Behind the Bedroom Wall

by Laura E. Williams

  “Why?” Korinna asked flatly.

  “He was involved in a secret organization that helps Jews! He’s being taken to the work camp, but first they’re going to try to find out who else is in the organization.”

  Korinna shrugged. “Maybe he’ll never say who else was in the organization.”

  “My brother says they have methods for extracting secrets out of prisoners.”

  Eva’s eyes widened. “He told you all this?”

  Rita shook her head. “I heard him talking to Papa in the kitchen. They didn’t know I was listening.”

  “What kind of methods?” Korinna couldn’t help asking.

  “Secret methods,” Rita said, her voice a loud whisper. “Hans isn’t even allowed to tell his own father.

  “And look at this,” she continued, taking a small notebook out of the pocket in her coat.

  Korinna and Eva looked at what Rita had scratched into the book in her messy scrawl.

  “Fräulein Demmer made a face at the Führer’s picture,” Korinna read out loud. “She says it’s a sin what’s happening to the Jews. When she sees me she looks guilty and doesn’t say anything more for the rest of the night.” Korinna stopped reading suddenly. “Fräulein Demmer? You mean Elsa Demmer?”

  Rita nodded smugly.

  “But, Rita, Elsa’s your cousin! You’re going to turn in your cousin?” Eva exclaimed.

  Rita’s face turned red. “She’s an enemy of Germany, isn’t she? She shouldn’t be so sympathetic to the enemy, and if she weren’t so guilty, why did she avoid me for the rest of the night? She knows she’s wrong!”

  “But still, Rita, family ...” Eva started walking again.

  Korinna put a hand on Eva’s shoulder. “Remember, even family members can turn against the new Germany.”

  Rita snapped the small notebook shut. “They said to watch everyone.”

  Korinna nodded. She had a little black notebook just like Rita’s. “Hurry up,” she said. “We’ll be late.” They ran the last few hundred meters to the school and quickly made their way to their classroom.

  Korinna and Eva were deskmates. Rita sat across the room. History was their favorite subject, especially with all the exciting events that were currently taking place. Someday, Korinna knew, every student in the world, every person in the world, in fact, would know the name Adolf Hitler. Everyone would honor and love him as she did, and everyone would say what wonderful things he’d done for Germany, the strongest and greatest power in the world. Korinna smiled, opening her new history book.

  “Heil Hitler!”

  Korinna looked up, startled.

  “I am Herr Richt, your new history teacher. Fräulein Meiser will no longer be here. Today we are going to study ...”

  Korinna didn’t hear the rest of Herr Richt’s comments. Where was Fräulein Meiser? Beautiful Fräulein Meiser with her long blond braid she wore wound up on her head like an upside-down basket— what had happened to her? Korinna tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. Her eyes slid sideways to Eva. Eva stared forward, but her eyes glimmered with tears, and her hands were clasped tightly in front of her.

  Korinna looked down at the desk. What was it Fräulein Meiser had said last week? She had been instructing the class as to which pages they should paste together in their history books when, in the middle of it all, she had suddenly sighed and looked at the ceiling. “When will all this stop?” she had asked the ceiling. “When?” Then she had shaken her head and continued reading off the list of forbidden pages.

  Korinna now remembered she had found it disturbing enough to mark it down in her small notebook.

  And, that day after school, she had read her notes to her Jungmädel leaders. She had tried to gloss over this little bit of information about her history teacher, not thinking that it was very important in retrospect. But her leaders had seemed particularly interested in what Fräulein Meiser had said during class that morning.

  Now, Korinna wondered if she had had something to do with Fräulein Meiser’s disappearance from school. Surely what her teacher had said in class wasn’t enough to send her away. Or was it?

  Korinna tried to concentrate on the lesson, but Herr Richt had a voice that crept along like a slug in her mother’s garden.

  Finally, when the history lesson was over, Korinna followed Eva out of the room for break. “Eva,” she called.

  Eva stopped and turned.

  “Do you know why Fräulein Meiser isn’t going to teach anymore?”

