War Girl Ursula

by Marion Kummerow

  One of her former inmates – Hilde Quedlin, may she rest in peace – had received a letter from her relatives in Hamburg with a graphic description of the horrible scenes. Because the summer had been unusually hot and dry, the bombs created an effect never seen before. Ursula hadn’t exactly understood the details, but apparently, the dry buildings and trees had caught fire immediately, causing a vortex of hot air that created a cyclonic fire rampaging across the city and leaving a trail of complete destruction in its path. The asphalt on the streets burst into flames, as did the oil-saturated water of the many canals and the harbor. Eyewitnesses told about people being sucked into the fire like feathers right in front of them as they hurried to get to safety.

  Most of the fatalities didn’t occur due to burning, though, but in the treacherous safety of the underground bomb shelters. The fire raging above consumed all oxygen and the people suffocated.

  Ursula shivered at the thought of asphyxiation and involuntarily cleared her throat. When she finished her household chores, she put on her best dress, the one she’d worn for her wedding, together with a hat and gloves.

  “Mutter, Anna, I’m going to church,” she called out and stepped out the door. After mother’s scolding, Frau Weber didn’t dare to openly harass them anymore, but Anna heard the telltale click of the peephole in her door.

  After Mass, Pfarrer Bernau spoke to many of his parishioners, giving each of them a few words of encouragement. Ursula impatiently waited her turn.

  “Frau Hermann, it’s good to see you. Will you join me in my office in ten minutes to finalize the details for your late husband’s memorial service?”

  “Of course, Father, thank you for your kindness,” she said and turned to wait at the door to the sacristy, which had a connection to his private quarters.

  Ten minutes later, the church had emptied, and he arrived to lead her to his office. After carefully closing the door, he motioned for her to sit down.

  “Do you have news for me?” she burst out.

  Pfarrer Bernau chuckled. “Good things take time to ripen. But yes, I have a plan. It’s a long shot, but probably our only chance. That is…if you agree.”

  “Me? Of course,” Ursula answered, her feet tip-tapping on the parquet flooring.

  “Hear me out first and then decide.”

  His authoritative tone made goosebumps rise on her arms. “Fine.”

  “Sometimes God sends us an opportunity disguised. We simply have to listen and understand. After hearing about the evacuation of residents of Hamburg to Hitler’s unfinished luxury hotel in Prora on the island of Rügen, I had an idea. Captain Westlake can pretend to be a resident of Hamburg who has been bombed out.”

  “But his accent…they’ll never believe he’s a German,” Ursula protested.

  The priest smirked. “That’s why he’s mute and mostly deaf. Shell-shock. He’s been discharged from the Eastern Front because of severe injuries. If you manage to get sent with the other civilians to Prora, then there’s a merchant ship waiting for him three days from now in Sassnitz to get him to Trelleborg in Sweden.”

  “But without papers, how can we prove any of this?” Ursula asked, confused. The tip-tapping of her toes stopped for a moment as she tried to wrap her brain around the words of the priest. It didn’t make sense.

  “This is where you come into play. I have to warn you, though, it’s extremely risky, but may be the only way to make it work.” Pfarrer Bernau leaned back in his chair and folded his hands across his stomach as if in prayer. “If you travel with him as his wife, letting him use the papers of your late husband, it might work. I can have the photo switched out in time.”

  All the blood drained from her face, and she studied her toes.

  “Don’t jump the gun on this decision. It is grave. If you are caught, nothing will save you. Not him. And not you,” the priest enjoined her.

  “I will do it,” she whispered.

  Ursula left the priest determined to set the plan in action before she lost her nerve and changed her mind. She took the bus to the allotment gardens and ran straight to the small patch her family owned, foregoing the agreement to deposit a note. This was too urgent.

  “Tom! Open the door, it’s me, Ursula,” she whispered urgently as she tapped on the door of the shed. Tom opened it looking as though he had just woken up. Since he couldn’t go out during the day, he spent his days sleeping and his nights doing whatever he needed to do.

