The Voyage: A Historical Novel set during the Holocaust, inspired by real events

by Roberta Kagan

  Within a few days, the employees had a resolution. The company agreed to a dollar fifty raise per day and a forty-two hour workweek. The employees were not satisfied. They wanted the forty-hour week, wanted it badly enough to strike.

  Anna was worried about a strike. If the union said everyone must walk out, she would be forced to join them, and that meant no pay until the strike ended. She had some money saved, but she was hoping to have a down payment for a house when Alex returned. This could be a setback, depending upon how long the strike lasted.

  On August 18th, William Michelson, the leader of Gimbels local two ordered a strike.

  That night Anna had dinner with Wera in her apartment.

  “I cannot believe that I am going to sit on a picket line instead of working. It seems like such a waste of time.”

  “Yes, maybe, but maybe it is good for the company to put these rules in place. In the long run it’s gonna be better for you and everybody else who works there.”

  “I suppose you’re right. “

  “Listen, I made you a present,” Wera said.

  “A present, for me? Why?”

  “I have nothing to do all day, so I made you a pair of pants. I saw a poster of Katherine Hepburn wearing them. Maybe you will want to wear them on the picket line.”

  Wera got up and pulled a pair of gray trousers out of the drawer of her sewing dresser. “Come on, try them on so that I can fit them to you.”

  Anna held the trousers up and looked at them. She’d never considered wearing pants before, but the idea was sort of attractive. Why not? She put them on. They were too big. Wera pinned the sides until they hung just right.

  “I’ll have them all ready for you tomorrow,” Wera said.

  “Can I at least pay you for the fabric?”

  “No need. I had this fabric left over from a customer I made a dress for. You are so small and thin that it was enough fabric.” Wera occasionally did sewing work for private clients.

  “Oh, Wera, thank you so much for thinking of me.”

  “You are my friend, my only friend,” Wera laughed. “And after all, you are like a movie star, always the first one to wear the lastest fashion. I wanted you to be a style-setter like Katherine Hepburn and Marlene Detrich.”

  “I think these pants would look wonderful with my white cotton blouse.”

  “Yes, so do I, but I had a little time and a little black silk left over from another customer, so I made you a blouse, too.”

  “Wera?” She smiled. “Thank you.”

  “No need to thank me. You help by paying for the food.”

  “And you hardly even let me pay for that,” Anna said.

  “You do plenty.” Wera smiled. “Now, come in the morning and I’ll have these clothes all ready for you.”

  “Are you sure? There is no hurry. You can take a few days.”

  “Of course I’m sure. I’ll even have a couple of sweet rolls and a pot of coffee for us. We’ll have a little breakfast before you go.”

  Anna leaned over and kissed Wera’s cheek.

  When Anna arrived on the picket line wearing her new outfit, all of the women came rushing over to her.

  “You look marvelous. I love the way the trousers make you look, so stylish.”

  They raved, and Anna felt good. She wasn’t earning a salary, but the picket line wasn’t so bad. It was fun to socialize with the other girls. They never had time to sit and chat for very long while they were working. Anna was given a sign to carry that said: “Don’t shop at Gimbels. They treat their employees terribly.”

  Everything went fine for the first few days, until one of the well-known, affluent customers came to Gimbels and tried to break through the picket line.

  Anna had never seen her fellow employees get so angry and volatile. The female customer was testy, spoiled and demanding, not uncommon for the typical prosperous Gimbels customer. For years the employees had been forced to cater to the whims of the well-to-do customers, whom they had come to hate. Now, they refused to back down. They called out obscenities at the woman, and frightened her away.

  As the strikers grew in number, the workers grew bolder. They hurled strong insults at Gimbels’ wealthy clients who tried to cross the picket line. Then things went too far when Helen, one of the sales girls, threw a bottle of red ink at a woman. Anna had seen Helen around the store. She always appeared quiet, and reserved; there had been no evidence of this fire brewing within her. Anna watched as the police came rushing over. They handcuffed Helen, and she was arrested for assault.

  As the time went on, the strikers became more daring in their approach until finally someone released a swarm of bees into the store.

  Anna was not violent by nature, and she didn’t like the screaming of obscenities in the streets. But she understood how the employees felt.

  A few days later, several workers from Quills TWU came to join the strikers, as the picket line grew larger and more aggressive.

  Bette and Alice invited Anna to join them as they sat on the curb eating sandwiches. Anna sat down. She was wearing another pair of brown trousers that Wera had made for her, and a cream-colored blouse.

  “I have an extra sandwich, Anna. You want one?”

  “No, thanks.”

  “Look over there...” Bette said. “Remember that handsome union organizer, Benny? He’s coming this way and he really looks good in that fedora.”

  “Jeez, he’s handsome,” Alice said.

  “You know what I heard?” Bette said.

  “What?” Alice asked.

  “I heard that Benny gives lots of his own money to help picketers, you know, like guys with families who have to be out of work because of a strike.”

  “Where did you hear that?” Anna asked.

