Soul to the Rhine

Chapter 2 Start

The days went on, but not long after the calm, something happened.Like a pebble dropped into a lake, it made the whole of Berlin boil.

Mr. Cornman is missing!with his eldest son.

Not only that, nearly [-] Jews in Berlin were missing.

They were deported by the German government without warning, but the Polish government refused to take them in.The deported Jews had no choice but to wander around the German-Polish border day and night.

When Mrs. Cornman received the news, she almost fainted from crying. Lisa also lost her ability to think and cried next to Mrs. Cornman.Rosia, who was the only one who was still calm, was cried so hard by the two women that her head almost exploded.

Even without knowing the exact time, she knew that anti-Semitism was about to begin, if not now, then not for long.The most difficult days for the Jews have come.

The missing Jews were all deported to the border. Rosia didn't know whether this was a blessing or a misfortune, nor did she know whether the most notorious concentration camp in Germany during World War II, which committed heinous crimes, had been built.

In short, Germany is no longer a place to stay for a long time, and Mrs. Cornman and Lisa will have to leave sooner or later.In this situation, Rosia felt that she could not do anything to help.She could only try her best to persuade Mrs. Cornman to sell her property and transfer her finances, otherwise these would fall into the hands of the Germans sooner or later.

Although Mrs. Cornman was sad, she followed Rosia's advice and moved most of her belongings elsewhere.

After the property transfer is completed, their future lives are considered secure, and the rest is a human problem.

Rosia herself is half-German. She feels that it is okay for her to live in Berlin, but Mrs. Conman and Lisa, who are of Jewish descent, are very unsafe.But if they were asked to go to Poland, Rosia really didn't want to admit a cruel fact.

Poland was the first springboard for Germany's invasion of Europe and the place where World War II began.

It’s so scary to think about it!
Just when Rosia was so worried that her hair fell out, a new problem came.

Mrs. Cornman's son Joseph sneaked back from the German-Polish border.

Of course, his secret is relative to the German police. In fact, he was sent back by the Jews at the border, with the purpose of conveying their current situation to other Jews in Berlin.

Seeing Mrs. Cornman's family of three hugging each other, crying and laughing, Rosia didn't know how she should feel.

Privately, she should think that Joseph is a complete idiot. No matter how miserable it is, staying at the border is better than staying under the nose of the entire Germany.In this situation, who can guess what will happen in Berlin.

But for the entire Jewish nation, she felt that what the Jews at the border did was right.Because all the Jewish families in Berlin who had lost their male heads were now in panic, the waiting women needed someone to bring them the situation at the border, even if it was bad.

"Dear Thea, what's wrong with you, aren't you happy to see me?" Joseph was really puzzled by Rosia's extremely tangled and complicated expression.

Rosia had something on her mind. Facing this silly big man she had never met many times, she really couldn't laugh, so she had to stiffly shake her face twice.

"Oh, I know." Joseph suddenly understood and seemed to understand her expression: "You have diarrhea, right? I just said how could anyone be unhappy to see me."

"..."

Rosia's face turned green.

Because Joseph came back, Mrs. Cornman was in a good mood, and the dinner was much richer.

The three women at the table all stared at Joseph awkwardly, listening to what he said about what happened during this time.

"That night, we were woken up rudely while we were still sleeping. They didn't let us wear clothes or get anything. They even kicked us out of the house without a proper reason. It was quite cold at night, and We are not allowed to take a car, so we can only go on foot." Joseph shivered slightly as he spoke, seeming to remember the cold night.

"It was so cold at the border that many people didn't survive the second night. We had no food. The Germans wouldn't let us go back, and the Poles wouldn't let us in. On the third day, many people were so hungry. No, I dug up the roots and ate them. I will never forget the bitter taste."

Mrs. Cornman couldn't help but interrupt: "God! God bless!"

Joseph didn't want to say any more, saying: "The Jews there have reached a consensus, and they will send someone back to Berlin to tell you about the situation. The Germans will no longer tolerate Jews."

As he said that, he stood up and put on his hat: "I think it's time for me to complete the mission they assigned me."

Joseph left, and Mrs. Cornman sat helplessly at the table. She was lost for a while, then forced the two girls to go out to buy some food with a forced smile, and went upstairs alone.

After the two went out, they found that the streets were also very depressed. There were basically few people in sight. The whole of Berlin seemed to be shrouded in a strange atmosphere.Only the radio on the street was desperately condemning some act. It seemed that a secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been assassinated.Lisa was in a daze, and Rosia didn't hear clearly.

