The Day the Flowers Died (17 page)

After an hour long procedure, the doctor finished with the boy
lying on the hospital bed with a slash in his arm.  The doctor
looked up to her with a glimmer in his eyes and asked her to escort
the boy to the front office.  The doctor helped her lift him,
grazing over her hand.  Rebecca followed the instructions and
ignored the encounter.  She did not want to create any
problems for herself at work; the country offered enough of that
for her.  But when she returned to clean the instruments, the
doctor interrupted her.

“You did a real good job in there.  Not many people can
handle the sight of blood.”

“Thanks.” She glanced up, smiled and looked down at her
work.  After collecting each instrument, she placed them into
the kit and began to walk toward the sanitation counter for washing
and sterilizing.  The doctor brushed up behind her and rubbed
his hand over her lower back.

Startled and unsure of what to say or do, Rebecca abruptly
turned to face him.  “I’m with someone.”

The doctor stepped back.  “I’m sorry.  I thought…I was
told you weren’t married.” He answered in a polite manner.

“I’m not.” She placed the tray on the counter and turned on the
water.  “But I’m in a serious relationship.”

“Excuse me,” he said with sincere intonation and retreated into
a patient’s room, leaving Rebecca relieved the incident did not
escalate.

After work, Rebecca arrived at her apartment.  Upon opening
the door, Eli whisked her into his arms and swung her around while
a sweet giggle escaped from her mouth.  He returned her to the
floor and she shook her head, smiling at his antics.

“What’s gotten into you?” she asked and headed to the bedroom,
slipping off her white top and unzipping her hospital skirt. 
Eli curled his hands around her arm and slid it from her wrist to
her shoulder bone and then up along her collar bone.  “You’ve
really got to get out more,” she grinned, “all this keeping you
cooped up can’t be good for a young man.” She tilted her head into
his hands and then darted into the bathroom.

“What do you suggest?” Eli plopped on her bed, filled with an
energy out of character.

“I thought maybe we could go to the park this weekend.  I
have Saturday free.”

“That sounds perfect.” Eli threw his head back onto the bed,
frustrated with an unsatisfied appetite to stroll around Munich and
smell the fresh air, hold hands with the woman he loved and spin
her around in his arms for the world to see.  But he knew he
had to wait.  He had to be patient.  He had to be
still.

Rebecca finished her bath and sat next to Eli lying on the bed
with a book in his hands.  “What are you reading?”

“Heinrich Heine.” Eli read silently, occasionally closing his
eyes, imagining the pictures from Heine’s words.  Rebecca fell
over, lying side by side with him.

“You always have such a serene expression on your face when you
read him.  Promise me you’ll bring the poetry when we go to
the park this weekend,” Rebecca whispered.  Eli turned to kiss
her forehead.

“I promise.” The sun dropped and the evening trickled into
Rebecca’s window and over their bodies until an abrupt knock at the
door startled Rebecca in the comforts of her bed.

“Who is it?” Eli asked her while his chest puffed, stroking her
back with his finger.  A wrinkle broke on her forehead.

“I don’t know.” Rebecca leapt to her feet and threw on a chiffon
pink robe over her silk beige nightgown.  When she opened the
door, Aaron stood on the other side with sweat dropping from his
forehead to his jaw line.  “What is it?”

“Is Eli here?”

“Yes, yes, come in.” Rebecca opened the door wider for him and
then shut it.  Aaron sat on the sofa across from the
television, the only television in the building.  “Eli?”
Rebecca called to him from the living room.

Eli went in after pulling on pants and a tee shirt. 
“Aaron, what brings you here?”

Aaron’s face tensed and his eyes became unusually serious. 
“I thought you should know today the electoral campaign has turned
into civil war.”

“What?” Eli needed clarification.  Rebecca sat on the sofa
with Aaron and Eli remained standing.

“The Nazis wanted a fight and they got one.  Under police
escort, the Nazis barged into Communist Hamburg-Altona, Prussia.
Street fights and shooting broke out and eighteen died, including
two SA storm troopers.”  Aaron shook his head in
disgust.  “More than a hundred were wounded.”

