You Are My Sunshine: A Novel Of The Holocaust (All My Love Detrick Book 2)

by Roberta Kagan

  “I am ready to put all of this behind me, Shlomie. I am ready to leave this camp and find a place to live. And to find a job. I want to begin my life over. After the trial, I am going away from here. I am going to try to forget.”

  “Have you given any further thought to my proposal of marriage?” He was wringing his hands.

  “I have given it great consideration, Shlomie. I can’t marry you. I told you before. Nothing has changed. I care for you very much, but I don’t love you in that way. Not in the way that you deserve to be loved.”

  “I will take your love in any way that you are willing to give it to me.”

  “No, Shlomie, don’t settle for this, to be loved like a brother, rather than to be loved like a man. That’s all I can give you. And that is not enough for either of us.”

  “This is what you want? You are sure this is your decision?”

  “Yes, I am. Sorry,” she said.

  He nodded, keeping his eyes shifted away from hers.

  “Perhaps it is best if I leave this camp now. It will help you to heal, if we are separated. I will not see you again until the trial.”

  “Are you sure Zofia? Where will you go?”

  “I will go and begin again. My friend, my dear friend, Fruma, taught me a trade. I will find a job. I will work. I will live and save money. As soon as I can, I will leave here and go to Palestine.”

  “You still have that dream?”

  “Oh yes, There will be a Jewish state. You mark my words, Shlomie. There will be a homeland for the Jewish people, a place where we are safe. And when I can find a way, I am going.”

  “A Promised Land, yes? Well, I hope so, Zofia. I hope so, for your sake.”

  “It will come to pass, Shlomie, you’ll see. I only wish Isaac were here to see it,” she sighed.

  He nodded, unconvinced.

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  For Zofia, the time to leave had come. It was time to begin living a normal life. Zofia talked to Marion, explaining that she must quit her volunteer work with the Red Cross and start over. Marion was disappointed, but understood her need to go. She insisted that Zofia take some money to help her get settled. Zofia reluctantly agreed.

  “An American attorney, a woman, is going to come looking for me. I will forward an address where I can be reached as soon as I find a place to live. Will you see to it that she receives the information?” Zofia asked.

  “Of course,” Marion replied.

  It was almost dawn when Zofia gazed down at Shlomie sleeping on his cot, his breathing steady and even. Only in sleep did he ever look at peace. She leaned over him and gently kissed his forehead. He stirred but did not awaken. Zofia took a brief moment to take in his memory. She would miss him. They had spent the equivalent of a lifetime together. But after the love she’d shared with Isaac, she knew that the love she felt for Shlomie was not enough to sustain a marriage. Zofia looked down at Shlomie one final time; a tear formed in the corner of her eye. Then she turned, and walked through the camp and out the gate, into the real world. It was time.

  Thank God for Marion. She’d given Zofia enough money to find a small flat in the basement of a burned out apartment building. There was no work for a seamstress. Not even a good one. But Zofia was a quick learner, and willing to do anything, so within a few days, she secured a job baking at a local bakery. She swept and washed the floor on her hands and knees. She cleaned toilets and scrubbed pots and pans. Her day began at two a.m. and ended at five in the afternoon. It was hard work, but she had plenty to eat, and a safe place to sleep at night. The smell of bread made her think of Isaac when he was just a child, sitting in the back of his mother’s bakery, a bittersweet memory. Isaac was the one true love of her life.

  Zofia sent word to Marion with her address, and three days later, Miss Holand came to the shop where she worked.

  “I will see to it that you have a paid round-trip train ticket to Nuremberg from here.”

  “I am afraid to go. I will lose my job if I take the time off of work.”

  “I will give you enough money to hold you over until you can find another position when you return.

  “But there are so few jobs available.”

  Miss Holand looked at Zofia. She needed her testimony. Without her testimony, another war criminal might go free.

  “Perhaps I can help you to find work in England. Do you have any skills?” Miss Holland asked.

  “Yes, I am a seamstress. I can make beautiful wedding gowns. I can do embroidery…”

  “That is very good.” Bernadette Holland bit her lower lip in thought. “I think I can help you. I have friends in England who should be able to give you a job. Just, please show up at the trial.”

  “Miss Holland, I am a poor woman. Please… This job is all I have right now. Are you sure that you can help me? If I leave here, I am going to be in trouble. I will have no money and no place to live.”

  “I give you my word. I will help you.”

  “Then I will be there. I trust you, Miss Holland.”

  “And I will keep my promise.”

  The weeks passed, and finally it was the night before Zofia was to leave for Nuremberg. When she told her employer that she must take a leave of absence, she was discharged, just as she expected. Her nerves were on edge. By the end of the week she would be face to face with Manfred and all of her memories. Zofia wondered if she were crazy for agreeing to do this. She’d lost her job on a promise, and now she was headed to Nuremberg, and back into the nightmare of Manfred Blau, a terror she’d escaped from. Yet, she agreed with Shlomie, the Arbeitsführer must pay for what he’d done. If no one stood up against him, then he might go free.

