Читать книгу A Jewish Story - Sheldon Cohen - Страница 4

Dr. Ben Frohman and his wife had been discussing their plight for several years, but now their decision was irrevocable; they had no choice. Since 1933, when Hitler took over in Germany, anti-Semitic legislation was singling out Jews for ‘special treatment’ making it difficult for Jewish physicians to practice medicine. From the standpoint of medical ethics alone, it was becoming impossible to tend to patients, not to mention the financial inability to survive. Hitler’s slow and deliberate attempt to eliminate Jews from German culture created hardships for the entire Jewish community. Ben, whose past allowed him to understand through personal experience the evils of anti-Semitism, was frustrated and saddened that his children would have to experience what he went through in Russia as a youngster. Growing up in the anti-Semitic environment of the new Germany birthed by German Chancellor, Adolph Hitler, was an emotional and mental harm he did not want his children to experience.

Ben was in excellent physical condition, obvious even through his clothing by well delineated muscles, broad shoulders, flat abdomen and an athletic gait all honed by recreational gymnastics. Although it was a young man’s sport, he continued to pursue it on a tamed back basis even though he had little time to keep up. As good as it was for his body, it was also a welcome release from the pervasive and fearful thoughts that his mind had difficulty controlling. He knew that exercise was the perfect prescription and the words of Maimonides occupied a prominent place on his office examining room wall.

"As long as a person exercises and exerts himself…sickness does not befall him and his strength increases…But one who is idle and does not exercise…even if he eats healthy foods and maintains healthy habits, all his days will be of ailment and his strength will diminish."

He was fifty-one years old now in 1936, five feet and eight inches tall with brown eyes and pitch-black, wavy hair with a touch of gray on the sides.

Now would be a good time for discussion with his son, he thought. Dinner was over and he and David were in the kitchen alone.

“David, what are you doing for the next hour or so?”

“Not a thing. Why?”

“Good. Your mother and I made an important decision and you’re old enough to understand what it’s all about. Sit down. There are lots of things I want to go over with you.”

Fifteen-year-old, five-feet-six inch David, like his father, was also slim and muscular with the same brown eyes and black hair as his father and significant shoulders and upper body strength honed by ten years of gymnastic competition until the German sports club, directed by a Hitler edict, expelled him for being Jewish. David, bitter at the expulsion, found a Jewish gymnastic organization with a small gym where he could work out. The facility was not long enough for the vault, but adequate for a short tumbling matt, still rings, parallel bars, high bars and pommel horse.

His father was proud of David’s gymnastic prowess—far in excess of his own—and proud of his prompt action in finding the club where he could continue with the sport that he loved. Although he would not admit it, he glowed with pride when his son scowled and said, “They’re not going to shut me out.” For Ben it was one of his son’s first personal direct effects of Hitler’s restrictions on Germany’s Jewish citizens. David would be ready and receptive for what he was about to hear as he too was being influenced by Hitler’s anti-Semitic legislation not only for present actions, but also restrictions that would affect his future.

If it was Hitler’s plan to get Jews to leave the country, he was succeeding. As soon as he gained power in 1933, he did what he could to get Jews out of German government service:

In April of 1933, he started with the “Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, which stated that all Jews and others who were “politically unreliable” were henceforth excluded from any type of government post. There were random attacks on Jewish property as well as Jews themselves. Nazis publicly burned books written by Jews and anti-Nazis. They forbid Kosher-ritual slaughter of animals. They established a Department of Racial Hygiene.

In 1934, Universities could only have one and one-half percent of Jewish students and Jewish activity in the medical and legal professions suffered to a significant degree. Jewish students, excluded from taking exams in medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and law would slowly eliminate them from these professions. If you were a Jewish physician, you were restricted from treating non-Jewish patients. Jewish student’s prospects for medical school dropped, Jewish employees of the military lost their jobs, and Jewish actors found parts hard to come by.

By 1935 and 1936, the Nuremburg Laws were in place that restricted Jewish personal life and relationships with Aryans. The first law, The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor prohibited marriage and intercourse between Jews and Germans. In addition, it prohibited the employment by Jews of any German female less than forty-five years of age. The second law, the Reich Citizenship Law, took German citizenship away from Jews, creating a distinction between Reich citizens and nationals. Jews lost the right to visit swimming pools, parks and restaurants. The authorities restricted their passports.

These laws, Hitler’s first efforts to formalize the anti-Jewish measures taken to bring consistency with the program of Hitler’s Nazi party demanding that Jews must no longer be citizens, would be his first efforts in the long process he envisioned to rid the world of Jews. The genocide would start later, but not while he was establishing his power base.

David sat down at the kitchen table in their three-bedroom apartment in central Berlin, an upper-middle-class neighborhood close to the doctor’s office and hospital. He had a good idea what his father had on mind, but he respectfully remained silent.

