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Part Three

1

Charlotte is now sixteen.

A serious girl, brilliant at school.

People sometimes find her mysterious.

Her stepmother considers her insolent, above all.

They no longer get along so well.

Albert is still obsessed with his medical explorations.

So the two of them spend long days together.

Getting on each other’s nerves, growing irritable: what could be more normal?

Charlotte is increasingly divided.

She idolizes Paula, and she can’t bear her.

But she never tires of hearing her sing.

She goes to all her concerts in Berlin.

And feels the same emotion she felt the first time.

Paula is one of the greatest living divas.

Crowds rush to hear her.

One night, she records a magnificent version of Carmen.

Charlotte is in the first row that night.

Her stepmother holds the note a long time.

The last note of the concert.

The audience holds its breath.

The sound fades elegantly.

It’s a triumph, an ovation, something even greater if that’s possible.

Here and there, people shout bravos.

Charlotte observes the bouquets of flowers that clutter the stage.

The bouquets that will soon decorate their living room.

Everything is red.

And in the heart of this redness, a dissonant note.

To begin with, Charlotte is not sure.

Perhaps it’s a slightly strange form of admiration.

The shouting grows more raucous, the whistling more shrill.

No, it’s not admiration.

It’s coming from somewhere above.

It’s still not easy to see.

The lights have not come back on yet.

The noise grows louder.

Now the boos are drowning out the applause.

Paula understands, and runs backstage.

She does not want to listen to that.

She does not want to hear their hatred.

Men yell insults, horrible things.

They tell Paula to go home.

They don’t want to hear her anymore here!

Charlotte, trembling, goes to find her.

She expects to find her stepmother devastated.

But no, there she is, standing in front of her mirror.

She looks strong, almost unshakeable.

It is she who reassures Charlotte.

We have to get used to it, that’s just how it is . . .

But her voice rings false.

Her veneer of calm cannot hide her anxiety.

Back at home, Albert is still not asleep.

He is aghast when he hears what happened.

The scene they describe makes him want to throw up.

It is becoming simply unbearable.

Some of their friends are going to leave Germany.

These friends encourage them to do the same.

Paula could sing in the United States.

Albert could easily find work there.

No, he says.

It’s out of the question.

This is their homeland.

This is Germany.

They must be optimistic,¹ must believe that the hatred is ephemeral.

2

In January 1933, the hatred comes to power.

Paula no longer has the right to perform in public.

For Albert, professional death will surely follow too.

Medical care carried out by Jews is no longer reimbursed.

He imagines them taking away his teaching diploma.

He who has made important discoveries.

Attacks are spreading, books are burning.

In the Salomons’ apartment, they meet up in the evenings.

Artists, intellectuals, doctors.

Some continue to believe this is a passing phase.

The logical consequences of an economic crisis.

Someone must always be blamed for a nation’s woes.

Charlotte listens to the discussions of the destroyed.

Kurt Singer is there too.

He has just lost his job at the Berlin Opera.

His strength and charisma drive him to lead the resistance.

He makes approaches to the Nazis.

He pleads the causes of dismissed artists.

Proposes the creation of a cultural federation of German Jews.

Hearing this, the party leader hesitates.

He ought to refuse, but he can’t help admiring Singer.

For a moment, time stands still between them.

In that moment, anything might happen.

The artists’ definitive death, or their survival.

The bureaucrat has the power to ban everything.

For now, he says nothing.

He looks into Singer’s eyes.

Singer holds back the sweat that ought to bead his forehead.

Each man’s future is in the balance.

After several long minutes, the Nazi official takes out a sheet of paper.

He signs the authorization to create a Jewish association.

Singer thanks him effusively.

Thank you, sir, thank you so much.

All hail the artists’ hero.

A big party is organized to celebrate this victory.

What joy: they are not going to die immediately.

Singers, actors, dancers, professors all breathe.

To be onstage is to be alive.

Paula will not be reduced to silence.

She can still give concerts.

In a Jewish theater, for a Jewish audience.

The cultural version of the ghetto.

This system will last a few years.

The restrictions gradually becoming tighter, more rigorous, more suffocating.

In 1938, Kurt Singer leaves to visit his sister in the United States.

During his absence, Kristallnacht happens.

Jewish goods are pillaged, dozens of people murdered.

Kurt’s sister begs him to stay in America.

It’s an incredible stroke of luck for him.

He can be spared from the coming disaster.

He is even offered a position at the university.

But no.

He is determined to return to his homeland.

To save what can be saved, he says.

On his return to Europe, he travels through Rotterdam.

There too, his friends try to convince him to stay.

The cultural association has been dissolved in any case.

Going back to Germany in 1938 would be suicide.

He yields, and settles down in Holland.

Once again, he attempts to resist through music and art.

He gives concerts.

But even there, the noose is tightening.

So many times, he could have fled.

But he wanted to be close to his loved ones.

An illusory shield for the fragility of others.

He is such a brave man.

The photographs show his power, his crazy hair.

He will be deported in 1942, to the Terezin concentration camp.

Where, among others, the artists and the elite are held.

It’s a so-called model camp.

A showcase for the Red Cross delegations.

Those visitors, blind to what is hidden behind the scenery.

Plays are put on for them, a sign that all is well.

Singer even continues organizing concerts.

He lifts his arm, conducts the orchestra with his baton.

What remains of the orchestra.