The Luck of the Weissensteiners (The Three Nations Trilogy) (2 page)

The owner, Herbert Kling, insisted that Wilhelm should go and stretch his legs and made him leave the shop for lunch at least a few times every week but Wilhelm was not grateful for the kindly meant gesture
as it interfered with his precious reading time.

Hopeful that Greta had managed to finish at least one of the books he had brought with him the last
time, Wilhelm had come with a few more treasures for her. He had managed to find her a book by Lessing. His own favourite, ‘Nathan the Wise’, had recently been banned because, as the German newspaper in Bratislava, Der Grenzbote, had quoted as the given reason, it 'practically put the Jewish faith on the same footing as Christianity'.

“It is such a shame that one possible interpretation of the book put it on the black list,” Wilhelm complained. “You Slovaks are incredibly strict
when it comes to religion.”

“Do you think so?” she asked surprised.

“Oh yes, I do,” came the instant reply.

“Who else do you like apart from Lessing?” Greta wanted to know.

“I do like the Enlightenment movement,” he told her. “Do you know Schiller and Kant?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, I have to say that although I am less worried about the religious implications of their argument, I share their belief in the greatness of the intelligent abilities of mankind. I like how Kant encourages people to make up their own mind and to take responsibility for their actions, rather than to look for already made up rules to live by,” he said passionately.

“You are quite a philosopher I see.” Greta observed.

“I guess I am. I like meaning in a book. Everything needs meaning!”

“What do you think about Romanti
cism then?” she asked. “That not always has a serious meaning.”

“I also lo
ve passion which is in both the Sturm und Drang writings and the Romantic period,” he consoled her. “It would be a mistake to limit oneself by reading just one particular type of genre over and over again. I hope that this is not what you are doing by reading so much of the Romantics? That would be an insult to your potential.”

Greta thought that this was a v
ery nice thing to say and a valid point to make about her reading habits. She had been rather one sided in her choices and so from now on she encouraged him to bring something she had asked for and also something he had chosen.

The next time he visited she was pleased to tell him that she had liked the book by Lessing he had brought and she regretted having to miss out on the banned book, which sounded so very i
nteresting. Fortunately he had managed to get her some early works by Goethe which she devoured with speed and passion. Even though he could not supply her with some of the literature she was looking for – Jewish writers for example were more difficult to sell and were often not even in stock anyway - she said she was always open to his suggestions. He rejoiced in her willingness to read whatever author he recommended and could not wait for her to have read the books so he could bring her some more. He considered himself extremely lucky that no one in the book shop seemed to notice his loans.

Jonah Weissensteiner was very happy for Wilhelm to come to the workshop and supply his daughter with books. He had words with all the employees and promised them that they too could receive short visits like Greta and thanked them for their understanding. Jonah could be very persuasive when he chose to be and with the other workers on board
, it was occasionally even possible for Wilhelm and Greta to have at least a little chat about the books before she had to return to her tasks. Jonah wanted Greta to find someone that liked her for herself and not only for her noticeably good looks. This young man had things in common with his daughter and treated her with respect, which was the most important quality he searched for in any potential son-in-law.

Wilhelm with his good looks could have his pick of the girls and his eyes were clearly set on Greta, which secretly made Jonah a very proud father.

“Does he not mind you being Jewish, that German book boy?” Jonah asked her one evening over dinner.

“I am not sure he even knows yet,” Greta told him. “The way he talks about the Jews, it doesn't seem to have any reference to me at all.”

“How does he talk about the Jews?” Jonah said with raised eyebrows.

“He just mentions them in passing, like
... so and so is a Jew so we do not have his books in our shop. I don't think he has an opinion about it himself,” Greta guessed.

“But the name
Weissensteiner, that is a Jewish name! He must know,” insisted Jonah. “I often wished we could have changed that. It would make life easier, wouldn't it?”

“It only sounds Jewish to you because you know that it is,”
disagreed Greta. “It could pass as a German name to a naïve young man, which I think Wilhelm just might be.”

“In that case you should bring t
he matter up soon before this 'book lending' goes any further,” Jonah lectured.

“He seems very smitten
with you my darling daughter. It wouldn't hurt to get it out of the way before you waste any more of your time on him or any of his time on you, unless of course you were only in it for the books?”

“No I am not just in it for the books father,” she admitted.
“I like him. I think I really like him. He is very interesting. He thinks a lot.”

“Oh he thinks a lot does
he?” Jonah said, with a little sarcasm in his voice. “Then it is important that he learns to do something as well, thinking alone will only give him a headache.”

“Do you like him father?” Greta asked, ignoring his previous statement.

“Does it matter if I like him? You must like the goy and make sure he does not mind your family,” her father warned. “I'll like him enough if he makes you happy; even if he thinks all day until his head hurts. If a thinker you want, then a thinker you shall have. You have the pick of the men, my beautiful. Trust me. Make sure you choose a good man and that you do really like him.”

“I do like him, father. He seems such a ge
ntle man from what I can tell from our short meetings but I still need to get to know him better,” she admitted.

“You take as long as you like to make up your mind. I hope you realise that he has already made up his mind about you. It is written all over his face how enchanted he is. He could accuse you of playing with him if you let him visit this often and your decision i
s not the one he hopes for. You must not lead him on. Be careful, you know, because I don't think we need to wait much longer for a proposal from this one.”

“I am not so sure. There are plenty
of girls who make eyes at him, maybe he just loves talking about books. That could be all he wants from me,” Greta said more to herself than to her father.

