A Fine Woman

by David George Richards

Chapter Three

  Antibes 1948

  “Later that night, André contacted the British in London and told them about Helga. They didn’t care much about the smuggling operation but they liked the idea of having someone in Berlin with a contact on Hitler’s staff. André made it clear that to get one they needed to allow the other. They accepted and gave Helga the codename: Trojan.”

  Sister Marie-Thérèse had listened to his story with the same almost casual demeanour she had maintained since he had entered. But now she looked momentarily puzzled. “I do not see the analogy.”

  Captain Taylor smiled. “To the Germans it would be obvious that she was smuggling Jewish children, but the real cargo was being transported in her head.”

  “Ah, I see. So she did as they asked? She betrayed her country?”

  Captain Taylor was taken by surprise by her remark. “That’s a bit harsh.”

  “Is it? To give away state secrets to a third party, secrets that can lead to your own country’s defeat in war, is a betrayal, is it not? Could you forgive her if she was American?”

  “Could you forgive her if she was French?” Captain Taylor countered.

  Sister Marie-Thérèse thought for a moment. Finally she pursed her lips and shrugged. “It is difficult. I have taken vows that allow me to forgive anyone, even the Germans, so the question is not for me to answer. There will always be some whose hearts are hardened by what has passed. They cannot forgive. And yet we must understand their pain and be able to forgive them. But I digress. I did not intend to judge her. Continue, please.”

  It took a moment for Captain Taylor to regain his thoughts. “Well, like I said, Jacob stayed with her. Helga brought him back with her and at first he lived in the summerhouse. It wasn’t very comfortable but compared to his more recent conditions it was pretty heavenly. Helga brought him food during her walks. Those dogs got more and more exercise every day. But Helga soon worried that Jacob would be picked up, that one day he would simply not be there. So she moved him into the house as a sort of personal footman.”

  “You said that some of her servants were not as trustworthy as others,” Sister Marie-Thérèse replied conversationally. “Was this not dangerous?”

  “Oh, yes, there was some friction. But Helga knew who she could trust. She also knew which members of her staff were party members. She didn’t discuss anything with any of them. She shut them all out, those she could trust, and those she couldn’t. She just bossed them about more.”

  Sister Marie-Thérèse nodded. “She implicated no-one. But the presence of the boy must have been known?”

  “It was. But she was immune; remember? And while Jacob was in her house they weren’t going to seize him.”

  “Such boldness,” Sister Marie-Thérèse remarked.

  She didn’t say anymore, so Captain Taylor took the opportunity to shift his position on the chair before he continued.

  “At the weekends Helga went to Berlin on the pretence of shopping and getting away from the stench that pervaded the countryside near her house. She took Jacob with her in case he got picked up while she was away. I guess he didn’t like those trips to Berlin, being right in the middle of it all.” Captain Taylor became more introspective as he went on. “I suppose Helga and Jacob got to know one another very well during that time. A sort of bond must have formed between them. The kind of bond that grows when you face danger almost constantly.”

  “And did they face danger constantly?”

  Captain Taylor nodded. “Yes. And they took increasingly more risks. Helga became quite adept at picking up information at the Reichstag. She didn’t just observe and listen. She searched and ferreted. She stole and copied things. She took risks. And what she learned she told André. The smuggling also grew more dangerous. What started as only a few children soon developed into complete family units. Here it was Jacob who took all the risks. It was almost as if they were competing with one another.

  “Jacob would go down to the summerhouse with Helga and get dressed in his original ragged clothing. From there they would go down to the camp together. He would hide near the railway tracks when the trains arrived while Helga would conveniently lose her dogs and cause a commotion. Obersturmführer Meyer was usually the victim of her outbursts and complaints about the smell. Jacob would sneak under the train and beckon first one, and then another child to join him. The parents were only too eager to push their children forward. Sometimes he had to turn some away. Gradually they began taking older children, then the mothers, and finally both parents.”

  “And the Germans never suspected?”

  Captain Taylor smiled, but it was without humour. “Oh, they knew alright. Helga’s repeated one-way trips with different children were easily worked out. But they never suspected that she was also spying. Her father was powerful, so they turned a blind eye to the smuggling. But the Gestapo watched her. Even Obersturmführer Meyer knew what she was doing. I think it became a game with them. They both knew that the other knew. They both knew that Jacob was living in her house and that she was smuggling his prisoners away. The game was trying to catch one another out. The verbal sparring between them must have been very interesting. Interesting and dangerous. And each time it got more and more dangerous.”