  Eva shook her head. “Someone probably reported her as being un-German,” she said bitterly.

  Korinna pulled a loose thread on her sweater. “She wouldn’t be arrested just for saying something that sounded disloyal, would she?”

  “Who knows these days? One can never be too careful. Poor Fräulein Meiser.” She shook her head and started walking down the hall.

  Korinna hurried and walked along beside Eva. “I know you feel bad about what we saw yesterday. You know, with Herr Haase. But you should watch what you say. Rita thinks you’re sounding un-German.”

  Eva stopped walking and turned to Korinna. Her lips trembled, and tears threatened to tip over her lower lashes. “You know,” Eva said slowly, “I can’t help the way I feel about things. I want a strong and rich Fatherland just like my comrades. But sometimes I honestly wonder if it’s worth it.”

  “Eva!” Korinna lowered her voice, quickly looking around, but no one was paying them any attention. “You mustn’t say things like that! If anyone heard you talking like that you’d be turned in to our Jungmädel leaders.”

  “You’re the only one who heard me, Korinna. Are you going to turn me in?”

  Korinna stared at her friend, her comrade, her fellow Jungmädel member. But part of being a loyal German was turning in traitors.

  “I’m going back to class,” Korinna said abruptly. She turned and walked away from Eva, but she could feel Eva’s eyes staring after her.

  Chapter Three

  When Korinna got home after school, she didn’t call out to her mother, whom she heard talking to Aunt Hendrikia in the other room. First she wanted to find her kitten.

  Quietly, she took off her boots and hung up her coat in the small front hall. Her father wasn’t home yet. She could tell because his big boots weren’t in their usual place under the small square mirror hanging on the wall.

  Korinna slipped past the front room where her mother and aunt sat talking and stepped silently up the narrow stairs to her bedroom. In her room, she deposited her book bag neatly on the floor next to her Schrank. She picked up a ribbon off the floor. How did that get there? she wondered.

  She bent down and looked under her bed for her kitten. She also looked behind her chair and under her small desk.

  Still stepping softly, Korinna moved next door into her parents’ room. Again she looked under the bed and in various other possible hideaways she thought a kitten might fit into.

  “Here kitty, kitty,” she called softly. “Here kitty, kitty.” Nothing. No scratching, no answering meow.

  With a sigh, Korinna resigned herself to the fact that her kitten must be downstairs in the kitchen or in the front room with her mother. She returned to her room and lay down on her soft feather bed and closed her eyes for just a minute. The subdued murmuring floating up from downstairs soothed her.

  “Korinna!”

  Korinna’s eyes flew open. The afternoon glow had vanished from her room, leaving an eerie shroud of darkness in its place.

  “Korinna,” her mother said again. “Are you ill?” She walked over and placed a hand on her daughter’s forehead. “Why didn’t you come in and see Auntie? Now she’s left.”

  Korinna sat up. “Sorry, Mother. I was going to come down, but I must have fallen asleep. Is Aunt Hendrikia angry?”

  “I think her feelings were hurt more than anything.”

  “Is that why she left so early? I thought she was staying for dinner.”

  “She did, Korinna. She’s eaten and
gone,” Frau Rehme said, tucking a loose strand of Korinna’s reddish gold hair behind her ear.

  Korinna gasped. “What time is it?”

  “Nearly five.”

  “Why didn’t you wake me to eat?” Korinna asked.

  “I let you sleep because I thought you might be ill.”

  “I was just tired. Today was a long day,” Korinna said. Her stomach rumbled. “Is there any food left?” she asked hopefully.

  Frau Rehme smiled. “There’s a plate fixed for you downstairs. Go now while it’s still hot.”

  Korinna hugged her mother and trotted downstairs to the kitchen. The bright, warm kitchen smelled of the sweet scent of sugar buns and cake—two extra special treats reserved for days when they had guests, especially now that the price of sugar and shortening was so high and nearly impossible to get, thanks to the war. But of course it was worth it, she reminded herself hastily. As her Jungmädel leaders always said, no sacrifice for the Fatherland was too great.

