The Girl from Berlin, #1 Read online

  I was so grateful to Heinrich for that little joke that made everyone smile. The tension in the room diminished right away, and I let out another deep sigh of relief. I pulled out a chair for Officer Friedmann next to me, so I would be sitting between him and Dr. Kramer. After Gryselda quickly served Heinrich tea, he broke the still awkward silence at the table.

  “So, Dr. Kramer, where exactly are you heading to?”

  “I’m going to the United Kingdom through the Netherlands, Herr Standartenführer. And from there to New York, to my son, Adam.”

  “I’m afraid you can’t go to the Netherlands, Doctor.”

  “Why not?” It was supposed to be Dr. Kramer’s question, but I somehow asked it first.

  “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they closed the border for the Jewish immigrants a couple of days ago. Don’t even try going there, they’ll just send you back to Germany, that’s all. Go through the Swiss border instead, there’s a much bigger chance for you to make it through.”

  “I paid a lot of the money for that ticket… they will probably refuse to exchange it for me. And if I buy a new one, I’m not sure if I’ll have enough to make it to New York and find my son…”

  “Train tickets cost so much?” My mother seemed genuinely surprised.

  “No, Ilsa, they don’t. It’s how much I have to pay to a German man to buy it for me,” Dr. Kramer explained very quietly and looked down at his cup. Once a well-known doctor with a flourishing practice, now he could hardly afford to bribe a former fellow citizen to buy him a train ticket. I could feel how ashamed of this new situation he was.

  Suddenly, Heinrich rose up from his chair, reached for his pocket and pulled out a thick pack of bills, which he handed to the doctor without counting.

  “Here, this should be enough for you to ride a train all over the country for the whole week, Doctor. In Switzerland, you can exchange it into dollars and buy your ticket to New York.”

  Dr. Kramer was looking at Officer Friedmann’s money in complete shock, without even blinking. I knew that he wouldn’t dare to take such a generous gift himself, so I took the money from Heinrich and put it right into Dr. Kramer’s hand.

  “Take it, Doctor, please.”

  My father quickly jumped from his chair too and almost ran to his study, mumbling something about money as well. Meanwhile, Dr. Kramer looked at the bills in his hand, looked back at Officer Friedmann and finally said, “Thank you, Herr Standartenführer. I will never forget that.” And after a pause added, “You’re a very, very good man. God bless you.”

  Heinrich just smiled at him.

  “And if you have any problems at the border, just tell them that you’re an undercover informant working for SD, mention my name, and tell them you report directly to me. They will let you right through.”

  In less than a minute my father entered the room with a handful of bills as well and shoved it into doctor’s pocket without any questions. Dr. Kramer quietly wiped away a tear, my mother reached for a handkerchief too, and I was just looking at Officer Friedmann in adoration. He definitely was not a Nazi. I don’t know what he was, but not a Nazi, that’s for sure.

  Chapter Six

  Why did I get so drunk? I know that I’m officially eighteen now, but the last glass of champagne was definitely too much. Tomorrow I’ll be very sick… but who cares, tonight I was dancing with the most handsome officer in the room?

  We were driving home from the New Year’s party for SS and SD commanding staff, and I was Heinrich’s date. Well, actually, the whole time that we were going out nobody ever pronounced the word “date,” but it didn’t stop Gryselda from rolling her eyes at me and sighing behind my back, “God, help us, that girl is so in love!”

  I giggled at the thought, and Heinrich immediately turned his head to me.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Oh, nothing. Just thought of how my housekeeper makes fun of me.”

  “Why does she make fun of you?”

  If I was sober, there was no way I would have answered that question, but right now I was too drunk to care.

  “She thinks I’m in love with you.”

  “Are you?”

  “You cannot ask a lady that! That’s not polite!”

  I really have to stop giggling. It’s getting embarrassing.

  “You won’t remember anything tomorrow, so what’s the difference?” He was laughing at me. Again.