  Ursula pushed straight through, not wanting anyone to notice her presence.

  “Bloody hell, Ursula, you gave me a fright. I thought we agreed you wouldn’t come back here,” Tom said and yawned.

  “I know, but I couldn’t wait. The day after tomorrow, we’ll try again.” She breathed hard, barely getting the words out.

  “Come on. Sit down and relax. Do you want some water?” He moved to the cupboard where he’d stored water in a carafe.

  Ursula sat down and caught her breath. Then she detailed the new plan. Tom listened intently, shaking his head to the right and the left. When she ended, he looked at her for a long time.

  “No. It’s too dangerous,” he said with arms crossed in front of his chest and his feet planted on the ground at hips’ width.

  “But it’s a unique chance. There’s a merchant ship sailing three days from now. It will take you to safety.” Ursula pleaded with him.

  “No. I won’t allow you to risk your life for me.”

  “What have I been doing up till now then?” she asked. “In fact, I will only be safe again when you’re gone. The Gestapo isn’t stupid, and as long as you’re in Germany, you’re a threat to my safety.”

  He stared at her for a long time and then said, “All right. What’s next?”

  “I’ll tell you some more about Andreas. After all, you’ll be him.” She smiled sheepishly, wishing for a moment he could really become her husband and not only pretend.

  They sat down together, and she instructed him about everything there was to know, reminding him that from the time he left the allotment until he reached the ship he was supposed to be mute, deaf, and limping.

  “We’ll meet the day after tomorrow at seven a.m. at the bus stop. Don’t be late,” she said as she prepared to leave.

  “How could I leave such a beautiful woman waiting?” he teased, and the blood shot to her face. If she’d had the time to think through the plan properly, she would have refused. Now, it was too late.

  That night she told Anna about the plan. Her sister seemed torn between admiring Ursula’s courage and questioning her mental health.

  “God help us, sister. I won’t have a moment’s peace until you return.” Anna wrapped her arms around her sister. They clung to each other like castaways to a safety buoy.

  “Anna. I will be gone for two days. What shall we tell Mutter?” Ursula whispered.

  “Be glad that you have me,” her sister teased. “In the hospital, they were seeking volunteers to accompany the evacuees in their off time. We’ll tell her you’re doing just that. And it’s not even a lie…”

  The next morning, they told Mutter about Ursula’s volunteer work.

  “I don’t understand why you have to do this.” Mutter shook her head. “Where will you sleep?”

  “Mutter, I’m sure we’ll be taken care of,” Ursula answered.

  “Maybe I should phone the officer in charge to recommend you,” her mother replied with anxiety and dried her hands on her apron as if she intended to use the phone right now.

  Ursula’s legs were close to giving out, and she might have fainted if her sister hadn’t intervened.

  “Mutter, please. Ursula is an adult. How will she look if her mother calls to make sure she’s safe?”

  “I don’t know…”

  “We were fine while you were gone; it really is no big thing.” Ursula tried to set her mother’s mind at ease.

  “About that…knowing how much you two dislike gardening work, I plan to visit the allotment today.”

&nbs
p; “You can’t…” Ursula blurted out before she caught her lapse and continued in a much calmer voice. “You just got here, and you must be tired.”

  “I arrived more than a week ago.” Mutter pressed her lips into a thin line.

  “Ursula and I have been taking care of everything. There’s nothing that needs to be done.” Anna came to her sister’s help, but to no avail. If anything, she’d managed to raise their mother’s suspicions.

  Mutter put both fists on her hips and stared at her daughters. “What exactly are you hiding from me?”

  Ursula squirmed under the scrutiny. As much as she wanted to, a direct lie to her mother would never leave her lips.

  “I can’t say. And for your own sake, you’d rather not know. Please, can you wait just one more day? I promise it’ll all be over by then.” Ursula wrung her hands, willing her mother to agree.

