Page 57 of The Last Safe Place

“The other adults keep telling me how much better it’ll be in Switzerland. But I don’t want to leave. I’ve got friends in Luckenwalde, I’ve got school, I know everyone there. What am I supposed to do in a foreign country?” Eva’s miserable expression almost broke Leonore’s heart. Damn Hitler!

“You know, I’ve always wanted to get away from home and travel the world, but that dream’s been destroyed by the Nazis. When you have to wear a yellow star, you can’t do anything.”

“I’ve noticed that too.” Eva’s lip trembled. “You’re very brave.”

“Not really.” Leonore wrinkled her nose. “If I were brave, I’d be rebelling against the Nazis, but I never have. I just want to enjoy my life. Go out with my friends, to parties, the cinema, the theatre, all the things you do to have fun.”

“I want that too.”

Leonore stopped and sighed deeply. “We all want that, don’t we? By the way, please call me Leonore, you make me feel very old otherwise.”

“How old are you then?”

“Shh.” Leonore held a finger to her lips. “That’s top secret. In my heart, I’m twenty-one.”

Eva laughed. “I’d like to be that age too. Then I wouldn’t have to do what other people tell me all the time.”

Just wait until you realize that other people will make decisions about you all your life. Leonore didn’t speak her thoughts out loud. “You know what? Let’s just pretend we’re the same age. And once we’re in Switzerland, we’ll party till dawn.”

“Why can’t we just stay in Germany?”

“Don’t you find it exciting to discover another country?”

“Not at all.” Eva shrugged. “If I’m honest, I’m scared. What if no one likes me there?”

“Nobody likes us Jews here either. Things can only get better, don’t you think?”

“What if I don’t understand the language?”

Leonore grinned mischievously. “Luckily, we’ll be starting out in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. And although they use a rather uniquedialect,” she pronounced her sentence with a distinctive Swiss-German inflection, “generally, you’ll be able to understand them.”

Even Eva had to laugh at that. “It sounds so simple when you say it.”

“You’ll see, it’s going to be great. The first thing we’ll do is toss these hideous stars in the trash, then buy ourselves a huge bar of chocolate and eat it all in one go.”

“Really?”

“Sure!”

Eva still didn’t seem entirely convinced.

“It can’t be worse than here. Just think how horrible it is walking through the streets with that star on your chest.”

Eva nodded. “Ilse and I haven’t had to wear them until recently. Since then, we haven’t been allowed to go to school.” She looked up at Leonore. “Can you believe I miss the stupid, boring classes?”

“A little,” Leonore lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Anything is better than having to sit around at home entertaining your little sister, right?”

Eva nodded again. “Ilse’s alright most of the time, but sometimes…” she rolled her eyes. “Do you have a little sister too?”

“Yes, I did.” The wave of hatred hit Leonore so suddenly, her entire body swayed. “The Nazis killed her.”

Eva’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh, my God! That’s terrible!”

“She had polio when she was little. Three years ago, they took her away from us and put her in a home for the disabled. Three months later, she was dead. Allegedly from pneumonia. But I know they killed her, her and all the others in that home.” The anger simmered so hot in her throat Leonore struggled to breathe. She could have scratched out the eyes of the institution staff with her own bare hands, and then strangled them.

Eva laid a hand on her arm. “I’m sorry about your sister. Is that why you want to leave?”

“That’s one of the reasons.” Leonore struggled to regain her composure. “I’m afraid they’ll do the same to the Jews.”