APPENDIX 6I
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.i;t.I^IAS
THERE.
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The Fathers
"The schniuel was excellent," my father said,
and leaned back.
Mother smiled gracefully She gor up, garhered the plares, and carried them out to the
kitchen.
"And you?" Father turned to me. 'Already
in uniform again? Whacs on coday? Where
are you off to?"
'l have a date wirh Heinz and Gunrher," I
replied. "We want to prepare our Heim celebracion in honor oI rhe F0hrers binhday."
.,Next week
*TL-,'.
recalled.
rllaL) ;-L,
rlEIl,L, " trather
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Adolf has another binhday. He'll be [onynine. That'll be some celebration, I bet! And
jusr wait till nexr year w'hen he'll be fi[cy.
Then chey'il fall all over rhemseives rvilh
songs and rejoicing."
lvlother came back ro the living room ro
remove rhe ublecloth.
. "Well, Morher, whaCll you ser before t'rs on
rhe Fuhrer's binhday?" Father asked, iaughing.
Mother didn't havc co think long.
"EintopJ!" she said, "because ir'll be the first
Sunday of the monrh and you know we're
supposed to have stew once a monrhl"
'But Mother," Father remonstrated, "he
really deserves becter than that. You'll have
ro admit he has aceomplished quite a bit.
Do you remember how we lived before
L933? We didn'r have any veal cutler rhenl
And I was out o[ work and my unemployment benefics barely covered the rent. We
didn'r have enough ro eat. We suffered
hunger, real hunger. lts hard to imagine
that today. We had no clothes, our furnicure
was taken to the pawnbroker's piece after
piece, and I either hung around the
empioyment olfice or sat on a park bench
somewhere to gel awai' from the r,vorry in
your face, Mother. If Grandfather hadn't
helped us then...!"
Mother nodded. "We are better o[[ today,"
she agreed, "but on che other hand, othcrs
are doing worse. Think of che Jewsl And
Gunther's farher."
"W'ell," Farher said, "Hirler has this spleen
about Jews. Bur rhen everl'one is a bit crazy
somewhere. He'Il caim down, you'll see. lr
has already grown much quierer; ir looked
much worse in che beginning. I am ashamed
i tried to raik the Schneiders inro emigraring
back rn those days."
"\A'hr'r knows. g'ho knorvs?" \4orher shook
her head. -Perhaps ir would have been berrer
if rhey had gone."
'Let it be, Morher. Its in the past. At least
we are betcer o[f. I have rvork again, I earn
enough, and we have enough to eat. Sometimes we can treai ourselves to a bottle of
wine. We are dressccl cieaniy and neatly'; we
have netv lurnicure in our apartmenc, and
every four weeks we go to a movie, or [o
rhe thdarer."
"And above all, Mother added, "we no
longer have to accepr handouts from Grandfather. No ionger can he tell us we've failedl"
Father grew more expansive. "Soon we
may. even be able ro afford a rip to the Norwegian fjords with Krafi durch Freude. And
as soon as I have enough sumps on my savings card, we will drive along the Autobahns
in our own Volkswagen. Then we'll get to
know all of Germany, rhe Osrmark, and who
)r,
knows whar else." Farher beamed. "And
whom can we thank for ir all?"
Mother smiled.
Fathers eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.
"Go on, boy! Oft with you! And pur together
a wonhy celebrarion!"
"You want the young gentleman." The maid in
rhe black dress wirh the iiule bonnet and smail
white apron smiled. She asked me ro come in
and led me to the large room wich drapes rhe
same color red as our [lag. "He'll be a while
yet," she explained. "They're still at the uble."
When she had ieft the room, I chrew
myselI inro one o[ the solt armchairs. A
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momen[ Iater Heinz appeared. He oniy canne
as far as lhe doorway. "We're still eatingl" he
calied. "Buc we'll ba finished soon." He
pushed one o[ the double doors aii the way
open and werir off again.
In rolled a litrle lea wagon with a glass o[
rea, a bowl o[ sugar, and a riny milk jug.
"Madam sends yoq this," the maid informed
me, and quieclY wirhdrew.
I was srill playing wirh che sugar tongs
when Heinz and his facher came in.