  Chapter 83

  When the war ended and the Allies liberated the concentration camps, what they found sent a cry of horror echoing around the world. There were heaps of dead bodies, piles of human ashes, lampshades made of human skin, pillows stuffed with human hair, huge gas chambers built to kill people in large quantities, massive ovens to burn the bodies, and the prisoners that were still alive were emaciated to the point of being walking corpses. Some of the soldiers cried, others vomited, but they all witnessed what everyone had been trying so hard to ignore. Now the nations who, during the war, closed their doors to the helpless people who begged them to let them in while trying to escape Hitler’s tyranny would demand vengeance. They insisted that the Nazis pay for their crimes against humanity.

  It was decided that there would be a trial. A tribunal consisting of the Soviets, the French, the British, and the Americans would be created. This tribunal would be called “The International Military Tribunal.” They would stand in judgment of the war criminals.

  Due to the destruction from the bombings Germany incurred during the war, very few courthouses remained intact. However, the courthouse in Nuremberg, known as the Palace of Justice, was in perfect condition. This was ironic because it was in Nuremberg that Hitler had put his laws of racial purity, which stripped the “lesser humans” of their human rights, into effect.

  It was decided that there should be two sets of trials. The first would be for major war criminals. The second would be for doctors, lawyers and judges, and the third was for the Einsatzgruppen, also known as the death squads. These were murderers who had killed the co-called “inferior” civilians in large numbers.

  Twelve trials took place in Nuremberg, conducted by the International Military Tribunal. On October 11, 1946, the first set of trials ended, and verdicts of the 22 accused Nazi leaders were handed down. Eleven of those leaders received the death penalty; three were given life imprisonment; four received prison sentences of 10 to 20 years, and three were acquitted.

  Sadly, Hitler was never brought to justice. Instead, as the Soviet army began to advance on Berlin, Hitler and his newlywedded wife, Eva Braun, went down into the underground bunker and committed suicide. It is rumored that before they took the cyanide capsules. They tested them on Hitler’s beloved German Sheppard to be sure they were effective. The dog die
d. Dr. Goebbels chose to kill himself, his wife, and his children rather than face trial. Heinrich Himmler took a cyanide capsule while being examined by a British doctor, and died within seconds. Herman Goering took cyanide on the day he was to be hanged. Still, many Nazis managed to conceal their identities and escape to Europe or South America. Some were never found. Others, like Adolf Eichmann, were perused by Mossad, the Israeli secret service. Mossad eventually found Eichmann living in South America. They captured him and brought him to Israel, where he was tried and executed in 1962.

  Most of the Nazis who were tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison terms at Nuremberg, never served their entire sentences; most were released early.

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  Nuremberg 1945

  The prosecuting attorney’s opening statement:

  MR. JUSTICE JACKSON:

  May it please Your Honors: The privilege of opening the first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. The wrongs, which we seek to condemn and punish, have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated. That four great nations, flushed with victory, stung with injury, stay the hand of vengeance, and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason…

  Zofia, dressed in a simple black shift, sat alone in the back of the overcrowded courtroom. She held a small handbag on her lap, the leather handle of which she could not stop twisting. It was difficult to breathe, here in this courtroom, once again amongst the persecutors of her race. Shlomie was not there; he never came. She knew it was because he would rather not face her, and she understood his feelings.

  A long table where the representatives of the tribunal were seated stood at the front of the room. A guard escorted each defendant into the courtroom to be tried individually. Zofia watched and listened in horror as the witnesses told their stories, and the perpetrators defended their actions. For three days, she heard unnerving testimony, until finally, on the fourth day, Manfred was brought into the courtroom, his hands cuffed, his face lined with worry. It had been years since she’d last seen him, but fear shot through her like a hot iron blade as he cast his troubled eyes over the courtroom. Manfred, the Arbeitsführer. Now she must tell the world the terrible humiliations she suffered at his hand. Nausea bubbled in her stomach as she remembered his hands on her body, his drunken words, and the foul smell of his breath in her face, as he demanded...

  Her thoughts were interrupted.

  “Zofia Weiss” The prosecuting attorney called her name. She felt the sweat forming in her armpits and on her forehead. If she could, she would run away, out the door and into the fresh air…away. But, for the sake of those who’d died, and could not be here to speak for themselves, she must do this. Zofia stood up and smoothed her dress, and then she took a deep breath, feeling all eyes upon her as she walked to the witness chair at the front of the room.

  “Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, so help you God?”

  “I do.”

  “Is your name Zofia Weiss?”

  “Yes.”

  “Were you a prisoner at the Treblinka concentration camp?”

  “Yes.”

  Zofia looked around the room and her eyes caught those of Christa Blau, who sat with her little girl Katja beside her. Christa had been good to her. Zofia wanted to leave the witness stand, to stop what she had started, for Christa’s sake, but she could not. She must speak for those who would forever silent. Zofia did not look in Christa’s direction again until she’d finished telling her entire story.

  Zofia told the court everything she’d seen and everything she’d endured because of Manfred Blau. There were gasps of horror from the audience, and although she didn’t even realize it, there were tears running down her cheeks. But she continued until she’d spoken her piece, told her entire story. Then Manfred’s lawyer cross-examined her, trying to make her seem like a liar, but the defense attorney was ineffective. Everyone, the audience, the attorneys, and the Tribunal knew that Zofia spoke the truth.

