The Luck of the Weissensteiners (The Three Nations Trilogy) (29 page)

Johanna was glad when the plead
ing and begging finally stopped. What a cheek that slave girl had to ask her to get involved. How should she know who was stealing and who wasn't? Johanna had overcome some of her ideas against Jewish people over the last few years but she was far from being fond of them as a group and still thought them untrustworthy. They and the Gypsies were almost as bad as each other. Sarah had often mentioned that Elias had not been the kindest of brothers to her, so why should Johanna risk an argument with her husband over such a trivial thing? She had good mind to get them both fired as she had mentioned to Sarah before but in the end it was New Year’s Eve, a sentimental day and her feelings for Sarah mellowed. For the sake of their friendship Johanna decided to go ahead and talk with Benedikt about the matter once he was back from Bratislava.

When Benedikt did eventually return to the farm on New
Year’s Day however she never got a chance to intervene on her friends behalf. He called all the parties concerned into the barn and listened to their accounts of events one more time and without any further delay declared that Hanzi’s account of events showed inconsistencies with the original report from a few days earlier and therefore had to be a lie.

Benedikt took the exemption papers off all the Gypsies and told them they would be sent to a labour camp outside of
Bratislava later this afternoon.

He appointed Elias as the sole supervisor for the time being but warned him that he would watch him closely. With that he stood up and left the congregation. Johanna was relieved that her friend had been saved and Sarah thanked him enthusiastically for his fair ruling of the matter, which Benedikt shrugged off with utter disinterest. She also thanked Johanna for helping, which she was sure was the reason for this ruling in Elias
’s favour.

In reality Benedikt was very hung over and was not in the le
ast interested in small dramas amongst his work force. He could not stand either of the two warring camps but he knew Elias a little better and thought him more capable to run the farm in the absence of the politician. The argument came in handy as he had recently been pressured by party colleagues to give up some of his generous allocation of slave workers to please the German demands.

Elias – in Benedikt
’s eyes - was scum just like the Gypsies were and there was no way of finding out the truth from either of them; they were all liars and cheats when it came to it. Benedikt could honestly not remember what Hanzi had told him when they had discussed the matter for the first time. The statement about the alleged inconsistencies was totally made up and he would have said the same thing to Elias if he had wanted Hanzi to stay on.

His main concern was whether the Germans would be able to win the war or negotiate a truce. Benedikt had done so well in the Slovak government in such a short time, it would be a pity if he would lose
his privileges and influence all because a Czechoslovak government of cowards and escapists in exile was returning to power. In his view only those who had stayed had a right to govern. Unfortunately his own future was now more than ever linked to that of the Fuhrer and his allies in Slovakia. There was no way back from here for Benedikt.

Sarah fell in
to the arms of her absolved brother full of happiness, but instead of the relief she expected to see in his face she recognised a twitchy smirk she knew well from her childhood, something he usually displayed when he had tricked someone successfully or got away with something. It took her a little while to realise the trap her brother had laid out for Hanzi and how everyone had fallen for his act.

“You devil! You made
all of this up to get rid of Hanzi and the Gypsies, didn't you?” she hissed at her brother, almost paralysed and numb by the shock.

“Of course I did and
I could not have done it without your help,” he replied teasingly.

“You destroyed his life!” she shouted at her brother.

“It is not as if I had not warned him. He had it coming,” said Elias coldly.

“How could you? What has he ever done to you?” Sarah cried.

“He could have cooperated with us. You mustn't be naïve,” Elias started to explain to his sister. “Our people don't get much food in the labour camps from the government. If we don't help them nobody will and they will all die. How else are we going to get the food to keep them alive if not by stealing it from the farms? There is not even enough for the Slovaks in the country any more. It all goes to the krauts and the soldiers. I had to get Hanzi out of the way. I had no choice. If he had helped us we could have helped him. Since he would not cooperate with us there was always a danger that he and his people might have crossed us. A danger to me and to everyone really.”

“You amaze me. You would kill to get what you want, wouldn't you? You are cold blooded,” she cried.

“Better we survive than them!” was the curt reply.

“How could you be so sure Benedikt was going to rule in your favour?” Sarah wondered.

“I worked with him before. He thinks he is so subtle and clever but I can read that man l
ike a book. If he and I were playing cards, I would strip him of his last possession before he knew what had hit him. I could always tell when he was planning another raid. I always knew when he was going to check up on me, so I made sure that everything he ever checked was better than good. He was always going to believe my word over Hanzi's. We are all pretty low in Benedikt’s eyes but Jews are still a little higher up than the Gypsies.”

Sarah was disgusted and she had good mind to go and tell on him but she found it impossible to expose her brother despite the injustice
he had committed. If Elias was not lying then he was doing it for a good cause but he had sacrificed an innocent man for it.

“I risked my own life for this too you know,”
Elias justified his actions. “Benedikt could have believed Hanzi and chosen to execute me and my friends,” he said. “This is war and we are lucky to survive.”

“It is because of people with your dog eats dog behaviour that we are at war in the first place. You are no better than any of them. If you weren't a Jew you would get on great with Benedikt.
Shame on you!” Sarah cried and ran away.

