The Women in His Life

‘Oh Teddy, Teddy,’ Ursula said, her voice low and strained, ‘I’ve warned you not to stay out late at night. These are terribly dangerous times we’re living in.’

‘I know. And I’m sorry, Frau Westheim. I know you worry about me. But Henrietta’s birthday party went on much longer than we expected. We kept trying to leave. Finally we got away around midnight. The havoc was just starting to break loose.’

Ursula frowned, thinking that their unimpeded journey across the rioting city was something akin to miraculous, and she probed, ‘No one bothered you? Stopped you? Shot at you?’

‘No, not when we were riding the motorbike. But … well … there was a little incident as we left the apartment. Willy accidentally barrelled into a stormtrooper outside the Mandelbaums’ building, and he grabbed hold of Willy, started to question –’

‘Stormtrooper!’ Ursula’s eyes opened wider. She brought a hand up to her mouth. Civilian mobs were one thing; the involvement of stormtroopers meant something entirely different – and much more threatening.

‘Yes, a stormtrooper,’ Theodora said, and speaking swiftly and graphically, she recounted exactly what had transpired between herself and the Nazi when she had rushed out to confront him on the street. And she did not leave out one single detail.

Ursula was aghast throughout this recital, and when Teddy had finished, she exclaimed, ‘What you did was terribly, terribly dangerous! The consequences for you and Willy could have been disastrous. Horrendous. The stormtrooper could have beaten you up, or killed you. What’s perhaps even worse to contemplate, he could have dragged you both to Gestapo Headquarters for questioning. People who have been made to take forced trips to the Prinz Albrechtstrasse haven’t always come out of there alive. And if they have, they’ve often been mindless wrecks because of the torture inflicted on them.’

Teddy went cold, realising that everything Ursula Westheim said was true. She bit her lip, responded quietly, in a chagrined voice, ‘I just reacted … without thinking. I was certain my insolence and superior manner would convince him I was not Jewish. I was right about that, Frau Westheim, and he really did believe my father was in the SS, and that he was a friend of Himmler’s.’

‘Teddy did what she thought was the best thing, I’m absolutely sure of that, and certainly she used her wits,’ Sigmund said to Ursula. Then he glanced across at Theodora and shook his head. His kindly eyes were grave when he murmured, after a slight pause, ‘I don’t think you should tempt providence again. It might not work a second time.’

‘Yes, now I realise that,’ Teddy admitted. ‘Willy was scared when I was shouting at the stormtrooper. Scared for both of us, he told me later.’

‘And where is Willy?’ Sigmund asked. ‘Is he downstairs?’

‘No, he went home. His father’s away and he was worried about his sister Clara being alone in their flat.’

‘But it’s dangerous out on the streets,’ Sigmund responded with a show of concern. ‘You should have insisted that he stay here tonight.’

Ursula said, ‘I’m certain Willy is all right, Sigi. He lives not far from here, just behind us, near the Landwehrkanal.’

‘Willy must be safely home by now,’ Teddy asserted, and explained, ‘It would only take him a few minutes on the motorbike, and everything was quiet in the neighbourhood when he dropped me off.’

Sigmund went across to one of the windows, parted the silk draperies and anxiously looked down into the Tiergartenstrasse. He saw that the street below was indeed empty, and this reassured him that the boy had undoubtedly made it home easily and without running into trouble. Nevertheless, he swung around, and gesturing to the phone on Ursula’s writing desk, he said, ‘I think we will all feel much better, Teddy, if you ring Willy.’

‘Yes, Herr Westheim,’ Teddy replied and did as he asked, walking over to the small desk and dialling. The phone in the Herzogs’ apartment was picked up after only two rings, and Willy was on the line. ‘Yes?’ he said warily.

‘It’s Teddy here,’ she answered. ‘Herr Westheim asked me to ring you up, Willy, to check that you’d arrived home all right.’ He told her that he had done so without any sort of incident and without seeing one single person, then they said goodbye.

Teddy replaced the receiver, turned to Sigmund. ‘He’s fine, he said he got home in a few minutes. The streets around here are quiet, Herr Westheim.’

Sigmund nodded. His immense relief showed on his face.

‘Stormtroopers,’ Ursula said and looked at Sigmund, then addressed Teddy. ‘So apparently the Government is no longer simply turning a blind eye to these anti-semitic demonstrations. Now, seemingly, it is actively involved in them.’

‘That’s the way it looks,’ Teddy responded. ‘I saw a lot of stormtroopers on our way home. They were leading the mobs –’ Theodora broke off as a wave of nausea unexpectedly swept over her and she brought her hand up to her eyes. She swayed slightly on her feet, and wondered if she was going to faint.

Ursula ran to her immediately, put an arm around her to give her support. ‘Come, Mein Kind,’ she murmured, ‘come, my child, take off your things and let’s sit down until you feel better.’ She helped Teddy remove her coat and tam o’shanter, mothering her as she would Maxim. Taking hold of her hand, Ursula led her over to the fireplace where a few embers still glowed in the grate. Glancing over her shoulder at Sigmund, she said, ‘I think a glass of cognac would help Teddy. Her hands are icy.’

