Fire and Steel, Volume 6
Page 30
Miki stared at her balefully, face hard and eyes defiant. “All right, Lisa. It is a thoughtful question, so I will answer it honestly. So take a deep breath. Grab hold of your little Mormon morals and hang on. You’re about to learn what the real world is like. Even if every qualified German woman had four or more children, it would not be sufficient to meet the needs of the Reich. Reichsführer–SS Himmler knows that, so he cuts through all of the clutter and faces reality. He said, ‘This concern is of such urgency that we no longer have the luxury of holding on to our outdated moral values. We must accept the reality that if we are to reverse the birth rates, we must look to both legitimate and illegitimate motherhood.’”
Lisa recoiled.
Miki went on grimly. “‘It is not enough that only married women should give birth to at least four children. Children are a woman’s gift to the Führer and to the Reich, and to the future. Therefore, all men of Aryan lineage must be prepared to do their part in siring children for the Reich. And all women who qualify must prepare themselves to give to our supreme leader the gift of numerous offspring as well, whether that be within the bonds of matrimony or not.’”
As Lisa rocked back, Miki sneered. “Oh, come on, Lisa. Surely you had an idea of what I was talking about.”
“Tell me!” Lisa nearly shouted it at her. “What exactly is going on here?”
“Hey, what’s with all the anger? I just want to show you the program.”
“Anger! That doesn’t begin to describe what I’m feeling right now. I feel betrayed. You brought me here on false pretenses. Taking notes for your research? What researcher doesn’t make her own notes?”
“I will be making my own notes,” Miki said coolly. “I brought you along because I need to have you record your impressions. I am tasked to evaluate the overall program. But I need to know how outsiders view it. That’s what you’ll be doing. I betrayed nothing. I came and got you because it’s time you got outside of that religious bubble you grew up in and become a woman, not a little girl.”
Lisa whirled, deeply dismayed now. “I’m not your project, Miki! I don’t need you to patronize me or save me from myself. Open the trunk so I can get my things. I’m leaving.”
Miki hooted in derision. “You’re two hundred miles from camp and a hundred miles from Munich. And you’re leaving? Come on, Lisa. Be realistic at least.”
Without a word, Lisa opened her door and stepped out of the car, walking in the direction of the village.
“All right, all right,” Miki called, hurrying after her. Lisa stopped, but didn’t turn. “I was wrong not to be completely honest with you, but I was afraid that you wouldn’t come.”
“You’ve got that right,” Lisa said as she slowly turned back around.
Miki walked over to her. “Okay. I’ll be totally honest with you. Last December, Heinrich Himmler created the Lebensborn Society. As part of the launch of the new program, the society began to acquire what they called Fountain of Life facilities. This one here in Steinhöring is the first of those. There are now several others around Germany.”
“And what is their purpose?” When Miki didn’t respond, “You answer me now, or I’m leaving.”
“No, Lisa, you’re not leaving,” Miki hissed. “Not until you see what we are doing here. I’m not asking for your approval, just your input. So shut up until you know what you’re talking about.”
She turned and started for the front door. Lisa didn’t move. Her chest was rising and falling and she was feeling light-headed.
As she reached the front door, Miki turned back. “You can either come in of your own accord and participate in our research project, or I can. . . .” She stopped and took a deep breath. “All right. I’m sorry I deceived you about why you are here. But your feelings, your impressions, your insights are important to this study. I need to know what bothers you, what you like, what you don’t like. We’ll spend this afternoon showing you around. Then tonight we’ll have dinner with some of the staff. Maybe walk down through the village. They have a delightful woodcarving shop here. And then we’ll be on our way back in the morning. All right? I’m sorry that I wasn’t more forthright with you.”
Lisa took a deep breath, then nodded. She was pretty sure of what Miki had been about to say. “You either come in of your own accord, or I’ll drag you in here.” And she knew that Miki was not bluffing. And that frightened her deeply. She finally managed a smile. “All right. I’ll help you. But I’m going to tell you what I really feel, not just what you hope to hear.”
“Now there’s a big surprise,” Miki said dryly. Then with a smile, she rang the doorbell and motioned for Lisa to join her.
3:01 p.m.
After waiting for over a minute, Miki rang the bell again. Finally, clearly irritated, she rang it a third time, leaning on the buzzer. Immediately footsteps sounded, and a moment later an older woman in a grey nurse’s uniform appeared. She smiled broadly as she opened the doors. “Sorry, Fraulein Borham. I was in the back. How good to see you again so soon.”
So soon? Lisa was trying to look disinterested, but that threw her back a little. Miki had talked like she had been here before, but not any time recently.
“Guten Tag, Frau Berchel. And it is good to see you again as well. How are things?”
“Getting busier each day,” she said, glancing briefly at Lisa. “But das ist gut, no?”
“Very good,” Miki agreed. “Frau Berchel, this is my cousin, Alisa Eckhardt, from Munich.” She smiled and added, “More recently from the Hitler Youth Camp in Southern Bavaria.”