  Sister Marie-Thérèse summoned Sister Anna-Marie with more tea and sandwiches when it became apparent that Captain Taylor was going to stay for some time. It was already late afternoon. And as Sister Anna-Marie laid the sandwiches before him, Captain Taylor looked up at Sister Marie-Thérèse apologetically.

  “I’m sorry, Sister. But I did say it was a long story.”

  “You did. And I also said I had the time to listen,” Sister Marie-Thérèse replied with a gentle smile. “There is no hurry. Eat. Take your time.”

  Sister Anna-Marie left and Sister Marie-Thérèse blessed the food before they ate.

  Captain Taylor watched her as he drank his tea. She took such delicate and neat bites from her sandwich, almost like a child. When he took up one of the sandwiches he was surprised to find that he was quite hungry, so he spoke as he ate.

  “By early 1944 the duel between Helga and Obersturmführer Meyer was in full swing. She had already smuggled forty-two children and seven adults into France. Jacob was getting very good at sneaking into and out of the camp. Helga was also doing rather well as a spy. The information she gave to André was very helpful during the preparations for D-Day in June. In fact the agent known as Trojan was becoming very important to the intelligence departments in London. It wasn’t long before her codename became known in Germany too. Even Obersturmführer Meyer knew the name.”

  “But he didn’t suspect her?” Sister Marie-Thérèse asked as she took another neat little bite from her sandwich.

  Captain Taylor shifted his position on the chair once again. He was sure his left buttock was going numb. He took another large bite from his sandwich. “I’m not sure that he knew about her spying. All I know is that he had other things on his mind when it came to Helga.”

  Germany 1944

  February was cold. White plumbs surrounded Bismarck and Tirpitz as they panted and pulled Helga forward. They were running over the top of the hill. Helga was wearing a rich and expensive fur coat. Boots adorned her feet and she wore a fur hat on her head. When they ran over the brow of the hill and were on their way down the other side, Helga accidentally on purpose let go of the two leads. Bismarck and Tirpitz bounded forward at the gallop. Helga gave chase, shouting after them.

  “Bismarck! Tirpitz! Come back, my boys! Come back here at once!”

  In reply both dogs barked and ran faster. Helga ran after them, clutching her hat.

  Jacob was dressed in old clothes that had been left unwashed and un-cleaned. They were very similar to the clothes he was wearing when Helga first found him, but they had actually belonged to one of the first boys who had been rescued. Jacob’s old clothes had been burned long ago, so Helga had decided to keep the outfit, as it was impossible to simulate the corre
ct smell and look any other way. By now the affect was perfect. The outfit stank, and Jacob stank. But he didn’t care as he edged closer to the wire fence. He was carrying several straps and belts in his hand, and he kept low as he edged along the fence looking for something.

  Beyond the wire fence was the railway line. A long train was already in the siding, the large black and red engine smoking and steaming in the cold morning sun. Steam also rose from the long line of railway trucks. Soldiers ran along the far side of the train. They wore heavy coats and carried machine guns. Jacob could hear the shouting as he found what he was looking for. He lay on the ground and waited until he heard the rattle of the doors before he carefully unfastened the previously cut wire and crawled through. And once on the other side he carefully refastened the wire before hurrying towards the distant line of railway trucks.

  Meyer walked along the side of the train watching as the prisoners climbed out of the trucks. Those who took too long were hauled out. The soldiers just dragged them out and they fell on the ground. Some of the soldiers climbed in to the trucks and pushed the people out. And there was no respite once they were out. The soldiers pulled them, punched them and kicked them, shouting at them constantly. Shouting was the only sound to be heard. It was a constant rattle over the background noise of the resting steam engine. It even drowned out the pitiful cries and wails of protest from the prisoners.

  Meyer stared at them all, his hands clasped behind his back. It was all they deserved. They were just as disgusting as usual. Filthy and stinking, all of them. The railway trucks wouldn’t even be fit for animals afterwards.

  “Scharführer! Hurry them up!”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  The prisoners were bullied into a column in an orgy of shouting, smacking and kicking. But above the shouts of the soldiers and the hissing of the locomotive the unmistakeable sounds of dogs barking gradually began to be heard.

