by Alexis Clark
6.
A Forbidden Romance
FREDERICK HAD FALLEN IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. He had limited experience with women, but his desire for Elinor was genuine, raw, and unburdened by any remnants of Nazi doctrine. His life had changed instantaneously the moment he spotted her in the officers’ mess. Everything about his POW experience shifted from dull and routine to thrilling and purposeful. Elinor became the key to his happiness; she was the focus of all his thoughts. And Frederick was determined to do everything in his power to ensure the feelings were reciprocated.
He wanted to pursue an intimate and exclusive relationship. But with no power, money, or freedom—and an extremely regimented POW existence—this seemed very unlikely. Despite their relaxed disposition, his American captors still dictated everything about his daily life. He showered when he was told to shower. He ate when he was told to eat. He worked when he was told to work, getting up at when the sky was still black to bake bread and prepare the meals for the day. But the one thing he had control over were his dreams and desires, and that was enough encouragement for him to get through the other tasks. He was not going to let his prisoner status infringe on his strategy to pursue Elinor.
Several POWs figured out ways to rendezvous with local women, but those were mostly physical encounters. Elinor awakened a longing in Frederick that was beyond carnal. Naturally, the physical attraction was strong. She was tall, curvaceous, and stunning. But there was an emotional connection he felt immediately that needed to be explored as well. He later said it was as though he had been put under a spell from the first time he laid eyes on her.1
Frederick’s calculated plan came down to seeing Elinor every day at mealtime. And if it couldn’t be every day, then it would be every other day. Even if for a moment, he wanted to lock eyes with her and subliminally tell her that he wanted her and that she was the most exotic woman he had ever met. And it wasn’t in a fetishizing way; he truly was enamored and intrigued.
It wasn’t long before Elinor began to enjoy and look forward to Frederick’s playful antics. When he peeked out of the kitchen to tip his chef’s hat in her direction and gaze into her eyes, even if briefly, the attention satisfied a need in her that she had suppressed as an army nurse. She hadn’t felt excitement since setting foot in Florence, and she couldn’t deny that a marriage proposal at a first meeting was a big boost to her ego, which had taken quite a beating since her enlistment. The segregated military made for a very lonely social life. Yet it hadn’t occurred to Elinor to ever look at a German prisoner in a romantic way: they were captured soldiers, enemies of war, and Nazis. Hitler’s views about nonwhites were well known. How could an African American think about intimacy with a German?
But there was something different about Frederick. His mannerisms, warmth, and obvious attraction to her all softened her guarded exterior. And Frederick was handsome, tall, and lean, with chiseled features. Elinor was twenty-three years old, after all, an age where a glorious-looking man, regardless of race or ethnicity, made her giddy and curious. She also felt a sense of justice at being desired by a German soldier, a member of the very group the U.S. military thought wouldn’t be interested in her, or any black nurse for that matter, hence their regular assignments at POW camps.
Frederick’s attraction demonstrated complete disregard for Jim Crow. And Elinor needed to see someone stand up against it. If kindness came from a soldier in Hitler’s army, Elinor decided, then she would welcome it. She would soon discover that a number of German prisoners were not the fascist bigots she had anticipated and, in fact, were friendlier to her than some of the local white people in Arizona, who were her fellow American citizens.
Gwyneth, as one of Elinor’s closest friends at Camp Florence, was also pleasantly surprised by the kindness of some of the German POWs. “They were always very nice to us, really,” she said. “I was never taught to hate anybody, and I didn’t even feel hate towards the Germans for the entire war or anything like that.” One of the prisoners made a wooden nameplate for her with “Gwyneth” etched into the surface—an endearing memento that she saved.2
Ora Hicks, during her time at Camp Florence, felt the POWs were grateful to receive her care. “They never called us names or nothing like that,” she said. Hicks thought many of the German prisoners were homesick and found comfort in talking to the nurses about themselves, their families, and their girlfriends. “When your life is at stake, you better be nice because we might be the one to save your life.”3 Ironically, the discrimination that many black nurses experienced came from white American officers, not POWs. Complaints of racism from black nurses were documented in several states across the country, but most happened in the Deep South and Southwest, where black nurses tended to be stationed.
“I was not naive regarding segregation and discrimination but going into a completely segregated situation was constantly a shock to me,” said Elinor years later. “I think I stayed angry most of my army career, even though the whole experience was interesting, maddening, frustrating and even fun.”4
Gwyneth observed how Elinor could never fully accept segregation during their time at Camp Florence. Unlike Elinor, it didn’t bother her as much due to her familiarity with Jim Crow as a child. She never thought of complaining or resisting. “We didn’t feel that we should be protesting. It was if you do well, never get in trouble, and do the right thing that everything’s going to be all right. I never felt put down. But I knew and I was aware we were second-class people, but that’s the way it was.”5
It would never be that way for Elinor, however.