  Sitting down, she glanced around the small room for her tiny black and white kitten, but she didn’t see her. Korinna felt a twinge of disappointment that her kitten hadn’t come scrambling for her the minute she’d walked in the door, and now it even seemed to be hiding on purpose.

  Korinna quickly finished eating and walked into the front room, the only other room they had downstairs. It was empty. Not even her father filled his overstuffed chair as he did every night after supper, blowing smoke rings at imaginary targets.

  Checking once more behind the long sofa, Korinna finally gave up her search for her kitten and went back upstairs.

  “Mother,” Korinna called, walking into her parents’ bedroom. The room was empty. Puzzled, she turned around and walked into her own room. Her mother stood in the middle of the floor, gently stroking the head of her kitten.

  “Where did you find her?” Korinna exclaimed, taking the kitten from her mother’s hands.

  “She was under your bed.”

  “But I checked under the bed.”

  “Maybe she slipped in while you were eating,” her mother suggested.

  “Maybe.” She rubbed the silken head. “Where’s Papa?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “He’s at a school meeting.”

  Korinna raised her eyebrows. “This late?”

  Frau Rehme reached over and patted the kitten’s tiny head. “He came home and left again. You slept through it.”

  “When will he be home?”

  “Soon. Seven at the latest.”

  “What time is it now?”

  Frau Rehme checked her watch. “Twenty until six.”

  “Oh no!” Korinna exclaimed, heading toward the door.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Korinna dashed down the stairs, her kitten still clutched in her arms. “The Führer’s speaking on the radio!”

  As her mother followed her down, Korinna turned on the old radio to the official station. Already Adolf Hitler’s voice was traveling over the radio waves with a special message for his people. The Jungmädel leaders had urged all the members to listen to their Führer tonight. Korinna always looked forward to hearing his radio broadcasts. She only wished she could see him speak in person.

  For the rest of the half hour, Korinna sat in front of the radio listening to the Führer’s voice. At first the speech was quiet yet forceful, but soon the voice took on a moving ring. By the end of the speech, Adolf Hitler spoke at the top of his voice, over the cheers of his followers. What he said was always the same: Destroy the enemy, the Jews and the radical intellectuals, and out of the misery they were now in, a stronger more unified Germany would ascend. A Germany without poverty, without unemployment. The Third Reich that would last for one thousand years!

  At the end of the speech, Korinna dropped her kitten on the sofa and stood up as it scurried out of the room. She lifted her right arm in a smart salute. “Heil Hitler!” She looked expectantly at her mother.

  Frau Rehme, sitting on the sofa and darning one of her husband’s socks, looked up at her daughter. “Heil Hitler,” she murmured, then she went back to her sewing.

  Korinna smiled and sat down next to her mother. “Isn’t the Führer wonderful?”

  “Mmmmm,” Frau Rehme agreed.

  “Mother! Weren’t you paying attention to him? His speech was wonderful!”

  Frau Rehme shrugged slightly, but Korinna caught the subtle movement and she frowned.

  Frau Rehme said, “His speeches are all beginning to sound the same.”

  “He repeats himself only because he wants us to remember the important things.”

  “What important things?”

  “Who our enemies are, of course, and what we can look forward to when Germany wins the war and becomes the power it once was,” Korinna said, repeating the very words her Jungmädel leader had said the day before.

  “And our Führer is going to do all this?”

  “Of course.”

  Frau Rehme put down her sewing. “At whose expense? At what cost?”

  Korinna stood up. “Mother, I can’t believe you’re talking like this!”

  Frau Rehme gently reached up and took her daughter’s hand. “Sit down, Korinna. I love the Fatherland as much as you, if not more because I’ve been alive longer. But you mustn’t follow blindly behind great promises.”

  Korinna allowed her mother to pull her down beside her. “Mother, how can you question the Führer? Someone might report you.”

  “Is that the only reason it’s wrong to question what one man is saying? Fear?”

