The Upside of Hunger

by Roxi Harms

  "I have solemnly assured the Western states, and I repeat this here, that we desire nothing of them. We shall never demand anything of them. I have assured them that the border separating France and Germany is a final one. Time and time again I have offered friendship, and if necessary close cooperation, to England. But love cannot remain a one-sided affair. It must be met by the other side.

  "Germany is not pursuing any interests in the West. The West Wall delineates the Reich's border for all time. Our ambitions for the future are no different. And nothing shall ever change the Reich's standpoint in this matter."

  Adam's dad got up and filled his glass from the wine jug on the table and passed the jug to the guy beside him.

  "I am happy to be able to inform you of a special development at this point. You know that two different doctrines govern Russia and Germany. There remained but one question to be resolved: as Germany has no intent of exporting its doctrine, and at the moment, that Soviet Russia no longer contemplates exporting its doctrine to Germany, I no longer see any compelling reason why we should continue to take opposing stances. Both of us are aware that any struggle between our two peoples would merely benefit third parties. Hence, we have determined to enter into a pact which shall preclude the application of force between us for all time.

  "And of one thing I would like to assure all of you here today: this decision signals a fundamental change for the future and is a final one! I believe the entire German Volk welcomes this political resolve. Russia and Germany fought each other in the World War only to suffer its consequences equally in the end. This shall not happen a second time! Yesterday in Moscow and Berlin, the Non-Aggression and Mutual Assistance Pact-which had originally entered into force upon signature-was accorded final ratification. In Moscow this pact was as warmly welcomed as you welcomed it here. I second every word of the Russian Foreign Commissar Molotov's speech."

  Adam watched as this news was met with raised eyebrows and murmurs of surprise.

  "Smart move. Too many goddam Russians to fight anyway. Leave ‘em to freeze, I say," his dad said to the general agreement from his friends.

  "Meanwhile I am equally determined to wage this war until the present Polish Government judges it opportune to assent to these changes, or another Polish Government shall be willing to do so.

  "I will cleanse Germany's borders of this element of insecurity, this civil-war-like circumstance. I will take care that our border in the East enjoys the same peace as along any other of our borders.

  "This night, for the first time, Polish regular soldiers fired on our own territory. We have now been returning the fire since 5:45 a.m.! Henceforth, bomb will be met with bomb."

  "Give ‘em what they deserve!" Adam heard one of the men say, from where he stood in the kitchen doorway listening to the broadcast.

  "For over six years I have worked on the rearmament of the German defence force. I have spent over 90 billion on rearmament. Today our military is among the best-equipped in the entire world. It completely defies comparison to that of 1914! My confidence in it is unshakeable!

  "Germany is great again!" one of the men called out, to the cheers of the others.

  "When I call on this defence force, and when I now demand sacrifice from the German Volk, even the ultimate sacrifice should there be need, then it is because I have a right to do this, because today I am as willing as I was before to make any personal sacrifice. I am asking of no German man more than I myself was ready to do through four years! Germans should not be asked to make any sacrifices I myself would not make without an instant's hesitation! I now wish to be nothing other than the first soldier of the German Reich.

  "I expect of all of you as the Reich's emissaries henceforth that you shall do your duty wherever you may be assigned! You must carry the banner of resistance forth regardless of the cost.

  "I expect every German woman to integrate herself into the great community-in-struggle in an exemplary fashion and with iron discipline! It goes without saying that the German youth will fulfill, with a radiant heart, the tasks the nation, the National Socialist state, expects and demands of it. Provided all of us form part of this community, sworn together, determined never to capitulate, then our will shall master all need."

  The speech wrapped up a few minutes later, and the sound of trumpets filled the kitchen as a marching song came on the air. Adam moved in a little closer to hear the music as the men discussed what they'd heard. As he listened, he mulled over the speech. He could almost picture the soldiers in their fancy uniforms, marching to the drumbeat with their guns on their shoulders. Imagine climbing the Carpathians and marching all the way to Poland!