Frederick’s desire for her flew in the face of society’s belief, both German and American, that she was inferior. He could have subscribed to many Americans’ sense of white racial superiority, and to the hypocrisies, political and moral, that blacks had to live with. But Frederick made his own beliefs clear: he wanted her, unequivocally. It wasn’t long before she encouraged him in his pursuit.
Once their attraction for each other was openly established, Elinor and Frederick were discreet with their flirtation and showed their feelings to each other in harmless ways: frequent smiles in the officers’ mess, lingering stares, even a wink or a blown kiss for laughs. As their feelings intensified, they did their best to hide it. Elinor was an officer, and even though she had lost a great deal of respect for the military, she didn’t want to ruin her reputation and suffer draconian consequences for frolicking with a POW.
Frederick went to enormous efforts to make Elinor elaborate meals. If meatloaf were on the menu, he would prepare peas and gravy, mashed potatoes, and wiener schnitzel just for her. He also made her apple strudel. Elinor loved every minute of it.
None of the guards were suspicious. They rarely interacted with the black nurses, and the last thing they would have anticipated was a romance unfolding right in front of them between a German POW and a black officer.
Soon the brief flirtations and sightings of Elinor weren’t enough for Frederick. The deeper his desire became, the more creative he had to be in order to spend real time getting to know her. Like at other POW camps in the United States, recreational activities were permitted for the prisoners. Some formed orchestras and put on concerts; others played soccer. Frederick taught baking classes occasionally for anyone who wanted to attend or observe. It turned out to be a brilliant move, as he chose an activity that would appeal to the nurses.
Elinor immediately signed up for a class on a day she wasn’t expected to report at the hospital. The nurses were supposed to take turns going to the class so the kitchen wouldn’t be overcrowded during the demonstration, but Elinor attended every one without fail. Besides staring at Frederick and listening to his accent, which she loved even though some of the words sounded abrupt and even harsh, the classes gave her something fun to do besides nursing. Her free time until then had been spent on two activities: occasionally riding horses with Gwyneth and playing cards with the other nurses. Now she could add learning to bake German pastries to h
er short list of positive experiences as an army nurse.6
Frederick’s class became a hit. As the nurses hovered over a prep table in the kitchen, Frederick showed them how to make bauernbrot, with its signature hard crust; roggenmischbrot, a sourdough bread made with rye and wheat flour; and brötchen (German rolls) and buns. Elinor did her best to concentrate on the bread rather than daydreaming about Frederick, but her heart pounded as she watched him in his white hat, T-shirt, and apron. During his demos, when he asked a question to be sure everyone was following, Elinor nodded in agreement, barely able to focus. She was falling in love—with a German.
Before long, the baking classes, like his moments with Elinor in the officers’ mess, weren’t enough; plus there were only so many recipes he could demonstrate with the limited number of ingredients he had at his disposal. He needed to put a much bigger plan into motion, and once he began to volunteer at the hospital, that is what he did. According to his POW card, and despite what his family thought, Frederick had been a low-ranking medic in the Luftwaffe, and he could speak English, which was enough to be considered useful to the medical staff, who always needed translators when treating German POWs. It was an ideal situation. The nurses were never very busy, and Frederick would have plenty of time to spend with Elinor.
The nurses were on duty from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., a twelve-hour shift with a few breaks throughout. There weren’t many emergencies, so Elinor’s schedule was usually free of intense lifesaving activity and critical demands. This meant that she and Frederick were able to find plenty of time to sneak away and be together with little risk of being missed, let alone caught. There weren’t many guards roaming the corridors, as the threat of POWs escaping from the hospital was quite low. Only the perimeter of the camp, especially near the POW barracks, was guarded constantly.
The hospital was the ideal place for privacy. The surgery rooms were rarely occupied, and Elinor didn’t worry about the other nurses on duty figuring out what was going on. Gwyneth and some of the other women knew something was developing between Elinor and Frederick, but they would have never reported the couple. There was a real sister hood between the black nurses, who relied on one another a great deal. Elinor also made sure there were plenty of other nurses on hand when she decided to disappear for an hour or so to be with Frederick. On slow days, when there wasn’t surgery scheduled, or if a doctor was on an extended lunch break, Elinor slipped away without hesitation.
Every time she met Frederick she was actively defying the military and Jim Crow, a rebellion that gave her delicious satisfaction. She had been told directly that black nurses were stationed at Camp Florence because the army was uncomfortable with fraternization between white nurses and the German POWs. She correctly concluded that the military didn’t think black nurses were desirable enough to be compromised in the same way. It was a stinging slight among a host of insults. The military made it clear time and time again that African American army nurses were dispensable. Elinor had finally had enough.