  “It’s not fear, Mother,” Korinna said impatiently. “It’s love and respect. I have nothing to fear from anyone, because I’m a loyal German, just like you, Mother. And you should never question the Führer, because he’s only doing what’s best for us.”

  Korinna’s mother didn’t say anything. She picked up her darning and once again began to sew.

  Korinna sat silently, watching her mother for a few moments. Finally she said, “Rita is going to tell our leaders about her cousin, Elsa Demmer.”

  “Her own cousin,” Frau Rehme said with a sigh, shaking her head.

  “Elsa said she felt sorry for our enemies.”

  “Who? The English? The French?”

  Korinna picked impatiently at a loose thread on the couch. “No, the Jews.”

  Suddenly, they heard a muffled crash upstairs. “What was that?” Korinna whispered, afraid to move. She noticed her mother’s face looked pale, as though she had put on too much powder.

  “Stay here,” her mother whispered firmly. She stood up and walked out of the room.

  Korinna heard her mother make her way stealthily up the stairs. Then only silence. Korinna didn’t move. She strained her ears to hear anything at all. Had someone managed to break in upstairs? Had someone crept in the front door while they had been listening to the radio?

  “Korinna!”

  Korinna jumped up when her mother called. She raced upstairs. Her mother stood in the larger bedroom, looking at a fallen brass figurine, which normally sat on her father’s desk. She cuddled Korinna’s kitten.

  Frau Rehme smiled. “This little rascal is into mischief already. I don’t think she’ll be playing with this statue any more.”

  Korinna bent down and picked up the heavy brass figure and placed it back on the desk. Taking the kitten from her mother, she said, “She must be pretty strong to have knocked that thing onto the floor.”

  Frau Rehme nodded in agreement.

  Just then they heard the back door open.

  “Hello,” Herr Rehme called, stomping the snow off his boots. “I’m home!”

  Korinna and her mother hurried downstairs to the kitchen.

  Frau Rehme reached up to give her tall husband a kiss on his smooth cheek. “Couldn’t you have come in the front door where we have a mat for all this snow?”

  “The back door was more convenient,” he said shortly. He glanced down at his wife, and she said nothing more about it.
/>
  “Hi, Papa,” Korinna said, thinking the back door was rather inconvenient. It led out to a narrow back alley, which ran between the tightly packed houses at the edge of the city until it finally emptied out onto a seldomly used road. This road was bordered by occasional houses on one side and a thick forest on the other, and it led immediately out of the city. “Why did the school have such a late meeting?” she asked.

  “How about a kiss first?” her father teased, bending over. “The meeting was nothing, just some things we had to go over,” he said casually.

  Korinna took her father’s coat. “Was it about Fräulein Meiser?”

  “No.” He snapped his scarf over the high back of a kitchen chair and strode into the front room.

  Korinna glanced at her mother, who avoided her eyes but took the coat from her arms. She left to hang it up. Korinna followed her father into the front room. He sat in his chair with his feet up on a stool, his head back, eyes closed, and a smoking pipe clamped between his teeth. He should have looked restful, but he didn’t. He opened his eyes slightly to look at his daughter as Korinna sat down on the opposite couch.

  He removed the pipe from his mouth. “Sometimes it’s not good to ask too many questions. You could ask the wrong thing to the wrong person.”

  “But I just want to know what happened to Fräulein Meiser. She was my favorite teacher.”

  “And she was a good friend,” her father replied. “I’ll tell you what little I know, Korinna. But you mustn’t talk about her to anyone else. Promise?”

  Korinna nodded.

  “Last night the Gestapo went to her house to arrest her father. She refused to let him go without her. She went with him.”

  Korinna gasped. “You mean she didn’t even have to go? She wanted to?”

  “Her father is old. He may be dying. I expect she wants to be with him in case he needs her. Except, I’m afraid she’ll find that she’ll be separated from her father after all.”

  “Why?”

  “I doubt they keep the men and women together in those work camps,” Herr Rehme said.