In a firm, loud voice, Ben said, “I want to tell you everything, David. Your mother and I have been talking about this for at least a year and we agree. Emily will be okay with it; you know how she clings to her mother. For her, at her young age, the only thing she worries about is where momma is.”

David smiled and nodded his head, understanding by his father’s tone of voice that he would hear something important. He also agreed with his father’s interpretation about his eight-year-old sister.

Ben continued, “From the time you learned to talk, the first punctuation mark that you understood was the question mark. I never knew a kid that would ask so many questions. Sometimes they were too tough for your mother and me to answer. We knew from the start that you were a brilliant boy and you proved that by your school grades. We’re very proud of you.”

David smiled and said, “Thanks, dad.”

Ben continued, “When things got bad for Jews in Germany, you were just a toddler. I followed what was happening because of your grandparents, of blessed memory; they suffered from anti-Semites in Czarist Russia. You know about your grandfather and what happened to him. Since I was a kid, I heard about such things, so my antenna has always been up. After World War I there were former soldiers who blamed Communists and Jews for Germany losing the war…”

“Why did they do that, dad?” interrupted David.

“That’s an easy one, son—I have no idea.”

David laughed.

“Here’s what I think, and this is just an amateur opinion you know. After the war ended in 1918, German Communists and German Fascists fought against each other to take over the new German government—the Weimar Democracy. There was blood in the streets. They hate democracy, you know, and they hate each other.”

“Why do they hate each other, Dad?”

“Good question, David. They’re similar in many ways. They both have a top man who runs things with an iron fist, a dictator. These dictator’s words are law. I think they are both wanting to control the world, so if you have two powerful parties trying to control the world, you have all the ingredients for battle. It’s a dangerous world, David,”

“I can see that,” answered David.

“Anyhow, many of the Communists from Munich were Jews, so Hitler’s Fascists said they would fight against the so-called Jewish-Communist plot. The Fascists lump Jews and Communists in one breath, you see. Communism got its first start in Russia about 1917. Before that in Russia under the czars, Jews lived under hard times. They suffered discrimination…even killed, so it is no wonder that some of them thought that Communism might be better than the conditions they were living with under the Czar.“Anyhow, anti-Semitism didn’t start then, it is as old as the bible. There’s nothing new about it, but in early twentieth century times it probably came from the fact that Jews were trying to remain separate as far as their personal and religious life was concerned; they found it tough to become a part of non-Jewish societies.

“Going further back in history when Christianity started, the Jews were blamed for rejecting Jesus and crucifying him even though the Roman authorities ordered and carried out the crucifixion. We became a convenient scapegoat, and it looks like we still are to this day.”

“I think that we can discuss this for a year and never figure it out for sure,” said David.

You’re right, so let’s stick to the point I’m trying to make: the fix we’re in now and what we have to do to survive it.”

This took David by surprise. After a period of silence and a crinkled brow, he said, “Survive it? Are you worried about us not surviving it?”

“That’s on the back of my mind. Yes, it’s real for me. My own father didn’t survive the pogroms in Russia. I don’t mean to scare you, but you’re smart enough to understand what’s going on and what has happened and could happen again.

“Maybe my way of thinking comes from my training as a doctor. We always worry about the worst possible diagnosis every time we see a patient, because we don’t want to miss anything for fear of not doing our job and not helping the patient. I guess that’s what I’m doing; only I’m going from a personal level to a much broader one. What Hitler is doing and thinking is serious trouble for Jews especially. You understand?”

“Yes, I do,” answered David.

“Anyhow, back to the history and the reason why I’m afraid of what’s starting with Germany’s Jews. Hitler fought in World War I and when the war was over he blamed Germany’s defeat on the Jews.”

“Did you know him during the war?” asked David.

“No I didn’t, but from his book, Mein Kampf, he was an anti-Semite long before the war ended…even before the war. Some day you’ll read his book; he tells how he learned to hate Jews. He was a minor politician in Bavaria in 1922. No other Germans even heard about him, but a Jewish friend who was with me in the war and who lives in Bavaria told me about him and his anti-Semitism. In 1923, he tried to take over the Bavarian Government with his famous Beer Hall Putsch. Thank God it didn’t work. The Bavarian authorities stopped Hitler and his followers and killed some of them and put Hitler on trial. There was a lot of publicity and this made him famous in Germany and even around the world, but all he got for it was six months in jail and that’s when he wrote his book. It didn’t sell many copies at first, but this same friend sent me one and I read it from cover to cover and it scared the hell out of me. I even took notes on his anti-Semitism. Here they are on the table in this notebook. I’m trying to unravel his brain, and I sure don’t like what I’m coming up with.”

“I know about his book, but I never read it,” said David. “What are you coming up with, Dad?”

“Well, let me tell you. It’s scary. He spelled out everything he planned to do. People thought it was the ravings of a maniac, but I read it as the ravings of a man who thought he was right about everything and everybody else was wrong. You had to agree with him, or else. He believed in a leader whose word was final. This to him was the only way to run a government.”

