Unrelenting: Love and Resistance in Pre-War Germany

by Marion Kummerow

  Even after they settled on a date, the list continued to grow, but their need to relax didn’t.

  It was increasingly difficult to find entertaining things to do, because the National Socialists had usurped every last part of German day-to-day life. Even the first-ever color picture, Becky Sharp, which Q invited Hilde to watch, was embedded with short propaganda films.

  Which reminded Q that he’d not given his Russian contact any information lately. But now, with more than himself at stake, Q didn’t dare to visit the Soviet trade mission again. Instead, he sent Pavel a note and from then on, they met regularly at ever-changing public places. The Berlin Zoo park, the Wannsee Lake, an art exhibition.

  About one month after his proposal, Hilde waved a piece of paper at him when he arrived to pick her up. “You won’t believe what this is,” she said with a sour face.

  “Don’t I at least get a kiss?” he asked.

  She gave him a half-hearted kiss before she blurted out with a high-pitched voice, “The Reichstag has passed another racial law.”

  “Let me see,” he said and took the paper from her shaking hands. According to the piece of paper, all couples eager to marry must now abide with the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor that forbade marriages and extramarital intercourse between Jews and Germans. “Neither of us is Jewish, so this won’t hinder us from getting married.”

  Hilde pierced him with angry eyes. “You haven’t heard all of it. You now have to prove you’re Aryan to get permission to marry. The man at the civil registry explained that we both have to present a Lesser Aryan Certificate.”

  Looking into her worried eyes, it dawned on him that this might mean a delay in their wedding plans. He sighed. “What do we need to get this certificate?”

  She shoved another paper into his hand that indicated the requirements. “Here.”

  The document explained that seven birth or baptism certificates were required – the person wanting to get married, his parents, as well as maternal and paternal grandparents. Additionally, three marriage certificates, one for each set of parents and grandparents. In lieu of the original documents, they could submit certified proofs.

  “Oh my, we better start gathering the documents right away.” He sighed and reached out to embrace her. “Don’t worry.”

  She pressed her cheek against his chest. “We can’t apply for the license and fix a date before we have the required certificate. And the man at the civil registry warned me that there is already a long waiting time, because since the law was passed a few days ago, no more weddings have been scheduled.”

  Hilde’s father and her mother helped gather the needed documents, and as 1936 arrived, she held her Lesser Aryan Certificate in her hands. But they faced unforeseen problems on Q’s side.

  His maternal grandmother had been born in Temesvar, Hungary and thus was suspected to be non-Aryan by descent. After several letters back and forth to the authorities in Temesvar, it became clear that they couldn’t produce a birth certificate of Q’s grandmother. Despite his mistrust for Hilde, Q’s brother Gunther offered to help and send an official letter in his position as lawyer.

  ***

  Many a time Hilde confided in her friends Erika and Gertrud that she was beginning to lose hope of ever getting married. Every time they got close to fixing a date, they were forced to postpone it. Again and again and again.

  On one occasion, she told her friends, “I’m so fed up with all of this, I’m going to cancel the wedding and break up with Q.”

  Gertrud laughed at her. “As if you could do that, Hilde. You love that man so much.”

  Hilde dropped her face into her hands. “It’s true. If I didn’t know he’s the one, I would have given up on the idea of marriage months ago. I hate those stupid racial laws and what they make us go through.”

  Gertrud patted her arm. “I agree. They’re a pain, and we certainly could do without them.”

  “Don’t say that,” Erika chimed in. “Those racial laws may be inconvenient at times, but they do serve a purpose. We may not understand them, but the people who made them are much wiser than we are.”

  Hilde and Gertrud exchanged eye rolls behind Erika’s back but let their friend continue to sing the praise of racial segregation.

  By mid-year, as they were still attempting to prove Q’s Aryan heritage, it became hard to ignore the signs of a totally different kind of trouble. Germany was preparing for war. The neighboring European countries were preparing for war. Even the Russians were preparing for war.

