“Weren’t you scared?” Loni said as her hands went to her face.
“I was too young to understand. I thought the soldiers would help us. They didn’t. Anyway, Eva was standing behind me. Gerut took one look at her and told the men to wait outside. He slammed the door and pushed me out of the way. He strolled over to Eva, removing his leather gloves as he walked, and said, ‘You’re a Jew?’”
“‘No,’ she replied. ‘I’m your new lover.’ I don’t know if she planned to do it or was so scared she said the first thing that entered her mind, but it saved our lives. I’m sure of that.”
“He slapped her across the face with the gloves. Eva didn’t move. He slapped her again. I was too shocked to move and just stood there watching. Eva dropped to her knees and put her face against his crotch. Eva was a strong-willed girl. I’d never seen her be submissive before. He didn’t open his pants, but pushed her face into his groin and held her there. He then turned to me. I’ll never forget his voice.”
“You were how old?” Banyon interrupted.
“Just thirteen,” Sofia used her hand to indicate her height then.
“You were mentioning his voice,” Loni said as she put her finger against her lips to quiet Banyon.
“He said, ‘Come here, little girl. What is your name?’ I stumbled close to him. Eva was struggling and tried to say something, but he held her tight to his body.”
“‘My name is Sofia,’ I said.”
“‘Do you know about sex?’ he asked like a teacher. Before I could answer, he pulled Eva’s hair and snapped her head back. She had a wild look in her eyes, but didn’t struggle. ‘Not her, please, I’ll be good. I’ll do anything, just leave her alone,’ Eva said.”
“I was looking straight up into his eyes when he grabbed my ass. I didn’t move. I was terrified.”
“‘Good,’ Gerut acknowledged. ‘I will be here at ten o’clock tonight. I expect food, liquor, and sex. But most of all, I expect both of you to obey my commands.’ He reached into his pocket and took out some money. He still held Eva by her hair and ordered her to open her mouth as wide as possible. He stuffed the money into her mouth. He then hit Eva in the stomach and pushed me to the floor.
“‘I need to show the soldiers that I interrogated you,’ he said. We were both lying on the floor and crying when he threw the door open, gave the soldiers a view inside, and announced that we weren’t Jews; just a couple of diseased women. That is how we became whores.”
“What a bastard,” declared Loni. “I would’ve kicked him hard in the nuts.”
“And you would surely have died on the spot. The Nazis were crude and cruel men. Women and Jews were at their complete mercy. George Gerut was better than some, as we found out later. I think he actually cared for Eva. Of course, he had a wife and sons back in Germany, so she was just a substitute.”
“What did George do during the war?” Banyon inquired.
“As I remember, he worked for his father. He never really talked about what he did. But one time, I saw a list of places his men were looting. The names were all Jewish. He told Eva his father exported resources from Austria.”
“When did he give Eva the book?” Banyon persisted.
“Let her talk,” Loni demanded. “I want to hear more.”
“I can’t believe I’m telling complete strangers my life story,” Sofia commented as she leaned back.
“So, you are stuck in Austria, under the control of a Nazi,” Loni recapped. “What happened next?”
“It was so long ago and I was so young and scared,” she said as she thought about the past. “Gerut came by twice a week and sometimes spent the entire weekend with us. Eva had told me to run and hide when he visited. That didn’t work, as he enjoyed looking for me. When he found me, he would pull me around the apartment by my hair. He was extremely brutal on those occasions. Eva said we had to find a better way to deal with him or he would continue to become more brutal.”
“So, he liked the fact that you were watching?” Loni asked. “He was cruel enough to want complete control, right?”
“Yes, he did. I soon became desensitized and didn’t struggle. This made him furious. He needed to dominate us. Eva came up with the nursing ploy. She went to a store and bought a small nurse’s uniform. The next time he visited, I was dressed in the outfit and had a serving tray to carry around. Whenever he wanted anything, I would run and get it, put it on the tray and curtsey when I delivered it. I also was in charge of cleaning him up after sex—just like a real nurse would wash a patient. At least it was better than getting smacked around and having my hair pulled.”
