Louis stuck his hand on Eli’s chest and started to push him backward. “This is none of your business, Eli. You have no right to interfere with my decision. I am the father, and I will decide what is best for my daughter.”
Eli, much stronger than Louis, pulled his hand away. “We’ll find a better solution, Louis. Sylvia’s right. Chava doesn’t belong at Maximilian’s.”
Tears were rolling down Louis’s cheeks. “You don’t know, Eli. They came today, the ORPO. They grabbed Chava, told her to take a change of clothes and go to the city center. There would be a truck waiting to take her and others. They were sending her away. I was frantic. I ran to Maximilian. What else could I do? God bless him, he went straight to the ORPO, rescued Chava and brought her back. He waited while she packed a bag, and Chava left to live with him. What could I do?”
Eli gently put his hand on Louis’s shoulder. “I will talk to Maximilian and make sure he treats her properly. In the meantime, we need to help Papa move his belongings. They took his house.”
* * *
Early the next morning, Eli knocked on Maximilian’s door. “Do you know what time it is?” Maximilian said, standing barefoot in the doorway.
“Six o’clock. Where’s my niece?”
“Sound asleep, I presume, in the guest bedroom. Would you like to see for yourself?”
“Thank you for rescuing her.”
Maximilian bowed. “You’re welcome. It’s nice to hear a ‘thank you’ from a Rosen once in a while.”
“I would like to visit Chava from time to time. Louis and Sylvia would like to visit as well. I’m sure Sylvia would bake you a cake in deep appreciation for your kindness. But if I ever find out that you acted inappropriately with my niece, I will put a permanent end to Maximilian’s future romantic endeavors. Get it?”
“Jesus Christ, Eli! What the hell? She’s safe and sound in my house. Give me a little credit.”
“I have nothing but gratitude for your hospitality. As long as you behave yourself.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
LUBLIN, POLAND
MAY 1941
MONTH 20 OF THE NAZI OCCUPATION
Commandant Zörner decided it was time to talk about building the new brickyard, and he sent for Jakob, Eli and Maximilian. As they walked to Nazi headquarters at City Hall, Maximilian said, “I have come to know Zörner a little better. He is a hateful man, and he has no love for Jews. I think our best approach would be to let me do all the talking.”
A three-block perimeter had been established around City Hall. Any civilian who intended to approach the building was stopped, searched and interrogated before entering the perimeter. Maximilian was clearly familiar with the guards and greeted them with a wave and smile. “I am taking these two men to the commandant on urgent Reich business,” he said. “You may verify if you wish.”
Zörner sat behind a polished desk. A large red-and-white Nazi flag was posted on either side. His gray uniform was neatly pressed but strained at the buttons to cover his corpulent frame. A stone-faced sentry stood at attention to his right. Though his side chairs were empty, he did not invite any of the three to sit. “So these are the Jews who are operating the brickyard?” he said.
“They are indeed, your excellency,” Maximilian said. “Under my supervision, they are filling the Reich’s every request promptly and efficiently.”
“Hmph. Well, our needs here in Lublin are diminishing. The yard will eventually be closed.”
“Closed?” Jakob blurted loudly. “The brickyard is my business! My family has run that brickyard for three generations. We built Lublin. I am not about to close my brickyard.”
The sentry took a step toward Jakob, but Zörner calmly lifted his hand and signaled him to halt. “You best watch your tongue, old man. Your rudeness will instantly terminate your association with any earthly brickyard right here and now. The decision has been made and it is not open to debate. The Lublin brickyard will close when we have no further need for it. A newer and larger brickyard will be built in Litzmannstadt, which is quickly becoming the new center of industry in the General Gouvernment. As you have aptly described, Maximilian, the Reich’s needs will be promptly and efficiently served by a brickyard, but it will soon be located in Litzmannstadt.”
“As you command, excellency,” Maximilian said. “A wise strategy. How may we assist you in realizing that goal?”