At the
manor house Jonah and the Countess were going through the drawers of the late Visser to see if there was any information on relatives or friends they should inform of his passing. Now that he himself was dead and buried it would of course be foolish to keep any of his belongings that, if discovered, might incriminate her Highness. Jonah hated to intrude on the dead man’s privacy, especially reading the letters, but he realised they had no other choice. Fortunately there was little in the way of indiscriminating information to be found. Jonah had not known that Visser had been a homosexual as well and had had a love affair with a much younger student in Rome. The letters were carefully worded so as not to endanger either of them if found or censored but reading all of the letters together there was no doubt about the nature of their relationship. The exchange of letters had stopped quite some time ago and Jonah wondered if there had been a falling out or another reason for this long silence. He found no indications in the letters in that regard. Jonah sat down and wrote a letter to inform the young student of the sad news. The Countess had her secretary write brief notes to Visser’s business contacts but she said it was too dangerous to post them from here. She would have to send them from Vienna where she was expected next week for a concert and a business meeting.

“Did you know about the student?” Jonah asked the Countess.

“I had no idea at all. It is funny, because Visser always talked so scientifically and was distant about Edith and Esther's inclination, I would never have guessed he was of the same persuasion. How silly of him to withhold this from us when he already knew where we all stood on the matter. What a foolish, foolish man he was,” she said and burst into tears again. “I am sorry,” she apologised. “I just didn’t understand him at all.”

“
Indeed, it seems rather unnecessary,” said Jonah. “No, no, don't cry your Highness. He made his choice and we have to accept it and live with it. There are much more important things to worry about. It seems there is a lot we did not know about our friend, maybe he had very good reasons to choose his premature exit from this life. He was very, very troubled of late. Maybe the young man broke things off or was drafted? Arrested? The fact that he was in love opens a huge array of reasons for his actions. Let us not judge him without knowing.”

“What can be so difficult that one would chose to end it all?” she shouted. “Pretty boys are fick
le and a new one can be found on any street corner. Visser was under my full protection, there really was no need for despair, no need at all. His people struggle to survive in labour camps all over Europe every day, holding on to dear life without food, and he who has it so good throws it away. Over house arrest? Over a broken heart? Then he was an ungrateful idiot who did not know how good he had it.”

“If you think he was an idiot then don't cry. Countess, I am sad too about him but we should not worry about the lives of those who did not want theirs. There is no shortage of people who want to live and who are in need of your attention and protection.
Let’s focus on them. They are more worthy of it.”

“Now you are one to talk about that” the Countess said with rage. “I heard just this morning that you are planning to stay behind to wait for your son Egon, despite what it might mean for your own safety.”

“Who told you that?” asked Jonah, hoping to distract the Countess by straying from the subject.

“Edith, who learned about it from your daughter last night,” the Countess said. “I don't doubt for a second that you are going through with this suicidal and foolish plan. So don't talk about people not putting value on their own life!”

“Countess I love my life, more than you think,” Jonah assured her. “I am willing to risk it for my son. He might need help when he comes back. If I ran away from here now my entire future life would be spent in painful wondering if he is alive and whether he knows where we are. It is no use, I need to stay.”

“You are being silly, Jonah!” the Countess declared. “Are you saying that you seriously believe your son needs your help? That son who comes home from a brutal war which he managed to survive? You think that man needs your help? The help of an old man?” she laughed. “You are flattering yourself and your powers my dear Jonah, you amuse me!”

“I hear you,” laughed Jonah, taking her criticism calm and kindly, “but the heart wants what it wants. I know my children are grown up now but I can't help feeling that I still need to look after them. It is my duty as their father.”

“What about Wilma? Won't she need you much more than your son?” asked the Countess.

“Wilma needs her sister Greta and her nephew Ernst," replied Jonah matter of factly. “I play a very minor role in her life. Don't think for one minute I have not thought this through. I would love it if I could go with them as well as stay here but I have had to make this decision and I trust my daughters will be fine together. I have to find out about Egon, not just up and leave.”

“I can appreciate your desire but I think you are very ill advised!” the Countess said disapprovingly.

“Then of course there is the issue of my new flame Alma,” Jonah added. “She also wants to stay. I hope we will find Egon and maybe then we can all reunite in some place that will take a bunch of Eastern Jews without shooting us on site. Perhaps even here?” he said provocatively.

“Now there is some optimism,” was the cold reply.

What an intolerable man, the Countess thought. So stubborn and unreasonable. She hated herself for continuously choosing artists as friends who were so difficult to convince with rational arguments. This man was ruining his life and she could not bear to let him do this; could not bear to watch him doing it.

“I have ordered your papers,” she said in another attempt to persuade him to reconsider. “Think about it. They will be at your disposal in any case, so you can always change your mind. Please promise me you will th
ink about it. Your son won't thank you if you die in your attempt to help him.” 

“Thank you, y
our Highness. I will think about it. Now did you find out anything more about Visser’s will or next of kin?” he said to change the subject.

“I am afraid I did not. There is no diary or anything else that would give us a clue. It is strange, I always thought I knew him so well, now I realise how little I really knew about him.” the Countess pondered.

“It takes extreme measures and circumstances before people even know themselves,” replied Jonah. “He left no note and no will, so I don't think he cared what we are going to do with his belongings, or he trusted your judgement.”

“I have a few ideas about what to do with his art, the rest is all pretty useless to me I am afraid.”

When Jonah got back home he saw that Wilma had still not calmed down. Alma was completely lost, wondering what to do since her usual remedies had all failed to help. The hysteria was persistent and nothing seemed to be able to soothe the troubled woman. Calling a doctor was too risky in case they would recommend locking her up in a mental institution or removing her ovaries to balance her hormones.