Page 24 of The Righteous

“THIS IS IT,” Theresa said in front of a classic two-story brownstone home. A street sign read Harmat Utca .

Julia was puzzled. “Harmat Utca?”

Theresa smiled. “It means ‘Dew Street.’ Don’t ask me why.

” They stood there for a moment. Theresa finally said, “I’m nervous.

Maybe this isn’t our house anymore. I don’t see my father’s car.

” She walked up to the door and put her hand around the doorknob.

“It’s locked,” she said. “I’ve never known them to lock the door. ”

“Times are different,” Julia said. “Why don’t you just knock?”

“It seems weird, knocking on my own door. What if my parents moved? I left ten years ago. There was no war back then. How would I know who lives here now?”

“Like this,” Julia said as she reached out and rang the doorbell.

After a moment, they heard a woman’s voice. “ Ki az? ”

Theresa immediately shouted, “ En vagyok az, Anya! A lanyod, Theresa! ”

The door was opened by a woman, tall and thin like her daughter, but with gray hair.

Their facial features were remarkably similar, but Anya’s jaw was trembling, and her breaths were short, like gasps.

“Terri, Terri,” she said hysterically as she threw her arms around her daughter.

Julia also broke into tears. Theresa reached over, put her arm around Julia, and pulled her into a three-way hug.

“ Anya ,” she said, gesturing at Julia, “ o Julia. ”

Her mother stepped back and said, “ Emlekszem rad, Julia. ”

“She says she remembers you,” Theresa said. Her mother showed them into the living room, searched her memory for the correct words, and finally said, “I meet you at Michigan, Julia. When we come with Terri.”

Julia was surprised. “You speak English so well, Mrs. Weissbach.”

“She taught herself when I went away to school,” Theresa said.

“Remarkable.”

“She asks that you either call her Anya , which means ‘Mother,’ or by her given name, Greta.”

Theresa asked where her father was. Was he working at the hospital?

Greta shook her head and answered that he was not working full-time.

Only for special cases. “He has been very active at the synagogue lately, and right now, he is in a meeting there. He says it is an important meeting.” When Theresa asked what the meeting was about, Greta admitted she did not know.

It was a hush-hush meeting—that was all she knew. Greta tapped her finger on her lips.

“I almost forgot,” Julia said, and she handed the bag of tortes to Greta, who responded with a string of koszonom s, which Julia knew meant “Thank you very much.”

“I love these,” Greta said as she stepped into the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee. A few minutes later, she set a table and invited them to be seated. “Such a surprise,” she said. “I did not expect to see you here in Budapest. Not these days. Not since the war started in 1941.”

“We had special permission,” Theresa said. “But the real reason I’m here is that I begged and begged to come see you, and the right people heard me and brought me to Budapest. To you, Anya. I’ve been so worried about you and Apa and Sammy and Becca. It is so dangerous these days.”

Greta answered with a smile, saying, “No, no, Terri, we’re not in danger.

Budapest is safe. You just walked along the streets, didn’t you?

Were they dangerous? You didn’t see armies and guns.

It’s been very quiet for the last three years even though we are in a state of war with England and Russia. ”

“And the United States,” added Julia.

“You’re not following why I’m so concerned, Anya,” said Theresa.

“It’s because you are Jewish, our family is Jewish, and that’s why you are in danger.

Hungary is the last Jewish community left in Europe.

Hitler has decimated all the others, and if he has his way…

well. It doesn’t matter. I came here because I want you to think about moving somewhere safe until the danger is gone. ”

Greta shook her head. “Oh, Terri, you are so sweet. But this is the only home we’ve ever known.

I know that our government has, from time to time, issued unfair rules against Jews, but religious prejudice is nothing new.

The Bible tells you that Jews have faced prejudice for thousands of years.

But you grew up here, you know Budapest; it is home to a lovely Jewish community, no matter what the Hungarian leaders may think about us from time to time.

I really don’t know anything about Jewish communities in other European countries.

We don’t get that news. I assume there may be prejudice in other countries too. Maybe it’s like us, maybe it is worse.”

“I’m not talking about simple prejudice, Anya. Obviously, the truth is being withheld from the Hungarian Jewish community. The Budapesti have no access to the outside world, and they don’t know what is going on. You don’t even have a working telephone.”