  “Wasn’t Mrs. Blau very kind to you, Miss Weiss?” Manfred’s lawyer tried another tactic.

  “Yes, she was always kind to me.”

  “And didn’t she try to help you in every way.”

  “She did, but Mrs. Blau is not on trial here. I was told that this was to be the trial of the Arbeitsführer, Manfred Blau. He is the one that is accused of Crimes against humanity. Is that not correct?”

  “I will ask the questions, Miss Weiss.”

  But in the end, Zofia’s testimony stood strong, and was very damaging to Manfred.

  When she was excused from the witness box, Zofia left the courtroom. Outside in the hall, Miss Holand awaited.

  “Would you like to come back for the sentencing?”

  “No, I’ve done my part. There is nothing more I can do. I want to put all of this behind me,” Zofia said.

  “I can understand. I will arrange train fare for you to England.”

  “You are going to keep your promise?’

  “Of course. Did you doubt me?”

  “A little maybe, but I am very grateful.”

  “Give me a couple of days? I will arrange everything.”

  “Yes, of course. Then I should stay at the hotel?”

  “At the hotel, yes. I will pay the bill, you needn’t worry about that.”

  “That’s very kind. Thank you. I’ll wait to hear from you,”Zofia said.

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  Zofia brought a hunk of bread and cheese back to her hotel room that night. Then she took a hot bath and washed her hair. It was over. At last. She would carry the memories forever, but at least she would never see Manfred again. She sat gazing out the window at the city of Nuremberg. The destruction from the bombings surrounded her. England had suffered a similar fate, and she knew that she would face the same bombed out reminders when she got there, but at least she would be far from Germany and Poland. As she sat, lost in thought, the phone rang. Zofia trembled, who could that be? Brrring, the loud buzzing unnerved her. It might be one of the Nazis coming after her for testifying. A shiver climbed up Zofia’s neck. But what if it is Miss Holland with information on my departure? Perhaps she has already secured tickets? Brrrrrrrrrrrring! It rang again. I must answer.

  “Hello.”

  “Zofia,” It was a familiar female voice. “Zofia?”

  “Christa?”

  “Yes, it’s me. I need to speak with you.”

  “Christa. I am sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, but I had to testify. It was not against you…”

  “I know this, Zofia. I don’t blame you. I heard you on the stand today. I know now what Manfred did to you, and from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry.”

  “Please, don’t blame yourself.”

  “I must see you, Zofia. Will you let me come to you at the hotel?” Christa asked.

  Zofia trusted Christa, but this could be a trick. She was afraid, unsure. Still, she must oblige.

  “How did you find me?”

  “This was the closest hotel to the courtroom. I called and asked for you, and by the grace of God, I’ve found you.”

  Zofia was silent for a moment.

  “Yes, come,” Zofia said.

  “Now? Is now all right?”

  “Now is a good time,” Zofia said.

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  Zofia dressed in a simple housedress and pinned up her wet hair. For the half-hour until Christa arrived, she agonized about whether she’d made a mistake. What if a group of former Nazis appeared and took her, or killed her? Nevertheless, she could not believe that Christa would ever do anything to hurt her. Still, she’d given very damaging testimony against Manfred. Would Christa trick her out of vengeance for her husband? She refused to believe that Christa would act that way, but who knew? Blood was thicker than water, wasn’t that righ
t? That was what her mother had always said. A woman will stand behind her husband no matter what.

  There was a knock at the door.

  Zofia jumped to her feet and opened it. Christa stood looking down at the ground.

  “May I come in?”

  “Of course.”

  Zofia indicated the chair by the window for Christa to sit in, and then Zofia sat on the bed.

  “You look well,” Christa said.

  “I am doing all right.”

  “Zofia, I’ve not come here to make small talk. I have something important I must discuss with you.”

  Zofia nodded.

  “Do you remember my little girl, my Katja?”

  “Yes of course. She was in the courtroom today. It was hard for me to say all of those things I had to say with the child listening.”

  “I know. That was why Manfred insisted that I bring her. He was hoping it would deter the witnesses from making their testimony. And I must admit yours was shocking to me. I never knew what he was doing to you.”

  “I knew that you didn’t know. And I am sorry. It must have hurt you today.”

  “It did. But that’s not why I am here. I am here because I am dying. As you know, I’ve been sick for a long time. I could linger for another five years or I could die tomorrow. The problem is that I keep getting weaker, and I can’t care for Katja anymore.”

  Zofia tilted her head to the side and studied Christa, “Yes, I know you are ill, and I’m sorry.”

  “It’s all right. I’ve known that I must take some action; I’ve know it for a while. I couldn’t trust Manfred with Katja, and now that he will probably be convicted, it isn’t even an option. In a way, this trial was a Godsend for me. I wanted to find you, and it because of this trial that I have. Zofia, I want to ask you…” Christa took a deep breath and took Zofia’s hand. “I want to ask you to take Katja. I saw you with her when you lived with us. I believe you care for her. And although she may have forgotten, once you are together again, she will remember that she loves you.”