  “I’m not drunk. I’m fine! Why did you stop the car? We’re not home yet…”

  “I’m well aware of that.” Heinrich stepped out of the car, walked around it, and held the door open for me. “Come.”

  “Why?”

  “Just get out of the car, stubborn girl, I can’t take you home to your father in this condition, we’ll have to take a little walk in the park.”

  I wanted to complain about it being winter outside and me wearing summer shoes, but thinking about spending a little more time with the handsome officer, I changed my mind and said nothing. We started a long stroll along the quiet winter alley, and all the recent events seemed nothing like a nightmare to me, already losing its colors. Reinhard can’t hurt me anymore, now I have Heinrich to protect me. And as for my friends… well, it’s all going to eventually stop, people will realize what they have done and all the persecuted will be able to come back. The war? There can’t be war… People still remember what happened during the first war… They won’t start another one.

  “What are you thinking of now?”

  “The war.”

  “The war?”

  “Yes. Do you think it’s really going to happen?”

  Heinrich went quiet for a moment and then replied, “I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen. Eventually.”

  “Why?”

  “I work for Secret Service, remember? A lot of things are going on… Why are we talking about this? Let’s change the subject.”

  “Fine. What do you want to talk about?”

  “You were going to tell me if you’re in love with me or not.”

  I couldn’t help but giggle again (the fifth glass of champagne was too much), pulled my hand from his, and stepped right in front of the smiling officer.

  “Is this an official interrogation, Herr Standartenführer?”

  “Yes, it absolutely is.” Heinrich made a very serious face. “And I’m afraid you will have to answer me. Or I’ll put you in jail.”

  “All right.” I squinted my eyes at him and grinned. “But first, you’ll have to catch me!”

  With those words I turned around and took off as fast as I could, taking into consideration my high heels and the condition I was in. Of course Heinrich nearly caught me right away, but at the last second I jumped behind a park bench, using it as a temporary fortress. It was too funny watching an SD officer trying to get me from behind the bench, especially because he was acting so serious.

  “Come out now, Fräulein, or I’ll have to shoot you!”

  “You wouldn’t!” I laughed, trying to circle the bench and get to a nearby fountain before he could catch me.

  But he did! I felt a snowball, sneakily thrown at me from behind, hit me in the back, and I turned around right away.

  “You! You shot me in the back! Who shoots people in the back?! Especially girls?”

  “Fall on the ground, I got you, and you’re dead.”

  “It was a sneaky shot!”

  But he was already right next to me and started to playfully wrestle with me, trying to make me fall down. It was a pretty easy thing to do, considering both his size and me being not in my most sober state. I didn’t even notice how I was already laying in the snow with Officer Friedmann on top of me.

  “Now you’ll have to answer my question, Fräulein.” He was holding my hands down so I wouldn’t push him off and try to run away. He didn’t have to; I was actually quite comfortable in this position.

  “Or what?”

  “Or I’m going to torture you.” Another very “scary” face.
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br />   “Really? What are you going to do, Herr Standartenführer?”

  “I’m going to kiss you.”

  “No, you’re not!”

  But before I even finished the sentence, he was already kissing me, his warm, hungry lips parting mine, his heavy body making it hard to breathe, the intoxicating smell of his aftershave filling my lungs… He made me open my mouth even more and pushed his tongue inside, making me completely lose my mind. Nobody ever kissed me like that, so passionately, possessively and tenderly at the same time, and all I wanted right now was to stay like this forever, just me and him, in this winter park. When I finally opened my eyes, Heinrich gave me one of his grins and released my arms.

  “Well, are you going to tell me now, Fräulein?”

  “No… no, I am quite fine with the ‘torture’ thing, you can proceed…”

  I put my now free hands around his neck and pulled him closer. He laughed and kissed me again, and again… and again, until I lost track of the time we had spent in the snow.