He looked at Eli out of the corner of his eye. “Maximilian, I want you to take these two with you to Litzmannstadt. Make a search for land suitable for a brickyard operation and establish the business. You may transfer whatever construction materials and machinery you need from the Lublin yard by motor carrier.”
“Very good. We will begin our search immediately, Commandant. As soon as we find a suitable location, we will commence the transfer of materials and machinery.”
“The hell we will,” snapped Jakob. “How are we supposed to operate our business here without materials?”
Zörner stood. “If you open your mouth to me again, old man, I will shut it forever. You and your son will accompany Maximilian to Litzmannstadt, where you will build and operate a brickyard.”
At this point, Eli stepped forward. “Commandant, if I may…”
“No, no,” Maximilian interrupted. “It would be better if I were the only one to converse with the commandant.”
Zörner waved his hand. “What is it, Eli Rosen?”
“The Rosen brickyard has served the Reich’s needs since the day the city was occupied. My workers have always responded to your requests. I have never received a single complaint.”
“So?”
“Our brickyard is near the rail lines. If we expand our operations just a little here in Lublin, we should have no difficulty filling orders for materials and shipping them by train to wherever they are needed.”
Zörner sat back, took a cigarette out of a box, lit it, took a deep draw and contemplated his reply. Finally, he said, “No, that won’t work. We need materials, masons, carpenters and bricklayers in Litzmannstadt, where the central command intends to build a model city and the manufacturing center of the country. We would not be well serviced from a yard two hundred kilometers away.”
“I have capable foremen,” Eli said. “I’m sure I could manage any project from my office in Lublin.”
Zörner shook his head. “Discussion closed.”
Eli continued. “But, your honor, I have a family here: a wife and a son. The schools and day-care centers have all been closed. My wife is working seven days a week for you in the sewing shops at Lipowa, but she doesn’t get home until the end of her shift each night. My father and I watch my son during the day, and I prepare meals for my family each day. If my father and I were gone…”
The commandant raised his eyebrows. “We can easily provide for your wife by moving her out of your home and into our shopworkers’ barracks permanently. As to arrangements for your son, that is an injudicious request for you to make of an SS officer. Perhaps Maximilian will inform you about the current policies in effect regarding dependent Jewish children. It’s not something you would choose. I believe your brother Louis is in a position to care for your son if your wife were to stay in the Lindestrasse barracks full-time. Shall I make those arrangements?”
Eli hung his head. “No, sir. I will go with Maximilian.”
Zörner stubbed out his cigarette. “Then it’s settled. The Rosens will travel to Litzmannstadt with Maximilian after Mr. Rosen finds suitable management to operate the brickyard here in Lublin?”
“Commandant,” Maximilian said, “perhaps you have forgotten that it is my brickyard and my operation. I will arrange for suitable management.”
Zörner scoffed and reached for another cigarette. “Do you take me for a fool, Maximilian? You could no more operate a brickyard than I could pilot a battleship.”
“But, your excellency, Brigadeführer Globočnik specifically designated myself as…”
“I know what General Globočni
k did. And I know what you have done. Or not done. I doubt I would see a speck of construction dust on any piece of your fancy wardrobe, would I?”
Maximilian shrugged. “But managers typically do not…”
“Stop! You may continue to strut around Lublin and drink with whomever you will. When I decide when and how you can be useful, I will let you know. In the immediate future, I have decided that you are to accompany the Rosens to Litzmannstadt and begin the establishment of a brickyard.”
“Commandant,” Eli said, “you might consider leaving my father to operate the Lublin brickyard. No one knows the operation better. A foreman would not have the necessary experience, and the efficiency would suffer, at least in the short run.”
Maximilian stepped forward. “And those are exactly my thoughts as well, your excellency. I am particularly…”
Zörner waved him off. “The older Rosen may stay. You two will go.” He lit his cigarette. “That is all. Good day.”
CHAPTER FORTY
LUBLIN, POLAND
MAY 1941
MONTH 20 OF THE NAZI OCCUPATION
Eli was waiting on the front porch when Esther arrived home from her shift. She was tired and weary, not only from the strain of the nine-hour shift and from the thirty-minute walk to and from Lipowa each day but also from the incessant pressure of the overseers. Her gray uniform was worn and frayed, and though she had repaired it multiple times, it was coming apart at the seams.