“Oh, my God.” Rebecca’s hand instinctively covered her
mouth.

“And that’s not the end,” Aaron said and Eli wiped his forehead
in frustrated thought.  “Papen, the new Chancellor, proclaimed
martial law in Berlin and took over the government of Prussia as
Reich Commissioner.” Aaron brushed his hands through his short
curly hair and Rebecca gasped.

“Oh, no.” Eli took a seat on the wooden stool across from the
sofa.  His words were more like a second thought to the
concerned pondering of his mind.

“One more step toward a dictatorship.” Aaron shared his news
with his head in his hands.  “The German youth worship
Hitler!” His face contorted.  “You know he speaks to audiences
of over a hundred thousand at a time.” The room lapsed into
silence.

“Hindenburg isn’t going to make it, is he?” Rebecca’s voice
cracked and her lips curled under.  No one answered, because
Eli and Aaron both knew it was a real possibility.

* * *

The weekend gave Rebecca and Eli time to spend together and they
both promised to not talk politics or country.  Every citizen
of Germany felt this strain, which only strengthened whenever
people discussed it.  They strolled toward the park, past
buildings and apartments and, on many of the walls, they could see
Nazi posters.

They stated, Bring down the system and other political
testaments, anything denoting the current system under Hindenburg
failed and Hitler’s change was necessary for Germany to
survive.

In this cacophonous climate, Eli and Rebecca clutched hands,
bodies as they moved toward the park, holding up together something
they could never hold up apart, the weight of prejudice.  The
air on the street felt different.  Caution for their lives,
once the furthest thing from their mind, now leapt to the foremost,
denying them their past naïve closeness.  Though they tried to
not let the prying eyes and callous whispers into their space, they
knew this time, this year, the invasions invited danger.

They passed the crowds of buses and cars rushing to and
fro.  They passed buildings stained with the blood of men
brawling.  They passed bushes hiding the park that held their
secret passions.  When they turned the corner to enter, they
noticed the park unusually empty.  An elderly couple brushed
past them before exiting.  Another couple sat on a bench a few
yards to their left.  But neither mother nor child was seen,
the life that once saturated the green grass gone.  Deafening
silence replaced the warm motherly affections and the sounds of
children giggling and kicking balls across the green.

Eli took Rebecca’s hand and whirled her around on the grass
dance floor, with her for his muse.  She laughed despite the
tensions and emptiness around them.  He whisked her toward the
closest bench, laid his head in her lap and sang a song she knew
well.  At the end of the first line, Rebecca joined, and with
a lack of proper harmony they sung words into the breeze and to
each other.

…I do not know what haunts me, what saddened my mind all
day;

An age-old tale confounds me, a spell I cannot allay…

They giggled over themselves and Rebecca raked her fingers
through Eli’s hair.

“I love that German song.” Her expression, once a mix of
fondness and fear, melded into memories of childhood.

“It is by Heinrich Heine.”

“I never knew.”

“German politics don’t want you to.” They laid in each other’s
comforts in the quiet emptiness of the morning, watching the sun
become full, and listening to the birds chirp in the trees until
the afternoon when the sidewalks became busy.  Eli knew the
change of expression on her face and reacted with prompt
care.  “We ought to get back.  It’s late and people are
filling the city.” Rebecca slid off the bench with Eli beside
her.

* * *

On July thirty first, Aaron, Jacob, Robert, Rosalyn, Eli and
Rebecca huddled around the radio in Eli’s apartment, listening to
election results.  Every eager ear and every taut emotion
stilled, waiting for the results.  Robert and Rosalyn held
hands with eager anticipation, staring at the radio.  Eli and
Rebecca stood close.  The radio voice, rough in the sporadic
static, spoke with hesitance as if reading over notes.

“…The results are in… with the Centre Party commanding 12.3
percent, 75 seats.” Eli clapped his hands once and made an
approving guffaw.  “The Communist party holding 14.6 percent
of the votes, 89 seats.”

Robert and Rosalyn grabbed each other and smiled. The voice
paused, “the Social Democratic party has 21.9 percent of the votes,
133 seats.” Eli looked to Aaron whose eyes had a hint of smile at
those results.  “The National Socialist German Workers Party
receives 37.8 percent, 230 seats.”