"l have something special lor you two,"
Heinzs father said. 'Wait a secondl" He
crossed the large room and wenc into rhe
room next door.
lVe looked after him expectantly' lVe saw
him rake something from a closet'
It was an aimosc life-sized ponrait o[ Adoli
Hicler, framed behind glass. "l'll make you a
present oI it."
We didn'r know what co say. lVe even forgot to say rhank You.
"Well, is it a surPrise?"
Heinz put his arm around my shoulder' 'lc
cenainly isl" he said.
His father was pleased. "I thought you
could use it in your Heim."
Hei.nz rhought. "We'[l unveil it on the
F0hrers birthday, Father."
His larher agreed. "Thacs a good idea,'he
said. "You can alTange a suitable ceremony
and ac irs height you unveil the prcture' ln a
short address you can point out thar rhe
Fuhrer has been senl to us by God, rhac he
wouid never have been able to clear up the
German mess so quickly and rhoroughly
otherwise. Who would have thought, live
years ago, rhar a simple corporal would lead
Germany to such greamess? This man is not
obsessed by ambilion like so many before
him. Whar d,oes he get out o[ life? He doesn't smoke, he doesn'c drink, he eats no mea[,
he even does wirhout a family' AII that
remains is work, work and worry abouc us'
Think of ie, boys. All of us shouid rry to
become as selfless as our Fuhrer. Withouc
thar selflessness he would never have been
able to create a Greacer Germany in che
space o[ five years.
'For the first time in German history
Gerunanimously
and
Guns are sticking together
proclaiming rheir loyalcy to one man' lo our
F0hrer Adolf Hirler. And boys, we are only at
the beginning o[ the path Hitler wanrs to
lead us along. He witl require a great deal
from us still, buc we can also expect a lot
from him. Germany will grow larger, will
become more beauciful if only we will give
our whole strengrh to the Fuhrer so he wiil
be able to realize his grear plans. The Fohrer
lvill not only help us Germans to power and
respect, he will also reorganize the world.
Boys, i envy you the future you will be pnrnleged to expenence. Everything rhat today
costs us elforc and difficulties wrll come cn're
for you and your children." His eyes had
sud,denly begun to shine. Sofrly he said:
"Honestiy, boys, I am haPPy to be a German
ac this momenl in time."
We remained. stlent.
Heinz rvas che iirsc to break the quiec'
'Thank you verY much, Father, for the
picture."
Heinz's [acher waved away his ihanks'
"Don't mention ic," he said. "Enjoy ir! And
now away with youl"
'Sit downl" Gunchers father invited us'
"Gunrher's ouc geccing soup from the burcher. He should be back soon."
Gunchers mother pushed chairs cowards us'
On the uble stood rhree soup plates, each
of which had a differenc Patlern. One had a
piece missing from the ri'm. G[nthers larher
iar belore plt,. decorated wich garlands of
" hands were playing wirh a
flowers. His
spoon. He was Looking at us thoughrfully'
I avoided his eyes and looked at the rhree
cups withour handles on the wall shelf above
tntolll;.r's
morher was working by rhe
kicchen cabinet.
Finally Grlnther appeared. He nodded to
us. "lcs only leftovers," he explained as he
hand.ed the pot co his mother. "Thac's ail che
butcher had ieft. lVe should come earlier in
the fucure, he said."
His mocher iifted rhe lid and looked into
the pot. Then she cipped the concents lnto
tov
cwo piaces. The rhird, rhe broken one wirh rhe
onion pat[errr, she rerumed ro the cabinet.
She took a loaf of biack bread from rhe
breadbox. She cur off rhree slices, each rhe
thickness of a rhumb. Wirh her slice she sar
down at the place wirhour a piare. She
broke the bread and dipped ir inro her husbands soup.
Again Gunrher's farher looked ar me.
From me his look srrayed ro Heinz, rhen slid
across to his son. Ar lasr he asked, "What are
your plans?"
Gunther peered unobrrusively ar me and
continued ro spoon up his soup withour
replying.
"We want to get rhe Heim ready," I
explained readily, "so !har,..."
Gunther cleared his chroar.
I fell silenr.
Quierly, a lictle sadiy, Gunrhers farher said:
"What have you rurned my son into, you
and your Jungvolh and your Fuhrer?" He sar
back in his chair, leaving rhe spoon in rhe
soup and pushing rhe plare roward his wite.