  But before Bette could answer, Anna looked up to see Benny sauntering over to them. Several of the other strikers tried to stop him and engage him in conversation, but he was heading straight for Anna.

  Chapter 77

  Alex was on a plane on his way to England. He was to work on bombers and tanks. This was the first time he’d ever flown and the altitude bothered his ears. A sharp pain shot from the back of his ear down his neck. As he sat in the dark cabin of the plane, he thought of Anna. Poor Anna, she’d put up with so much from him, Now he’d left her alone to fend for herself in New York City, and if he died, then what? He hated himself. It had not been fair of him to marry her. When they met, Alex already knew that he was damaged. He should have stayed away from her. She was so young and innocent. She could have married so much better. She should have married Manny. But she’d been so kind to him and cared so much about him, that he’d fallen in love with her so deeply that even now the depth of his feelings left him breathless.

  Perhaps enlisting had been a mistake; perhaps he owed Anna more than this. Dear God, if only he could be more decisive. Everything he did always seemed wrong after the fact. But he could not go on living the way he had been, constantly feeling as if he should be doing something, anything, to fight against the Nazis.

  His time in boot camp taught him many things, but the one that had been the most difficult was discovering that anti-Semitism stretched its ugly head into the U.S. armed forces. Once the other soldiers learned that he was Jewish, some of them refused to sit next to him in the mess hall, and one even refused to bunk on the bottom of his bunk. They acted like he had a contagious disease.

  The plane hit some turbulence, rocking and shaking like it might fall out of the sky.

  Alex shivered. Anna...

  It felt strange to be going back to Europe. He’d worked so hard to get to America. Well, at least once he got to England he could begin searching for Manny. A day never passed that Alex didn’t remember that both he and Anna owed everything to Manny, and he would not rest until he found him.

  Although the cabin of the aircraft was dimly lit, Alex took a pencil and paper out of the breast pocket of his uniform and began to write a letter.

  “Anna, my Anna...”r />
  Chapter 78

  “Anna, banana…” Benny said as he approached. “So, how have you been?”

  “I’m fine.” She hadn’t meant to sound so curt.

  “Well, that’s sure good to hear.” He smiled “How are you two girls doing?” he asked Bette and Alice.

  Alice nodded, and then Bette nodded too.

  “This is sure some strike. I think they’re gonna cave pretty soon. Old man Broido is starting to realize that he better take this labor union seriously.”

  “Well, that’s good. I hope he agrees to the five-day, forty-hour week,” Alice said.

  “He’s gonna have to. We just won’t let up until he does.”

  “Yes, but a lot of these men are the sole supporters of their families, Benny. Who is going to feed their children, you?” Anna asked.

  “Anna, why do you dislike me so much?”

  “I don’t. But I think that sometimes you are far too idealistic.”

  “That could be true. But if we don’t stand together as one force, the management will always be able to do whatever they want to the workers. Is that better? Should people work so hard that they end up in an early grave?”

  Anna folded her arms across her chest. She understood, and even agreed with what Benny was saying, but she didn’t want to let him know that he was right.

  “Come on, don’t be like that. We are all in this together,” he said, flashing his white-toothed smile.

  “And I suppose you are taking a cut in salary, too, while all of this is taking place?” Anna said.

  “Actually, yes, I am. And I would gladly do so for the principle of the thing,” Benny said.

  “Hmm…” Anna crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Can we stop arguing? You look far too pretty today to fight,” Benny said.

  Alice gave Anna a questioning look.

  Anna shrugged.

  “Have you had lunch?”

  “No, she hasn’t. We tried to feed her, but she won’t eat. Pretty soon she’s gonna get so skinny that if she stands sideways you won’t be able to see her,” Bette said.

  “Come on, let’s walk over and get a hot dog. You know how much I hate to eat alone,” Benny said.

  Anna glared at Bette, who shrugged her shoulders.

  “Oh all right.” Anna handed her sign to Alice and picked up her pocket book. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Take your time.” Bette smiled. “We aren’t going anywhere for a while.”

  Anna and Benny turned the corner away from the picket line. A hot summer sun glared down at them from a royal-blue cloudless sky. Anna felt her blouse sticking to her. She pulled her hair into a knot at the nape of her neck and secured it with a few hair pins from her handbag.

  “Now, how is it that you looked beautiful before, and now that you’ve pulled your hair up, you look even more stunning?”

  “Have I told you lately that I find you infuriating?” Anna said.

  “No, you haven’t told me. But I am kind of beginning to get the picture.”

  “What is it you want from me? You know I am a married woman.”

  “I want a torrid love affair.”

  “That’s vulgar. I am leaving.”

  “Hey, hey, I was just kidding. Can’t you take a joke? Why are you so serious all the time?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I guess because I have been through a lot of bad things in my life,” she said.

  “Well, then, just let loose for a few minutes and let’s just enjoy a hot dog. I’m not asking you to forgo your morals or anything. Will you just do that?”

  She nodded.

  Benny bought two hot dogs from a vendor, and he and Anna walked as they ate.

  “How about the turnout for this strike?”

