Because recent events and rumors in military circles had convinced Wilhelm that withdrawing to Schloss Federle would offer Amalie and the girls scant protection in the days to come. He intended to move the family to Switzerland until the Nazis fell from power and the persecution of Jews ceased. He had already resigned from the Wehrmacht and was getting their affairs in order, preparing their homes and household staff for a lengthy absence.
Tears filled Sara’s eyes as she embraced her sister. “I’ll miss you so much! I feel like my heart is breaking.”
“I’m sorry, Sara, but Wilhelm insists.”
“Wilhelm’s right,” said their mother. “You must get out while you still can.”
Sara and Amalie broke off their embrace and turned to her, startled.
“Far be it for me to complain that Wilhelm istoodevoted and protective,” said their father, shaking his head, “but I believe he’s overreacting. Surely the Nazis have already done their worst. If we go about our lives, do our work, pay our debts, and cause no trouble, they will leave us alone.”
“The way they left Natan alone?” Sara said, incredulous.
Her father fixed her with a look of pained reproof. “Natan broke the law.”
“A law so unjust that the only proper response was to break it,” said Natan.
“Please, let’s not argue,” Amalie begged. “Wilhelm is worried for me and the girls, and he won’t change his mind. As soon as he can make arrangements, we’re going, and we urge you all to come with us.”
“Sara and Natan, you should go,” said their mother. “I would too, but I won’t go without your father.”
He reached for her hand. “There is no need. We are German. This is our home.”
“I can’t leave,” said Sara, thinking of the resistance, deliberately avoiding Natan’s gaze. “I won’t interrupt my studies.”
“I won’t leave,” said Natan. “I just got a job. I have too much to do.”
“You could write for another paper at least as good as theJudische Nachrichtenblattin Switzerland,” said Amalie, but her despondent expression revealed that she knew it was a lost cause.
Within days, Amalie, Wilhelm, and their daughters left for Switzerland. Amalie invited the family to visit them at the chateau Wilhelm had taken in Geneva, but Sara missed her sister terribly and not even the hope of a brief reunion comforted her.
In the second week of September, Natan attempted to rouse Sara out of her unhappiness by inviting her to accompany him on a trip to Nuremberg to cover the annual Nazi Party rally for theJudische Nachrichtenblatt.
“That’s an odd choice for a cheerful distraction,” said Sara.
“I didn’t say it would be cheerful, but it won’t be boring.”
Sara mulled it over. Perhaps she might observe something at the rally that would benefit the resistance, something worth enduring several days in the company of tens of thousands of fanatical Nazis. She decided to go, although her parents had strong misgivings and begged her never to leave her brother’s side when they were out in public.
On September 10, Natan and Sara took the train to Nuremberg, squeezing into the crowded third-class compartment, each carrying one small suitcase and Natan his typewriter case as well. They were still standing in the aisle when the train unexpectedly lurched forward. Sara instinctively grabbed the nearest seat with her free hand and managed to keep her feet, but Natan stumbled and the corner of his typewriter case nudged another man in the back.
“I beg your pardon,” said Natan. In reply, the man shot him a withering glare over his shoulder.
As the train picked up speed, Natan and Sara tumbled into a seat, but they had barely gotten settled when she felt eyes boring into the back of her head. A surreptitious glance revealed the same man two rows back and across the aisle, fixing her and Natan with a hard stare.
Sara resolved to ignore him. “They’re calling this theReichsparteitag der Freiheit,” she said to Natan in an undertone. “The rally for freedom—freedom from what?”
“From the Treaty of Versailles,” he replied. “Now that Hitler has reintroduced compulsory military service and has revealed his secret rearmament program to the public, Germany is no longer bound by the treaty’s restraints—”
“You there,” a voice broke in. “Where are you from?”
Sara and Natan turned in their seats to find the same man glowering at them. Sara quickly looked away, but Natan smiled. “From Berlin, where we boarded,” he replied affably.
“That’s not what I meant. Are you Jews? You look Jewish.”
Natan’s smile deepened, but his voice took on an edge. “So what if we are? Anyone is allowed on this car.”
“Not for long. You’ll see. You’ll get what’s coming to you.”