  “England is preparing for war,” Q told Hilde one evening after listening to BBC radio on his enhanced Volksempfänger.

  She nodded. “You said this day was coming. Isn’t there anything that can be done to prevent it?”

  “I’m afraid not. And there’s more troubling news. I heard they’re building a new super-prison in Oranienburg. Apparently, it will be at the same location currently housing a small concentration camp for political prisoners.”

  “How do you know all of this?” She snuggled up to him.

  He tapped her nose. “Oranienburg is a small place. When I lived there, I knew some of the guards. Most of them have been replaced by SS men because they haven’t been strict enough with the prisoners.”

  Hilde shuddered and didn’t ask what strict meant. If it was anything similar to the rumors she’d heard about the way suspects were treated at the Gestapo headquarters in Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse, then she didn’t want to know.

  Q continued, “Apparently all persons considered a political danger to the Nazi regime can end up there without judicial review or the right to a lawyer. Communists, Social Democrats, critics, and everyone who dares raise his voice against the Nazi system. Well, those, and everyone who’s deemed undesirable, including the homeless, beggars, criminals, homosexuals and even Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

  “Oh my God, that’s pretty much everyone! You say one wrong word and you end up in one of those camps? That can’t be true.”

  “I’m afraid it is.” Q pressed Hilde against his body and kissed her. “This is why you have to be careful. Don’t ever criticize the government.”

  Hilde’s palms broke out into a cold sweat and she turned uncomfortably in his arms, “I didn’t tell you…”

  His brows furrowed. “Didn’t tell me what?”

  “The day I mailed my father that first letter, there was a man. He stole a woman’s purse. She started screaming and SS officers came from everywhere. They caught up with him and beat him to death in the street.”

  She swallowed, knowing he wouldn’t like the next part. “I was so upset, I wasn’t thinking straight. I took a small step forward, trying to keep them from killing him, but some stranger grabbed my shoulder, pulled me away, and lectured me.”

  Q hugged her close, a long sigh of relief exiting his lungs. “Thank God he did. They probably would’ve killed you too. Please promise to be more careful.”

  “I promise, but I can’t get the picture of that man out of my head.”

  He kissed her hair. “It will remind you to be careful.”

  ***

  Eight months after Q’s proposal, Hilde had almost lost all hope. “We’ll never be able to get married,” she sobbed into his shoulder.

  “Hilde, sweetheart. I love you so much. What difference does a wedding certificate make?”

  She looked at him with questions in her eyes, and he continued, “I don’t care whether or not we’re officially married, we could still live together.”

  “But that would be very unusual and inappropriate.”

  “I know,” Q said against her lips. “But what other choice do we have? I hate seeing you so upset by all of this.”

  “I’ll be fine. Maybe we should even travel to Temesvar to take things into our hands?”

  Q hugged her tight. “That’s my girl. And if Gunther’s last letter to the former priest in Temesvar doesn’t produce anything, we’ll do just that.”

  A knock on the doo
r startled them, and Hilde wondered who it could be. An unexpected knock on the door was almost never a good thing. Q opened the door and Hilde saw his curious neighbor peering into the flat.

  “Doctor Quedlin, the postman left this registered letter earlier in the afternoon.”

  Q took the letter from her hand, and when he didn’t offer an explanation, the neighbor added, “It’s from Hungary. Does it contain documents pertaining to your marriage?”

  Hilde saw the amused smile on Q’s face as he answered the woman, “Thank you very much for accepting the letter and taking the trouble to bring it over.”

  The eyes of the neighbor were glued to the letter. “Don’t you want to open it?”

  “I certainly do. I’ll need to go to my office for the letter opener. Thank you so much again.” With these words, he closed the door and Hilde grinned from ear to ear.

  “That woman certainly is nosy. Now let’s see what it says.”

  “Hm. I believe someone else is nosy too,” he teased.