The nurse did a little curtsy. “A pleasure to meet you, Fraulein Eckhardt.” Then she turned back to Miki. “The major is with Dr. Meiss. But he should be down presently. He asked me to have you wait in the foyer. May I get you something to drink? Perhaps a glass of wine? Or we have some mineral water in the refrigerator if you like.”
“Wine for me,” Miki said.
“Mineral water would be good,” Lisa said. It was important that she appear to be cooperating.
Miki led Lisa into a large foyer with an ornate staircase on one side. There were chairs against the wall, but Miki ignored them. Less than a minute later the nurse was back with their drinks. “I will let Major Reidell know you are here.”
As the woman hurried away again, Lisa took a drink of her carbonated water, then turned to Miki. “This is a lovely place. Do you mind if I look around?”
Miki, whose thoughts seemed to be elsewhere, shook her head and sat down in one of the chairs. Lisa turned and started slowly around the room, sipping her drink as she walked. What she saw was impressive. The outside of the building had been pleasant and welcoming. In here, the level of elegance had been taken up two or three notches. The lower third of the walls was finished in wainscoting made of a beautifully grained walnut stained dark brown. Above the wainscoting, the walls were covered with a light tan wallpaper with the tiniest hint of a pattern in it. It worked very well with the wood. Paintings hung on the wall at intervals—famous men with no identification, a British fox-hunting scene with red-jacketed riders following the hounds at a full gallop, a woman and a child in a garden. They didn’t look like priceless masters, but neither were they cheap copies.
A movement caught Lisa’s eye. At the far end of the entry, a set of double glass doors shut off what looked like a drawing room. Inside she could see two men in full SS uniforms with shoulder epaulets indicating that they were officers. At first she thought they were conversing, but then she saw that something more formal was going on. As she watched, the man with his back to her took a step forward and dropped to one knee, reaching out to pick something up. From where Lisa stood, she couldn’t see what it was. A moment later, he stood again, and to her great surprise, he was holding an infant in his arms. The baby was wearing a long white dress that went way past its feet. Like a christening dress, she thought. The man was holding the bab
y out and gently bouncing it up and down.
Lisa glanced at Miki, but she was lost in her own thoughts, so she moved a few steps closer as the second man stepped up beside the first. They were standing so that she was not in their line of sight. Now she was close enough to see a small mattress, like that of a baby’s crib, lying on the floor with a white blanket over it. The man holding the baby extended his arms as the second man moved right up to him. The second man wore a priest’s collar instead of a tie. Then Lisa understood. This was a christening. The first man was likely the father of the baby, the second one probably a Catholic priest. Though she had never seen one in an SS uniform before.
Lisa jumped as something touched her arm. It was Miki, but she was looking through the glass too. And smiling. “Ah,” she whispered. “I haven’t seen them doing this before.”
“Is the older man a priest?” Lisa asked.
Miki shrugged. “I doubt it. He’s a colonel in the SS.”
But he was acting like a priest. He dipped his finger in the marble bowl, then touched the baby’s forehead, caressing it gently. But Lisa noted that he did not make the sign of the cross. And just like that it was over. A nurse, who had not been visible before, appeared and took the baby, then left the room. The two officers left through another door.
“Was that the father?” Lisa asked, turning to Miki.
She shrugged. “Probably not. All babies born here are blessed and given a name for their birth certificates, but usually the father is not present. He might be stationed hundreds of miles from here. He may not even know he’s a father.”
Lisa gave her a strange look, which Miki ignored. “What does it matter if he’s a priest or not?” she asked, snappishly. “He’s a colonel. He doesn’t need authorization from God.”
And that began Lisa’s introduction to the Steinhöring Lebensborn Haus.
7:30 p.m.—Upstairs Bedroom, Lebensborn Haus
Lisa sat in a chair in the corner of her room, staring up at the ceiling, her mind a turmoil of conflicting emotions. She was reviewing all that she had seen and experienced in the last few hours during their tour of the Fountain of Life House. And even now, it started her reeling all over again.
The first shock was learning this place was a strange combination of maternity ward for unwed mothers, most of them in their mid-teens; a nursery and children’s infirmary; a small, private school for young children; and finally, a high-class bordello.
The last was a guess, of course, but after what she had heard and seen, she was pretty sure it was an accurate one. This was not a place where unwed women came to give birth. This was a place where young women came of their own free will and choice and volunteered to become part of the Fountain of Life program. And not just any young women. Young women who had volunteered for the program were accepted only after a thorough screening. Miki had proudly told Lisa that only forty percent of applicants were accepted into the Lebensborn program.
And the fathers. All were SS men, most of them officers. Most were single, but not all. Miki, enjoying every new shock she could inflict on her naive cousin, told her that some wives of the more senior SS officers did not want any more pregnancies. So they told their husbands to find another way to meet their quota of four children. Sometimes they took those babies into their home. More often, they were given out for adoption.
As for the single men, this was, of course, a great sacrifice. They would come for a weekend and make the ultimate sacrifice for their country by taking pretty young women to their beds and turning them into mothers for the Third Reich. Then they would return to their units without any of the obligations of fatherhood.
Which also explained all the empty cribs in the yard. Babies need some summer air.