  “I really hate to say it, but I think it’s time for us to go home, Annalise. I don’t think your mother will appreciate it if I get you home not only drunk, but also soaked, and will never let you go out with me, again. And that would be devastating.”

  Heinrich tried to get up, but I pulled him back by the sleeve. I still have no idea what had gotten into me, whether it was alcohol or hormones, but I felt the overpowering urge to share my biggest secret with this man.

  “Wait, just one more minute. I have to tell you something. It’s very important.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Before it gets too serious between us… well, I just thought you should know. I’m Jewish.”

  “Right.” Heinrich just chuckled, not quite the reaction I expected.

  “You don’t believe me, do you?”

  “Of course not. And I’ll even explain to you exactly why you can’t be Jewish. Your father is a member of the Nazi Party. In order to become a member, you must present your pure Aryan pedigree all the way back to the year 1800, and not only yours, but also your spouse’s. So there’s the explanation to your question why I don’t believe you.”

  Even though I didn’t want to ruin his valid argument, I decided to go all the way and tell the truth.

  “Yeah… it’s all fake.”

  “How can it be fake? Your whole family’s Aryan certificates and passports carry a stamp of my organization, you can’t falsify that! Besides, I’ve known your father since my family moved next to your house, he’s not Jewish! You don’t even look Jewish, you’re a picture perfect Germanic girl with blond hair and blue eyes, for God’s sake!”

  Another good point. I almost felt sorry to ruin my “picture perfect Germanic girl’s” image for Officer Friedmann, but now it was a little too late.

  “Both my maternal and paternal great-grandparents were Ashkenazi Polish Jews, which explains my blond hair and blue eyes. And when Papa’s grandfather emigrated from Poland to Germany, he gave a big part of the gold he had saved, to falsify their identity in order to protect his children from his fate. It bought him about seven ‘purely Germanic generations’ mentioned in different baptismal church books. That’s how it’s fake. But you can’t even prove it now. People who did it are all long gone.”

  Heinrich wasn’t smiling anymore; I guess whatever I just told him finally started to convince him that I was telling the truth. Only I wasn’t sure of how he was going to take it.

  “My mother’s family came from Poland together with my father’s and also bribed the clerks. The two families always remained very close, and that’s how my parents ended up together…”

  Officer Friedmann’s face looked serious now.

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “I don’t know… I just thought you should know before…”

  Before you decide if you want to be with me, I mentally finished the sentence that I couldn’t pronounce out loud.

  “Do you even realize that I’m a Standartenführer of SD and can put you and your whole family in jail for that?”

  I just silently nodded. All this time he was looking into my eyes, as if deciding something for himself. Finally, he asked me, “Have you ever told anybody else about it?”

  “No, of course not!”

  He looked away for a second and then at me again.

  “But why would you tell me?”

  “Because I really like you, I guess… and if we ended up together and I had to live my life knowing that you hate me, my heritage, my whole family, and my religion without even realizing it, I wouldn’t… I don’t know, I just had to tell you.”

  Another long pause followed, during which I held my breath, dreading his reaction. He finally broke the silence. “I really like you too, Annalise.”

  “So you don’t hate me for being Jewish?” I almost whispered.

  “Have you ever heard me saying anything anti-Semitic?” I’d never been happier to see his slight grin, as I was now.

  “No…”

  “Personally I have absolutely nothing against Jewish people, Annalise. To me, the whole Aryan Purity theory is a total bunch of bull... nonsense, I meant to say. But ironically it’s my job to supervise and keep the purity of the Third Reich’s national and emotional state, as they call it. So right here and right now you’re going to swear to me that you’ll never say to anybody what you just told me, ever again, no matter the circumstances! Swear!”

  “I swear!”

  “Good.” Heinrich went quiet for another moment and then pointed a finger at me. “But you’d better always kiss me on the first demand from now on, or I’ll report you to the office!”

