Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 73 of a new online serial novel, Nine A.M., by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week. Click here for previous chapters.
Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications.
On brown packing paper, the words etched with a sharp instrument of some kind:
Hebrew Writing Lesson: Months of the Year
My Name: Zuska
Tishrei V
Cheshvin X
Kislev V
Teves V
Shevat V
“You can’t do it now, during your personal break!” Naomi raised her eyes and the pencil from her student’s quiz paper, trying to conceal her horror at her brother’s plans. “And if you want to know what I think, then I think you shouldn’t do it at all! It’s terribly dangerous, Binyamin!”
“It’s not,” he whispered.
“But if they discover that someone got in during these minutes exactly, you’ll be the primary suspect!”
“They won’t discover it, b’ezras Hashem,” Binyamin said, trying not to sound impatient. “I met Mamme on the way here, and she told me that one of the Gefreiters is in the sewing room right now, and her sister went to the city yesterday and is only going to be back this evening.”
“And Hauptmann Katarina?”
“She’s in the bakery. I heard this morning from Zuretzky, who is in charge, that she wasn’t pleased about something relating to the cleanliness yesterday, and she promised to be there today to supervise a thorough cleaning. And she was seen going in there not long ago.”
Naomi glanced behind her; the children were eating quietly. “But you can’t know when she will decide to relieve the workers of her presence!”
“From experience, it will take her time. And Josef Wangel is sitting in the office with Leo right now, doing their monthly reports.” Binyamin took a step toward the door. “It takes them at least an hour. So I think you can relax.”
“But it’s not predicable!” Naomi whispered, terrified. “Someone might come back to the house at any given moment!”
“You don’t think I’m planning to march down their hallways with my head held high, do you? Even if someone comes in suddenly, it won’t enter his mind that I’m on the estate. I know exactly where to go; I’ve heard them talk about it once. The uniforms and the equipment are on the roof level, where they don’t usually wander around.”
“Only when they want to change a uniform or something, right? And what if one of them decides to do it just then? And how do you plan to get to the third floor without them seeing you go into the house?”
“There’s a drainpipe at the back of the house, and it leads from the roof to the courtyard. I can be up there in less than a minute.”
“It sounds crazy to me. And what if you fall and get hurt, or worse? It’s not worth the risk, Binyamin, especially since we’re not even talking about an escape plan—it’s just to check on their weapons! Freedom-mania has gotten to your head, that’s all!”
He was quiet for a moment. “If you want, you can call it mania. But you should know that sometimes, manic people display strengths and abilities that were latent inside them, until they suddenly burst out.”
“So, what kind of strengths and abilities are suddenly going to burst out of you? You’ll grow a monkey’s tail to help you climb? Or, in the event that someone comes into the room suddenly, you’ll become invisible?”
“The risk of someone coming up just then is very slight, and in the worst case, I’ll hide. As far as falling? I think I’m pretty nimble.” He played with his fingers. “And don’t make light of what I want to do. Do you know how significant it will be if we know that they don’t have real weapons, and that they don’t really have any power against us? If we know that they are…like the picture of a lion on a wall, but not the real, live animal?”
“Rabbi Schwartzbrod said they are dangerous!” She felt on the verge of stamping her feet like a toddler. “You know something? Weapons are not the only things that can kill, if they want.”
“So what do you think they’ll do? Throw me out of the window?”
“What do I think? I think that the conversations with Hanter, and the feeling that freedom is just beyond the wall, have totally mixed you up.” She folded Zuska’s writing paper and stuck the pencil into her pocket. “And I’m afraid. I’m asking you not to go.”
“And if I do go?”
“I’ll go to Leo Sherer,” she said daringly.
“You wouldn’t!” Without realizing it, he paled.
“I’ll send Aryeh to ask the Rav if I’m allowed to. If you are going to be hasty, chas v’shalom you can put yourself and all of us in danger!”
He fixed her with a long, sharp look, and without another word, he turned on his heel and left. On the way he passed the small, warm kitchen that was bustling with activity. He thought he heard one of the older women mentioning his name, but he kept walking.
Naomi dashed after him. “Binyamin!” she called. He continued on his way without turning his head back. To her relief, she saw him turning toward the factory, and not in the opposite direction. Well, he really had no time left anymore, anyway.
But what would be if he decided to do it tomorrow, or the next day?
She would not act on her threat to go to Sherer; she’d never tattle on her brother.
So who could stop him? He wouldn’t listen to Aryeh, unfortunately. She felt that Binyamin did not properly appreciate her husband’s clear mind and common sense, and it was a painful issue that she grappled with.
So, should she go to Mamme? She didn’t know if the idea wasn’t worse than going to Sherer.
Babbe!
She would go to her after she finished here.
But even before the workday ended, Leo Sherer summoned Binyamin to his house.