  “It’s bigger than I thought it would be. I thought it would be just Gimbels,” she said.

  “When I see a group of workers coming out and picketing for the laborers’ rights, it reminds me that all the work I’ve been doing has been worthwhile.”

  “Do you really think they’ll give us what we are asking for?”

  “Eventually they are going to have to. You see that’s the beauty of a union. Anna, the world is changing. The labor force is becoming strong, powerful. We have a voice. Not just in this industry, but in every industry. The rich company owners can’t take advantage of us anymore. And believe me, it took a hell of a lot to get to this point. Heck, when I first started I faced such resistance from the workers. I was a young kid fresh out of college. Nobody trusted me.”

  “You don’t look that old now. How old are you?”

  “Now you know a man never tells his age…” He winked. “I’m going to be thirty-five in April.”

  “You don’t look your age. You went to college?”

  “Yep, I’m an attorney. Benjamin Lewis Berman, attorney at law. But I decided to give up practicing law in order to do something important with my life. My father was a transit worker. He posed as an Irishman. They didn’t hire Jews, but like me, he had the black hair and blue eyes, so he passed for Irish. That’s where he met Michael Quill. Quill was an Irish immigrant. Smartest man I ever met. Fair too.”

  “You mean Quill from Quill TWU? That’s the union that’s out on the picket line helping us.”

  “Yep, that’s right. Michael Quill is the founder. He is one hell of a nice guy, with a heart as big as New York. In fact I met him when I was just a kid; my father brought him home a couple of times. He had a hell of an effect on me. Between watching my father face terrible abuse at the hands of the subway bosses, and the influence of Mike Quill, I became a union man.”

  “How does your wife cope with the danger of your job?”

  “It is dangerous, but it’s important. The same as the guys out fighting for America in our armed forces, I’m fighting a war right here on our home front, a war between the rich and the poor, between the owners and the workers. I believe in what I am doing. I know it is the right thing and in the years to come long after I’m dead, the work I’ve done will continue to make a difference in the world.”

  She nodded…

  “Oh yeah, I forgot… You asked another question.” He winked.

  Anna felt her face turning red; she looked away so he wouldn’t see. Why had she asked about his wife? Why did she care?

  “I’m not married. A man like me can’t be married. I’m traveling too much for that. It wouldn’t be fair.”

  “It’s none of my business, but don’t you ever get lonely, and want a family of your own?”

  “Sure, all the time, but I know that if I don’t continue this work, I’ll never forgive myself.”

  “This really means a lot to you.”

  “Yeah, I could earn at least three times the amount that I am making with the union if I were to work as a lawyer. But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t feel as if I’d accomplished anything important.”

  “You’re a real idealist, Benny. When you’ve lived through what I have lived through, ideals go out the window. For me it’s always been about survival.”

  “I know this is going to sound crazy, but I believe that we are all put here on earth with a purpose, something that we are supposed to do. Once we find that purpose, we must go forward until our job is complete. Does this make any sense to you?”

  “Yes. I understand. But, I have no idea what my purpose might be. I’m not even sure I have one.”

  “I’m sure you do. For some people it takes longer to find their purpose. Others never find it.”

  “I would like to find mine. I mean, I’d like to know why I am here on earth. And just why I had to leave my family behind in Germany. I guess I am saying I’d like to know God’s plan. ”

  “Are you religious?” he asked.

  “No. I believe in God, and as you know, I am Jewish, but I wouldn’t say I’m religious.”

  “I’m not either. I’m a Jew, but for me it’s more of a tradition than a religion. I don’t believe in religion. It’s just
another reason for war.”

  “You are a strange man Benny. I don’t think I have ever met anyone like you.”

  “Does that mean that you’ll have dinner with me tonight?”

  “Oh, Benny, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  “You said you had to leave your family behind. What happened?”

  “It’s a long story, a very long story.”

  “Well, that’s all the more reason for you to have dinner with me. I’d like to hear your story.”

  “You are insistent.”

  “Yes, I can be. I like you Anna. I don’t expect you to be anything but a friend to me. But I could be a good friend if you give me a chance. Come on out for dinner tonight. Tell me what’s in your heart, what’s bothering you. I’ll listen. I’m a good listener. Come on…say yes.”

  “Yes.” She couldn’t believe that she agreed. But there was something about him. Maybe it was his warmth, or his desire to do the right thing and help those less fortunate. Or perhaps it was the sparkle in his eyes, the way he made her feel full of life, full of dreams, full of possibilities…but what about Alex?

  “Would you like to go to little Italy? I know an Italian restaurant that I think you’ll love.”

  She nodded. “Yes, I’ve never been to an Italian restaurant.” Anna was realizing all of the things she’d missed over the years, and suddenly she wanted to experience every one of them. She wanted to be young, to go out dancing, to try different foods, maybe even to go to a movie theater. Benny brought the joy of living back to her.

  Chapter 79

  “You’re going to eat with a man? Anna, are you crazy?”

  “I don’t know, Wera. I might be.” Anna said as she carefully drew the red lipstick over her lips.