It had been months since Esther had had a single day away from her sewing station. Not a single day where she did not have to arise before dawn, dress, eat enough food to carry her through an entire day and walk to Lipowa, no matter the weather. Not a single day when she didn’t have to bear witness to the disrespect and abuse of the Nazi taskmasters. It had taken a toll on her, physically and mentally, and she had lost considerable weight.
But this evening, Eli sat on the porch waiting for her with a broad smile that caused Esther to chuckle. “What are you doing sitting out here with that silly grin on your face?” she said.
“I thought maybe I’d see a young lady walking by who’d give me a whirl.”
That was enough to make her laugh. “You’re crazy.”
He followed her into the house, waited while she said hello to Izaak and hung her coat. Eli still had that Cheshire grin on his face, and she said, “Okay, what’s going on?”
“Don’t you know what today is?”
“Of course, I do. Nine years with the most wonderful man on earth.”
Eli looked a little sheepish, took a deep breath and produced a small black box from his pocket. He held it out and said, “Happy anniversary, honey.” Esther’s eyes opened wide, her jaw slowly dropped. She did not expect this.
“Did you think I would forget?” Eli said. “Is the bloom off the rose? Do you take your poor husband for granted?”
“Never,” she said, with a catch in her throat, “but under the circumstances…” She broke into tears and threw her arms around him. “I love you so much.”
“And I love you ten times more.”
“How in the world did you…”
“Never mind. Just open it.” She slowly opened the box and took out a silver necklace. Her hands shook, and Eli placed the chain around her neck. “Where…?” she said.
“David Wolff closed his store; it was too dangerous to keep it open. But he still sells a little jewelry from his home.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“And tonight I’m taking you out to dinner. Rabinovitz is saving me a table at his café.”
“We can’t leave Izaak.”
“It’s a table for three.”
* * *
Jewish commerce, or what remained of it, had condensed into the main square in the Jewish ghetto. There were a few restaurants still in business despite the depressed economy and the difficulty of obtaining fresh food. Restaurants, like all Jewish-owned businesses, were required to display a Star of David and the word Juden on the front windows.
The Nazis had hung huge German flags and Nazi flags from the roofs and terraces of the taller buildings all throughout the city, and doubly so in the Jewish quarter. Many of the Jewish businesses had been vandalized and had been victim to brazen theft by Nazis, but unlike Warsaw and Lodz, Lublin’s Jewish quarter remained open.
Viktor Rabinovitz had set a table for Eli on his outdoor patio. A small bottle of wine and a daisy in a bud vase were sitting on the table when the Rosens arrived. The early evening was warm, and people were out strolling through the square. Living conditions had become tense in the tightly compacted Jewish quarter, and an opportunity to take a walk in the pleasant evening air was a welcome respite, providing they were inside the ghetto by curfew.
Rabinovitz’s menu had only three dinner offerings. Viktor recommended the lamb. “It’s good tonight, very fresh. We still have our contacts outside the city.” He winked. Eli and Esther ordered the lamb, while Izaak opted for a plate of rosol: chicken and pasta in a tasty broth.
In the glow of the setting sun and with a warm breeze from the south, it was a moment to savor, a break from the harsh conditions of the occupation, a reflection of life before the apocalypse, when life was more commodious and decency and respect resided in Lublin. It was a moment to breathe deeply and continue to hope. Eli and Esther held hands beneath the table and smiled. People passed by and nodded a greeting. “What’s the occasion?” they would say. “Nine years of marital heaven,” Eli would answer.
Viktor picked up the dinner dishes and said, “How about dessert? I have wonderful sernik with early-season strawberries.” Izaak made a face. “He doesn’t like cheesecake,” Esther said, “but Eli and I do. If you have a paczki, it would please Izaak.”
