Page 22 of Villa of Secrets

Mama buried her face in one of Papa’s big white handkerchiefs and sobbed some more.

‘He wouldn’t listen! You might as well know. There’s talk of appalling things the Nazis are doing to Jews. Everyone else seems to think it wouldn’t happen here. They tell me I’m wrong to worry, but how could they know? For the past year, I’ve been begging him to take us to Turkey to start afresh! There are Jewish communities there. They’d have helped us. But he insisted we wouldn’t run. He applied for a visa to move to Cyprus, more than a year ago. Every day we’ve waited for that document, but it never came. Now look at the mess we’re in!’

I absorbed all this information. It didn’t seem real, and Mama was a great one for doom and drama. Yet the shop was closed and my father and brothers, gone.

A tap on the window drew my attention. An excited sparrow hopped up and down on the windowsill, pecking at a column of ants that marched across the glass. Each insect followed the other. Systematically, the bird annihilated the entire tribe.

I went to investigate.

‘Leave it!’ Mama shouted. ‘It’s getting rid of the ants. I hate those things.’

‘What shall we do, Mama? We have to get Papa and the boys out of there.’

‘We can’t. The Nazis said ten people will be shot for every one not turning up.’

‘How would they know if anyone was missing? Surely some could escape.’

Her face became bitter. ‘Because, Dora, our fellow Rhodians sold us out!’

‘What do you mean?’

She looked at me as if I was stupid, then folded her arms around me in a tight embrace. ‘That’s why Rabbi Asher brought us the newspaper. It said the Rhodes Town Council handed the last census to the Nazis. They have the names, ages, and addresses of every Jew on the island.’

‘But, why?’

‘For the same reason they confiscated all the Jewish property, invented a land registry, and changed the ownership deeds to suit themselves. Because they are greedy and jealous.’

‘Is that why they took Papa’s shop, yet allowed us to continue as if we still owned it?’

She nodded. ‘They were planning for this day.’

‘But they’ll have to return everything after the war, won’t they?’

‘Don’t be naive, Dora. We won’t get anything back! We’ve been robbed by people who make their own laws. Laws that have nothing to do with justice.’

I had never seen Mama so bitter.

‘Nobody wants to endanger the lives of their friends and neighbours, so everyone obeyed the order. Your Papa said I shouldn’t worry, that the Germans were going to put them to work. Why else should they take their papers? He’s a fool! Why couldn’t he see? Why wouldn’t he listen? Stupid, stupid man!’ Then she completely broke down. ‘If anything happens to him or my boys, I’ll die!’

‘Papa must be frantic with worry,’ I said. ‘We must find a way to help them.’

‘Wait for news. That’s all we can do. If we run and hide, God knows what the Nazis will do.’

Neighbours came to our house. A lot of whispering took place on the doorstep. I don’t think Mama or her friends have a plan. Nothing like this has ever happened before. While Mama is occupied by her neighbours I’m taking the opportunity to update my diary. I suspect Mama is going to demand a lot of my attention until all this is sorted out.

*

In the afternoon, police knocked on every door in the Juderia. The women were ordered to present themselves, their children, all their papers and any valuables they have, at L’Aeronautica at 7 p.m. that evening.

‘Mama, why do we have to take our valuables? And what about Evangelisa and Irini?’ I asked.

‘Leave the girls where they are. They’re safer up Filerimos.’

‘And our valuables?’

‘If the men are going to work on another island, perhaps the German base on Kos, our Rhodian banknotes will be worthless. Gold and silver are the next best thing.’

At 6 p.m., the Greeks and Italians disappeared from sight, doors and shutters closed. Jewish grandmothers, children, and babies in their mother’s arms, came together in the square. We walked as one body of misery, passing through empty streets. Outside the city walls, groups from other villages including our relations from Paradissi, joined the throng. More than a thousand women and children gathered at L’Aeronautica. Silently as souls entering Hades, we filed into the building.