And with that realization had come a horror like nothing Lisa had ever felt before.
So she sat here now, thinking about Miki. As they had finished the “tour,” Miki again stressed that she wanted Lisa’s honest input, but Lisa knew she didn’t want this kind of input. What could she say that wouldn’t make Miki so angry that she would leave her to walk all the way back to Hitler Youth Camp? Should she outright lie? Tell half-truths?
The biggest shock for Lisa had been the scope of the facility. The number of babies currently being cared for here, according to Major Kurt von Reidell, who had been their host and tour guide for the full three hours, was over seventy, with several women still pregnant.
The second greatest shock had come when the major had come into the room, swept Miki into his arms, and kissed her passionately, not caring at all that Lisa was watching. So was Miki a Lebensborn member? Or were they just lovers? No wonder she had broken off her engagement! A major in the SS?
Lisa started as a sharp rap on the door brought her out of her reverie. She got to her feet.
“Lisa?” It was Miki. “Are you ready to go down to dinner? The major and I are ready.”
“Uh . . . ja, ja. Give me just a minute.”
When Miki had invited her to join them for dinner, Lisa had tried to beg off, saying that she had a bad headache. Miki brought her two aspirin and told her they’d stop by in half an hour. She finally gave in, not daring to alienate Miki any further at this point, though she dreaded it. She wrapped a shawl around her shoulders, pasted on a smile, and opened the door.
“Ah, Lisa. Guten Abend,” said the major. “I would like you to meet a longtime friend of my family, who just happens to be passing through on his way to a new assignment in Konigsberg. Lisa, this is Lieutenant First Class Arnhuss Klempke.” His smile broadened. “We all call him Arnie. Arnie, meet Miki’s cousin, the lovely Fraulein Alisa Eckhardt.”
They shook hands, and then the major turned to Lisa. “It was a pleasant surprise when Arnie knocked on my door tonight. Would you mind if we invited him to join us for dinner?”
“Of course not,” Lisa replied.
June 17, 1935, 8:10 p.m.—Alpine Biergarten,
Steinhöring, Bavaria
Arnie Klempke had been born and raised in Hamburg in an upper-class family where military service was a three-generation tradition. He had graduated with a degree in civil engineering from one of the technical universities there and received his commission in the SS the same day, starting his military training immediately thereafter.
Yet in spite of all of that, he proved to be charming, funny, attentive, intelligent, and clearly sensitive to the fact that his partner for dinner was less than thrilled to be there. By the time they arrived at the restaurant and ordered drinks, Lisa found herself relaxing a little. Not a lot, but some. He even got a laugh or two from her as he regaled them with stories from his time in boot camp.
In fact, if she were being perfectly honest with herself, one part of her found herself marveling at her situation. Arnie was, in her opinion, even better looking than Major Reidell. His hair was thick and a lighter shade of brown than her own, and she liked how he brushed it straight back. His large, wide-set eyes were an attractive bluish grey, his cheekbones high, his nose pleasantly formed, and his ready smile revealed straight, white teeth. He had to be in his upper twenties, she decided. Had Miki told him that she was not yet seventeen? Almost certainly. Yet he was treating her like a woman, and she had to admit that was a little intoxicating. “Lisa?”
She snapped up as she realized that Arnie had spoken to her and was now looking at her quizzically. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “What did you say?”
“I was asking about your father. Miki tells me he was a high official in the Nazi Party.”
“Oh?” She recovered from her surprise quickly. “Yes. Yes, he was.”
“But now he is a university professor?” There was the slightest hint of disdain there.
“Yes, for the last two years. He was shot in the back during the Beer Hall Putsch and—”
Major Reidell whipped around. “He was there at the Putsch?” he asked incredulously.
“So your father knows Goebbels and Hess and Goering personally?” Arnie asked, clearly awestruck.
Miki was clearly miffed by the attention Lisa was suddenly getting. “Yes. The Führer came to my grandfather’s funeral,” she interjected. “I got to shake hands with him too.”
The lieutenant barely heard her. “So have you ever met the Führer personally, Lisa?”
“Of course.” The new respect in his eyes was pleasing to her. “My father and Hitler joined the German Workers’ Party together. He came to our house several times to see my father when I was young. Sometimes he stayed for supper. My brother’s middle name is Adolf, after him.”
“My, my,” he said at last. “I had no idea.”
Just then the waitress arrived with their food, and the conversation turned to the upcoming Olympic games, with Miki and Lisa only commenting occasionally. When they were finished eating, their waitress brought coffee and chocolate cake. The cake was served whole, with a knife and individual saucers for each of them. Arnie picked up the knife and turned to Lisa. “Would you like a piece?”
She shook her head and groaned. “I am stuffed. Too much schnitzel, but thank you.”
“I’ll take a piece,” Miki said with a smile. “And don’t make it too little.”
He laughed and cut a generous piece for her, then one for himself and one for the major. As they began to eat, Miki cut off a large chunk with her fork, mopped up extra chocolate syrup, and put it in her mouth. “Mmmm,” she said, closing her eyes in sheer pleasure.