Acting on her feelings toward Frederick allowed her to assert some sense of authority over her life again. The army uniform and the restrictions that came with wearing one became much less important to Elinor. With every touch, Frederick helped to quell the feelings of rejection that she had internalized ever since she joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. He was her oasis, and she was willing to put her military career on the line to be with him.7
It began with passionate kisses and lingering embraces. If they passed each other in the hallways, they would touch briefly, a light brush on the hands or an accidental collision—anything to feel close to each other. Their coupling took on a symbolic rebellion that made the sexual tension all the more strong. Frederick had dreamed about touching every inch of Elinor from the moment he saw her in the dining room. And finally, after playful flirtations, gazes, and kisses that never lasted long enough, after thinking about her from the moment he got up in the morning until he went to bed at night, and after strategically planning his work schedule to see her as much as possible in the mess hall and in the hospital, Frederick made love to Elinor on an operating table in a surgery room at the Camp Florence hospital.8
Their relationship was so scandalous, so risky and so disruptive, that it made Elinor’s heart flutter with excitement. After she began sleeping with Frederick, she didn’t return to the nurses’ barracks and share the intimate details with her friends. She was discreet (despite her obvious euphoria), but soon Elinor began to see Frederick at all hours of the night, which was a clear giveaway that something serious had developed. Gwyneth picked up on it immediately.
The nurses’ barracks at Camp Florence had individual private rooms—a requirement for all officers in the army, even black ones, who typically didn’t get the same consideration as their white contemporaries. The arrangement was ideal for Elinor because she could avoid waking up a roommate as she slipped in and out of bed to meet Frederick. There were no guards positioned outside the nurses’ barracks either. Elinor did need a lookout from time to time, just in case some personnel were lingering around the grounds nearby and might spot her returning at suspicious hours. In such instances, she could always use the excuse of working late at the hospital because of a medical emergency. Gwyneth helped sneak her out on these occasions, and it was obvious to her what was happening. “I could tell she was falling in love. She was private, but the way she looked—we all knew.”
Elinor’s trysts with Frederick were potentially dangerous. She was in the United States Army Nurse Corps. Her country was at war with the Nazis. A love affair with a German prisoner could have been considered treasonous and the ramifications severe: court-martial, dishonorable discharge, imprisonment. Frederick could have been punished too. But they were blinded to any danger by their love.9
Months passed as Elinor and Frederick’s flirtations escalated into a full-blown sexual relationship that bonded them emotionally and physically. The two behaved as if they were invincible, as if no one would ever find out. Until, of course, the truth was exposed.
7.
End of War
AFTER FREDERICK AND ELINOR BEGAN SLEEPING together the days of rational thinking disintegrated. Every minute of their existence rested on being together. Frederick split his time volunteering in the hospital and working in the kitchen, and somehow his schedule never sounded any alarms. He had established himself as a trusted hospital volunteer in addition to being a much relied-upon and valued cook in the officers’ mess. The guards weren’t suspicious of him at all.
Whether he was translating or working as an orderly mopping floors and cleaning rooms, Frederick familiarized himself with every inch of the hospital to find safe places to be alone with Elinor. She helped plot their escapades as well, since she had access to the staff’s schedules, which meant she knew exactly when the surgery rooms would be vacant. After the war, in a rare admission, Frederick revealed to his sister, Charlotte, that he and Elinor would make love whenever possible.
The circumstances surrounding Elinor and Frederick’s relationship were fitting for a passionate affair. There was absolutely nothing to do in Florence; it was a remote town and they were young, full of sexual desire, and seeking release from their own personal troubles. They were each other’s forbidden fruit, and anything that brought them happiness during the war was worth the risk. And the two never seemed to fear getting caught. But Gwyneth was worried for them.
“Since Frederick was in the kitchen as a baker, he was permitted out of his compound at night. So he was over in the areas for the officers doing the cooking and whatnot. And then Elinor would sneak out. I was nervous about the whole situation, but they weren’t,” Gwyneth said. She admired Elinor for being bold, but began to think she was foolish too. “She knew what could have happened to her,” said Gwyneth of the consequences Elinor would have faced had she been caught. She understood, however, the feelings her friend had for Frederick. “They had the greatest love story.”
Frederick and Elinor refuse
d to spoil their love affair by worrying about getting exposed. Their youth, coupled with their intense urge for each other, made the risk worth it. And the alternative—to not have each other as lovers and confidants during the war—was unthinkable.
Elinor’s initial attraction may have been a subconscious way of telling the U.S. military, Jim Crow, and Nazism to go to hell, but she had since found true love and respect for Frederick, a German POW who happened to be in Hitler’s army by circumstance, not choice. Frederick may have been considered a Nazi by people who automatically associated German soldiers with Nazi ideology, but she knew he wasn’t. He didn’t harbor feelings of racial superiority. Every thing about him was gentle and kind. And Elinor didn’t care about the laws she was breaking to be with him.
The idea of loving a woman who was the embodiment of everything he was supposed to loathe excited Frederick. He felt loved and accepted in Elinor’s presence, and he subconsciously tied her race to those feelings. She was passionate and warm, exactly the way he imagined African Americans to be in the countless hours he spent listening to the music of black jazz artists. Elinor made him feel like a hero, and her dependence on him gave him the confidence and purpose he had been deprived of while growing up without the approval of his father. And though Frederick knew being intimate with a black woman was a major taboo, he didn’t care.