“You mean a dictator like you said, right Dad?”

“That’s it. Like Mussolini in Italy. He was Hitler’s idol in the twenties when Hitler was building his party—the National Socialist German Worker’s Party or Nazis for short. As far as the Jews were concerned, he accused them of ruining Germany. Plus, he says the Jews ruined all of western civilization. To him, that means the whole white race. To Hitler, the Jews were the creators of the modern world that he hated and claimed they would destroy the world as we know it.”

“Why did he hate the modern world? I don’t get it.”

“Because the modern world had freedom of speech and the press, a government of the people, freedom to do any job you want, no discrimination based upon religion, birth or wealth. Freedom to live your own life and go as far as it can take you as long as you work within the rules and follow the laws. Hitler blamed those freedoms on the Jews. He doesn’t believe in them. He believed that only a super person could run a country, a great man. A government of the people, a democracy was ridiculous. In his mind, it could only lead to chaos. After I finished reading it, I thought that this book was a Bible of the devil and the man who wrote it would carry it out in every detail if given the chance. The fact that people laughed at it is proof that there is no better way to hide what’s on one’s mind than screaming it out in a book for the whole world to see. And to meet his goals, he had to get the Jews out of the way.”

“You were right. He’s starting to try isn’t he?”

“Yes, as soon as he became chancellor in thirty-three. He’s not just trying, he’s succeeding. We’re seeing a chipping away for Jews of rights guaranteed all citizens, and I’m afraid it will get worse. He’s been in control for three years now and if we can believe what he says, Europe—and the world—is his goal. This could mean war, and if it ever comes to pass, God can only know what will happen to the Jews. From my reading of Mein Kampf, I fear the worse.”

“What do you mean by the worse?”

“If we’re lucky we’ll be sent out of Germany someplace. If we’re not and if another World War starts it could mean…well, I hate to think about it,” he said staring at the floor.

“He’ll kill us?” said David without hesitation. Then in an ever-increasing loudness, he said. “Never, I’ll take a bunch of them with me if that happens. Wouldn’t you?”

“I would hope I would be able to. I would hope to fight back, but with what? People want to live; they hang on to hope up until the last minute. By then it might be too late. How do you fight back by yourself? How do you organize resistance? How do you get weapons? What about your family and reprisals? Your reaction is the reaction of the young. Fighting back is the thing to do, but you have to plan with people you can trust, with weapons, in secret. Where does one hide? What does one do?” Your enemies are powerful: an organized army with two-hundred years of experience. We have nothing.”

“Yeah, I knew that was coming,” said David. Some of my friends have already left Germany. Max and his family went last week.” He slumped back in his chair.

Ben continued, “If worse comes to worse we have to be ready. The only one outside of the family I talked to about this is my friend in Munich who served with me in the world war and sent me Hitler’s book. I’ve tried to talk to a few others, but they look at me like I’m nuts. One minute into the conversation, it’s clear to me how they’re thinking, so that’s the end of it; no sense going on. No one wants to believe there is such a possibility. The Russian Jewish and Polish citizens like my parents and relatives who lived in the Pale of Settlement in Russian-controlled Poland have known anti-Semitism, that kills. Let’s pray that we never experience what they have gone through.”

“What’s the Pale of Settlement?” asked a quizzical David

“That’s a good question. I’ll answer it as best as I can and it will give you an idea

of what happened to Jews. So—let me think…yes, it was 1772 that they divided Poland between Russia, Austria and Prussia. They did this in three stages over twenty-three years, but the effect was that all of a sudden—bang—our ancestors from Poland found themselves part of Russia. The Russians now had a few million Polish Jews inside their boundary. Most of the Jews were poor, and some were in the middle class. The place where Jews had to live was called the Pale of Settlement, which was an area including parts of Poland, Russia, Byelorussia, Lithuania and Ukraine. As time went on the Czar made different boundaries, and the population of Jews in the Pale increased to almost five million by nineteen hundred.

“At first the Russian government tried to ignore their new Jews even though it was against government policy to have them in their country, but then they found Jews handy for them because they could blame the Jews for the terrible position of the poor peasants. So what do you think happened?”

“I guess it got bad for the Jews?”

“You got that right. Russian citizens persecuted the Jews, and the government handcuffed them with all kinds of unfair laws. Jews lived in shtetls, the Yiddish name for small towns. There were certain places they could live and plenty of places they could not. The fact that the Jews kept to themselves and spoke a strange language, Yiddish, caused the other citizens to see them as foreigners. This caused a lot of tension between Jews and Christians, but in spite of the fact that the Jews lived under a Czar who hated them, they had a democratic form of government in their communities. I guess this must be one of the reasons that Hitler blamed the Jews for that bad word…democracy.