  Meyer raised his head. “Damn that woman!” he whispered and then raised his voice. “Scharführer! Double the guard on the perimeter! Get me a squad at once! And have those prisoners taken inside now! Hurry, man!”

  Schneider clicked his heels and raised his hand in salute. “At once, Obersturmführer!”

  The shouting and bustling increased as the soldiers ran in different directions. Meyer hurried towards the hillside with half a dozen men while four times that many rushed along the wire fence. That meant that the number of soldiers left behind to guard the prisoners was drastically reduced. And they had two jobs to complete, causing them to be spread out even more thinly.

  While most of the soldiers spread out along the side of the column, others ran among the prisoners, shouting and pulling at the bundles they held. The prisoners were now bewildered and in confusion, they didn’t know what was going on, all they knew was that the soldiers hit them harder and shouted at them louder. There were screams and tears as their last pitiful belongings were snatched or knocked from their grasp and kicked and hurled aside. The soldiers lined up along the column kept back anyone foolish enough to try to retrieve anything, and soon a long pile of bundles began to form next to the column. Some of the prisoners fought to hang on to what they had left, and scuffles broke out. Children screamed and cried as they were separated from their parents in the melee and the only result was that more of the prisoners ended up on the ground, battered and bleeding. And in all the commotion no one noticed the extra boy in their midst who ran out from under the train.

  Jacob fitted in far too easily. No one noticed him, not the soldiers or the prisoners. He was just another dirty and pitiful figure among the rest. Only the child he stood next to would look up at him and wonder. Jacob always concentrated on the children, spiriting them away one at a time. It was always the same process.

  Jacob would jump out from under the train, run to the line of prisoners, move next to a child that was on it’s own, whisper to him or her and hold their hand, and then dart back to the railway trucks, pulling the child underneath with him. He would choose his moments carefully. The more noise, confusion and turmoil, the better. If people were being killed, it was better. He didn’t want anyone noticing his arrival or his departure. And once he was under the train with a child he would use the straps and belts to tie the child to the chassis of the truck.

  Finding a child on their own wasn’t difficult. In the confusion many children became separated from their parents. Jacob would wait and watch and then dart forward. The child would be happy to follow any kindly face. And at first his conscience pricked him as he caught sight of a mother and father searching for their child afterwards. The soldiers didn’t care and never helped them. They just beat everyone without thought. Jacob would see them crying and think about rescuing them, or at least telling them what he had done. And sometimes he had to fight not to give in to the impulse. It was just too dangerous. He kept telling himself that in the end they wouldn’t be angry with him for what he had done, and instead he took advantage of the turmoil they caused to hijack another child.

  Sometimes he would find two or three children together, brothers and sisters, or sometimes they were unrelated at all, as he Peter, Antoinette and Klaus had been. He would take them all at once, tying them each under a truck. He always kept one child to a truck, just in case.

  But sometimes the adults would realise what was going on, no matter how careful he was. They would see him run away with a child and thrust their own forward when he next looked out, beckoning to him. When they helped like that it was a lot easier. But it wasn’t always the case. And if more chose to follow him than he was prepared to take, he would have to quickly abandon his mission, hiding under the trucks and hoping that none of the prisoners would give him away while he waited it out.

  Jacob didn’t like having to rely on others for his safety, so he concealed himself from everyone, keeping his head down and choosing the children carefully, picking only those that were isolated and without an adult near them, and running out and back only during the highest commotion, no matter how long it took. But with experience and success, he did begin to take adults too. He picked on single parents with one or two children, but only if the parent was a woman. It was harsh but Jacob had learned that this was the best way. He had tried the wrong way once before.

  He had picked on a complete family unit. There had been both parents and three children. They looked calm and approachable. But as soon as he made himself known to them he knew it had been a mistake. The father questioned what was going on, who he was and where he was taking them. It took too long, and it attracted too much attention. And once he had convinced them, everyone else around within earshot wanted to come too. It caused a riot with the soldiers running forward. Jacob had to escape on his own and only just made it when the soldiers began shooting. He took no one that day. And he kept away from the men after that.

  A mother with a single child was best. They were easy to convince. They were more desperate, they were more willing to believe and to grasp at any alternative, any chance at all of escape, straight away. They would even push their children forward and beg him tearfully to take them before he had finished explaining. Jacob would take them both. It helped to have a mother with him to sooth the children. And a mother with several children would be even better, as he could finish his mission quicker.