“Yes, if you were a fifty-year-
old librarian that probably would be all,” Jonah said with a roaring laugh. “Why is he not content talking about his Goethe with the old men in his book shop then? I tell you why, they are not his type. Always remember that men of his young age mainly think with their loins. Once they have satisfied such needs, they may not be interested in your views on books anymore and go back to the shop to discuss literature there. An attractive girl like yourself always needs to choose wisely.”

“
I don't think he is like that, he is so serious,” Greta defended.

“Yes he is serious, t
he Germans often are. Now let’s hope his seriousness is good for something and makes him worthy of you,” Jonah laughed.

Like
in other regions of Czechoslovakia, there were a lot of ethnic Germans in Bratislava at this time. They often appeared like a closed circle, even though that was far from the truth. One part of these ethnic Germans were Austrians, many of whom had only recently arrived here and now found themselves stuck in the remains of what used to be a part of their glorious Habsburg Empire. Other Germans in the region were settlers from the German Empire who had moved there over the course of many centuries. Both groups moved in separate circles.

Wilhelm
’s Teutonic family roots had helped him to get his job at 'Mohr & Kling'. The Slovak population was generally friendly, if somewhat distant towards the Germans, but the communities did not mingle much.

Formerly known as Upper Hungary
, the eastern provinces of Czechoslovakia also harboured large numbers of Hungarians who were less popular with the locals, were seen more of a threat and were considered as unwelcome aliens. By the time that the new state of Czechoslovakia had come into existence, many of them had already returned to Hungary to avoid an existence as a minority. After the Great War, international lobbying by Czechs and Slovaks in exile had persuaded the Allies to create this new state. The massive German population in the Czech border regions needed to be neutralized which was why Slovakia was separated from Hungary for the first time in centuries and added to the new state, where Germans and remaining Hungarians were now comfortably outnumbered by the combined total of Czech and Slovak citizens.

For the first time
, the Slovaks had their own recognised region and their politicians were eager to use this historical moment and achieve more self-rule than they had been used to under Habsburger rule. Understandably the Slovakians longed to become an equal partner with the Czechs. In their view, the Germans were a harmless minority and not a serious threat to their cause. Political parties representing the German minorities were becoming more vocal of late, but this was mainly felt in the Czech part of the country, especially Prague or near the borders in the Sudetenland. Bratislava was little affected by these politics and remained the somewhat sleepy capital of a Slovakia that was quietly focused on its overdue independence.

The problem of
Anti-Semitism had never been exclusively associated with the Germans and was present in all regions of the state, but Bratislava had a large Jewish population that seemed widely tolerated. It was certainly not a foregone conclusion that Wilhelm would object to Greta's roots. After the Great War many Jewish refugees had fled the Russian pogroms and had swamped Central and Eastern Europe where they had received few welcomes.

The way Wilhelm had spoken about the Jewish intellectuals and writers had been
both respectful and factual, and made Greta optimistic about a future with him. Still she kept delaying telling him more details about her family. The Weissensteiners were originally from the neighbouring Carpathian Ruthenia, part of the North Hungarian Oberland, that since the end of the war belonged to the Ukraine. There the family had conversed in Yiddish in their settlement, or shtetl, and in German in their home, but they also had learnt to speak Hungarian and Russian. Jonah Weissensteiner had spent large parts of his childhood in a Jewish shtetl, which existed separately to the Russian, Ukrainian or Polish communities and villages in the region. His family moved to Slovakia long before the Great War because there was not enough demand for weaving work and because it seemed wise to his father to be further away from Russia with its growing anti-Semitism and political instability.

As the only Jews in their new
, rural setting the Weissensteiners were tolerated well enough. Jonah was a good craftsman and earned the respect of the villagers. He made sure to appear as unorthodox as possible. He celebrated only a few Jewish holidays, and unlike other Jews, he observed the Sunday and Catholic holidays. Jonah had picked up the local language in Slovakia very quickly. Greta and her siblings had already been born here and they were fluent in German, the Slovak dialect and learned Hungarian and Russian which helped with the business. The family observed the Sabbath because – as Jonah said - as long as he could afford it, he loved a day off.

Their diet was not kosher and th
ey only sporadically went to a synagogue, which was too far away to attend the Sabbath service and not violate the travel restrictions. Some of the other Jews they had met at the congregation were outraged with the apparent lack of faith or discipline and accused the Weissensteiner family of opportunistic assimilation without acknowledging their own roots. Such disagreements were nothing new to Jonah and he had become an expert at avoiding answering any provocative questions. He knew that it was common in exile minorities to preserve their unity by sticking to the dogma because they felt they could not afford to deviate from it in hostile territories. Oberlander Jews were particularly notorious for their orthodox beliefs and many of them had pressured Jonah’s father and his family to stick to their own kind and be part of their orthodox-leaning community.

Just like his father before him
, Jonah refused to give in to such pressure on principle. For him, Judaism had always been a personal search to find the right way and whether it was a neighbour or a Rabbi, Jonah would always personally decide whether they were right or wrong.

After the war
, Jonah had taken his family from the rural home in the Trnava province and had moved to Bratislava. Without the connections to the Hungarian trade across the border, he thought his business would be safer in a bigger city. Bratislava was not only the biggest city in the Slovak part of the new republic, it was also historically the only city - in what was then Hungary - that allowed Jews civil rights; everywhere else Jews were only tolerated or, at most, were given the right to practice their faith. Kaiser Joseph II had made protective statements for the Jews in Vienna and the Austro-Hungarian Empire; it was called the Edict of Toleration but executed law and order in the provinces had not always followed this liberal guidance.