Read Winter of the World Online
Authors: Ken Follett
Tags: #Education, #General, #Fiction, #Historical
Winter of the World
To the memory of my grandparents,
Tom and Minnie Follett
Arthur and Bessie Evans
American
Dewar Family
Senator Gus Dewar
Rosa Dewar,
his wife
Woody Dewar,
their elder son
Chuck Dewar,
their younger son
Ursula Dewar,
Gus’s mother
Peshkov Family
Lev Peshkov
Olga Peshkov,
his wife
Daisy Peshkov,
their daughter
Marga,
Lev’s mistress
Greg Peshkov,
son of Lev and Marga
Gladys Angelus,
film star, also Lev’s mistress
Rouzrokh Family
Dave Rouzrokh
Joanne Rouzrokh,
his daughter
Buffalo Socialites
Dot Renshaw
Charlie Farquharson
Others
Joe Brekhunov,
a thug
Brian Hall,
union organizer
Jacky Jakes,
starlet
Eddie Parry,
sailor, friend of Chuck’s
Captain Vandermeier,
Chuck’s superior
Margaret Cowdry,
beautiful heiress
Real Historical Characters
President F. D. Roosevelt
Marguerite ‘Missy’ LeHand,
his assistant
Vice-President Harry Truman
Cordell Hull,
Secretary of State
Sumner Welles,
Undersecretary of State
Colonel Leslie Groves,
Army Corps of Engineers
English
Fitzherbert Family
Earl Fitzherbert,
called Fitz
Princess Elizaveta,
called Bea, his wife
‘Boy’ Fitzherbert, Viscount Aberowen,
their elder son
Andy,
their younger son
Leckwith-Williams Family
Ethel Leckwith (née Williams),
Member of Parliament for Aldgate
Bernie Leckwith,
Ethel’s husband
Lloyd Williams,
Ethel’s son, Bernie’s stepson
Millie Leckwith,
Ethel and Bernie’s daughter
Others
Ruby Carter,
friend of Lloyd’s
Sir Bartholomew (‘Bing’) Westhampton,
friend of Fitz’s
Lindy and Lizzie Westhampton,
Bing’s twin daughters
Jimmy Murray,
son of General Murray
May Murray,
his sister
Marquis of Lowther,
called Lowthie
Naomi Avery,
Millie’s best friend
Abe Avery,
Naomi’s brother
Real Historical Characters
Ernest Bevin,
MP, Foreign Secretary
German & Austrian
Von Ulrich Family
Walter von Ulrich
Maud (née Lady Maud Fitzherbert),
his wife
Erik,
their son
Carla,
their daughter
Ada Hempel,
their maid
Kurt,
Ada’s illegitimate son
Robert von Ulrich,
Walter’s second cousin
Jörg Schleicher,
Robert’s partner
Rebecca Rosen,
an orphan
Franck Family
Ludwig Franck
Monika (née Monika von der Helbard),
his wife
Werner,
their elder son
Frieda,
their daughter
Axel,
their younger son
Ritter,
chauffeur
Count Konrad von der Helbard,
Monika’s father
Rothmann Family
Dr Isaac Rothmann
Hannelore Rothmann,
his wife
Eva,
their daughter
Rudi,
their son
Von Kessel Family
Gottfried von Kessel,
deputy for the Centre Party
Heinrich von Kessel,
his son
Gestapo
Commissar Thomas Macke
Inspector Kringelein,
Macke’s boss
Reinhold Wagner
Klaus Richter
Günther Schneider
Others
Hermann Braun,
Erik’s best friend
Sergeant Schwab,
gardener
Wilhelm Frunze,
scientist
Russian
Peshkov Family
Grigori Peshkov
Katerina,
his wife
Vladimir, always called Volodya,
their son
Anya,
their daughter
Others
Zoya Vorotsyntsev,
physicist
Ilya Dvorkin,
officer of the secret police
Colonel Lemitov,
Volodya’s boss
Colonel Bobrov,
Red Army officer in Spain
Real Historical Characters
Lavrentiy Beria,
head of the secret police
Vyacheslav Molotov,
Foreign Minister
Spanish
Teresa,
literacy teacher
Welsh
Williams Family
David Williams,
called Dai
, ‘Granda’
Cara Williams, ‘Grandmam’
Billy Williams,
MP for Aberowen
Mildred,
Billy’s wife
Dave,
Billy’s elder son
Keir,
Billy’s younger son
Griffiths Family
Tommy Griffiths,
Billy Williams’s political agent
Lenny Griffiths,
Tommy’s son
Part One
THE OTHER CHEEK
1
1933
Carla knew her parents were about to have a row. The second she walked into the kitchen she felt the hostility, like the bone-deep cold of the wind that blew through the
streets of Berlin before a February snowstorm. She almost turned and walked back out again.
It was unusual for them to fight. Mostly they were affectionate – too much so. Carla cringed when they kissed in front of other people. Her friends thought it was strange: their parents
did not do that. She had said that to her mother, once. Mother had laughed in a pleased way and said: ‘The day after our wedding, your father and I were separated by the Great War.’ She
had been born English, though you could hardly tell. ‘I stayed in London while he came home to Germany and joined the army.’ Carla had heard this story many times, but Mother never
tired of telling it. ‘We thought the war would last three months, but I didn’t see him again for five years. All that time I longed to touch him. Now I never tire of it.’