The faces in the room crumbled.  “The Nazi party is now the
largest party in parliament,” the voice shouted over the air
waves.  “But wait, the other ten minority parties make up…”
the voice paused again to read his papers.  Jacob’s hold on
Aaron intensified and he shouted, “Go liberals!” “…19.7 percent,
giving them 81 seats in parliament.” The eyes in the room became
hopeful, “Combined with the Communists, the antifascist parties
hold the majority of seats.” The voice on the other end became low,
“a disappointing day for a divided parliament.”

“What does this mean?” Rebecca asked.

Robert answered in a heavy soft voice.  “It means, with the
Nazis on one end, the antifascist parties on the other, and
President Hindenburg in the middle, the parliamentary government
won’t be able to function.”

After he finished, Jacob interjected, “Papen’s minority
government will continue until another election.”

The air in the room became a little harder to breathe as
everyone realized the elections did not solve anything and the
country was still at a violent standstill.

Friday, August 5, 1932

While Schleicher and Hitler battled for the position of
Chancellor, Hindenburg’s grasp on his country wavered, but his
persistence on cooperation from Hitler finally prevailed and Hitler
put the SA and SS on a two week furlough.  This gave Eli the
chance to enjoy being outdoors without the fear of being attacked
or the fear he heard in Rebecca’s voice.  It also gave Eli’s
father, Ezekiel the courage to open his firm again and he called
Eli back into work on the following Monday.

Eli found piles of papers on his desk waiting for him, and the
day was never long enough to get it all done.  He never
complained, being in his office brought him satisfaction second
only to being with Rebecca.  Focusing on his work made
everything feel normal again, like the country could push through
all this mess and soon things would go back to democracy and
liberty.

Eli’s office showed an arrangement of family photos, degrees and
awards.  He was a well accomplished young man for someone of
only twenty five years.

Ezekiel knocked on Eli’s office door before letting himself
inside the room.

“Papa.” Eli grew a tender smile, desperate for family since the
woes of the attack in Hamburg which made him essentially a prisoner
of his own home.

“Eli,” Ezekiel smiled warmly.  He opened his arms to
embrace his son and Eli welcomed the gesture.  Ezekiel held
Eli for a few moments and then continued, “I am worried for you,
son.” He sat in the chair across the desk from Eli. 
“Everything has gotten very bad, for Jews especially.  Hitler
won’t keep the ban for long and the Nazis will soon be up to their
old tricks.”

Eli grabbed his father’s hand.  “Don’t worry, Papa,
everything will be fine.”

“You say that, but you forget I’m older and have seen more than
you.  I know the nature of men.  I know the nature of
politics.  None of this looks like it will end well.”
Ezekiel’s voice cracked, “I don’t want to see you getting beaten,
thrown in jail or worse, killed.”

“The Nazis have no grounds for jailing me.”

“Do they ever need grounds to do as they please?” Ezekiel
scratched his head.  “Hindenburg is old and won’t be able to
retain power much longer.  The parliament is failing. 
New elections are continually called, but when this leadership is
finally achieved, I’m afraid it will not be in our best interest,
in your best interest.”

“Papen will still be chancellor, Papa,” Eli comforted himself
with his words, “He is a National Socialist.  He isn’t as
devious as the other parties.”

“Papen is weak and he’s got two vultures circling around
him.  How long do you think it will take to have either one of
them in Papen’s seat alongside a President who is also
weakening?”

Eli glanced to the papers at his desk, the one thing he could do
something about and control.

“Son, you must be careful, you know…” Ezekiel stared into Eli’s
eyes, “with your lady friend.  The world we live in now is not
kind to Jews who take German ladies away from them.”

Eli was glad to hear his father’s concern and, instead of
disapproval, advice.

“Yes, Papa.” Eli nodded and they established an unspoken
understanding between them.  Eli knew Ezekiel could never
fully accept his choice to take a non-Jewish woman, but he would
also never abandon his son.

