was standing looking out of the window, and she swung around when Ursula entered and ran to meet her. She caught hold of her almost roughly, hugged her close, saying, ‘Oh, Ursi, Ursi,’ several times before releasing her. ‘Forgive me for bursting in on you like this, unannounced,’ Renata went on, ‘but I wanted to speak to you urgently, and our phone isn’t working. For some reason, it seems to be out of order this morning.’
‘It was good of you to come, Ren, and I’m glad you’re here. You always make me feel better. Walter is bringing us coffee. Come.’
Arms linked, the two of them walked over to the Biedermeier sofa, where they sat down. Drawing back and looking at her closely, Renata said, ‘Of course you know that last night’s riots were not only in Berlin, but took place all over Germany and Austria as well. Yes, I can see from your face that you do.’
‘The whole thing is incredible. Hard to believe.’
‘And even harder to stomach! You’ve seen the newspapers? Heard the radio?’
‘The papers yes, but I haven’t listened to the radio.’ Speaking quickly, Ursula explained how they had learned about the demonstrations from Theodora in the middle of the night, and recounted the girl’s experiences.
Renata had paled as she listened, and she exclaimed, ‘Teddy and her friend were extremely lucky, they could easily have been killed. Quite a few people were.’
Ursula stared at her. ‘Jews were killed.’
‘Yes.’ Renata leaned closer. ‘Listen to me, Ursula, you must –’ She broke off as Walter knocked, opened the door, and came gliding in with the coffee tray.
‘Danke schön, Walter,’ Ursula said.
The butler deposited the silver tray on the occasional table in front of the sofa and discreetly withdrew.
In hushed tones, Renata continued, with some urgency, ‘You must make plans to leave Germany. It’s not safe for you here anymore.’
‘I don’t think it has been for a long time. We should have gone last year, even the year before, perhaps. But we believed in German law and order, and we thought we were safe. We also drew comfort from the belief that Hitler couldn’t last, couldn’t possibly stay in power. Many Germans did, and not all of them Jews, you and Reinhard included. But we were all wrong. Now I don’t think there is any turning back. This is the end. For Jews anyway.’
‘For us all.’ Renata looked at her intently, her dark eyes very bright, and blazing with sudden anger. ‘That damned megalomaniac Hitler is leading us into a dark abyss of brutality and murder. Germany is being destroyed from within by him and his depraved cohorts. Why, they’re nothing but terrorists, for God’s sake!’
‘I read in the papers that the Nazis are saying last night’s demonstrations were spontaneous. That they were provoked,’ Ursula said. ‘And all because of that seventeen-year-old German Jewish refugee living in Paris, Herschel Grynszpan, who shot and killed Ernst vom Rath, the third secretary at the German Embassy in Paris. You see, Renata, they’re blaming the Jews yet again.’
‘We read that story, but Reinhard is convinced the riots were not spontaneous, that they were cleverly and expertly orchestrated by Heydrich and the SS. And he’s right, I’m certain. What’s more, we both believe there are bound to be additional demonstrations, and many other acts of brutality directed against Jews.’ Renata shook her head, finished in a worried voice, ‘We think Hitler wants to kill every Jew in the land, Ursi.’
‘But that’s inconceivable,’ Ursula stammered. ‘How can Hitler kill an entire people? Millions of people. No one could do that …’ Her voice trailed off helplessly.
‘He aims to try.’ Renata’s tone was more apprehensive than ever. ‘Read Mein Kampf again. And believe it this time.’
‘We are Germans,’ Ursula began, and stopped abruptly.
She clenched her hands together and took a deep breath. ‘Our families, Sigi’s and mine, have been here for hundreds and hundreds of years …’ Once more she came to a halt as her voice cracked, and she looked away, steadying herself. ‘But we must leave our country … yes … we must leave this country we love … if we are to survive …’
Feelings of compassion and loving friendship washed over Renata, and she reached out, put her hand on Ursula’s arm consolingly. Ursula turned, stared into her face, and they shared a look that was very direct and intimate and full of truth.
Tears welled up in Renata when she saw the anguish casting a deep shadow across Ursula’s face, the profound sorrow darkening her soft, grey-blue eyes. ‘I don’t want anything to happen to you!’ she cried fiercely, her voice choked with anxiety. ‘I love and care for you, and for Sigi and little Maxim. So does Reinhard. We will help you in any way we can, do anything to help you leave Germany safely. And you must leave, darling, you know you must … to save yourselves.’
‘Yes.’ Ursula sat staring into the distance, her eyes focused on the pale blue sky outside the tall window, and with an unexpected rush of clarity she finally came to understand what it was that had haunted her for so long a time. For a while she was unable to say anything, so shaken and alarmed was she, but at last she turned her head and looked deeply into Renata’s eyes once more.
Renata felt as if Ursula was staring into her soul, and she shivered slightly, and said, ‘Why are you looking at me like that? Whatever is it?’
‘A moment ago I said that it was inconceivable … that Hitler cannot kill an entire people. But he can. Oh yes, he can. I know that now. The knowledge is deep within me, in my bones, in the very pores of my skin. For months I’ve had desperate feelings gnawing at me … the ones I’ve spoken to you about. I thought they were feelings of apprehension and dread, but they weren’t. What I’ve harboured within me all this time is an overwhelming sense of doom. We are doomed, my family and I.’
‘My dearest, my most beloved friend –’ Renata found she was unable to continue, so overcome was she by the pain she felt for Ursula. What she was facing was monstrous: upheaval, flight, exile. But if she and Sigi and little Maxim stayed they would be hounded, persecuted and ultimately harmed. The evil and injustice of it filled Renata with rage, and the rage swamped her and she cried passionately, ‘Those Nazi bastards! This shouldn’t be happening! It shouldn’t! It’s wrong!’
‘Don’t, darling. Please don’t. We’ll be all right. Somehow.’
Renata reached for Ursula’s hand and clasped it in hers; they sat quietly, neither of them able to continue the conversation for a while.
Eventually Ursula cleared her throat and said in a voice that was oddly calm, ‘Sigi does have a plan of action, you know. He’s working on it right now. He has a good contact, apparently. He’s hoping to buy exit visas for us. And new passports.’ She paused, then went on, ‘You see, last month we had to take our passports to be stamped … with a J … for Jew.’
Startled and shocked, Renata looked at her in consternation. ‘How ridiculous! What evil nonsense!’
‘Yes, but the Nazis have made this a law, and we had to comply.’
Renata made a supreme effort to suppress her immense anger, control her flaring emotions, thinking that if Ursula could be so brave, so contained, then so must she. She even managed to push a smile onto her face, when she said, ‘Reinhard and I want you to come
