Unsinkable

by Murphy, Lynn

  “All right. I’ll go. But only this once. I can’t see myself making a habit of attending your political rallies.”

  He took her hand in his and they began to walk toward the café where they had planned to dine. They talked of trivial things. Ava kept up with the conversation but her mind wandered too. Max was so excited about the Nazi party these days. It was almost all he ever spoke of. Her days were spent teaching young children and taking care of her elderly grandparents. When Hitler had come to power she had hardly noticed. Her free time was spent with Max and planning their future together. She seldom saw the friends she had once spent time with before falling in love with Max. Her world had shrunk to a very few people.

  They were joined by Dieter, one of Max’s closest friends and his date, Ingrid. Like Ava, Ingrid was blond and blue-eyed and lovely, but unlike Ava she was very aware of the political scene in Berlin. In fact, she was as pro Hitler as Max and Dieter. “Ava, don’t you just love to hear the Fuhrer speak?” she raved over dessert.

  “Actually I’ve never heard him,” said Ava.

  “Not ever?” Ingrid was shocked.

  “Ava isn’t interested in politics,” Max said.

  “But not to listen to such a man! Not even on the radio? Ava, if you aren’t careful, they’ll send you to Dachau!”

  “Ingrid,” Dieter said sternly, “One does not speak of such things in public. And of course Ava is going nowhere such as that. Why, she typifies everything the Fuhrer embodies.”

  Ava wondered what he was talking about, but said nothing as they went on to the amphitheater. She was surprised how many people had gathered. It seemed almost as if the entire city had turned out to hear Hitler speak. It was dark, but as they approached, Ava saw a huge bonfire that illuminated the space.

  “Max, what are they burning?”

  “I don’t know,” Max admitted. “But I am sure there is a good reason.”

  They were pushed into the throng and Ava had to keep her hold on Max’s arm or they might have been separated. Adults and children, male and female. The crowd began to chant Hitler’s name. When the Chancellor entered the amphitheater, the crowd began to yell “Heil!” and give the one armed salute. Ava had never seen so many people in such a frenzy, never heard so many voices shouting in unison in such a heated, fevered pitch. The feeling of dread that had been building all evening turned to actual fear and she wasn’t even certain why.

  Hitler stepped on a stage in front of them and began to speak. “The Jew is our enemy! The Jew is the reason why we struggle today! We have closed their degenerate art schools and taken their filthy work out of our museums! And tonight, we take away their filthy words! Tonight, my people, we burn the writings of these degenerate Jewish writers and those who write in the same degenerate way. Books that teach the reader to believe and think and act in a way that is unbecoming to the goals of the Third Reich! Bring them forward! Burn the filth! Rid the world of their words! Let their writings be as they will be- a distant memory in the world’s past. Join me! Burn! Burn!”

  A parade of men in uniform came forward with books in hand, tossing them into the bonfire. Ava wondered what books they were burning, wondered how anyone could take books and throw them into flames. She looked on in horror as others in the crowd brought forth books they had brought. While little children, many in their Hitler Youth uniforms also brought forth their books to add to the roaring bonfire. She watched, terrified, as the crowd echoed Hitler’s cry, “Burn! Burn! Burn!” Bits of paper and leather rose up in ashes from the fire and scattered over the ground, falling like a miniature snow storm, covering the shoulders of those who fed it. The smell of burning books permeated the air. And still the crowd continued to chant. Why, Ava wondered, did this man hate Jews so much? What had she missed, what had happened to Germany while she went about her daily routine, never paying attention? The chant of “Burn!” turned to “Sieg Heil!” All around her, people of all ages, even the children were saluting Hitler. Over and over again. Ava wanted nothing so much as to leave. Yet she was afraid to ask Max to take her home.

  Suddenly Ava was desperately afraid because she was Jewish.