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Adam sat on the school steps with Franz and Stumpf a couple of weeks later, munching his lunch. "Let's get the fort finished tomorrow. Can you guys make it in the afternoon?"

  "Where are you going? Can I come, Adam?" little Johann Zeidler said from where he'd been standing by himself watching the groups of kids playing in the yard. Johann had moved into Elek last year and even though he looked younger because of his size, he was in the grade five class with Adam and Stumpf.

  Adam looked at Franz and Tony. They shrugged.

  "I guess so. BUT. . . " Adam lowered his voice, "you can't tell a soul. I'm serious. No one but us three know about this, and you'll be the fourth and the only other one we'll let in. You got that?"

  "You bet!" Johann beamed at the three taller boys and moved in closer.

  "Okay, here's the plan," Adam continued in his hushed voice and the four closely shaven heads drew closer together in a circle. "Let's meet around two to work on the fort. Then we should have a little party to celebrate. I'll bring some bread. What can everyone bring?"

  The hushed conversation continued until the bell signalled that it was time to go back to class.

  "Hi, guys," Adam greeted his friends the next afternoon at the edge of the pond. Inside his shirt he held the end of the loaf that was left over from last week, and a little round loaf. It was still warm. Every Saturday when she baked bread, his mom made a miniature round loaf for each of the kids, for their lunch. "You didn't tell anyone where you were going, did you, Johann?"

  "Nope, and I got us a smoke!" Johann announced with a proud smile, pulling his hand out of his pocket and opening it to reveal a hand-rolled cigarette and a couple of wooden matches.

  "Good work!" Adam congratulated Johann with a slap on the smaller boy's back, as Franz grinned and held open the bag he was carrying. Adam stuck his head in over top of the other boys. It contained a big pile of cherries that his friend must have stolen from the orchard beside his house, and the bottle of wine they'd siphoned out of Franz's dad's wine barrels yesterday after school.

  "How about you, Stumpf? Any loot?" Adam interrupted amiably as the other two exclaimed over the wine stashed in the bag of cherries.

  Tony produced a chunk of salami from inside his shirt and grinned.

  "I hope your dad didn't see you take that. He might throw us all in jail." Adam grinned, and then turned his attention to more serious matters. "Okay, let's go. Quickly while there's no one in the road."

  Adam glanced around, then knelt down and crawled gingerly between the tall reeds. "Careful," he cautioned the others over his shoulder. "Don't break any reeds. We don't want to leave a trail. The entrance has to be invisible!"

  This end of the pond was the shallowest and always dried up late in the summer. The reeds were perfect for a fort, almost twice as tall as the boys. Last weekend they'd cleared out a nice big patch near the back of the pond, away from the street, and stacked the cut reeds in a pile in the clearing.

  "Let's weave the biggest reeds together with some of the smaller ones like this for a roof," Adam began laying out tall reeds and demonstrated what he had in mind. "And we can make some little mats to sit on . . . "

  The boys set their party supplies aside and got to work.

  "Pretty nice!" said Franz a couple of hours later, surveying the
ir work from where he was sitting. Sheltered under their new roof, the boys had arranged their goodies on a square mat made from reeds in the middle of the clearing, and were sitting around it on their new seats, munching dry bread and salami.

  Adam pulled his mouth organ out of his pocket. "A song to officially open the fort!" he announced and began quietly playing the latest tune he'd been practicing. As he finished, his friends rewarded him with a round of applause and he stood to take a bow.

  "And now, how about some wine and a smoke?" Adam's suggestion was met with enthusiasm. As Franz passed the wine and each boy took a swig, Johann handed Adam the cigarette.

  "Here, Adam, you light it."