Ezekiel knew Eli had an independent mind and followed his heart
above all else.  Ezekiel kissed Eli on the forehead before
leaving.

Eli returned to his work and, though Ezekiel had appointed
others to complete Eli’s load in his absence, many employees could
not finish all that needed to get done.  This came either out
of their own hectic schedules or out of a covert selfish sense of
pride in doing a Jew’s work, so Eli found he had more work than
anticipated.  Each day stretched well into evening and a few
times he didn’t get back to his apartment until ten.

Rebecca also kept occupied with her work at the hospital. 
Though the attacks had lessened, patients from the previous months
still needed intense care.  So, the two of them only saw each
other sporadically until the weekend.

With the two week breather from the assault troops dedicated to
Hitler’s tyrannical views, Eli and Rebecca needed to enjoy life
again and joined Jacob at their swing house in Hamburg the
following Saturday night.  Though many German youths filled
the floors, Eli and Jacob could also remember the freedoms their
country once afforded them.

As Rebecca swung the doors open to the loud boisterous sounds of
swing, the music flowed over their spirits, lifting them out of the
chaos of the country and inside to the dimly lit room, a room that
didn’t care who was Jew or German, Communist or Socialist, Catholic
or Liberal, because under this roof they were all swingers. 
The high pitched violins whistled over the thumping of drumsticks
beating against soft fabrics pop, pop, pop and combined with guitar
strumming and occasional pats on the guitar wood frames.  The
mixed crowds cheered in gratitude.  A room of youth and young
adults from every political party, except the Nazis, clapped in
unison to the sweetest sounds, melding them all into the counter
sub-culture that defied the country.

The stage speaker said, “Get up hubcaps! Get ready to jump up
and down for the jazz of Artie Shaw.” The stage performers mimicked
his sounds without missing a note or beat and much of the crowd
moved in various boogie-woogie and jive movements while another
portion swung through the air.

Eli stood and twiddled his fingers, calling Rebecca to him with
his eyes and holding her in a deliberate trance-like state. 
Rebecca rolled her shoulders back as she approached and he grabbed
hold of her, swinging her into his long, sturdy arms.  He spun
her before lifting her and swung her through the air like the many
other young ladies around her.  Her once cautious demeanor
morphed into a carefree girl.

Jacob noticed a young lady with a long, elegant nose twisting
her long blonde locks with her fingers under the soft lights spread
around the borders of the room.  Her bright pink blush and
lipstick blended with the dazzling silver out of place flapper
dress.  She smiled ostentatiously at Jacob and he took it as a
sure gesture.  Strutting across the dance floor, he grabbed
her hand much like he had with Rebecca the first time he met
her.  He spun her wildly in the excitement of hopping,
sliding, and bouncy rhythms of the music.  The two made a
spectacle of themselves, as if there were no social boundaries to
keep.

Aaron laughed at the sight of Jacob and his free spirit, wishing
he could lose himself like that, but never could with so many
concerns on his mind.  The dancers kept to the beat of the
music on the floor and at least forty swirled about, clad in all
variants of color and makeup.  The inside of the room stood in
stark contrast to the country outside, dark and gloomy.  The
streets that used to have life had been replaced with fear and the
days that used be filled with social gatherings had been replaced
with Nazi attacks.

Eli and Rebecca sat down at a table they secured with drinks,
expressing their affection and enjoyment.  A tall blonde
approached from behind and tapped Rebecca on the nape of her
back.  Rebecca spun her head around and shouted, “Rosalyn,”
her voice high pitched with excitement.

Rosalyn sat next to Eli across from Rebecca, who asked, “How are
you? I didn’t hear from you after the rally in June.  Did you
get home alright?”

“Fine.” Rosalyn shrugged as if she attended rallies and fights
all the time.  “Robert came home with a couple of bruises on
his cheeks, but we made it back.” Rosalyn reached her hands out to
hug Rebecca’s like a sister.

“Where’s Robert?”

“He’s somewhere around here, probably getting a drink.” Rosalyn
lifted her head, gazed around the room and refocused her attentions
back to Rebecca, sliding into the seat next to her, whispering into
her ear.