***
“Sit down, please.” Gray, artfully embroidered curtains swayed gently in the breeze. Binyamin sat down silently. He’d never visited this house, and it was his first exposure to such luxury. How had Leo obtained velvet armchairs? Framed pictures? A woven rug that ran under the window?
It wasn’t actually a question. The Wangels paid him generously for the whole enterprise he’d established here.
Leo sat down in a well-padded armchair. His older son-in-law, Irwin, walked over to the front door and locked it with a sharp motion. It was just the three of them.
“I imagine you understand why I called you here.” When Leo was angry, he looked very old. His white hair shone, appearing almost purplish, and the right side of his mouth tremored. The area around his eyes was lined with deep, angry creases.
“Not exactly.”
“You don’t exactly understand? So I’ll explain it very clearly: If you don’t stop your hasty actions this minute, I will have to inform the management of Samson Lager everything that I know.”
“Which hasty actions are you referring to, Mr. Sherer?” Had Naomi carried out her threat? She’d actually tattled on him?!
“Don’t play dumb. I have no idea where your sick imagination comes from. Your father was an honest, upstanding person, with a healthy dose of logic. But you, with your wild thoughts—you want to destroy us all?”
“If you explain a bit more about what you’re accusing me of, sir,” Binyamin forced himself to gaze directly into Leo’s eyes, “I’ll have a better understanding.” What exactly had Naomi told him? Everything? What was wrong with her?!
“You are going around and stuffing ideas in people’s minds that there are other Jews in the world who live in freedom, and that we should join them?!”
“I don’t know what you are talking about, sir. I didn’t stuff any ideas into people’s minds.” What role had Elkovitz played in this story? And his wife?
“I have my sources, and they are far more reliable in my eyes than you are, young man.”
“And let’s say it’s true.” Binyamin sat up in his chair. “Perhaps the time has come to take a closer look at the story they’ve been feeding us for decades?”
“And you are still saying that you didn’t stuff ideas in people’s minds…” Leo glared at him. “Listen to me, young man, and listen to the experience of a person who is much older and wiser than you.” He snarled the words. “Even if you don’t have all the proof, I do. And I’m telling you that unfortunately, we are the only Jews remaining in the world. Not one other Jew was left alive; only those who boarded our train were saved. Do you understand?” He was breathing hard now. “And I demand that you stop all your interference on this subject!”
“But if that is the case, sir, then why is anyone bothered that I’m interested in the subject? What are you so afraid of—that I’ll try to run away and I’ll mistakenly turn everyone in?”
“It’s good to know that you’ve gone so far.” Leo’s face grew even redder. “I want to know exactly who you spoke to, and who knows about your strange ideas.”
“The one who spoke to you,” Binyamin said quietly. “And I’d also like to know who it is.”
Leo didn’t reply. He began to pace up and down, and pulled at the wooden, lacquered shutters that covered the windows. Irwin strode toward Binyamin, who shrank back. What were they planning to do to him?
“Listen to me!” Leo turned around at once. “If you don’t start answering me seriously, I’m getting Irwin right now to call Hauptmann Wangel. And I’ll be happy to see you explain to him everything that you explained and spoke about in recent days to the people here.”
Binyamin lowered his eyes for a second and then raised them. “Can I please ask which proof you have received that I don’t know about?”
“You cheeky, arrogant boy! If you don’t trust others, that’s your problem!”
“If, to the best of my knowledge, we have been held captive for decades in the hands of a few Nazis, when the whole world has long ago been liberated from their crazy regime, then it’s clear that I won’t trust anyone else on this subject anymore, and I’d want to see the proof for myself.”
“And why should I provide it to you? Because you got up one morning and foolishly decided to establish an underground that will undermine our peace and tranquility? I’m waiting for precise details: Who did you speak to, and what exactly did you say to them?”
“I told them that one morning, I made a phone call and spoke to a Jew who is not here in the camp, and he’s the one who helped me understand all of this.”
For the first time since the conversation had begun, Leo Sherer fell silent, and his eyes opened wide. “What?” His voice sounded strange.
“I spoke on the phone with a Jew who lives in Austria, in Vienna. They live there freely, and they say that the Nazi regime fell six years after the war broke out.” He would not reveal how he obtained a device; the Elkovitzes were not to blame that Naomi had gone hysterical.
Another moment of silence passed, and then Leo’s voice changed and became soft and gentle. “You are sick, Schvirtz, really sick. Irwin will now accompany you to the clinic, and I hope that Dr. Katzburg will find the medications that are right for you, without us having to involve the Wangels in this story to obtain them. And I warn you not to continue speaking to anyone about this subject we were discussing, because if these delusional rumors begin spreading in the camp, the Wangels might handle you very differently than the way I’m treating you now.”
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