by Ella Zeiss
Harri watched as his father straightened his shoulders and took a deep breath before opening the door. He held his breath too. Had they come to take his father away now like Onkel Otto?
The door opened just a crack.
‘Andrey Stepanovich!’ said his father with a sigh of relief, quickly stepping aside to let the other man come in.
Harri knew the new arrival. His father taught the man’s son. Vanya had struggled with some of the subjects and Vater had started giving him extra tuition after school. Andrey Stepanovich was a simple man from a Russian village who could himself barely read or write. He was very grateful to the teacher for spending so much time on his son. Only a few days ago he had brought them a cake his wife had baked especially for them.
The man looked around hastily before slipping into the house and closing the door behind him. ‘Samuel Michailovich!’ he said in a loud whisper. ‘You have to get out of here! It’s sheer luck but I just overheard someone say that you’re going to be arrested tonight.’
Vater turned as white as a sheet. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Absolutely certain!’ The man nodded wildly. ‘I wouldn’t normally say this, but you’re such a good person. You’re no Fascist or traitor. You must get away!’
‘Thank you, Andrey Stepanovich,’ Vater said, fighting back his emotion. He shook the man’s hand. ‘Thank you!’
‘You don’t have to thank me. You’re a good person,’ the man repeated. ‘The best of luck to you.’ Andrey Stepanovich nodded to everyone in the room and opened the door. Checking that no one was watching, he slipped back out into the dusk.
Harri watched, stunned, as his mother leapt to her feet and started hastily throwing things into the worn suitcase they had brought with them when they fled from home eight years earlier. This time his father would have to go by himself.
Emma started to cry and Harri put an arm round his little sister to comfort her.
Harri would have loved to help his parents and be of some use but was afraid he would only get in their way. He didn’t want to disturb their activity with some silly mistake that might delay Vater’s departure or make him forget something important.
‘Have you got your passport?’ Mutter asked, shaking visibly.
‘Yes,’ Vater said, patting his chest pocket.
‘Here, take the money.’ She handed him a small wad of banknotes from a hiding place under the bed.
Vater unfolded the notes and counted off just a few for himself.
‘Take it all,’ Mutter insisted, pressing the money he tried to give her back into his hand.
‘No, you’ll need it.’
‘You need it more!’ she insisted. ‘Who can say just how or when you might manage to find work? We’ll be all right.’ Her voice broke and she stroked his face tenderly with her fingertips. ‘Take care, won’t you?’
‘I will,’ he said, hugging her tightly. ‘I’ll be in touch as soon as possible.’
‘And be careful. You never can tell who might be reading your letters. It’s probably best if you don’t write to us directly: write to a neighbour or to Andrey Stepanovich. He would definitely bring us the letter.’
‘All right.’
‘Do you know where you’ll head to?’
‘First of all I need to get away from here.’ He paused. ‘Maybe I can make my way to Azerbaijan. I went there once when I was young. I seem to remember it as a beautiful place with plenty of fertile land.’
‘All right,’ Mutter said, nodding bravely. She embraced him one last time.
‘I must hurry,’ he whispered to her, then went over to Emma and lifted her up into his arms. ‘Goodbye, little one,’ he said, planting a kiss on her forehead. ‘Listen to your mother and do as she says. Be a good girl now.’ He paused to wipe the tears from her cheeks. ‘Don’t be sad. I’ll be seeing you soon.’
‘Promise?’ She did her best to smile despite the tears.
‘Promise,’ he said in a firm voice, then set his daughter down and turned to Harri. ‘You’re the man of the family from now on,’ he said with a little smile. ‘Look after Mutter and Emma for me, and Tante Gerda and the boys as well.’
‘Yes, Vater.’ Harri pulled his shoulders back and held his head high. He wasn’t going to let his father down.
‘That’s it, son.’ Vater gave him a brief firm hug.