“Christians in the towns beat Jews on the streets and Jewish homes were looted. I remember my grandfather telling me that Jews learned to stay behind locked doors during the Easter and Christmas seasons because armed and drunken peasants took revenge against the ‘Christ killers.’”

“Okay, I get it,” said David. How come you never told me about this before?”

“Well, I’m telling you now, because you might need some background to use for future decisions. May God see to it that you never need it.”

“This Hitler guy scares the heck out of you, that’s for sure.”

“Yes he does, and if you don’t want to believe me then listen to his own words. I copied them down when I read the book. But first do you remember when I said that Hitler sees Jews and Communists as one and the Same?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know any Jewish Communists?”

“No.”

“I don’t know any either.”

“Are there any Jewish Communists?”

“I’m sure there are.”

“And I’m sure you’re right. I suspect there are even Jewish Fascists. I’m certain that most Jews are democratic like the Weimar Republic was before Hitler overthrew it. So, as a doctor, I have to wonder if Hitler’s thinking does not mean that he’s paranoid, he feels that others are against him, or, if not that, then he is looking for a scapegoat to occupy the people’s mind just like the Czars of Russia did to turn thinking in the direction they want. Anyway, here is what he said. I’ll read it to you.” Ben turned a few pages in his notebook, found what he was looking for, settled back in his chair and started reading. ‘The Jewish doctrine of Marxism—that’s his word for Communism, he names it after Karl Marx, Communism’s founder— rejects the aristocratic principle of Nature and replaces the eternal privilege of power and strength, by the mass of numbers and their dead weight.’ You see, David? He is saying that he hates democracy. He states that it is a mass of big numbers with its dead weight of all those people who cannot run a country. He believes that the power and strength of one man is what countries needs...that’s what he means by the aristocratic principle of nature and the eternal privilege of power and strength. Then he says, ‘Thus it, he means democracy, denies the value of personality in man, contests the significance of nationality and race, and thereby withdraws from humanity the premise of its existence and culture.’ Again, you see, he says that democracy is wrong because it does not want the strong man, it does see people as equal, which he does not, and that a democratic system will destroy a country. He sees democracy as the ‘end of all order,’ and he says, ‘this doctrine would bring about the end of any order intellectually conceivable to man.’ Then he goes on to say, ‘and as, in this greatest of all recognizable organisms, the result of the application of such a law could only be chaos; on earth it could only be destruction for the inhabitants of this planet.’ Is that taking it far, or not? Here’s how he ends up. ‘If, with the help of his Marxist creed, the Jew is victorious over the other peoples of the world, his crown will be the funeral wreath of humanity and this planet will, as it did thousands of years ago, move through the ether devoid of men. Eternal Nature inexorably avenges the infringement of her commands.’”

Ben continued, ‘Follow the Jew,’ he says, ‘and it will be the end of life on earth.’ And if all that isn’t enough, here’s his final statement. ‘Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the almighty creator: by defending against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.’

“Wow, so God’s giving him orders?” said David, shaking his head.

“No, not that, but in his warped brain he can read God’s mind, so to speak. Is this a mad-man…or what? I hope you see now why I worry about this man. Anybody who can talk like this is a fanatic. He’s laying out his plans for the whole world to see. He’s telling us what kind of world he thinks people need in order to stay alive and do good—and that’s a world either where Jews have no power, or where there are no Jews. I’m not sure which.”

“I have a hard time understanding why Hitler thinks that Jews are so bad. What did we ever do that makes him think like that?”

“That’s my son alright; he asks, asks, and asks. Never stop, David. That’s how we learn. That’s how we get answers, and we put those answers we get into our brain and we see if it makes any sense to us. I asked the same question myself, and even when I read his reasons, I couldn’t come up with an answer, but I did come up with some thoughts that are mine that I believe in. I tried to peek into his head and I’ll share my thoughts with you, but whether anyone, including me will have the true answers, I can’t tell you. This was a fascinating study to me. I sure gave my brain a workout, and I got it all written down in my notebook, so here’s what I think. He starts by comparing Jews in a good light to Aryans. In his mind, Aryans are the greatest people, and their descendants were the German people. None other. I thought that was interesting, because that to him is a compliment toward the Jews. He goes on to say that the Jews keep going and stay together and keep the religion alive for the last two thousand years in spite of the fact that, and I quote, ‘What people, finally, has gone through greater upheavals than this one—and nevertheless issued from the mightiest catastrophes of mankind unchanged? What an infinitely tough will to live and preserve the species speaks from these facts?’

“I never thought of that,” said David. “He’s right. What’s funny to me is the way he calls Jews a species, like we’re some kind of animal or something.”

“Yes, he says crazy things, alright, but he doesn’t discuss the reasons why the Jews have remained a single people,” said Ben.

David stared at his father. “Do you know the reasons?”