  “Come on, we’ve been waiting such a long time. Open it before I tear it apart.”

  “But only because it’s you asking.” Q fetched the letter opener and Hilde’s heart stood still while he fingered a document from the envelope. “A baptism certificate from the Catholic Church in Temesvar.” He dropped the document onto the table and spun Hilde around. “We can get married now.”

  “Finally,” she cried, holding onto him with all her strength. “I almost stopped believing it would ever happen.”

  He kissed her hard. “I’ll apply for the Aryan certificate first thing tomorrow morning.”

  Chapter 29

  The next day, when Q picked her up at work, he had to report yet another obstacle. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but the official at the wedding bureau informed me that in addition to the Aryan certificate, we now need a health certificate as well.”

  “A health certificate? Why that?” Hilde frowned.

  “Apparently, another law was passed a while ago, the Marital Health Law. It requires all engaged couples to present a recent medical document proving they are free of a long list of hereditary diseases. This is supposed to keep the German race ‘clean and healthy.’”

  Hilde stomped her foot. “All of these stupid laws! When will they end?”

  “I don’t know. I agree they’re ridiculous, but there’s nothing we can do. Except maybe run away and get married in some other country.”

  She cocked her head. “That sounds like a good idea, and if there’s anything else they require us to do, we should contemplate that option.”

  Q took his hand in hers. “But then you can’t have the reception we’ve planned with all our friends and family celebrating with us.”

  She pouted. “All right, we’ll go to the doctor and get that damned certificate. Compared to compiling the paperwork, it sounds easy.”

  While they waited for the blood samples to be analyzed and the certificate mailed to them, life continued as usual.

  Q worked on new inventions in his free time, always with the goal of protecting lives in an upcoming war. One of his best ideas was the improvement on the existing echo-sound system that would work for both ships and airplanes. He even offered the commercial rights to the United Kingdom Admiralty, but they were satisfied with their current systems.

  The Royal Air Force, though, was very interested in a workable echo-sounder for their airplanes and asked him to deliver a working prototype, not just theories on paper. This unfortunately proved to be impossible because Q didn’t have the means to produce a prototype on his own. Plus, if the German authorities ever found out, they’d confiscate his work and declare them “important war property of the Reich.”

  He continued to meet with the Russian agent and gave all of his knowledge away for free to Russia. It humored him that he could sell one and the same thing to the rich and give it for free to the poor. One day, an intermediary even connected him with the United States War Department, who were very interested in some of Q’s inventions. Apart from an extensive questionnaire, nothing ever came out of it.

  Exactly one year after the day Q proposed to Hilde, both of them received their health certificates in the mail. But when they finally held their marriage license in hand, it was late July 1936 and all of Berlin was in a flurry of activities to host the Summer Olympic Games. There was no way they could get married and have a reception until after the games.

  Everything in the capital revolved around the upcoming Olympics. Last-minute work was done on the new track and field stadium, the gymnasiums, and other arenas. To help assuage the IOC’s concerns over the anti-Semitism prevalent in Nazi Germany, Hitler added a token participant with a Jewish father to the German team. The Nazis even “cleaned up” the entire city of Berlin in preparation for the arrival of the world.

  Q watched with wonder as the city of Berlin changed before his eyes. The party removed signs stating “Jews not wanted” from the city and the main tourist attractions. All beggars, invalids, street urchins and Romany – gypsies – were removed from the city and contained in a special camp during the Olympic Games.

  But what struck Q most were the non-obvious changes. People seemed friendlier and all of a sudden the oppressive, bleak atmosphere gave way to a tolerant, friendly, and cosmopolitan one, the way Berlin had been a decade ago. Everyone smiled and people went out of their way to help the arriving foreign tourists and athletes.

  The Nazi propaganda newspaper Der Stürmer was ordered to be sold below the counter. The visitors shouldn’t witness any visible evidence of the everyday cruelties.