‘Of course. I’ll get it right away.’

Sigmund strode into the adjoining room. This was his upstairs study where he sometimes worked, and where there was a small but well-stocked liquor cabinet.

Meanwhile, Ursula and Teddy seated themselves on the chaise and Ursula continued to hold the girl’s hands, rubbing them between her own, trying to warm them.

Theodora looked at her suddenly, and exclaimed, ‘They were so vicious when they smashed the synagogue, set fire to it. I couldn’t believe such a dreadful thing was happening.’ This scene stood out with such agonising clarity in her mind that she began to weep, and the tears rolled down her cheeks unchecked.

Ursula brought her hand up to Teddy’s face, and gently wiped the tears away with her fingertips, and endeavoured to comfort her.

Sigmund was back within seconds, carrying a silver tray upon which there were three liqueur glasses of brandy. ‘I think we all need a drop of this,’ he said, coming over to the chaise, offering the tray to his wife and Teddy.

Theodora took a big swallow of the brandy and she felt the warmth of it in her throat at once. She took another swallow, and put the glass on a nearby table, looked from Ursula to Sigmund. ‘Thank you,’ she said softly, her expression one of deep gratitude. ‘Thank you for being so kind to me always.’

Sigmund had tossed back his small glass of cognac in one quick gulp, and now he said, ‘I must go and make several phone calls … to Hedy, to make certain she and my mother are all right. I’m absolutely positive they are, out there in the Grunewald. Sigrid, of course, is in Hamburg with Thomas on business, so we don’t have to be concerned about them. And then I must reach the night guard at the bank, check out the situation in the Gendarmenmarkt.’

‘Yes, you had better do that,’ Ursula concurred.

Sigmund nodded, and disappeared in the direction of his study.

Theodora, who had been fumbling around in the pocket of her blue wool dress, pulled out her handkerchief and blew her nose. ‘I’m sorry I broke down before, Frau Westheim. But I couldn’t help it. This has been the most terrifying experience. I know one thing … I’ll never forget the ninth of November … Henrietta Mandelbaum’s twenty-first birthday and the night the Nazis torched the Central Synagogue. No, I’ll never forget it,’ she finished vehemently. ‘Not as long as I live.’

‘I don’t think anyone will,’ Ursula replied.

She rose, walked over to a window, drew open the draperies and stood looking out at the sky. It was jet black and littered with bright stars, and on the horizon she could see a jagged patch of red flaring upwards. Fire, she thought. They’re burning something else in another part of the city. Another synagogue perhaps. Or someone’s home. Or both. Where will this end? Dear God, where will this end? She felt chilled to the bone, icy.

Sigmund did not remain on the telephone for very long, and he soon returned to the bedroom, saying with obvious relief, ‘I spoke to Hedy. The Grunewald is as peaceful and sleepy as it always is, and the night guard at the bank tells me nothing untoward is happening down there in the financial district. So perhaps the demonstrations on the Ku’damm and the Fasanenstrasse are simply isolated incidents, started by the rowdies and thugs who are so frequently out of control –’

‘I doubt that,’ Ursula remarked in the softest of voices. ‘Not when there are stormtroopers involved. This is much more serious than anything we’ve ever seen before.’

‘Perhaps,’ Sigmund muttered noncommittally. Privately he agreed with her, but he did not want to foster her alarm; nor did he wish to frighten Theodora further, who had been through enough as it was this night.

Abruptly, Ursula said, ‘It’s the beginning.’

‘The beginning of what, Frau Westheim?’ Theodora asked.

There was a silence before Ursula replied. ‘The beginning of the end of the Jews in Germany.’

After Theodora had gone to bed, Ursula and Sigmund sat together on the chaise, talking quietly, sharing their thoughts, trying to analyse the dramatic events of that night, trying to understand what they meant, and what they predicted for the future.

At one moment, Ursula turned to him, and said slowly, ‘Stop trying to protect me by not telling me what you truly think, Sigi. I’m far too intelligent to be duped, especially by my own husband, a man I’ve known since childhood.’

‘Yes, you are,’ he said with a faint sigh. ‘And I only meant the best for you.’

She tried to smile, unsuccessfully. ‘As always, my dearest Sigi, as always.’

Taking hold of his hand she held it very tightly in hers and after a while she said in a voice choked with emotion, ‘We have to leave, Sigi … leave this house … leave the villa in Wannsee … leave the bank … leave the art collection … leave all of our possessions … and go. We have to leave Berlin, Sigi. We have to get out of Germany.’

‘Yes, I know,’ he said with resignation. ‘I’ve known it for a long time, really, but I suppose I haven’t wanted to face it.’ He sighed again. ‘The entire family must get out. And Theodora. We cannot leave her behind, that would be unthinkable. She will come with us, and I must get exit visas for everyone, and entry visas for another country.’

‘How?’

Indeed how, he thought, but said, ‘To be honest, Ursula, I don’t know … yet. But I will. And very soon. Certainly I’ve got one thing in my favour.’