"Let it be, Farher," Gunrher's morher said
as she soorhingly placed her hand on his fisr.
"We have to reconcile ourselves ro the rimes
at some poin!."
'Reconcile, reconcile!" her husband
protested. "Can you reconcile yourself to rhe
fact that our whole family has been desroyed
in a few years?" He srood up and paced back
and fonh in the kirchen. "fuid I srand here,
hands in my pockes, and ler ir happen. My
boy screams 'Sieg Heill Sieg Heil!' and lers
himself be dragged along by rhar brown
swine, while his morher works herself to
death because his father can't. His father's an
ex-convict who doesn't even dare to speak
outlA man turned into a convicr by Hirler!"
Gunther lowered his head over his plate.
His ears had rumed red.
Heirz sured fixedly ar norhing.
Gunthers father bent down ro his wife. He
spoke emphacically ro her. "The boys all ler
themselves be intoxicared by his successes.
They don t even nodce thar rhis stupid man
is leading them ro disaster. k jusr can't turn
out well: Hirler creares r\e Wehrmachc; Hitler
occupies che Rhineland; Hicler rearms rhe
country; Hicler naines himself 'supreme
Commander of rhe Wehhnacht'; Hirler'rakes'
Austria 'back inro rhe Reich!' Nexr perhaps
he'll take the Suderenland, Upper Silesia, and
Wesc Pmssia, rhen the Memeldisrricr, Nonhern Schleswi.g, Eupen-er-Malm€dy, AlsaceLorraine, and finally rhe colonies and rhe
whole worid. Where wiil it end? I ask you,
Mother, where will ir end? Do you seriously
rhink the whole worid will rolerare rhis [orever? Hitler brings us warl War, Morherl"
Gunthers morher clasped her husband's
wrisu. "Do be quier! Think of rhe boys!"
Breathing deeply, rhe farher ralked on.
'Who will rell the boys if I am quiet, Mother?
They must know this afier ali! They musr
know rhar Hitier will bring rhem misflorcune
instead of salvarion."
'Faiher!" shoured Gunrher's morher.
"Stop! Wont you ever learn!"
Gunthers father smiled a pained smile.
"Cautious? Caucious unril dearh! You aiways
\,r'ant to lea;n lo be cautious, but you rush
into ru:n'.v-*h ;.'cur caucion. Ler chem pur me
behind bars again! Ler rhem! I can'r warch
them march, singrng, to rheir ruin, my Gunther carrying rhe flag ar rheir head..."
He pounded che rable wirh borh fisrs He
looked as if he w'as abour ro cry
"Leave!"
Heinz was already by rhe door.
G0nthers morher pushed her son and me
out of the kicchen. "Please, bois, go and [orget what you have heard," she begged.
Crystai Night
"You took pan?" asked Heinz.
"Yesl" I admirred.
"Where?"
'Ar the home for apprenrices
only
- but
for a shon Eime."
"Why?"
"l don't lqrow," I confessed. "Ar first I oniy
looked on, and suddenly I was righr in che
middle of it all. I dont lsrow how ir happened."
Heiru sighed. "One could weep over you!
Weren't you once friends wirh che boy who
lives above you?"
+)
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I nodded.
*And chen you go and smash those peoples things to bir'"
' "I djd,J, do tharl" I rernonstrated'
'But you were rherel" Heinz accused me'
"l rook part, loo," G0ncher declared'
Heinz froze,'You, loo?"
raised his'shoulder' "I had to'" he
"l wave to him.
"He recognizes me, very carefully..giides
'What do
rhrough che store, and opehs up'
you wan!?'he
*What do you mean,'had to'? Heinz brisrled. "No one had tol"
"-liaia.
They mad,e me!" Gunther replied'
"Who made You do something against
d'emanded' "You weren'[ even
Jews?" Heinz
aliowed co!"
'Whar?"
looked ac
Hernz hesitated' a moment' then
that che Hirler
hrs [eer. "k had' been ord'ered
to parciciYouth and rhe Jungvollz lvere not
volce'
Date," he said in a qutet
"Ordered?"
