thought. He felt sure that his stepfather's rank and status in the army offered him some protection from this ludicrous state of affairs and continued to mock and openly criticize the changes forced on them by new regimes and wartime situations. She looked at him demurely and graciously declined, but something in her look told Tibor that the ever-deepening feelings of affection he was experiencing might be stirring in her as well.

  It started innocently enough. As office manager, Jaszli described her daily tasks in detail, including making coffee in the morning. But Tibor, seeing the amount of work she had to contend with, began to make coffee for her each morning. If clients weren't waiting and the office was quiet, Tibor would bring in a simple lunch from a nearby café.

  "You will spoil the professional working relationship we have with Miss Weisz," Jaszli warned him. But Tibor couldn't care less about maintaining the strict rules dictating the relationships between employer and employee. Their conversations went on, sometimes for hours, about their families, their interests, their hobbies, and their surprisingly similar views of the world. Gradually, she began to weave her way into his mind and his heart.

  Hedy was impressed with Tibor's impeccable manners. It meant the world to her that he sought out her opinions on all kinds of issues. He often said she brought a fresh pair of eyes to the way they did business at the firm. He convinced Hedy that her work really made a difference. He was so inquisitive yet lighthearted that Hedy didn't mind at all his questioning her.

  Soon, he began to actively court her. The flower market was directly adjacent to the office and, at least once a week, he would show up at work with a bouquet of flowers and a simple message card that read, "How did we ever manage before you?" or "To the loveliest young woman in Nagyszollos." Tibor had a zest for life that Hedy had never experienced before in any other young man that courted her. Sometimes, an hour before closing time and much to Jaszli Berliner's chagrin, Tibor would put the closed sign on the door, bring out a bottle of pear brandy, pour it into three separate glasses, and toast the end of the week or the brilliant sunshine or the start of spring or the end of a dreary day.

  Tibor was incredibly generous, frequently providing Hedy with tickets to theatrical presentations or movies that came to town. He persuaded Hedy to fill out a form with the ages and shoe sizes of each of her siblings, telling her that the firm needed these for their records. A few months later, each member of the Weisz family received a new pair of leather shoes. In wartime, leather shoes were a rare commodity and Hedy couldn't hide her incredible surprise or sufficiently express her gratitude.

  By the fall of 1942, a general curfew had been ordered in the town and power for street lights was curtailed. When darkness fell or they had to work late, Tibor would escort Hedy home, insisting that a young woman wasn't safe on the dimly lit streets of their town. Because they were bundled up in coats and hats, they were rarely recognized. Tibor pulled Hedy as close to him as possible as they walked, stepping in unison.

  Sometimes they talked quietly as they walked along the darkened streets; sometimes they didn't say a word and just walked. Often Tibor would lead her on a more circuitous route home, just to extend their time together. During the long walks, Hedy felt a quiver of excitement run all the way down her spine. It was so strong she thought Tibor felt it as well.

  A few months after she started working for Tibor, Hedy noticed one evening that Ja
szli Berliner left the store early, something he hardly ever did. That left Tibor and Hedy alone in the store. An avid music collector, Tibor had a large record collection with the newest releases of jazz, classical, and big-band music and a Siemens top-of-the-line record player in the store to play them on. That evening, he chose Marlene Dietrich's newest album to put on the turntable. One of the songs was a dreamy tune entitled "Falling in Love Again." Hedy had never heard it before and she was enchanted by the melody and the lyrics.

  As she sat listening at her desk, Tibor came over and asked if she would come into his office. She stood up and picked up her pencil and steno pad, thinking he wanted to dictate a letter to her, but he took hold of her hand and guided her deftly to sit beside him on the two-seater couch in his office. When they sat down, he didn't let go and extricated the pad and pencil from her hand. He placed them on the coffee table in front of them where there already sat two brandy glasses, a bottle of sweet Tokay wine, and almond crescent cookies meticulously laid out with lace napkins. It was as if he had been planning this surprise for her. Tibor seemed pensive but then he smiled and began to speak.

  "I thought it was time we had a more serious chat, Miss Weisz." He poured them each a small glass of dessert wine and gave one glass to Hedy. "But first, let's have a drink to celebrate our wonderful ...," he paused for a moment, lifted his glass, and then continued, "working relationship." They clinked glasses and he continued. "I feel I must tell you what a great deal of admiration and affection I have developed for you over these past few months. He looked seriously in her eyes. "If this feeling is not mutual or you feel uncomfortable by the subject of this conversation, please tell me now. As for me, I want to talk about ... us."