“I think I do. First, Jews were the first to promote the idea of one God. We kept that concept alive for thousands of years from the days of Abraham to Moses and right up to now. We were one people then, in one location and when we lived in the area on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean about two thousand years ago, we built a great Temple in Jerusalem, a house of God. In that Temple was a Priest and the Ten Commandments that Moses received on Mount Sinai. We developed a Torah, the book of laws. With the Temple destruction, the Jews spread throughout the world. How would they stay alive? How would they remain a single people if they spread all over?”

“Let me think, dad. Hmmm…well, we’re still Jews…we have a synagogue…we have a Rabbi…”

“You’ve got it, David. We took the Temple with us wherever we went by building little houses of worship...synagogues. We kept the Ten Commandments and our rules, we kept our teaching over the centuries and we carried the Torah with us and always had a rabbi to guide us who replaced the one priest. We survived, but you’ll never read any of this in Mein Kampf. Hitler will tell his people that we survived because our goal was to take over the entire earth; a Jewish plot. I can’t get over the idea of his paranoia.

“Anyhow, he also says we’re a smart people, but he says that’s because, as he puts it, ‘But his intelligence is not the result of his own development, but of visual instruction through foreigners.’ I’m not going to say that Jews are any smarter than anyone else, but, to me, this was Hitler’s way of saying that we’re not—and there I’m not going to disagree with him. But if he’s trying to give others credit for the fact that we aren’t so dumb, that’s fine with me because everybody learns that way. Again, rather than give the Jew credit, he will credit others for whatever brains the Jew has.

“From here on, you’ll see that there’s very little good he has to say about Jews. For instance, he says that the Jews have no culture, no art, architecture or music. He calls Jews parasites on other peoples.”

“I guess now he’s getting into it, isn’t he?” said David.

“Yes, he is and he starts with a lie. Do you know what The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is, David?”

“No, what is it?”

“This was a bunch of documents that was written by the Ochrana, the Czar’s Russian Secret Police. They wrote it just to get the minds of the peasants away from any thoughts of revolution against the Czar. I think they wrote it in the late eighteen hundreds. It was a proven forgery. The Russians wrote this, but said that secret Jewish world leaders wrote it and it said that the Jews were planning to overthrow world governments, including the Russian government. In other words, it was a Jewish plot to take over the world—and all the brainchild of the Ochrana, blaming the Jews. The Jews would install an anti-Christ form of dictatorship. This got the people worked up against the Jews, turned their minds away from the Czar and was one of the reasons for the pogroms against the Jews. That’s how your grandfather, my father died. You can understand how important words can be in the lives of some people.”

“Yeah, I remember what you and mom told me,” said David. “But who were these Jewish world leaders?”

“There are no such animals. Jews don’t have anything like that. Catholics have a Pope, but Jews don’t have a single leader. We have famous Jews just like all other religions have famous members, and we have a rabbi, but there is no single Jew or group of Jews that control all Jews and want to take over the world. How stupid can anyone get? We’re a fraction of one percent of the world. I remember my grandfather telling me that there were pamphlets spread all over Russia, saying that the Jews were out to destroy the country. It was a firestorm for Jews. That’s when plenty of them were killed. Now do you know why I worry, David?”

“I guess so, Dad, as he drummed his fingers on the kitchen table.”

Ben noted the drumming. “Anyhow, Hitler mentions the Protocols, but only in a short paragraph. He even says that a Frankfurt newspaper often says it is a forgery, but he uses that as proof that the Protocols are true, because he says…hold on…let me read his quote, ‘The Frankfurter newspaper moans and screams once every week: the best proof that the Protocols are authentic.’

“I found this to be almost funny, because you remember when I said that the best ways to hide one’s intentions are to publicize them for the entire world to see? Well that’s what his book is all about; he’s publicizing and therefore hiding his intentions. I can’t help but think we are in great danger. This maniac has worked out his complete plan for how the Jews will take over the world. It’s insane.”

In an effort to throw some humor into the conversation, David said, “Tell me how we’ll do it, Dad. When I’m older, I’ll be ready to be the boss.”

Ben‘s expression changed. He stared at his son without saying a word for ten seconds. Then, with a calm voice, he said, “David…you find this funny, do you?”

“Uhh…no dad.” He looked at his father’s stern expression, realized that his effort at humor had failed, and said, “I’m sorry, dad.”

In a louder voice, Ben said, “You’re doing what I told you the people I try to speak with about this subject do; they make fun of it. It stops me cold. Damn, David, I’m dead serious. You’re my son and I love you. I believe we’re in danger, but I have no idea what the future will hold, so I’m trying to prepare you and I want to give you options. This is serious. Do you want me to go on?”

With head bowed David said, “I’m very sorry, dad, please go on.”

Ben sighed. “Ok, I love you and I accept your apology and understand that you were just trying to make a joke.” He paused and then said, “Now where was I?”

“You were going to tell Hitler’s theory about how the Jews will take over the world.”