“How long did this go on?” Loni asked.
“Actually, we were just getting started. Eva started dressing in a doctor’s smock with nothing underneath. George would sometimes bring some men over. They would sit in the living room. I served drinks and food and got groped. Eva would come walking out of the bedroom with her smock on and say, ‘Next.’ I would run into the bedroom and cleanup the man and remake the bed. They all left money on their way out. One time, George brought his father. He was a major, I believe. George told me that it was important to impress his father, so I brought him a drink and asked if I could sit on his lap. I soon found that he was no different from the other men. His hand never left the inside of my thighs.”
“So, the father was a major?” Banyon asked as he looked at Loni for a pen and paper. She just grinned and showed him the tape recorder which had mysteriously appeared in her hand.
“His first name was Ernest. As I think back, his visit seemed to be a kind of test.”
“Why do you say that?” an intrigued Banyon asked.
“Well, it was a week later that George brought the book and made a proposal.”
Loni now interrupted. “How did you feel about being groped all the time?”
“Please don’t think evil of me, but I began to crave it. Sure, in the beginning, when George was cruel and brutal, I was terrified and hated it. But when Eva and I learned how to control the men, it became pleasurable. Remember, I was just reaching puberty. I enjoyed teasing them. If they were handsome, little sparks, like electricity, passed through me when they touched me. It also made Eva’s work easier and faster.”
“Tell us about the proposal?” Banyon stood and paced the suite as if in deep thought..
“Yes, you are interested in the book,” Sofia remembered.
“Tell us in your own way,” an annoyed Loni said, as she pierced Banyon with a laser-driven look.
“It was the first week in January, 1940. George brought the book along with some papers. I stood with my tray, waiting, as he talked to Eva.”
“‘You and the girl must go,’ he said. ‘Too many people know you are a whore and a Jew. You must go tonight.’”
“Eva was stunned. ‘Where can we go, George?’ she asked. I remember his exact words as if he was here now.”
“He explained that he made an arrangement with the Chinese embassy to allow us to immigrate to Shanghai. A train would leave that night and we needed to be on it if we hoped to survive. The trip would be dangerous and long, but in the end, we would be safe in China. He said there were many Jews in Shanghai. He then gave her the book. He told her that it was his commitment to her. It was his most prized possession. He said she could never give it to anyone and he would come to Shanghai to retrieve it. Eva was grateful and took him into the bedroom to thank him.”
At this point, Banyon spoke. “You were helped by a very famous person, you know. His name was Feng-Shan Ho. He was the Chinese ambassador to Austria from 1938 to 1940. He processed more than one hundred thousand exit visas during his time in Vienna. Many of them were for Jews who went to China to live. He is a hero in China, with a statue and everything. He also made huge amounts of money by overcharging for the exit papers. He was a businessman who profited from the war.”
“I didn’t know that,” Sofia replied. “I thought it was George who had arranged everything.”
“He
might have paid the money. I think he wanted to keep the book and the papers inside safe from others. You were the transporter and the backup to a much larger plan,” Banyon said.
“I’m not surprised,” Sofia replied. “George was a very calculating man. He trusted no one.”
“Did you look in the book?” Banyon asked.
“Yes, we found the note, in German, in the inside lining of the book,” she replied. “Eva was pleased to find it. She said it was probably directions to the Gerut family fortune. She said we must always protect the book and keep it safe for George. I think she thought she had a future with him.”
“Tell us about the trip,” Loni blurted out. It was clear that she was fascinated by the story.
Chapter Fifty-Three
“The train took several days to reach Greece. Eva and I shared a cabin with three ugly men. They were never really a threat as the train was so crowded that people stood just outside the door of the cabin and constantly looked in at us through the window. I remember feeling dirty and knew the men would attempt to attack us if given the chance. We were glad to reach the coast of Greece.”