  In the end, the number of people Jacob rescued depended on the number of trucks in the train minus one. And once he ran out of belts, that was it. So he made his last choices carefully.

  Today was no different to any other. Jacob worked methodically, carefully, and with his heart and emotions restrained. He stuck to his now well-established criteria. He chose only the youngest children, the easiest to convince and to spirit away, the easiest to tie to the trucks, and if there was a mother with them, they could come too. And while he worked the soldiers remained all lined up on the far side of the column of prisoners, their view of the trucks and Jacob’s comings and goings obscured. And the soldiers among the prisoners moved forward all t
he time, working their way along the column as they forced each prisoner to drop their precious bundles. Jacob just worked along behind them.

  He was nearly done when it happened.

  Jacob had made his last choice. He had three sets of belts left when he saw a woman with two young children clinging to her. He glanced at the soldiers. They were nearly at the front of the column. In a few minutes the prisoners would be urged to move forward. He would have to leave soon. He turned to smile at the little boy strapped to the underside of the truck above him, put his finger to his lips, and then ran out.

  Helga was never really sure how close she and the dogs would get to the site of the pit before the soldiers headed them off. She wondered what would happen if she actually reached it. How would Obersturmführer Meyer react if he found her at the edge with her dogs running about at the bottom? Sometimes she wondered if that was what he wished for, that at last the game would be over and he could finally act against her.

  Why was it that the threat of exposure was often far greater than exposure itself?

  Helga ran after her dogs, but she didn’t run too fast. She had gone through the trees and was running down the hill when she saw the soldiers. Obersturmführer Meyer was among them. She reduced her pace and then stopped. Breathing hard, she waited until he reached her.

  Obersturmführer Meyer took off his gloves and bowed to her. He smiled.

  “Countess! We meet again, as usual!”

  Helga was instantly apologetic. “I am sorry, Obersturmführer, but my dogs get the better of me in their eagerness.”

  Meyer took her outstretched hand and kissed it lightly. “Yes, I have noticed.”

  She looked annoyed by his words and snatched her hand away. “Are you implying that I do this on purpose?”

  “Not at all, Countess. But I begin to wonder if it might be easier for my men to exercise your dogs for you?”

  She gave him her best disdainful look. “They could probably do with the exercise themselves. They must be bored with nothing to do but guard duty in that camp of yours.”

  Meyer continued to smile at her. “Ah, but you are wrong, Countess. My men have been very busy. We have had a series of escapes recently.”

  Helga instantly became alarmed and clutched a hand to her chest. “Your prisoners have escaped? How dreadful! Am I in danger?”

  The smile on Obersturmführer Meyer’s face widened. “I very much doubt it, Countess. I have men watching your estate round the clock.”

  Helga relaxed. “I am very relieved to hear that. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night for fear of some intruder in the house.”

  “Be assured, Countess, if any of my prisoners are seen near your house I will be the first to know. And I will act instantly in your defence.”

  “Thank you. That is very kind, Obersturmführer.”

  He bowed again. “Think nothing of it.”

  Helga could see two soldiers leading Tirpitz and Bismarck up the hill towards her. One of them was quite muddy.

  “I see my two errant charges have been recaptured.”

  Meyer glanced down the hill. “Yes. My men are becoming quite adept at hunting in this area. There isn’t much that they cannot find.”

  “I told you the practise would help.”

  He smiled again. It seemed to be what he did while he was thinking. “Will you be visiting the General again this weekend?”

  “No. I have a little trip planned.”

  “Ah, yes. The South of France. I believe you make the trip quite regularly?”

  “As often as I can. The atmosphere here remains unpleasant, so I try to spend as much time away as possible.”

  “I am doing all that I can to bring your distress to an end, Countess. Will you be going alone?”

  “I usually try to take some of the children belonging to the tenants and workers on the estate with me. It is often the only chance of a trip many of their children have.”

  “I see. I hope they all have the required papers for such a long journey, Countess. I wouldn’t like to think of you being detained.”

  “Everything is above board, Obersturmführer. And at least while I am away you are not burdened with these escapes.”

  Meyer lost his smile. “Escapes?”

  “My dogs,” she clarified.

  His smile returned. “Ah, yes. Of course.”

  Bismarck and Tirpitz barked loudly and wagged their tails in greeting as the soldiers brought them to Helga. She took the leads they handed to her and bent down and patted and caressed both dogs, talking to them like children.