“Oh yes. It’s a story that made no sense to me, but here’s what he says. It goes on for pages and pages with all kinds of detail, but I’ll make it short. He starts with a single Jewish peddler who comes into a small town and the people accept him. This is a handy guy to have around. He’s harmless and you can buy some nice stuff from him. Then the Jew becomes successful and other Jews join him. They settle in a separate section of the town, build a pretty good business and start to lend money, all the time building what Hitler calls a state within a state. Hitler never mentions that the Jew had to make his own way in life because nothing was open to him. Nobody hired him because he was Jewish and there were quotas on him for schools that would only accept very few Jews. He had to fend for himself because that’s all he could do. Then the population starts getting jealous of the Jew’s success. He buys land, becomes a financier and charges interest. He becomes more successful and starts acting like a German, which makes Hitler angry. Pretty soon he takes over much of financing and starts having some influence on the highest levels of government becoming a “court Jew.” Then he gets on the stock exchange and before you know it, he has lots of control and influence on big business and government. Then he overthrows the Monarchy, controls the unions, forms a Democracy and even goes so far as to poison the Aryan’s blood by seducing the Aryan women. Not only that, but he also brings in all kinds of “inferior human beings,” as Hitler calls them, to intermix with the Aryans and “dilute their blood” as he puts it, so that the Aryans will all be made inferior and then the Jews will take over. You see, for Hitler, the Aryan German is the number one superior being. He goes so far as to say that they should be the masters of the earth, but the Jewish polluting influence will make that impossible. The last thing the Jew does is to turn the country Communistic. How’s that for power, David, and all this coming from a little Jewish Peddler.”

“Wow,” said David. You’re right, he is nuts.”

“Well this nut runs a country, wants to conquer the world, and hates Jews, so where does that put us? That’s all I’m asking.”

“What kind of a weirdo thinks like that?” asked David.

Ben looked at his son who had a quizzical look on his face. He smiled and said, “That’s an excellent question, David. Do you want me to give you a medical analysis…or at least what I think about him and his warped mind?”

“Yeah, that would be good. I want to be a doctor like you, you know.”

“Okay, David, here’s what I think. Did you ever hear of the word narcissist?”

“Uhh, no.”

“Well, a narcissist is someone who has a personality disorder that gives one a feeling of great self-importance. They are preoccupied with themselves. They know it all. They know what’s best for everyone.”

“Well, that fits him alright,” shot back David.

“Yes, and it can get dangerous,” said Ben, “Because they create such a personality cult around themselves that the people are mesmerized. The narcissist is usually a great speaker and they can almost hypnotize their followers and give them hope. People become like putty in the hands of a pathological narcissist who tries to shape the world to his way of thinking. The bad news is that they can succeed. Their personality is so forceful that they will usually reach their final objective because they turn their admirers to their way of thinking. Power is all they are concerned about and it does not matter whom their reach for power affects. Everything in a narcissist’s life is about him and everything that is not about him and his goal is nothing.”

“That’s scary,” said David.

“Scary is not the word for it. Dangerous is a better word because this narcissist has the Jews in his bulls eye and his main goal is to rid the world of them!”

“I don’t know, dad, but I think all this is leading up to the fact that you’re about to tell me we’re leaving the country.”

“That’s right, David. Let me get your mother and Emily in here. I want us all to be part of this discussion now. Leah,” he called aloud.

“Yes,” she answered from the living room.

“Can you come in the kitchen? I’ve just been talking to David.”

“Be right there,” said Leah.

Leah Rozenovich Frohman was also a refugee from Russia arriving in Germany three years after her future husband. They both were one of the Eastern European Jewish refugees, or Ostjuden, (Eastern European Jews), whose families were fleeing the anti-Semitism of the Russian Czar. The Ostjuden, considered by the Nazis and even other Jews as inferior, would arrive in the early years of the twentieth century, but didn’t know that they would have to deal with a future political party, Nazis, whose newspaper, The Voelkisher Beobachter, would publish the following on March 10. 1920:

‘There are various views on the ultimate aim and task of the German-National (deutsch-voelkisch) movement regarding the Jews. One believes that so-called explanatory work is all that is needed; the next only wants to “eliminate” the Jewish spirit from the “cultural” field; a third only from the economy and a fourth has other aims again, and all the opinions become confused...

Quite apart from this we consider that it is much more urgent and necessary that the local groups should seek to operate first of all on their home ground and to sweep away Ostjuden and Jewish vermin in general with an iron broom....The Ostjuden must be got rid of without delay, and ruthless measures must be taken immediately against all other Jews. Such measures might be, for instance, the immediate removal of Jews from all Government employment, newspaper offices, theaters, cinemas, etc.; in short, the Jew must be deprived of all possibilities to continue to make his disastrous influence felt. In order that the unemployed Semites cannot secretly undermine us and agitate against us, they should be placed in collecting camps.... Voelkischer Beobachter, No. 20/34, March 10, 1920.’

