Page 31 of The Righteous
“I will never understand the German hatred of the Jewish religion,” said Becca.
“There is nothing in our religion that preaches hate against Germans or people of different religions. We are not taught to hate them. Two days ago, a German SS Gruppenführer, a very high-ranking officer, lay on our operating table close to death, as close as one could get. The German officer came to our hospital, a hospital founded by Ignaz Semmelweis, a Jewish surgeon, a hundred years ago. Why did the German soldier come to Semmelweis? Because we are the best. Our surgical teams are the most advanced, and his surgery was technically difficult. He would have died at some other hospital that wasn’t similarly proficient.
The surgery team took six hours, and it was successful.
He will live. No one stopped to ask what religion he belonged to.
All of us knew that as a high-ranking member of the SS, he wasn’t Jewish, and that, as a Nazi captain, he would have no love for the Jews.
Yet we did what we were trained to do. That’s the irony. ”
Then it was Theresa’s turn. “Why am I here?” she said.
“I was comfortable in Ann Arbor and moving up the career ladder. I missed you all, of course, but I came here because I had an opportunity. Naturally, I was worried half to death about you. I hadn’t talked to you in a year, I didn’t know what was happening.
It was always my mission to take my family out of here to a place of safety. ”
“I know that is your mission,” Sammy said, “and I can’t speak for the rest of the family, but I’m really not ready to leave. Alana doesn’t want to leave either.”
“No one wants to leave,” Julia said, “but given the choice between immigrating to a safe country like Turkey or being arrested and deported to a Nazi concentration camp, the answer is simple. It is one of survival.”
“That may have been the case in other countries, like Poland or Holland, but Hungary is different,” argued Sammy.
“The Jewish side of Budapest society is strong and wealthy. Germans respect us. Horthy respects us. That is why there have been no deportations in the three years of the war. Hungary is Germany’s ally. ”
Suddenly, the door opened and Theresa’s father, Benjamin Weissbach, entered.
He looked tired. Theresa thought that the weight of the recent stress had aged him.
His back, formerly upright, now showed a curvature, and his shoulders, formerly strong and square, now tended to slope.
There were bags under his eyes. Theresa went to him immediately and helped him to the chair at the head of the table.
Greta darted into the kitchen to fix a plate for him.
“Apa, are you okay?” Theresa said.
A slight shrug was his answer. “It has been a stressful day and night,” he said softly.
“Was it a stormy meeting at the synagogue?”
He nodded slowly. “It wasn’t stormy because we were fighting among ourselves. It was because of the dreadful news we received and the uncertainty of how to respond.” He shook his head. “There are no answers.”
Greta placed dinner in front of him and kissed him gently on his forehead.
“What was the news?” Sammy said. “It can’t have been that bad.”
Benjamin shook his head and waved his hand back and forth, a sign that he didn’t want to discuss it.
“Well, let me ask this,” Sammy said. “Was it a matter that concerned only the synagogue, or did it concern all of Budapest?”
“Tell me, son, what is the difference? Does an impending disaster in Budapest not also affect our synagogue? Have you not seen the German soldiers on our streets?” he said. Everyone agreed. “Their numbers are increasing by the hour. They have come to stay.”
“How do you know that?” Sammy asked. “Is that just a rumor Rabbi Levy has started?”
“I wish that were so. The soldiers march in and go where they want, all without any opposition. None whatsoever. No one has even asked them to leave. They cross the border as if there is no border. There are no Hungarian forces stationed at the border to stop them. It was reported at the meeting that the Nazis have taken control of the police station, the train station, the bus station, the city hall, even the newspaper. There is no shooting. There are no arrests, at least not yet. It has been a quiet takeover, but it has been thorough. There is no doubt that they are now in charge of Hungary.”
“Why are we letting them do that?” Sammy said. “What about our defense department? We have a strong army. What are they doing?”
“The commander of our army is the regent, Miklós Horthy, and he is out of town. Absent his authority, there is no one who can order or command our army to do anything about the influx of German soldiers. Regent Horthy is in absentia. Now there is no doubt why Horthy has been called to meet with Hitler in the palace outside of Salzburg. He has been there for three days, enough time for the German army to occupy our country.”
Theresa rose and walked across the room. She picked up the telephone. “I want to contact Carl,” she said. “I want to inform him of what you have seen, and he might have information to share with us.” She dialed and waited. Then she shook her head. “It’s dead.”
“I’d better get down to the office,” Sammy said. “There is no reason for service to be down.”
“We need to get back to the embassy,” Julia said. “Carl is bound to have answers, and if anyone has ideas on what we should do, it would be Carl.”
“Apa, maybe you should come with us,” Theresa said. “You are Budapest’s conscience. You speak for the people. You know the responsible people in every facet of Budapest society. Carl has mentioned to us that he intended to use you as a valuable resource.”
“I can’t leave your mother,” he replied.
“Nonsense,” Greta said defiantly with her hands on her hips. “I’m safe. What do they want with an old lady like me? You go with your daughter to meet with the Swiss ambassador. If you are in a position to help your country, you need to go.”
Alana, who had been mostly silent throughout the evening, said, “I’ll stay with Anya. She’ll be all right. Theresa is right. You should go, Mr. Weissbach.”