Harri stood stiff and straight, watching as he put on his coat, picked up the small suitcase and gave them each one last long look. ‘We’ll all be seeing each other as soon as possible,’ Vater stated, then opened the door and walked out.
Harri was devastated. Only a few minutes ago, his father had been sitting at the table with them all and now he was gone, and no one knew when or where they would see each other again. He looked across at Mutter and Emma and managed to give them a brave smile. He had to be strong for them. He had just promised his father to do so.
For a while no one spoke. Everyone was in a state of shock. They couldn’t really believe it. Everything had happened too fast to be able to grasp it all properly.
‘We were lucky for once,’ Mutter said at last. Her voice sounded a touch shaky. ‘God bless Andrey Stepanovich. There are still some good people left in the world, thank goodness.’
She started to clear the table, slowly taking away the bowls of soup that had gone cold. Nobody was going to eat anything now.
‘Should I fetch a bucket of fresh water from the well, Mutter?’ Harri asked. That had been his father’s job until now. He always said a man should never make a woman do the hard work if he could do it himself. From now on it would be Harri’s chore.
‘Ask Ludwig to help you,’ Tante Gerda said. ‘That bucket is very heavy.’
‘I can manage,’ Harri said, grabbing the bucket, which held about five gallons. His father was right. He was the man of the family now. The sooner he got used to his new responsibilities the better.
Going to bed on time that night was the hardest thing Harri had ever done in his whole life. No one knew if the secret police would really appear at their door and the question hung over them all like the sword of Damocles. It was impossible to stay calm. Harri would have preferred to stay up and support his mother if needed but she insisted that everyone went to bed as usual. If they were caught waiting up in the middle of the night, ready for anything instead of sleeping soundly, they would only make themselves more vulnerable. It would be obvious that they had been warned and that Vater had fled.
So Harri went to bed obediently although he knew he wouldn’t sleep a wink. His thoughts kept returning to his father. Would he manage to get on a train somewhere, or would he be captured and taken away without them ever being told? Could he really ever manage to find a place where he might settle and start a new life, and where he could bring his family? His father was a level-headed and strict man, but he had always given Harri a sense of security. Harri had always known that nothing could happen to him as long as his father was near, but now he was gone and Harri was supposed to fill his far-too-big shoes. Although he had no idea how he was going to manage, Harri was determined to try with all his might. He would look after Mutter and Emma, and make Vater proud when they finally met again.
Harri woke with a start when he heard banging at the door. His heart was in his mouth and he was halfway out of bed before he realised what was going on.
He must have fallen asleep after all, because it took him a moment to realise what the noise meant. The men from the secret police – they had come to fetch his father.
‘You stay in bed!’ his mother ordered as she wrapped a warm shawl over her nightgown and crossed the ends carefully over her chest.
‘I’m coming!’ she called out in Russian when there was more banging outside.
Not doing as he was told, Harri crept to the bedroom door and peeped through the narrow crack into the main room.
‘Let me see too,’ Emma whispered, so quietly he could barely hear. She was standing beside him so he moved over a little reluctantly to make ro
om for his sister.
The handle was almost wrenched from their mother’s hand as soon as she had unlocked the heavy door. It was pushed open and three men stormed into the house.
‘Where is Samuel Pfeiffer?’ one of the officers yelled at their mother.
‘He’s gone.’ She pulled her shawl more tightly around her shoulders and quietly looked up at the tall man threatening her. She seemed so small and delicate, and yet so immensely strong.
‘What do you mean, gone?’ the man asked sharply, giving his colleagues a signal. ‘Search the place.’
The light of the lanterns merged with the light from the thin candles Mutter had set on the table.
‘He’s gone away,’ she explained. ‘I don’t know where.’ She shrugged and seemed to be wrestling with herself. ‘What do you want him for?’
‘We have reason to believe that he is a Fascist and an agitator.’
Mutter smiled bleakly. ‘Then it’s probably a good thing he’s not here.’
