But in just two days, the Nazis had taken away our only source of income and threatened our home. We knew the pressure would only increase if we continued to resist, but we had so little left…only the most important things in our world. Our family and our lives. Once we realized that, saying no was no longer an option. By the end of the following week, Jürgen had started his new, highly paid civilian position at the Army facility at Kummersdorf.

16

Sofie

Huntsville, Alabama
1950

Jürgen and I agreed that we should try to get into a routine as quickly as possible. A whole group of German children were starting school the Monday after the party, and Gisela was starting with them.

I helped her don her favorite dress and styled her hair into two long braids, then showed her the lunch I’d prepared for her—dark rye bread with liverwurst, and nutty Elisenlebkuchen cookies for snacks. She barely managed a smile.

“Are you ready to go?” Jürgen asked as he joined us in the kitchen, dressed for work. He had purchased a second car for me but it wouldn’t arrive until later in the week, and I needed time to learn the road rules anyway. So for the time being he would drop Gisela at school, and Felix and I would walk to pick her up afterward.

“Mama,” Gisela whispered. “I’m so nervous.”

“Just stay with the other German students. You’ll all be in the same boat, but the very best way to learn a new language is immersion. Isn’t that right, Papa?”

“It absolutely is,” Jürgen said in English, and Gisela gave me one last terrified look, then followed him out the door. As soon as they were gone, I crouched to meet Felix’s gaze. He had been hiding beneath the dining room table.

“Are you ready to come out yet, little man?”

“Is he gone?” Felix asked, glancing anxiously about the room.

“He’s your papa,” I scolded him gently. “You’re going to have to get used to him sooner or later.”

“Later,” Felix decided, and he climbed out and hooked his arm around my thigh, resting his head against me. I reached down to touch his soft curls. “Breakfast, Mama?”

Once Felix ate and was dressed for the day, I packaged one of the extra batches of Elisenlebkuchen into a brown paper bag, and we walked hand in hand toward Claudia’s house. I knocked on her door, and when she opened it, I offered her the bag.

“I brought you a little gift.” I smiled. “I thought maybe we could have a cup of coffee? Get to know one another?”

She reached tentatively for the bag but didn’t move out of the doorway. Instead, she tilted her head at me.