While the Rosens were enjoying their dessert, a group of four uniformed soldiers entered the square. People immediately averted their eyes and quickly moved to the perimeter, all of which greatly amused the Nazis. They meandered about the square and soon approached the Rosens’ table. One of them, a young blond, no more than a gangly teen with acne on his face and a rifle strapped to his shoulder, reached down to pick the paczki off of Izaak’s plate, but his companion said, “Gunther, stop. Are you going to eat off a Jew’s plate?” He stopped, made a face and backed away. “Oh, I don’t know what I was thinking.” Then he noticed Esther’s necklace. “Look at what we have here. Silver on that old hag’s neck. That’s far too nice for a Jewess, don’t you think, Hans?” he said. “It should adorn a young fräulein’s neck.” He held out his hand. “Give it to me.”
Izaak jumped up. “You can’t have her necklace. It belongs to my mama. It was a present.”
The Nazis laughed, but the blond teen did not. “Your German is very poor. Sit down, little boy, before you learn the manners that your father has obviously failed to teach you.” Then he turned to Esther. “Now! Give me that necklace.”
“No,” yelled Izaak, standing up in front of his mother. “You can’t have it. It’s hers.”
The Nazi pulled his arm back to give Izaak a backhand swat across his face, but Eli’s powerful hand shot out, caught the man’s wrist and twisted it behind his back. “You don’t touch my son. Ever. Keep walking.”
The blond pulled his arm away and backed up. His jaw was quivering. He looked to his companions for support, but they were teens as well, and everyone was caught in the uncertainty of the moment. Esther started to take her necklace off, but Eli said, “Don’t do it, Essie. Izaak is right; it’s your necklace. They’re not going to do anything, because if they injure any of Zörner’s shop workers, they’ll have to answer for it.”
“Your snotty kid is not a worker,” said the blond with a smile, and he took his rifle off of his shoulder. Eli grabbed Izaak and put him behind his back. People who were walking in the square stopped and formed a circle surrounding the table, inching ever closer. The perimeter steadily contracted and the soldiers found themselves in a shrinking bulls-eye.
“Look around,” Eli said. “You’re
not among friends here. Tell me, does the mighty German army now conduct war against defenseless six-year-olds? Is that your specialty?”
The four soldiers twisted their heads from side to side in apprehension of the encircling crowd. “Gunther,” the blond’s companion said, “forget it.” He tugged on his sleeve. “Let it go, Gunther. The Jew isn’t worth it, and I don’t want to spend my evening making reports on why we had to shoot people. Forget the stupid necklace. It’s probably a fake anyway.”
Gunther slung his rifle back onto his shoulder and said, “Yeah, you’re right; it’s a fake. A piece of shit for a shitty Jew.” He sneered at the Rosens and spit on their table. As the soldiers turned to leave, the crowd parted to provide a path out of the plaza, and the Nazis quickly retreated.
Eli took a deep breath. He nodded to the people in the square—his people, his Lubliners. They waved back and continued on their evening strolls with smiles on their faces. For just that spot in time, they had made a stand and they felt good about it. Viktor brought out a bottle of Polish whiskey, poured three drinks and sat down at the table. He set a plateful of cookies before Izaak and said, “You are the bravest young man I’ve ever known.”
Izaak shrugged and ate a cookie.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
LUBLIN, POLAND
JUNE 1, 1941
MONTH 21 OF THE NAZI OCCUPATION
Maximilian drove into the Rosen brickyard in a dark maroon sedan polished to a mirrored shine. He stepped out wearing a white straw hat, a pastel suit and white spats above his shoes. He was there to inform Eli and Jakob that land had now been specifically set aside and cleared in Litzmannstadt for the establishment of the new brickyard.
“It’s going to be a big brickyard,” Maximilian said, with his arms wide open, “much larger than this one, but then Litzmannstadt is three times the size of Lublin. It’s the largest industrial city in Poland now. There are a hundred new factories. You can’t imagine how important the new brickyard will be to the Reich. I’m going to call it “M. Poleski’s Litzmannstadt Brickyard and Building Supply Company.”
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