Father was just as bad. ‘Your mother is the cleverest woman I have ever met,’ he had said here in the kitchen just a few days ago. ‘That’s why I married her. It had
nothing to do with . . .’ He had tailed off, and Mother and he had giggled conspiratorially, as if Carla at the age of eleven knew nothing about sex. It was so embarrassing.
But once in a while they had a quarrel. Carla knew the signs. And a new one was about to erupt.
They were sitting at opposite ends of the kitchen table. Father was sombrely dressed in a dark-grey suit, starched white shirt and black satin tie. He looked dapper, as always, even though his
hair was receding and his waistcoat bulged a little beneath the gold watch chain. His face was frozen in an expression of false calm. Carla knew that look. He wore it when one of the family had
done something that angered him.
He held in his hand a copy of the weekly magazine for which Mother worked,
The Democrat.
She wrote a column of political and diplomatic gossip under the name of Lady Maud. Father began to
read aloud. ‘ “Our new chancellor, Herr Adolf Hitler, made his debut in diplomatic society at President Hindenburg’s reception.” ’
The President was the head of state, Carla knew. He was elected, but he stood above the squabbles of day-to-day politics, acting as referee. The Chancellor was the premier. Although Hitler had
been made chancellor, his Nazi party did not have an overall majority in the Reichstag – the German parliament – so, for the present, the other parties could restrain Nazi excesses.
Father spoke with distaste, as if forced to mention something repellent, like sewage. ‘ “He looked uncomfortable in a formal tailcoat.” ’
Carla’s mother sipped her coffee and looked out of the window to the street, as if interested in the people hurrying to work in scarves and gloves. She, too, was pretending to be calm, but
Carla knew that she was just waiting for her moment.
The maid, Ada, was standing at the counter in an apron, slicing cheese. She put a plate in front of Father, but he ignored it. ‘ “Herr Hitler was evidently charmed by Elisabeth
Cerruti, the cultured wife of the Italian ambassador, in a rose-pink velvet gown trimmed with sable.” ’
Mother always wrote about what people were wearing. She said it helped the reader to picture them. She herself had fine clothes, but times were hard and she had not bought anything new for
years. This morning, she looked slim and elegant in a navy-blue cashmere dress that was probably as old as Carla.
‘ “Signora Cerruti, who is Jewish, is a passionate Fascist, and they talked for many minutes. Did she beg Hitler to stop whipping up hatred of Jews?” ’ Father put the
magazine down on the table with a slap.
Here it comes, Carla thought.
‘You realize that will infuriate the Nazis,’ he said.
‘I hope so,’ Mother said coolly. ‘The day they’re pleased with what I write, I shall give it up.’
‘They’re dangerous when riled.’
Mother’s eyes flashed anger. ‘Don’t you dare condescend to me, Walter. I know they’re dangerous – that’s why I oppose them.’
‘I just don’t see the point of making them irate.’
‘You attack them in the Reichstag.’ Father was an elected parliamentary representative for the Social Democratic Party.
‘I take part in a reasoned debate.’
This was typical, Carla thought. Father was logical, cautious, law-abiding. Mother had style and humour. He got his way by quiet persistence; she with charm and cheek. They would never
agree.
Father added: ‘I don’t drive the Nazis mad with fury.’
‘Perhaps that’s because you don’t do them much harm.’
Father was irritated by her quick wit. His voice became louder. ‘And you think you damage them with jokes?’
‘I mock them.’
‘And that’s your substitute for argument.’
‘I believe we need both.’
Father became angrier. ‘But Maud, don’t you see how you’re putting yourself and your family at risk?’
‘On the contrary: the real danger is
not
to mock the Nazis. What would life be like for our children if Germany became a Fascist state?’
This kind of talk made Carla feel queasy. She could not bear to hear that the family was in danger. Life must go on as it always had. She wished she could sit in this kitchen for an eternity of
mornings, with her parents at opposite ends of the pine table, Ada at the counter, and her brother, Erik, thumping around upstairs, late again. Why should anything change?
She had listened to political talk every breakfast-time of her life and she thought she understood what her parents did, and how they planned to make Germany a better place for everyone. But
lately they had begun to talk in a different way. They seemed to think that a terrible danger loomed, but Carla could not quite imagine what it was.
Father said: ‘God knows I’m doing everything I can to hold back Hitler and his mob.’
‘And so am I. But when you do it, you believe you’re following a sensible course.’ Mother’s face hardened in resentment. ‘And when I do it, I’m accused of
putting the family at risk.’
‘And with good reason,’ said Father. The row was only just getting started, but at that moment Erik came down, clattering like a horse on the stairs, and lurched into the kitchen
with his school satchel swinging from his shoulder. He was thirteen, two years older than Carla, and there were unsightly black hairs sprouting from his upper lip. When they were small, Carla and
Erik had played together all the time; but those days were over, and since he had grown so tall he had pretended to think that she was stupid and childish. In fact, she was smarter than he, and
knew about a lot of things he did not understand, such as women’s monthly cycles.