  Her mother sighed, pressing her palm to her temple. “You are right. Taking my cue from Frau Weber and your strange behavior, I’d rather not know. I can only pray to God that whatever you’re doing isn’t rash and immoral. I should never have left you without my supervision, but who could divine that the two of you would take after Lotte?” With these words, Mutter turned around and disappeared into her bedroom, leaving two completely perplexed daughters behind.

  “Did she really say this?” Anna murmured. “I feared she’d ground us without food until we told her the truth.”

  “I’m sure she already figured a version that’s very close to the truth and decided she didn’t want to know…” Ursula’s heart was still beating in staccato. She dried her sweaty palms with a dishtowel and added, “I’ll have to go to work. See you tonight. Love you, sister.”

  At work, she arranged for a colleague to cover her shifts for the next two days in exchange for her working the next two weekend shifts. When she returned home in the evening, her mother had already retreated into her room, which Ursula was actually thankful for. It would only be awkward to sit together and not talk about the one topic that was on everyone’s mind.

  The next morning, she gathered Andreas’ papers that had been sent to her after his demise, hugged her mother and her sister goodbye, and walked to the meeting place with Tom. Her wedding band glittered golden in the sun. It’s actually a good thing I’m still wearing it.

  He already waited for her, meticulously dressed and combed. She gave him his papers, and he took her arm like any gallant husband would. A tingle crept down her spine.

  “Are you ready to do this?” He smiled at her.

  “No, and I don’t think I ever will, but let’s do it anyways.” Ursula gave a nervous laugh and was thankful for the confidence he exuded.

  “That’s the way I like my girls. Valiant and never losing their humor.” He pecked her cheek and the tingle in her body intensified.

  “I’m just glad you won’t be able to talk for the rest of our journey,” she retorted and reveled a tiny bit in the sight of his dismayed face.

  Then he raised his hand to his lips and made the gesture of turning a key and throwing it away. A few minutes later, they boarded the bus that would take them on the same journey to Bahnhof Zoo they had taken only a few days before.

  She bought the tickets without any problems, papers were checked and checked again, and nobody raised as much as an eyebrow. When they finally found a place on the train, she slumped against the backrest with a sigh loud enough to make the other passengers look.

  Ursula glanced into tired, worried faces. Faces that told of awful experiences, of horrible fear, and of the hope to escape their nightmares. She wondered whether all of them were evacuees. Despite the masses of people, there was very little chatter, and the atmosphere remained cold.

  As much as she yearned to talk to Tom, they had to maintain the ruse at all cost. It was his only chance to leave Germany alive. So, they sat in silence holding hands throughout the entire journey.

  Several hours later, the train stopped in Stralsund.

  “Endstation.”

  Tom sent her a questioning glance.

  “The conductor said this is the terminal station, but he didn’t say why. It looks like we have to walk the rest of the way.” She spoke with exaggerated movements, as if she wanted him to lip-read her words.

  They disembarked from the train together with several hundred other passengers. All of them headed toward the island of Rügen that connected to the mainland via the Rügendamm, a two-and-a-half-mile-long bridge. Word traveled that the train had to return and evacuees were supposed to walk across the bridge.

  Ursula and Tom followed the long line of people ahead. It was a sad procession of people crossing the immense bridge. Determination dominated their faces, and no one stopped to talk to others as they would have done before the war.

  Most of them carried suitcases or other luggage. Ursula assumed it was everything they had left in their possession after being bombed out. Like most people, her mother had deposited suitcases with friends and family in houses at different corners of Berlin in case they lost their home. Then they would at least have the bare necessities. Two of their four suitcases had already gone up in flames together with the belongings of the family residing in that house.

  She and Tom were asked for their identification papers upon disembarking the train, and again just before setting a step on the bridge, but in the hustle and bustle, it seemed no one noticed that they did not fit in with the rest.