  "Sure," said Adam and stuck the cigarette into his mouth as casually as he could while Johann flicked the end of a match with his fingernail a few times until it lit. Reaching his head forward to stick the cigarette into the flame, Adam sucked in and started to cough as he held the burning cigarette out to Franz. Soon all four boys were coughing and laughing at each other.

  "My brother says he's going to join the German Army next year after his birthday," Franz said between coughing fits. "He wants to help Germany conquer Poland."

  "Really? Wow," said Adam. "I'd love to march in the army. Oom, pah, pah, oom, pah, pah," he stood up and pretended to march, swinging his arms and legs as he made trumpet sounds. "And get to see mountains and rivers and other countries."

  "Ya, but we have to go to grade eight now instead of grade six, so we can't go for a long time yet," said Johann as he passed the wine jug to Tony.

  "We won't be old enough until way after grade eight, you dummy!" Adam laughed, punching Johann in the shoulder.

  "I know that! I meant . . . never mind, just give me that smoke," Johann said, holding out his hand to Adam, who had taken another drag and started coughing again.

  Adam's dad hadn't been happy when it was announced last year that mandatory school was increased to Grade 8. He only had a few grades of schooling himself and thought that more than six years was a waste of time.

  "My dad told me we're learning proper German now because Hitler wants all of the Germans to be one country again and be the most powerful country in the world," said Franz. On the first day of school, the new teacher, Mr. Post, had explained that they would be studying German for an hour every day, learning to speak properly like they did in Germany, and learning to write in German.

  "What do you guys think of Post?" Adam asked when his coughing subsided. They'd been in school for a few weeks already, and Mr. Post hadn't caned Adam yet or sent him to the principal.

  "He's way better than Tihanyi, that's for sure!" said Stumpf.

  "Yep, he's a lot smarter than Tihanyi," agreed Adam.

  "Who isn't?" said Franz, and the boys laughed.

  Soon, food, wine, and smoke all gone, it was time to head home for chores. Carefully, the boys exited the way they'd come, covering the entrance with fresh reeds before going their separate ways.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  October 6, 1939

  "It was a fateful hour, on the first of September of this year, when you met here as representatives of the German people. I had to inform you then of serious decisions which had been forced upon us as a result of the intransigent and provocative action of a certain State."

  They'd spent the day helping the Kellers butcher their pigs, and now the adults were sitting around the radio in the Kellers' kitchen. Adam and the other kids were listening quietly from the doorway.

  "Since then five weeks have gone by. I have asked you to come here today in order to give you an account of what has passed, the necessary insight into what is happening at present and, so far as that is possible, into the future as well.

  "For the last two days, our towns and villages have been decorated with flags and symbols of the new Reich. Bells are ringing to celebrate a great victory, which, of its kind, is unique in history. A State of no less than 36,000,000 inhabitants, with an army of almost 50 infantry and cavalry divisions, took up arms against us. Their arms were far-reaching, their confidence in their ability to crush Germany knew no bounds.

  "After one week of fighting there could no longer be any doubt as to the outcome. Whenever Polish troops met German units, they were driven back or dispersed. Poland's ambitious strategy for a great offensive against the territory of the Reich collapsed within the first 48 hours of the campaign. Death-defying in attack, advancing at an unconquerable rate of progress, infantry, armoured detachments, air force and units of the navy were soon dictating the course of events.

  "They were masters of the situation throughout the campaign. In a fortnight's time the major part of the Polish Army was either scattered, captured, or surrounded. In the meantime, however, the German Army had covered distances and occupied regions which twenty-five years ago would have taken over fourteen months to conquer."

  Cheers broke out and people shushed each other as Hitler continued speaking.

  "Even though a number of peculiarly gifted newspaper strategists in other parts of the world attempted to describe the pace at which this campaign progressed as not coming up to Germany's expectations, we ourselves all know that in all history there has scarcely been a comparable military achievement."

  Adam's mom looked over to where little Anni had fallen asleep in the corner of the room and rose quietly to pick her up. After murmuring something to his dad and saying a quiet goodnight to Mrs. Keller, she motioned for Adam, Theresa, and George to follow her out the front door.