  “Ah, my boys! You have led me and the good Obersturmführer a merry dance once again! What shall I do to punish you? Keep you out of my room all night? Maybe I will starve you! Who is to blame? I know you, Bismarck! You follow your brother like the puppy you are! And as for you, Tirpitz, I begin to believe you think you should be Count! Now come on! Home!”

  She straightened up and held out her hand to Obersturmführer Meyer. “I have distracted you for long enough, Obersturmführer. I thank you for retrieving my dogs and now I will be on my way.”

  Meyer kissed the hand she offered to him and clicked his heels. “It was a pleasure, as usual Countess. In fact any opportunity to detain you is a pleasure.”

  “My, Obersturmführer, you will make me blush! Good day, to you.” She bowed and turned away.

  Meyer watched her leading her dogs back up the hill towards her estate. When she was finally gone from view he replaced his gloves and turned to his men.

  “What shall I do with the Countess, Scharführer?”

  “You are sure it is her?” Schneider replied.

  “Undoubtedly.”

  “Then shoot her.”

  “And cause turmoil in the Wehrmacht? Now of all times? No, Scharführer. I must be patient. My chance will come. Now back to the camp! All of you! Let us see what damage she has caused this time!”

  The train backed slowly out of the camp, the engine billowing smoke in regular chugs. There were no people around anymore, only the bundles they had left behind remained to be collected and sifted through by the soldiers. More soldiers closed the gates after the train had departed.

  A short distance down the line, before the spur connected with the main line, the train came to a halt. Here there was a water tower and coaling stage, and long hoses ran from the water tower alongside the track. The driver and fireman jumped down from the engine and picked up the hoses and turned on the water. They began to hose down the first truck, squirting the water inside. They opened up both sets of doors, washing out the truck completely.

  Underneath the second truck, Jacob hastily untied the first of his charges, recovering the belts and running with the child to the next truck. He worked quickly, moving from one truck to the next, recovering each child and adult until it was time to run across to the nearby woods.

  The driver and fireman closed up the doors on the first truck and moved on to the second. They were at one end of the train while Jacob and his charges were at the other. Both men concentrated determindly on their work. Neither of them were looking for anything, and neither of them wanted to see anything.

  Jacob led his charges into the woods unseen, and from here he made his way to the summerhouse.

  There was an argument going on in the summerhouse to the accompaniment of barking dogs and crying children. Bismarck and Tirpitz were jumping up at everyone, and the children hung back in fear. Several of them were crying and clinging to two women.

  Helga was furious. “Are you mad, Jacob?”

  He shrugged. “What else could I do?”

  “You should have left him!”

  The ‘him’ she was referring to stepped forward apologetically and spoke in French. He was a large dark haired man with an unruly beard. “I am sorry, Countess—”

  “I wasn’t speaking to you!” she snapped, also in French. Then she turned on her dogs in equal anger. “Bismarck! Tirpitz! Silence! Heel!”

  Both dogs came to her an
d sat down obediently. Helga didn’t pause in her anger.

  “And shut those children up!” she almost screamed.

  Silence finally reigned in the abandoned summerhouse. It was achieved more through shock than fear. Mainly because the newcomers were surprised to see such a slight and aristocratic woman exude such anger and noise. Jacob was used to it by now and he stepped forward and grasped her hands.

  “Countess, it is my fault, not theirs,” he said softly. “Their only fault is that they are Jewish.”

  Helga was breathing hard, and she now leaned closer to Jacob. “Meyer knows!” she snarled at him through clenched teeth. “And you know he knows! I have a right to be angry! Eighteen I can take! The two women I can take! But how do we explain a man, Jacob? Why is he not in the army? Why does he not fight or toil on the estate? How can he be spared for a holiday? Answer me these questions! Because they will most surely be asked!”

  “He’s a Rabbi,” Jacob said simply.

  Helga broke away from him and paced up and down, throwing her hands to the heavens and shouting in anger. “Of course he is! What a simple solution! I can see it now! ‘Not to worry, Obersturmführer Meyer, the reason this man is not at the front is because he is an out of work Rabbi!’”

  She suddenly threw off her hat and slumped down on one of the frayed chairs. “I give up!” she exclaimed in despair. “It is all over! We will all be shot!”

  Tirpitz sat up and laid his snout on her lap, his tail wagging slowly. She looked down at him. “It’s no use you smiling at me!” she said in a softer voice. “This is all your fault in the first place!”