“I have a telephone. It had better work—your brother is an administrator for the Budapest Telephone Company. Two years ago, they blocked international calls for security reasons. That is why you couldn’t call us.

” Greta shrugged. “Look, the first half of my life, we didn’t have phones at all, and we got along just fine.

When the war is over, the telephones will work again just fine.

Sweetheart, I don’t want to think about leaving Hungary.

Where would I go? The Nazis aren’t here, and there is no reason for them to come here.

Hungary is on the same side as Germany. They don’t want to fight us. ”

“Anya, we think they may come here anyway. They have gone into other countries that are on their side. They wouldn’t have to fight; they would just walk in and take over the government without a fight.

Then they will appoint people to run our country.

That’s what they do. They’ve done that elsewhere.

And when they do, they pass terrible laws and pogroms designed to punish the Jews.

That is the reason I came here. Of course I wanted so badly to see you, but also to tell you that it may be necessary to leave Hungary before it gets bad. ”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Greta murmured. “What would your father say?”

“We’ll see.” Theresa checked her watch. “When will Apa be home?”

Greta shrugged. “He left for synagogue early this morning, and I don’t know when he will come home. I don’t know if he is still at synagogue or if he has gone someplace else.”

“Can you call him at the synagogue? Can you tell him that we are here and we want to talk to him? Don’t say we want you to leave Hungary or anything like that. Don’t talk about the war or the Nazis. Just say we’re here, we love him, and we want to talk.”

“He doesn’t like it if I interrupt him at synagogue. He is a very important leader there. He was the president for several years before his heart attack, and he is still well respected. The congregants all look up to him.”

“Then I’ll call him,” Theresa said. “He won’t get mad at his little girl.”

Greta gave the telephone number to Theresa, who made the call. “This is Theresa Weissbach,” she said to the man who answered the phone. “Is it possible to speak to my father, Mr. Benjamin Weissbach?”

“I’m sorry,” the man said, “but he is in an important meeting with Rabbi Levy, and the assistant rabbi, and members of the board of directors. He would not like it if I disturbed him.”

“How long will the meeting last?”

“There is no way to know, Miss Weissbach. I would not expect your father to return home until very late tonight. Like I said, it’s very, very important.”

“Well, this call is just as important, maybe more so. So, if you don’t mind, please put him on the phone. Otherwise, I will come over to the synagogue. I want to speak to my father, meeting or no meeting.”

The man breathed a sigh of surrender followed by a series of grumbles. “All right. Just wait, and I will see if he will talk.”

“For God’s sake, Greta,” Benjamin Weissbach said, “what is so damn important that you would disrupt my meeting? You know better than to call me out of a meeting.”

“It’s not Greta,” Theresa said firmly. “It’s Terri. Your daughter. And I came to Budapest to see you!”

“Gottenyu! Theresa, how were you able to call long distance to Budapest? What is the emergency? Are you ill?”

“I didn’t call long distance, Apa. I just said I’m here at home, our home, and I’m fine. I came a long way to see you and Anya.”

“Why did you come here from Michigan, where you were safe? How did you even get here? Wait! Don’t answer. No more talking on the phone! The lines are not secure. Whatever we have to say should be said only in person.”

“That’s why I called. When can I see you?”

“We will break around four o’clock for dinner. Can you come over to the synagogue at that time?”

“No. Anya is making dinner. I’d rather see you both together, anyway. Then I can answer all your questions. And I have questions.”

“Ah, I can’t leave right now. Today’s meeting is crucial. I cannot tell you the reasons on the telephone. Please, come to the synagogue after break. We can talk for a while then.”

While they waited until it was time to leave for the synagogue, the conversation turned to Theresa’s brother, Samuel, and her sister, Rebecca. After all, it was Theresa’s intention to rescue all of them and take them all out of Hungary. “What is Samuel doing these days?” Theresa asked.

“A few years ago, he took a job with his friend Joel Brand at Joel’s father’s company. He owns the Budapest Telephone Company,” Greta said.

“Mr. Brand owns the telephone company? That’s interesting. Sammy works for the phone company and my mother isn’t able to call her daughter in Michigan.”