  A couple of hours later, Adam's mom peered into the darkness towards the street from her seat on the porch. "What's that ruckus?" she asked no one in particular. Anni was tucked in her cot sleeping peacefully, and Theresa and George had gone to bed as well. The days were getting short and it was too dark to do any more mending, but his mom was waiting up for his dad who had stayed behind to listen to the rest of the radio broadcast. Adam was sitting on the steps with his arm around Kave, enjoying the quiet time with his mom and his dog. As they listened, laughter mixed with Romanian curse words, drifted from the street. Adam could make out two or three jovial male voices. A moment later they came into view.

  "Open the gate, Anna! We've got a package for you," Herr Keller called out in a slurred voice and then burst into laughter along with Herr Hoffman who was stumbling along beside him. Herr Keller was straining slightly with the weight of the heavy wheelbarrow he was navigating towards their gate, and Adam's mom jumped up to pull the gate open and let the men through with their load.

  "What's going on?" his mom exclaimed as she peered at the contents of the wheelbarrow. "George, what's wrong?"

  With a sudden heave, Herr Keller dumped the wheelbarrow into the dirt at the bottom of the steps.

  "Umph. Goddammit, Keller," his dad slurred as he struggled to sit up from where he'd been dumped.

  "Here's the sausage master," Herr Keller chortled. "Home, safe and sound."

  The three men laughed.

  Adam felt the blood rise in his ears. How dare they treat his dad like that? He was tougher than both of them! Adam's mom stooped down beside her husband.

  "Are you okay, George?" she asked as the two standing men continued to laugh down at their dusty friend on the ground.

  "We're winning the war, Anna," his father mumbled up at his mom with a silly grin.

  Herr Hoffman reached out a foot and nudged his drunken friend. It was too much for Adam. This was wrong! He flew down the steps and struck Herr Hoffman in the chest. The inebriated man stumbled backwards a couple of steps with a look of surprised amusement on his face.

  "Stop it right now!" Adam yelled as he pummelled his dad's friend with his small fists. "You too!" Adam turned and struck out at Herr Keller, who was still holding the wheelbarrow.

  Kave started barking at Adam's side.

  "Now, son," Herr Keller dropped the wheelbarrow handles and tried in vain to grab Adam's flailing fists.

  "You should respect my dad! You can't treat him like that!" Adam ye
lled over Kave's barking, an angry sob catching in his throat as he continued to throw punches at the two men.

  "Adam, that's enough. Stop now," his mom's voice broke through his anger and he dropped his arms to his side, glowering at the men.

  "Thas m'boy Adam," his dad slurred from the ground. "You should hear ‘im play mouth organ. Learned in a day."

  What? thought Adam, as he stood there catching his breath, still scowling at the two men. He'd never heard his dad sound proud of his harmonica playing before.

  "I think you two had best go home," his mom said firmly to the

  two men.

  Herr Keller grabbed the wheelbarrow handles and pulled it awkwardly back through the gate and onto the street, stumbling after his friend.

  "Adam, grab his other arm. Let's get him in the house."

  As the two of them strained with the weight of his dad, the merriment resumed out in the street, and then faded as the two happy drunks staggered away.

  "Can you stand up, Dad?" Adam asked, his voice filled with concern.

  As Adam and his mom lifted with all their strength, his dad grunted and lurched to his feet, leaning heavily on them. Slowly the threesome made their way up the front steps and into the house, where Theresa and little George had been watching in wide-eyed silence from the front door. Now they scurried backwards, out of the way.

  "Let's lay him on the bed," panted Adam's mom. "Quietly, so Anni doesn't wake."

  As they reached the edge of the bed, his dad sat down heavily and fell sideways. He grinned up at Adam and tried to focus as his wife lifted his legs on the bed so he could lie down properly.