You Are My Sunshine: A Novel Of The Holocaust (All My Love Detrick Companion Novel) by Roberta Kagan
Authors: Roberta Kagan
Ads: Link
will be honored to attend the wedding of Manfred Blau and Christa Henkener.”
Manfred read the letter over twice. He could not believe it. Hitler h imself would be at the wedding.
Chapter 5
Thomas Henkener sat beside his wife Heidi at their kitchen table. Christa was not yet awake.
“Manfred brought Christa some butte r, if you would like you can have some of it on your toast. I’m sure she won’t mind.”
“I mind. I mind very much. I don’t want anything from that boy or from his Nazi friends . He is nothing more than a hoodlum.”
“ Perhaps, Thomas, But Christa is fond of him, fond enough of him to agree to be his wife. We don’t want to lose our daughter over this do we?”
“I cannot understand how a child of mine could be seduced by the lies of the Nazi party. And not only is this boy a Nazi, but he is part of the SS, the worst kind of Nazi, the cruelest.”
“Maybe not , He only works in an office.”
“Yes, he works slandering and ruining good people. Why? Because he feels superior? Somehow, in his distorted brain he has decided that he is part of some imagined Aryan race. an insane notion. That is for sure. I hope you know that most of these SS men couldn’t compare in knowledge or character to a doctor like Doctor Shulman”
“I understand. I know you think of Dr. Shulman as a friend, a colleague who has earned your respect over the years. But, Thomas, please remember, Dr. Shulman is a Jew and we live in dangerous times.”
“Do you think I am afraid? How can you forget how sick little Christa was with that terrible heart problem, and it was Dr. Shulman that helped her, saved her life, actually. Without him, we wouldn’t have a daughter. You must remember how we prayed. I can still see, Shulman walking into the room and taking your hand, then telling you that it would all be all right. How can you forget this, Heidi? He is a brilliant doctor, besides, do you think these boys with their fancy uniforms, and ridiculous notions scare me? ”
“ You should be afraid. You should take care of what you say, it not only affects you it also affects Christa and I, not to mention your sister and her family. Be more careful Thomas. Think before you talk and before you act. I know you see these storm troopers as mindless thugs, but they have power, Thomas, real power, the power to make our lives a living hell, even to kill us.”
“ Can’t you see? How can I turn on the men I have worked beside at the hospital for the last 25 years, men like Shulman, Kahn, Schultz, they are all Jews, but each of them, in his own right, is a brilliant doctor. I’ve gone to them for help with consultations. They have stood beside me in surgeries. I know these men. I know their hearts and minds. What is going on here is a dirty shame, an embarrassment to Good German people. When Germany persecutes its citizens for no valid reason, we, the German people lose.”
“I know all of this. I’ve heard it a dozen times. You have told me and told me. But you must not forget for a minute that the Nazi’s are in control. They have the power to send you to a work camp or worse. That would kill me. So, please, I am begging you, for my sake, if for nobody else, try to be quiet. Try Thomas, please. Try to ignore them.” Her eyes fixed on his and he could see the lines deepening in her brow.
Thomas Henkener sat in silence staring at the bread and the large bowl of butter, his fingers running up and down the handle of the sterling silver knife. He could not eat the butter, it would turn his stomach, and so he stood, and got up from the table.
Heidi, poor Heidi, she was afraid. He looked at her slumping shoulders; age had given her back a slight hump. Looking at made, him feel sad and tender towards her. He walked over and gently squeezed her shoulder.
“I will try, for you, I will try.” He said. She looked up at him, her eyes glistening as if she might cry. Thomas managed a smile and reached down to stroke her
Manfred read the letter over twice. He could not believe it. Hitler h imself would be at the wedding.
Chapter 5
Thomas Henkener sat beside his wife Heidi at their kitchen table. Christa was not yet awake.
“Manfred brought Christa some butte r, if you would like you can have some of it on your toast. I’m sure she won’t mind.”
“I mind. I mind very much. I don’t want anything from that boy or from his Nazi friends . He is nothing more than a hoodlum.”
“ Perhaps, Thomas, But Christa is fond of him, fond enough of him to agree to be his wife. We don’t want to lose our daughter over this do we?”
“I cannot understand how a child of mine could be seduced by the lies of the Nazi party. And not only is this boy a Nazi, but he is part of the SS, the worst kind of Nazi, the cruelest.”
“Maybe not , He only works in an office.”
“Yes, he works slandering and ruining good people. Why? Because he feels superior? Somehow, in his distorted brain he has decided that he is part of some imagined Aryan race. an insane notion. That is for sure. I hope you know that most of these SS men couldn’t compare in knowledge or character to a doctor like Doctor Shulman”
“I understand. I know you think of Dr. Shulman as a friend, a colleague who has earned your respect over the years. But, Thomas, please remember, Dr. Shulman is a Jew and we live in dangerous times.”
“Do you think I am afraid? How can you forget how sick little Christa was with that terrible heart problem, and it was Dr. Shulman that helped her, saved her life, actually. Without him, we wouldn’t have a daughter. You must remember how we prayed. I can still see, Shulman walking into the room and taking your hand, then telling you that it would all be all right. How can you forget this, Heidi? He is a brilliant doctor, besides, do you think these boys with their fancy uniforms, and ridiculous notions scare me? ”
“ You should be afraid. You should take care of what you say, it not only affects you it also affects Christa and I, not to mention your sister and her family. Be more careful Thomas. Think before you talk and before you act. I know you see these storm troopers as mindless thugs, but they have power, Thomas, real power, the power to make our lives a living hell, even to kill us.”
“ Can’t you see? How can I turn on the men I have worked beside at the hospital for the last 25 years, men like Shulman, Kahn, Schultz, they are all Jews, but each of them, in his own right, is a brilliant doctor. I’ve gone to them for help with consultations. They have stood beside me in surgeries. I know these men. I know their hearts and minds. What is going on here is a dirty shame, an embarrassment to Good German people. When Germany persecutes its citizens for no valid reason, we, the German people lose.”
“I know all of this. I’ve heard it a dozen times. You have told me and told me. But you must not forget for a minute that the Nazi’s are in control. They have the power to send you to a work camp or worse. That would kill me. So, please, I am begging you, for my sake, if for nobody else, try to be quiet. Try Thomas, please. Try to ignore them.” Her eyes fixed on his and he could see the lines deepening in her brow.
Thomas Henkener sat in silence staring at the bread and the large bowl of butter, his fingers running up and down the handle of the sterling silver knife. He could not eat the butter, it would turn his stomach, and so he stood, and got up from the table.
Heidi, poor Heidi, she was afraid. He looked at her slumping shoulders; age had given her back a slight hump. Looking at made, him feel sad and tender towards her. He walked over and gently squeezed her shoulder.
“I will try, for you, I will try.” He said. She looked up at him, her eyes glistening as if she might cry. Thomas managed a smile and reached down to stroke her
Similar Books