“In Athens, we boarded a steamship and had our own cabin. Eva said that we would need money when we got to Shanghai. She was drinking heavily then. George had started her on liquor. He liked it when she was drunk and pliable. When she wasn’t working, she was drinking. The ship had a lounge and Eva would sit at the bar and entice men who had money. I soon had to break out my nursing uniform. I also began to handle the money, as Eva spent most of her time in a drunken fog.”
“Sofia, you are incredibly brave,” announced Loni. “When I was fifteen, I didn’t know anything about boys.”
“Things were different then, dear.” Sofia was not proud of her achievement.
“So then you reached Shanghai,” Banyon said, trying to push the conversation along as time was running out on their visit.
“Well, not quite.” Sofia poured more tea for her guests. Banyon could see that she was starting to enjoy talking about her life. He wondered how much of what she said was true.
“The steamer dropped us in Hong Kong. It was the first time I had ever seen Asian men. They were equally as fascinated with two blonde, blued-eyed women with big breasts. Our papers allowed us to board a schooner bound for Shanghai. The captain was Dutch, but most of the crew was Chinese men. There were also two young Chinese women onboard. Eva soon figured out they were there for the men to enjoy.
“One day, one of the girls came to our cabin. She said her name was Chi. She was dressed in a kind of robe-dress. There was a simple tie string around her small waist. Chi was very humble and polite as we offered her tea.”
“‘You are women,’ she said. ‘Perhaps you can help me?’ Eva asked how we could help. ‘I am too ashamed to say,’ she replied.”
“After some coaxing, we found out she was sixteen and had been sold to the captain as a slave by her parents. It was common for Chinese families to sell their daughters. The other girl was her seventeen-year-old sister. Before we sailed, the captain had told them they were to have sex with the crew. That was their job. But neither girl knew anything at all about sex. The result was that they were both beaten and the crew was angry. The captain was livid and sent Chi to us to see if we could help.”
“I was horrified. Eva took charge and taught her about the many techniques a woman could employ. Soon, the girls were making money and we were taking a cut.”
“But you were so young,” Loni lamented. “How did you deal with all that happened?”
“My dear, back in those days, there was no television. People didn’t talk openly about things. We did what we had to do to survive. We knew we were better off than most of our kind.”
Colt cut in. “Loni, prostitution is the worlds’ oldest profession. You know that. Historically, prostitutes have been under the age of twenty, most in their teens. It’s also way better then slavery.”
“I get your point,” she replied.
“I am curious, though,” Banyon said. “Most ships didn’t allow women to mix with the crew even if they were there for sex.”
“The Asian seas were different. Even small boats had a girl onboard. Girls were a cheap commodity in Asia back then. When they refused to work or wore down, the owner would just trade them in for another slave.”
Chapter Fifty-Four
While Banyon and Loni were interviewing Sofia, Binh Handa had located her suite. He put his ear to the door and heard talking. He didn’t know who was inside but thought that it was best to wait for them to leave. He was pretty sure the people inside were the couple he’d followed, but he didn’t care about them anymore. He decided it was too much of a risk to hang around in the hallway, and went off to find a place to hide.
He was also worried about the huge man who’d been spying on the couple at the post office that morning. Binh Handa had noticed him as he cruised into the area late last night. After parking on a side street, Binh Handa had snuck up on the car and peeked inside. He saw the big man sound asleep with equipment lying in the open. He knew the man was professional, but also sloppy. Binh Handa had slashed two of his tires to ensure that the big man could not follow them.