Two days later, Joseph came back exhausted and went back to his room to rest without saying anything. Mrs. Cornman was very worried, but she couldn't disturb him.

At night, Rosia tossed and turned in bed, feeling flustered and unable to fall asleep. In fact, she had not slept well recently.

In the early hours of the morning, her consciousness was vague, half asleep and half awake. While in a trance, she heard the sound of a ping pong and a faint cry.

She suddenly woke up, lifted the quilt on her body, and quickly put on her clothes. As soon as she walked to the door, the door was suddenly knocked open. Lisa cried and rushed towards her, and gestured at a loss: "What should I do, what should I do? , West Asia, they, they want to take my brother away..."

Rosia didn't know why, so she reached out and patted her shoulder: "Don't cry yet, I'll go take a look."

Unexpectedly, as soon as they reached the stairs, a pile of glass fragments flew in. Rosia quickly pressed Lisa down and squatted down.After taking a closer look, I found that the door had been kicked open, and countless young Germans rushed in with sticks in their hands. Without saying anything, they started smashing things in the living room.

The pile of glass fragments just now were caused by the smashed palace lanterns on the ceiling.

Mrs. Cornman sat in the middle of the hall crying bitterly, holding a German's leg, while Joseph was beaten to the ground by three people and dragged out of the door.

The things in the living room were quickly smashed into a mess by them, and valuable things were put into their pockets.They whistled and shouted something, kicked Mrs. Cornman away contemptuously, pulled Joseph and walked out.

Rosia asked Lisa to hide on the stairs, wrapped herself in clothes and rushed down.

It was only when she ran out of the door that she realized that the street outside was already crazy. There were young German guys everywhere, armed with various sticks, rushing into Jewish homes.Not only Mrs. Cornman's house, but almost all Jewish homes in the Jewish ghetto were ransacked, and the male owners were forcibly dragged away.They hung various valuable jewelry items on their bodies, shouted "Long Live" crazily on the street, and then saluted in one direction.

Rosia couldn't believe what she was seeing. She felt cold all over. The crying and noise coming from around her seemed to be back to that bloody night in Nanjing.

Joseph and the group of Germans were already drowned in the crowd, but then another group of Germans walked in. When they saw the mess in the living room and the crying Mrs. Cornman, they knew that the house had been swept away.

But they didn't leave directly, but rushed in again without giving up, smashed everything that seemed to be intact, and then rushed to the second floor. Lisa was soon kicked off screaming. .

Rosia hurriedly ran into the living room again and helped Mrs. Cornman up from the ground. Lisa was completely frightened and stood beside her, not knowing what to do.

"Lisa, come help me." Rosia shouted anxiously. Lisa finally came back to her senses, and the two of them helped Mrs. Cornman, who was already exhausted, lie down on the crumbling sofa.

Before I could take a breath, the group of Germans upstairs finished their sweep and came down.Because Mrs. Cornman had already transferred her belongings beforehand, there was actually nothing valuable in this home. The second floor was the room where she, Lisa, and Joseph lived. Apart from daily necessities and clothing, there was nothing in it.All these people can take are their jewelry baubles.

But when Rosia saw what one of the Germans was holding, she suddenly froze.

It was a brown notebook with many pieces of paper inside, as well as an envelope with frayed edges.

The notebook contains the daily trivial matters she recorded, but the envelope is the last thing the mother of this body gave her, the words that calmed her down when she was awakened by the bloody night of Nanjing from her midnight nightmare, and the words that allowed her to calm down in a strange country. The comfort of surviving safely.

It's not something valuable, but it's an indispensable item for her spirit.

Rosia was very frightened, but she didn't know where the courage came from, and she rushed to the German's side: "Sir, can you, can you, give me the notebook... back?"

The German looked at Rosia, then at the notebook in his hand, as if he hadn't heard anything, and continued to follow the others out.

Rosia gritted her teeth, ran directly to the gate, and blocked it there.

However, she obviously overestimated their conscience or underestimated their cruelty.

A group of Germans didn't take her seriously, and even saw that the door next to her was intact. Without hesitation, they raised their sticks and smashed the thick glass door. The flying fragments scratched her body and cut her arms. There were many bloody wounds.

Then they left, laughing and whistling.Move on to the next unfortunate family.

(End of this chapter)