  There wasn’t a condition in the whole world that I would agree to more gladly. I grabbed smiling Heinrich by the collar and started to cover his face in kisses. I felt like a huge weight had just been lifted from my shoulders. I was all soaked, freezing but happy. All of a sudden a loud voice obviously addressing us, called out from the alley.

  “Hey, you two! What the hell are you doing there?”

  Heinrich got up on his feet, helped me up, and winked at my scared face.

  “Busted.” Without turning to the voice, he answered, “This Fräulein fell, and I was helping her get up.”

  Meanwhile, the same voice, which as I could see now belonged to a man in a long coat with special markings, continued, “You were helping her get up for five minutes? Gestapo. Your papers, both of you, now!”

  “Are we in trouble?” I whispered to Heinrich, who seemed to be as calm as a rock. I’d never had any interactions with the Gestapo before and was a little scared, to say the least.

  “No, we’re not.” He turned around and walked toward the two men (the second one remained silent the whole time, so I figured he was the first man’s subordinate), and addressed them in a loud commanding voice that I’d never heard before. “Heinrich Friedmann, Standartenführer SD. Now you show me your papers!”

  The reaction of the two Gestapo officers was immediate, as soon as they saw Heinrich’s Standartenführer markings on his coat and collar, both saluted him and after saying “Herr Standartenführer!” froze with their hands next to their foreheads. Heinrich eyed the two men for another moment and then said in the same commanding tone, “At ease, men.”

  “Herr Standartenführer,” the same man, who did all the talking, continued, his voice was apologetic now. “We’re very sorry. Just doing our job, Sir.”

  Both Gestapo officers took out their identification cards and presented them to Heinrich, who intentionally slowly walked under the nearest street lamp and closely inspected the papers. Like a curious baby, I kept turning my head from the Gestapo agents to Heinrich and back. I’d never seen him before interacting in any way with his subordinates and found it absolutely fascinating. If even the almighty Gestapo was afraid of Heinrich, I guess he was a very powerful man.

  “Good job keeping the streets safe, officers.” Heinrich finally stopped “torturing” the two partners an
d returned them their cards. “But for the future, if you see a man on a street ‘helping his girl get up,’ make sure first that the man is not one of your superiors.”

  “Jawohl, Herr Standartenführer! Again, we’re very sorry, Herr Standartenführer! Have a good night!” They saluted Heinrich once again and politely nodded at me. “Have a good night, Fräulein!”

  After that the two men quickly walked away, leaving us alone and smiling.

  “So, you really are a big and scary SD officer? I’ve never seen the Gestapo show their papers to anybody.”

  “The Gestapo is an inferior branch. Let’s say, we’re the brain and they’re our hands.”

  If the dreadful Gestapo was “just the hands,” I was afraid to think what was going on in that “brain.” But for now I kept this thought to myself. I had already said too many things for one night.

  “Do you have any more confessions to make before I take you home? Any communists in the family? Any Marxists? Sectarians?” He was making fun of me again, and that was a good sign.

  “No, I think that’ll be it for now.”

  “Thank God!”

  The old Gryselda turned out to be right after all: I was very much in love.

  Like before every big show, the rehearsals today promised to be long and exhausting. It was only nine in the morning, and I was already in my pointe shoes, warming up by the barre behind the stage. By the end of the day my feet will be most likely bleeding. Last time I had Adam taking care of them… I started to wonder if he made it safely to New York and if Dr. Kramer found him. I was hoping that Adam would get a good position in one of New York’s theatres and one day would become very famous, just to spite the whole Nazi philosophy. And then they would be very sorry that they made him leave.

  Gretchen, “the snake,” accidentally pushed my shoulder while passing by me and occupied the position by the barre right in front of me. We never had liked each other, but my latest promotion to the prima-ballerina’s substitute, even though technically I was still just a regular soloist, really set her off. She was several years older than me and a very good dancer, so she’d naturally assumed that the position should have been hers, and when I got it, her animosity toward me turned into barely masked hatred.