The man looked at her coldly. ‘What do you mean by that, Comrade?’
‘That it’s good for me, I mean. I don’t want anything to do with Fascists.’
Harri and Emma backed away as the man approached the door. There was no need to fake their fear when he shone his lantern into their faces and started searching the room.
Feeling helpless and angry, Harri watched them rifle through the beds and cupboards. They threw all Mutter’s carefully ironed washing and all their precious books onto the floor as if they expected Vater to be hiding somewhere between them all.
The man ransacked the room until nothing remained in place. Harri understood with horrible clarity that the whole purpose of the action was to humiliate them. He wasn’t searching for clues or papers, he was far too careless for that, and he wasn’t looking for Vater either. He just wanted to demonstrate that he could do whatever he wanted in their home and there was nothing they could do about it. They didn’t dare say a word.
He stopped breaking things at last and went back to his commanding officer. ‘He’s not in there.’
‘He’s not here either,’ the other man said, coming out of Tante Gerda’s room.
‘When did you last see your husband?’ the officer asked, turning to Mutter again.
‘This morning. He didn’t come home after work.’
Harri held his breath but the man accepted this lie without comment.
‘I hope you know your duty and will contact us immediately if you hear from him.’
‘Of course.’ Harri couldn’t believe how calm his mother sounded.
‘Good. So sorry for any disturbance, Comrade.’ The man touched his cap with an ironic bow. ‘Have a good night.’
‘Thank you,’ Mutter murmured, and waited for the men to leave before rushing to the door and turning the lock. She leaned against the door, looking as though she might faint at any moment. Harri quickly pulled up a chair.
‘Do you need anything, Mutter? Are you all right?’
‘Yes, yes, I’m fine,’ she reassured him weakly. ‘It’s all the excitement. Just let me sit here for a moment and then I’ll be all right.’
Emma came up to her and hugged her tightly. ‘Have a little rest, Mutter. Harri and I will tidy up.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, and almost smiled.
‘It’s all right though, isn’t it?’ Harri couldn’t stop himself from asking the question that was driving him mad. ‘They won’t find Vater, will they?’
‘No, they won’t,’ Mutter confirmed. ‘He’ll be miles away by now.’
Samuel hid in the shadow of a house and eyed the railway tracks behind the small station building. Everything seemed quiet. Presumably no one was looking for him yet, but he didn’t dare walk out into the open to stand and wait for the next train. He had no idea when it might arrive and the risk of being recognised or caught was too great.
He picked up his suitcase and slunk sadly away. Maybe he could manage to jump onto a goods train outside the settlement. Usually the trains headed out of the station very slowly and took several minutes to reach full speed.
A dog started barking somewhere, making Samuel jump. He looked around in panic and quickened his steps. He would be safer in the woods outside of town. No one was ever there at this time of night. He could wait there and review the situation.
His mind teemed with thoughts, worrying about his family, and raging at the Government for turning innocent people into refugees and enemies in their own country. For the third time in his life he was being forced to leave behind everything he loved and cared for to build up a new existence somewhere else. He had been a young man when he and his parents had lost all their property. It hadn’t been easy for him but then he’d met Hilde and despite all the hardship, life had taken a turn for the better. They had had everything they needed – work, children, a happy home – until they’d had to leave everything behind again. They’d sought refuge with Samuel’s brother, who had gladly taken them in. Now Otto was dead and he was on the run once more. Would it never end?
Samuel reached the woods and sat down on the dry grass at the foot of a tree. He listened warily in the growing darkness. Had the GUGB men been to see his family yet? What would they do when they found out he wasn’t there? Were they looking for him already? He needed to get out of this area as soon as possible. If they sent out a search party and started patrolling the stations then he was done for.