  Ursula was too occupied with her own thoughts to give much attention to the beautiful landscape surrounding her. The view down from the bridge across the Baltic Sea sparkling in the sunshine would have been spectacular. A soft breeze blew the smells of salt and fish into her nose, combined with the taste of fresh earth and grass. She pushed a strand of hair from her eyes behind her ear.

  The afternoon sun shone bright and would have dazzled her if she hadn’t kept her eyes looking at the ground. With every step she took, her inner turmoil increased. Yes, she wanted to get Tom to safety, but she also dreaded the time to say goodbye. As soon as she delivered him to his contact person on the ship, she’d make her way back. He’d leave without having left a trace, and soon, he wouldn’t be more than a ghost lingering in her memory.

  Chapter 22

  The Island of Rügen loomed on the horizon, and it wasn’t more than a hundred yards before the bridge ended, and they would step onto the island. But the trek slowed down. SS and border police demanded to see papers again.

  “Papers, please,” an SS officer said.

  Ursula handed over her and Tom’s papers, while Tom stared at the ground, his mouth half open while incessantly nodding his head.

  “These papers are not valid.”

  Ursula almost toppled over at the impact of his words. If it weren’t for Tom’s unforgiving grip on her hand, she would have dumped everything and started to run – like the fake nurse at the train station. And she’d probably end up the same way…

  “Why, sir? Our papers…” Ursula’s breath came in ragged spurts.

  The SS officer turned to Tom, completely ignoring Ursula. “You and your wife are currently registered in Berlin. The buildings at Prora are specifically designated for evacuees from Hamburg. Didn’t you know this?”

  Tom raised his head when the officer took a step closer, and kept nodding with something similar to a smile.

  “Officer, my husband can’t hear you,” Ursula addressed the police officer. “He came home from the front mute and deaf. Shell-shocked, the doctor said.”

  The SS officer looked uncertain. Tom edged closer to her as if he were afraid, drool dripping from his lower lip.

  “I thought we would be better off out here because the constant air raids in Berlin make him worse. The doctor said my Andreas might regain some of his senses if I can take him far away from the impacts of war.” Ursula was proud of herself. Apparently, Anna wasn’t the only one with acting abilities in the family.

  “I honor the sacrifice your husband made for our country, Frau…”
he checked the papers that he was still holding in his hand, “…Hermann. But orders are orders. I can’t permit you to enter Rügen. You must return to the mainland.” He handed the papers back to her.

  Ursula wanted to jump with joy because he hadn’t arrested them, but instead, she said with a solemn face, “Thank you, Officer.” A huge sigh escaped her lungs as she turned to her husband and tugged his arm to make him aware they had to turn around.

  “Gnädige Frau,” the SS officer called after her when she’d gone less than three steps. The blood froze in her veins, but she turned around.

  “Yes, Officer?”

  “In Stralsund, take a bus to a village called Jakobsdorf. If you are willing to work hard, tell the mayor you came recommended by SS-Sturmmann Kunze.”

  A smile crossed her face. “Thank you for your kindness, Officer Kunze.”

  The trek back across the bridge was even more depressing. Now they faced the tired, despairing, and pained faces of the evacuees and had to push against the stream of people. Instead of looking onto the green island of Rügen lying like a jewel in the Baltic Sea, they now faced the ancient Hanseatic City of Stralsund with its signature red-brick buildings.

  Under normal circumstances, Ursula would have appreciated the beauty of this city, but now it only reminded her of their failure – again. Tom was returning to the German mainland, every step taking him further away from freedom.

  Once they had reached their starting point again, they wandered away from the crowd until they found a secluded place on the beach, where they fell into the sand, leaning against each other.

  “Oh God, Tom. What are we going to do?” Ursula asked with desperation.

  “Don’t worry. We’re still alive. We’ll find another way to get on the island.” He wrapped his arms around her, spreading comfort. “You should return before it gets too late.”

  Ursula leaned her head against his shoulder. “No. Without me, it will be even harder for you to find your way to the Swedish ship. Who knows how many more checkpoints are on Rügen.”