  When walking around the center, Q got the impression things in Berlin weren’t all that bad. Was Hitler changing for the better? Would things finally return to normal? Q was willing to give the government the benefit of the doubt.

  When the big day of the opening ceremony came, Q surprised Hilde with tickets to witness the spectacular event. Apart from the thousands of people filling the stadium, the eyes of the entire world lay on Berlin because the games were broadcast on television for the first time.

  For weeks, everyone had been talking about the historic Olympic Torch Relay and how everyone would always remember the games held in Berlin because it was the first time the torch was relayed all the way from Olympia in Greece to the Olympic Village in Berlin.

  “Here he comes,” Q said to Hilde over the roar of the crowd when the last torchbearer ran out of the tunnel and into the stadium. Hitler himself was seated in his special box that overshadowed everyone else’s, gracefully accepting the cheers and screams of the crowd begging him to step out and show himself to the masses.

  But the moment Fritz Schilgen entered the stadium and carried the torch up the stairs to the cauldron, all eyes followed the torch in his hand until he lit the eternal Olympic Flame.

  The organizing committee around Reichssportführer Hans von Tschammer had pulled out all the stops to choreograph a glorious ceremony and had arranged for twenty-five thousand pigeons to be released just after the cauldron was lit. Like everyone else, Q felt the enchantment of the white pigeons flying high in the sky and put his arm around Hilde’s shoulders.

  Peace doves. Maybe that’s a sign to the rest of Europe that Hitler is willing to negotiate in peace.

  But the beautiful spectacle ended the moment the cannon was shot off. The sound literally scared the poop out of the pigeons, and Q could hear the pitter patter of pigeon poop landing on the spectators all around him. He turned to look at Hilde, whose straw hat was specked with rather unpleasant droppings.

  She grinned at him from beneath the brim of her hat, her nose wrinkled up as she helped wipe the pigeon poop from his hair.

  “Thank you,” he said after the nasty business was complete.

  “No problem. I wonder who came up with the idea of the pigeons?”

  “I wonder if they’re still walking around freely?” Q added.

  “Let’s hope they are. I’m looking forward to watching the competitions. The enti
re city feels different.”

  Q agreed. “Let’s hope it continues.”

  But their hopes became thinner as the games wore on. The black US American athlete, Jesse Owens, soon became the darling of the public and the crowd never missed an opportunity to cheer him on. Owens could have been the perfect hero of the games, winning four gold medals, if it wasn’t for Hitler’s refusal to congratulate him at each medal ceremony.

  Hilde and Q witnessed more than one otherwise true-to-party-lines Nazi criticizing the Führer for his refusal to acknowledge Owens’ outstanding achievement. After Owens won the one-hundred-meter race, Hitler stood up, tossed his chair back, and rushed from the stadium in a fit of fury.

  Q almost couldn’t believe his eyes. Not only were one hundred thousand visitors in the stadium privy to a glimpse of the real Hitler, but the whole world on television were witnesses as well. “This is the end of Berlin’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

  And the following weeks proved him correct. After the tourists left and the television cameras were turned off, terror and despotism took over. Nazi Germany was back in full force, even worse than before the games. And the German people had nowhere to go for help. The world had been at their door, but the image they had taken away was only a mirage, hiding true evil inside.

  Chapter 30

  Once the dust had settled, Q and Hilde made quick plans to get married. They were both fed up with making wedding preparations only to have to cancel them, and decided on a clandestine wedding.

  “I don’t want to jinx it by making a lot of plans again,” Hilde said.

  “Then we won’t.”

  “I’m afraid if we wait too long, someone will pass another stupid law or somehow sabotage our wedding another way. I just want to be your wife.”

  Q grinned. He’d never been the advocate for a big wedding, but he’d agreed because Hilde wanted it. “Your wish is my command. We’ll take the earliest date available at the registry office and won’t tell anyone about it. Just you and me.”