Eventually he heard the clanking sound of a train approaching. He stood up and hid behind a tree to avoid the bright light of the headlamps. The first long tall-sided freight car trundled past, no doubt piled high with huge tree trunks. Samuel didn’t hesitate a moment longer. Gripping his suitcase tightly, he started to run. The second wagon rolled past. He would have to be quick. He reached out and tried to pull himself up onto the small platform for train personnel situated behind each wagon. Twice his fingers slipped, but on the third go he managed to get a handhold and put one foot on the edge of the platform. With great effort he then pulled himself up further, caught his breath and slid down onto the floor. The platform was wide enough for him to sit comfortably. He set down his suitcase and rested his head on it.
The train rattled along, rocking to and fro. Samuel looked up at the sky passing by. ‘Thank you, God,’ he murmured quietly. He might be heading towards an uncertain future at this moment, but at least he was still alive and free.
Samuel awoke as the train started to slow down. He rubbed his face. He hadn’t realised that he had fallen asleep. The grey dawn was breaking above him. He sat up and took a careful look around. He had no idea where he was but the train was definitely slowing. He would probably reach a large station soon. Samuel stretched his shoulders, picked up his suitcase and stood up carefully. He surveyed the passing countryside, waiting for a suitable place to get off, then threw his suitcase and jumped out after it. He tried to roll but landed painfully on his knee and shoulder. He lay there for a few breaths, waiting for the pain in his body to gradually subside while his racing heartbeat slowed. Luckily he didn’t seem to have injured himself seriously. Slowly he stood up and went back to find the suitcase, then smoothed down his clothes, brushed the dirt and dry grass off his trousers and coat and started walking along the tracks.
Less than half an hour later, he reached Svetlograd station.
Samuel sighed in relief. At least he hadn’t travelled in totally the wrong direction. If he had headed north, he would have had to go back through Armavir on his way down to Azerbaijan. Now all he needed was a train heading south.
He walked into the station building and was pleased to see that no one took the slightest notice of him. Several people were sitting sleepily on the uncomfortable benches waiting for their connecting trains or for the ticket office to open. He sat down on a free seat and watched what was going on with interest.
By the hands of the big station clock it was shortly after six. An elderly woman wearing a worn coat and a dark headscarf walked up and down between the waitin
g people carrying a small basket. Most of them waved her on, although some gave her a few coins for a couple of piroshki – filled puff pastries. Samuel felt his stomach cramp; he was so hungry.
‘Would you like something to eat, my friend?’ the old woman now asked him.
‘Yes, please,’ he smiled. ‘What good things do you have?’
The woman lifted the cloth to show her wares. ‘These ones are filled with egg and these ones with sauerkraut. They are both very good,’ she told him.
‘I’ll have two of each,’ Samuel said, noting the woman’s poor clothing. He gave her a couple of coins worth far more than the food.
The woman started digging in a worn purse for change, but Samuel stopped her. ‘It’s all right,’ he said. He didn’t have that much money but he was fit and healthy and he was bound to find work soon. The woman looked as if she needed the money far more desperately.
‘God bless you, my friend,’ the woman mumbled. ‘God bless you.’
Two hours later, the ticket office opened and Samuel joined the queue of travellers. He was in luck. The next train to Baku was due in three hours’ time. From there he hoped to get a connection heading inland. He remembered there used to be a number of German villages near Aghstafa – maybe he would be able to stay in one of them.
Chapter 15
May 1938, Settlement Sor-El, Soviet Republic of Komi
‘Anna Friedrichovna!’
Anna was busy weeding her front garden. She looked up in surprise. One of her youngest pupils was standing in front of her – Anton Dvorkin – looking very pleased with himself.
‘What is it, Anton?’ she asked the boy kindly.
‘My father asked me to tell you that your husband will be home late this evening.’
‘Why?’ she said, standing up in alarm.
‘Umm . . .’ The boy frowned as he concentrated hard. ‘Something to do with work,’ he said, sounding somewhat unsure. ‘You’re not to worry.’ He said the last part with more confidence. That was obviously part of the original message.