"Yes, ord'ered'" Heinz confirmed'
"iii*gt, ir all happened spontaneously
peoplJ's rage or somethingl?" Gonrher
rable.
chac moment rhey arrive' They
yelling and, screaming' The old man llees
behind his shelves.
are
'Ar
"The door is liung open' it smashes
-said, sounding surPri'sed'
windorv'
againsr the rvall, shacrering rhe giass
"Nonsensel"
'But thar's what Goebbels claims!" Gonther remembered.
"Nonsense 1 said'1" In a barety audible
voice, Heinz told us: "l accidencally listened
in to a long-d'istance telephone conversalion
my lather had about ic"'
"Afie'rward'?" Gunther inquired'
Heinz shook his head' "Beforel tvty lather
together the list of Jewish aPanhad. to
"l [um arouno.
Put
ments and businesses."
"And you
Gunther stepped close co Heinz'
you
"And
didn't *.* *.t He curned away'
call yourself a friend?"
Heinz looked up. "Should I have draged
my father into it?"
story
Some rime lacer Gunther rold his
voice:
jerkily
- "I'mand in a harsh
school' I need a nelv
o[
out
coming
math nocebook, ,o I walk over lo Abraham
ro
Rosenchals s[ore. i climb down che'stairs
I knock' Nothing'
saY'
"He shakes his head. 'Go home,' he says'
and tries ro ciose rhe door'
'l push my loot in berween' 'Whac's the
matter? I need that norebook''
"So he leaves the door open' I step inside'
the store'
close the door, and follow him into
"L{e cakes d'own one o[ rhe fat. notebook
wirh a stiff cover. I say' 'No, I don't have
one''
enough money for chat' Give me a thin
"Bil he hand's me the nocebook and tnes
'l'll give ii to
to push me out of che srore'
voul'he says.'Go on homel'
'- li t'itini. the old man's gone crazy' I take
put it on the
the money from my pocker and
said.
"The d'oors locked'
aslcs.
"'I'd.like a math notebook,' i
Cu",i't..
his ciny cellar score.
look ouI at' me from behind a shet{ ':nit'
I
.-knock harder. And' rhe old man wirh the goa-
"Someone rips che notebook out ot my
it' 'You
hand and' hir me in che lace rvith
pig, buYing fromJewsl'he shouts'
"The litcie score is sud'denly iull of people'
back and
Som.o.lu is pul,ling rhe old man
a
fonh by his goatee.-He pushes hil,18ainst
falls off'
shelf so hard'-thar everything on ir
jar
a
"The man wh'o hir *t ptithtt large
9f
holdthere'
stand
I
hand'
chocolates inro my
ing the jar.
*Throw ir' he commanos'
'Bur I can'c do it'
"The old man is standing right opposice
pressed
me,-and hes looking ai me' They've
crulvere
his arms against rhe shelf as i[ they
him.
cifying
-
i'Tf,ro*
rhe jar in front
man ordered again'
"l hotd che jar
o[ his feerl" The
cightlY:
*He comes to srind behind me' 'l'll counl
;it.;. on.-' it has become utterly quiet
,ill
in the score. Everyones rvatching'
171
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"'Two-'
.rhe"They are pressing in closer, leaving only
space berween rhe old man and me clear.
"'Threel' '
"l am srill ciurching che jar.
"The man kick me in rhe rear. .Wiil you
ger on wirh ir, you pigl'he screams.
"The old man *irh rhe goaree nods ro me.
"And I chrow rhe jar ar his feer.
"The splinrers jump as high as my knees.
The candy flies rhrough rhe srore. Everyone
s.carts to cheer, ro pull paper and candy off
the shelves. They crample ir. They smash ink
bottles and dye rhe man's goaree blue wirh
the ink. They rear norebook ro shreds, thick
ones and rhin ones.
"The man fronr before hirs me in rhe
neck.
'Gec
outl'he
snaps.
"But I can'r leave. Curious onlookers sund
pressed close rogerher on rhe scairs to the
cellar, warching.
"l see someone punch rhe old man in rhe
stomach, see rheJew collapse.
"They cirag him ou, oi r,he srore, up rhe
suirs, away
"Mosc o[ rhem run afier him.
"l bend dowir for my norebook, bur I cant
find ir.
"A few have srayed behind and rhrow rhe
paper and rhe resr of rhe iunk onro rhe
srreet. I go home."
Permssion to reproduce rhis natenal musr be obuined from L. Richrer-Sriehl
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