Hitler and his cronies, long before they came to power, had their plans all prepared— including future concentration camps—and published them for all to see. But who would notice and believe it? Indeed, as early as 1920, during the very early development of the Nazi party, the first few Nazis would establish their creed and future vision for Germany—a Germany free of Jews.

Leah, with Emily trailing behind, entered the kitchen and joined the two men at the able. Eight-year-old Emily looked just like her mother, with black hair, large hazel colored eyes, and a smile that could light up a room. She was sensing the tension in the household for the last six months, clinged closer to her mother and smiled less.

“What have my two favorite men been talking about?” asked Leah.

Ben answered, “David and I were talking about what we plan to do about conditions in the country. We got to the part that we’re going to move.”

“Yeah, but we didn’t talk about where yet,” interjected David.

“That’s right,” said Ben. “I was getting to that, but wanted your mother to be here first. We’re going to live in Minsk in Byelorussia. Right now, Minsk is in the Union of Socialist Soviet Republic (USSR), or Russia, Ukraine, Byelorussia and other neighboring countries organized together. Your mother was born in Byelorussia and I was born not too far from there in Northeast Poland under Russian control.”

“Well at least there is no more Czar there,” said David, “but what about anti-Semitism?”

“No matter where we would go around the world, we’ll find people who hate, but in the Soviet Union as it’s now called, it’s better than here in Germany where now anti-Semitism is government policy and getting worse all the time. The good news is that when I went to Minsk to take a medical course, I lined up a good job in a clinic and hospital there for your mother and me. And I found a nice gym with good gymnastic equipment and a twenty-five meter swimming pool. It looked as nice as anything here does. I feel we should live okay. Your mother and I speak perfect Russian, which is the language there, and you and Emily do pretty well with it too. In no time, at all you will both be experts. You know how much your mother knows about history and current events and she too feels that we have to leave Germany.”

“You smart kids understand Russian pretty well, so it’ll be a good idea if we talk Russian from now on, so we’ll all be better by the time we get there. We’ll be leaving in three weeks as soon as school is over before the summer.”

Emily sobbed, left her chair, sat on her mother’s lap, threw her arms around her mother’s neck and said, “Will we be able to swim, Momma?”

“You bet we will, Emily, and you know, you said you want to be a nurse like mommy. Well, daddy and I will be working in the hospital there, and I’ll start teaching you about nursing, so by the time you’re ready for nursing school, you sure will be ready. And don’t forget what daddy said about the swimming pool. We’ll both go there whenever we can, and I can take you there so you can swim with the other girls—and maybe you’ll even swim with your old mommy sometime, even though you’re so much better than I am. I’m sure they have a swim team you can join.”

Emily smiled and hugged her mother.

Ben said, “And David, there’s a good high school and university there and you’ll be able to start next semester. When I was there and visited the gym, I spoke with the gymnastics coach. I told him about how good you were and he said he’s anxious to check

you out and it sounds like you’ll be able to make the senior boy’s team. They have competitions just like we have here in Germany. I watched the boys work out and I think you’ll be as good as the best of them, maybe even better.”

“Sounds good, Dad, as long as we’re all there together—that’s all that counts.”

“Perfect, David, that’s the only thing that counts.”

Leah nodded and smiled. “Okay, kids, go and finish your homework,” said Leah. “Emily, get me when you’re finished and I’ll check it over.”

“Okay, mom.”

After both children left the kitchen, Leah said, “You did a good job with David, honey.”

“Thanks. We’ve got smart and great children thanks to my brainy wife. Thank God for the Jewish Community Center where I saw this dazzling creature sitting against the wall.I just pray we’re doing the right thing.”

“We are, Ben. We must. For the last three years, we watched Hitler consolidate his power. The man is as ruthless as a human being can become. He’s putting all his Mein Kampf ravings in place, and he’s starting with you and me and all the Jews of Germany. He didn’t waste any time. He wants us out and he’s succeeding. It wouldn’t be safe for any Jew in Germany any more and whoever doesn’t leave is playing with their lives.”

“That’s what I tried to tell, David,” said Ben.

“I’m sure you did a great job. David could understand. I just want to shield Emily a bit now. She’s too young and it would worry her at this age. We just have to act as if we’re moving to another country as a family with no deep reasons behind it. It will be easier there in Byelorussia where she will not have to hear about Hitler ranting and raving about the Jews.”

“Is this madman going to bring another World War to the world?” asked David.

“A Nostradamus I’m not, but all the chess pieces seem to me to be falling into place. The world is worried about it and I have to agree. Don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. Tell me, my genius wife, what do you think? You are my main teacher now that I don’t go to school anymore.”

Leah laughed. “Well, in this year alone three things have happened that in my mind, at least, all point in that direction…”

“What three things?” interrupted Ben.

