Frau Berger closes the door after I step inside. Her house always smells of baked goods, mixed with a hint of tobacco from Herr Berger’s pipe that he smokes before bed. The others are scattered around the kitchen, staring at the platter of fritters.They look like they haven’t eaten in a year. I’m not hungry, though.
Frau Berger places a stack of dessert dishes down on the counter and tells everyone to help themselves. I take a seat at their long wooden table and drop my satchel between my ankles.
Otto sits down beside me with his full plate. “Why didn’t you take a plate?” he asks.
“I’m not hungry.”
Felix and Gerty sit on the opposite side of the table with servings like Otto’s. With everyone focusing on me and the fact that I didn’t grab a plate, I see that it would have been better if I had just taken a small helping and picked at it rather than calling attention to myself for avoiding it all together.
“You’re not eating,” Gerty says, reaching across the table to rest her hand on top of mine.
“I’m just not hungry. I’m fine.”
“You’re a bad liar,” Felix says, pointing at me. “And you’re a worse fortune teller.” He points at Gerty as he falls into a fit of laughter.
“It’s Danner, isn’t it?” Gerty asks, ignoring Felix’s behavior.
“I’m worried about him. I can’t imagine what he must be thinking right now, and I don’t even know what happened today.”
“Me too,” she says. “No one should be treated any differently. No one citizen should be blamed for this war.”
“What can we do to help him?” Otto asks, his mouth full. “We can’t control the Jewish laws and regulations being imposed, but I feel terrible for what he’s going through. It makes no sense. All we can do is stand by his side so he knows that no matter what happens, he will always have his friends to depend on.”
“I agree,” Felix says, his manners suddenly forgotten as well as he speaks with a full mouth.
“Yes, you’re absolutely right,” Gerty adds.
“Children,” Frau Berger interrupts while placing the dry, cleaned baking dish away. “I don’t mean to impose my opinions on the matter, but just as Otto was saying, we can’t do much to control political changes. Defying rules and laws is a dangerous act. Danner might just be abiding to the enforcement, and you should all do the same, yes?”
“What enforcement?” I ask.
“The ones of our chancellor who is trying to fix the economy of our country.”
Gerty chokes on the bite of food in her mouth, as shocked as I am to hear the words spill from Frau Berger’s mouth.
“By removing the Jewish people from our schools to ensure jobs are distributed to the right population following a higher education?” Gerty rebuts.
Gerty is always a step ahead of the rest of us when it comes to understanding the German government and their priorities, concerns, and ways of preventing another war. Most of the time I would rather be in the dark about our reality, but we’ve gotten to a point where the reality of our country is slowly enveloping all of us.
“What exactly is the right population?” Felix asks. “We were all born here, including Danner, right?”
“That’s not the point,” Frau Berger says.
“What is the point?” I recoil.
She wasn’t expecting my response but I’m not sure she understands what she’s saying. Frau Berger has always been a kind woman with a big heart, which doesn’t match the thoughts she’s sharing with us now.
“My point is that we don’t have much say against the chancellor’s decisions. If we want to stand against him and the government, we might as well be standing alone.”
Otto seems perplexed by his mother’s opposing, unbalanced thoughts, and stares at her for a long moment. “If everyone istoo afraid to do what’s right, more Jewish people will be beaten and mortified on the streets like that poor lawyer, Dr. Siegel,” he says.
“Otto, what are you talking about?” Frau Berger retorts as if he’s making up a story. Except, we all heard and read about it in the newspaper.
“Dr. Siegel’s friend, the owner of the Uhlfeder department store was taken away to a concentration camp because he’s a successful businessman. Dr. Siegel was beaten then forced to walk down the street barefoot and nearly naked, holding a sign that said ‘I’m a Jew, but will never again complain to the police’. How can we watch this happen?” Otto argues.
Mama always tells me thatfear will eventually guide us all in one direction or another. I see that to be truer than ever now. The recollection of what happened to that poor doctor last month makes my stomach hurt, and thinking about Danner’s family being treated the same way.
I stand up from the table and make my way over to the apple fritters. I take a piece and place it on a scrap of parchment paper, wrap it up and make my way out of the kitchen.