When he called his uncle to report the unexpected competitor, his uncle simply said, “Kill him.” That was what worried Binh Handa. If his uncle found out that he did not follow his orders, there would be real trouble for Binh Handa. He resolved to kill the man if their paths ever crossed again. But right now, he had new orders.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Sofia continued her story, unaware of the man on the other side of the door, listening. “We finally arrived in Shanghai in late March of 1940. It had taken us almost three months to work our way to China. At that time, Shanghai was a bustling, exciting city. There were four main sections of the city and Eva found us an apartment in the French Quarter. It was much like Europe, with bakeries, nightclubs, and many artists painting on the streets. There were also many refugees but they blended into the flow of the city.”
“Shanghai was the pearl of the orient at the time,” Banyon informed the women as he sat back down next to Loni.
“We did well financially on our way to Shanghai. Once we arrived, we didn’t have to work and decided to explore the city and figure out how to fit into Chinese society. We took tours of the city and spent time in the parks. We even joined the local synagogue. There, we often prayed for our lost family. Eva went out every night to the many clubs. Sometimes she came home with more money than she left with, but we did not entertain in our apartment. We would often sit on our balcony at night and watch the people pass by, all hurrying to be somewhere. We felt like we were home. That lasted until the summer.”
“What happened?” Loni asked her voice hushed.
“The Japanese were already in the city, but Shanghai was too big to control. It was an open city; you did not need papers to come or go. As long as you had a place to go to you could leave, but few did. More and more refugees kept pouring into the city. The Japanese feared that many of the people entering the city were militia from the unconquered western provinces. They were afraid an uprising would occur in the biggest city under Japanese control.”
“I remember reading about that,” Banyon said, stroking his chin with this thumb and forefinger.
“The Japanese started bombing Shanghai in June, 1940,” Sofia continued. “Eva and I watched from our balcony as Japanese planes dropped bombs on Chinese camps and garrisons. Everyone was in a panic. The streets were flooded with their screams. Some weeks later, Japanese army soldiers were suddenly stationed throughout the French Quarter. We watched as they entered buildings and dragged people out. They put them in trucks. We were once again afraid. We had seen this before in Vienna. Except then, the soldiers were German.”
“Eva called down to a man in the street. ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ She knew him from one of the clubs. He spoke German,” Sofia recalled. “‘They are rounding up the registered Jews,’ he repli
ed. ‘They are being taken to a place called the ‘Shanghai Ghetto’.’”
“Eva bolted from the balcony and began to pack things in a suitcase. We had registered at the synagogue. We didn’t have much time. But it was already too late. The soldiers were downstairs.”
Sofia paused and took a sip of her tea even though it was now cold. Banyon noted that her hand was shaking.
“A Japanese officer threw open the door and said something in Chinese. We indicated that we did not understand. He spoke some more and the soldiers behind him parted. In walked the man from the street.”
“‘This will be my place now,’ he said in German. ‘You are being evacuated to a safe place not far from here.’ Eva stared at him and said, ‘Haven’t I been good to you, Zolnar?’
“His reply was chilling. ‘We will set you up with a place to work. I will visit you there. You may take one suitcase each. You have five minutes to get ready.’ The soldiers were polite, but their hands were not, as they helped us into the truck.”
“So, this Zolnar was a collaborator?” Loni asked.
“Worse,” replied Sofia. “His name was Christopher Zolnar and he was an agent of the SS He preferred to be just called Zolnar. What an awful name. The Germans sent several agents to reeducate the Chinese. Japan didn’t care about Jews, so an agreement was made to use Japanese soldiers to collect the Jews. Zolnar had been in Shanghai for several months, collecting information and setting up the compound.”
“So they sent you to a concentration camp?” Loni prodded. Banyon studied his watch. They were running out of time.
“No,” Sofia replied with a wave of her hand dismissing Loni’s comment. “It wasn’t really like that. They mostly wanted all our possessions and apartments. They trucked us to a place called the ‘Shanghai Ghetto.’ It was about a mile square. Most people were just dumped into the street and had to fend for themselves. There were guards around the perimeter and also a wire fence. You could leave if you had permission. It was hard to get permission, though.”
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