“First, the Versailles Treaty demilitarized the Rhineland. This area is all German territory west of the Rhine with three big cities: Cologne, Dusseldorf and Bonn. In Hitler’s mind, it meant that Germany couldn’t use it. The effect was that it was no longer part of Germany. How long do you think he would stand for that? It took him three years, but he acted; he sent troops there. Shouldn’t the French have kicked him out?”

Ben asked, “Why didn’t they?”

“I wish I knew. I suppose they didn’t want any bloodshed. Since the Rhineland territory was under treaty from Versailles, all the others who signed the treaty should have gotten together and kicked the Nazis out. So they didn’t and that left the French on the border and they didn’t want to act alone. That’s my best guest. Anyhow, I’m sure it left Hitler feeling like a military genius. It just emboldened him. God knows what he’ll do next.”

“You got that right, but he doesn’t need any more emboldening. He already thinks that he’s a political genius,” added Ben.

“Well, now you could add military to that list. I’m sure he’s beginning to think that he’s a prophet. God knows what a man like that is capable of.”

“I agree. You said three things. What else is there?” asked Ben

“Another thing happened that had nothing to do with Hitler, but had to do with another Fascist dictator—Mussolini.”

“Oh, you mean Abbysinia?”

“Yes, here was a great power and look what they did to a primitive country.”

“So why do you use this as an example? Hitler probably never even knew that Mussolini would do this.”

“You’re right, I’m sure, but it’s just an example of what Fascism can lead to when strong men think they can do what they want in the name of building their empire. This Rhineland thing was one of Hitler’s first attempts to reconstruct his empire, and I’ll bet you anything that it’s only number one in what will be more grabs by this madman. There’s plenty of talk about “The Great German Empire”—A Greater Reich. Don’t you think that’s his goal?”

“So, Hitler sees Mussolini in action, and it just wants to make him flex his muscles too,” said Ben.

“Sure, Mussolini has been Hitler’s idol. When Hitler tried his Beer Hall Putsch in Munich way back in twenty-three, he was trying to take over the government just like Mussolini took over Italy. But for Hitler, It didn’t work. He wasn’t ready. But he never took his eye off the prize. You got to give him credit for single-mindedness. I’m afraid the world will pay a price.”

“The Jews are already paying that price. The world might later,” added Ben.

“I don’t think there’s any later about it. It’s already starting.”

“And what’s number three?” asked Ben.

“Number three is the big one, Spain. Their government couldn’t govern. Left leaning socialistic parties competed against right-wing conservative factions; there was increasing polarization. When you have such chaos, here comes another Fascist group, a bunch of right-wing generals led by General Francisco Franco. And what do they do? They do what Fascists do best, they try to seize power. So what happens? A civil war. Who do you think jumps into that stew?”

“Yeah, Hitler and Mussolini.”

“They made a pact with Franco, giving him military support in return for large quantities of raw materials for their war machine. It worked. This enabled Franco to capture more and more territory. What do Britain and France and the United States do? You got it…nothing, but they did sign a Non-Intervention Pact thinking it would contain the war by not providing the government with armaments. But all it did was benefit Franco who conquered more and more territory.”

“It sounds like Fascism is getting to be the wave of the future,” said Ben.

“Pray it isn’t. You can already see what it can lead to in Germany. Anyhow, Franco couldn’t capture the north part of Spain, so he asked Hitler for the loan of his latest air force fighters and bombers. Hitler didn’t hesitate; this would be the perfect opportunity to test his improved air force. He formed the Condor legion you read about. What a perfect chance for a dress rehearsal. Not only could he try out his military for the war he dreams about, but there were a lot of political reasons the war was tailor-made for him.”

“What were they?”

“First of all, France had always been Germany’s worst enemy. Now France had two Fascist states surrounding it—Germany and Italy. What better than to have a third one, Spain, on France’s border.

“Second, there was a lot of political strife between the right and the left in France, which was being made worse by the Spanish Civil War; and the more strife in France the better, when it came to the relationship between France and Germany.”

“Is that because all that political strife in France weakened her in her relationship with Germany?” asked Ben.

“Bingo. It was all to Germany’s advantage, and another thing in Germany’s favor was the third point: German collaboration with Italy in Spain kept Britain and France in conflict with Italy thus driving Mussolini toward Germany. Hitler liked that.”

“All I have to say is…thank you again, God, for the Jewish Community Center in Berlin, and thank God for my classmate who convinced me to go to a dance there.”

“I thank him too,” said Leah.

The stage was being set—a dress rehearsal of what was to ensue in the world conflict to come. Hitler, forged in the flames of conflict, was feeling invincible. He ordered his armed forces to prepare for war in four years; another promise he would keep.

The Frohman family was on the way to Minsk to seek a better life, but before thy left there was one more thing they had to do, a promise Ben made to his son that he would be sure to keep.