“The architect’s grandiose plans call for the demolition of older buildings in order to make room for the new,” Mildred said, her gaze fixed steadily on Sara’s. “As a result, many people will lose their houses and apartments. The architect recommends that Jews living outside the construction zone should be evicted from their homes to make room for displaced Aryans.”
“Where are the Jews supposed to go?” asked Sara, aghast. “Will they be compensated?”
“As far as Arvid knows, the details haven’t been worked out yet.” Mildred took Sara’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “But I wanted you to be forewarned.”
Sara nodded and murmured her thanks, her throat constricting as she imagined her mother’s grief if she were forced from her beloved home. Their house was spacious, beautifully decorated, and in a desirable neighborhood—too good for Jews, she imagined the Nazi bureaucrats declaring. Would they be given sufficient notice to pack and find a new home on their own instead of accepting whatever the Reich assigned them? Or would the storm troopers come in the night, drag them from their beds, throw them into the street with nothing but the clothes on their backs?
“Your neighborhood might not be chosen for evictions,” Mildred said, her gaze searching Sara’s face and surely finding every fear and worry written there. “It might not happen at all.”
“Maybe not, but we should prepare.” Sara inhaled deeply to steady her nerves, dreading the thought of telling her parents. Perhaps she should urge them to sell their home before it was taken from them. They could always retreat to the Riechmann estate if they lost their home and if their visas failed to come through, but what of all the other Jews in Berlin?
“There’s something else I wanted to—” Mildred’s gaze flicked to the door, and they both fell silent at the sound of footsteps in the hall. When a key turned in the lock and Arvid entered, Mildred sighed with relief.
“Something else?” Sara prompted.
Mildred hesitated. “Greta and I plan to take Ule around the Tiergarten on Wednesday afternoon. Do you want to join us?”
Sara quickly agreed, eager to know what Mildred had been about to tell her before they were interrupted.
Two days later, she met Mildred, Greta, and eight-month-old Ule at the Englischer Garten in the northern section of the Tiergarten. As they headed toward the zoo, Mildred and Sara flanking Greta as she pushed Ule in his pram, Mildred quietly shared Arvid’s latest news from the Economics Ministry. Hitler’s vision ofLebensraumdid indeed include the annexation of the Sudetenland—but as dreadful as it sounded, some good might come of it.
“One of Arvid’s cousins at the Ministry of Justice has organized a conspiracy among certain German military officers and other prominent men,” Mildred said, her voice barely above a murmur. “They intend to declare him unfit for office and remove him from power.”
Essential preliminary measures had already been accomplished. Arvid’s cousin Hans von Dohnányi had assembled a dossier documenting Hitler’s criminal activities. An uncle, Karl Bonhoeffer, an eminent psychiatrist, was prepared to certify that Hitler was mentally ill. A high-ranking officer in military intelligence was in place to arrest him at a moment’s notice, and a general, who until recently had served as a chief of staff, would handle relations with the military.
All the plan required to be set in motion was for Hitler to commit a reckless act of aggression, a breach of international law so outrageous that the democratic nations of Europe would be compelled to retaliate with united force. “This would disgrace him in the eyes of the German people and embolden his opponents,” said Mildred. “When Hitler is vulnerable, Arvid’s cousin and his group will take him into custody, remove him from office, and, with the cooperation of the military, restore democracy.”
Sara felt a thrill of hope, but beside her, Greta walked steadily ahead, pushing the pram and frowning pensively. “Europe and America did nothing but complain when the Nazis sent tanks and troops into the Rhineland. Then came theAnschluss, and still they did nothing but protest from a distance. Why should anyone expect them to spring into action now?”
“If the German army invades Czechoslovakia, Great Britain would be obliged to go to war on their behalf,” said Mildred.
“The same way they were obliged to go to war when Germany violated the Treaty of Versailles the first two times?”
“This would be different,” said Sara, her excitement rising. “The Rhineland is within Germany’s borders. The majority of Austrians welcomed annexation. But this would be the invasion of a foreign country that has no interest in becoming part of the Reich.”
“I agree with your premises but not your conclusions,” said Greta. “Yes, it would be an escalation of Hitler’s aggression, but the response from the rest of the world would be the same.”
“You don’t know that,” said Sara.
“Let’s say for the sake of argument that Germany invades Czechoslovakia, and in return, Britain and France attack Germany,” said Greta. “Why does Arvid’s cousin assume this would turn the German peopleagainstHitler rather than inspire them to rallytohim?”
Mildred hesitated. “I suppose we must trust the expertise of the military officers among the conspirators.”
“I want to believe it could work,” said Greta, reaching into the pram to stroke Ule’s dark curls. “Truly, I would. But if this plan depends upon intervention from the Allies, it will never happen.”
In the days that followed, tensions heightened throughout Europe as heated, frenzied negotiations took place, concessions were offered, ultimatums issued. Hitler would not relent. On September 24, he declared that Czechoslovakia must cede its German-speaking regions to him within four days or he would take them by force.
For years Sara had prayed that war would be avoided, but now, knowing that Arvid’s cousin and his coconspirators were poised to force Hitler from office if Britain and France were provoked into military action, she found herself wishing for it.
As September drew to a close, Hitler invited representatives of the other three most powerful nations of Europe—Neville Chamberlain of Great Britain, Benito Mussolini of Italy, and Édouard Daladier of France—to a summit in Munich to resolve the Sudeten crisis once and for all. Sara imagined the summit as a vigorous shouting match, with Hitler screaming and spitting on one side of the table, Mussolini seconding every declaration, Chamberlain and Daladier coolly regarding them from the opposite side, resolute in their refusal to let Hitler snatch up whatever parts of Europe caught his eye and tuck them into his pocket.
Then, on September 29, an announcement came from Munich: The four nations had reached an agreement. The German army could occupy the Sudetenland by October 10, and Great Britain, France, and Italy would not intervene. Czechoslovakia could submit to the German invasion or resist, but if they chose war, they would fight alone.
The next morning, recognizing the futility of their circumstances, the Czech government acquiesced. Later that day, Chamberlain and Hitler signed a peace treaty between Great Britain and Germany that Chamberlain proudly declared from 10 Downing Street would offer them “peace in our time.”
Just as Greta had predicted, Hitler’s aggression provoked no military response. The conspiracy led by Arvid’s cousin fell apart.
Sara realized then what Greta had surely figured out long before: No one was coming from afar to save them. They had only one another, and they were on their own.
