Page 41 of The Righteous
JULIA AND THERESA decided that it would be best to leave Budapest during the dark of night and load the car at Pearl’s house and return as soon as possible.
She lived eighty-five kilometers away in a scenic area beside a lake.
The drive would take a little over one hour.
The nearest city to her was Gyongyos. Theresa reasoned that it was more likely that the Operation Reinhard SS squads would take their prisoners during the light of day when they could see them.
That turned out to be only partially correct.
The SS would also approach the families at dinnertime or bedtime, when they were bound to be at home and in one place.
Julia smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Apa, we will be very careful. We have our letters of protection that say we’re administrative personnel working for the Swiss consulate, and we will stay clear of the SS.”
“What I meant to say was please be careful of my car; it doesn’t have a scratch on it. I just put gas in the tank and filled the tires. And please don’t let the dog chew on the upholstery.”
Theresa laughed and took the keys, and the two headed out.
The road to Pearl’s little house in the country was curvy and hilly and went through the little towns of Mogyoród, Godoll?, Nyúldomb, and Hatvah.
Though it was the middle of the night, there were still some cars on the road.
Most were headed in the opposite direction, toward Budapest, with luggage strapped to the roof and on the top of the trunk.
They were obviously fleeing the countryside.
In Hatvah, Theresa and Julia saw large numbers of families huddled together in the square outside the church.
Was this their restricted area? Were the Jews who lived in the country outside of Hatvah forced into this city?
Was this their appointed ghetto? Were they under guard? Until when?
Theresa drove down the highway and then turned the car down a little dirt road.
The road wound through a wooded area and ended up at a lake.
“I used to love coming here as a child,” she said.
“Especially in the summertime. There is a pier and a floating deck, and we would spend hours jumping into that lake. My Uncle Masi was a fisherman, and he bought this property many years ago. After he died, Aunt Pearl stayed on. Even though she didn’t fish and rarely went swimming, she didn’t have the heart to leave. All her memories are here.”
They unlocked the door and went inside the house.
They were immediately greeted by Althea.
She was a brown-and-white pointer, very friendly, and not much of a watchdog.
Pearl had given them a list, and they went through the house gathering the items. They found a leash for Althea, a bag of her food, and a couple of bones, and soon, they were ready to go.
Suddenly, the door burst open. There stood an older man dressed in overalls and a leather cap.
He held a carbine in his hands, his finger on the trigger.
“Don’t move,” he said. “What the hell you doing in Pearl’s house? You looking to arrest her? Are you Nazis? Do they have women working for the Gestapo now? Hands up!”
Althea growled, lunged forward, yanking on the leash, almost pulling Julia over. The man leveled his rifle and looked at the dog. “Let that dog loose,” he said. “Come on over here, Althea, you bloodhound. That’s Pearl’s dog, and you’d better not hurt her.”
Theresa shouted, “Stop! Do I look like a Nazi? We’re not Nazis. Pearl is my aunt, and I am picking up her things for her. My name is Theresa Weissbach.”
“Prove it.”
She took out her wallet and showed the man her letter. “Are you satisfied?”
The man lowered the rifle and stepped back.
“Sorry,” he said softly. “There have been so many Nazis in this area over the last three days that you can never be too careful. I thought they were breaking in here to arrest Pearl. If she had been here, they would have forced her into their truck and taken her away. I wasn’t going to let them do that. ”
“Where would they have taken her?”
“I don’t know. Some say to a brickyard in Hatvah. You can see they are clearing out the countryside. Drive up and down the road and you won’t see nobody. They want us all off our farms. Maybe they want to own the farms, but if they do, then who’s going to be the farmers? The Nazis? Ha!”
“They don’t want the farms,” Theresa said. “They want all of the Jewish people who live in the countryside to move into the cities. They have their names and addresses. Ultimately, they want to take the Jews away to a prison.”
“And because Pearl Weissbach is a Jew, that’s the reason they want to take her to a prison?”
“Right. Are you Jewish?” Theresa asked. “If so, you’d better stay out of sight.”
“I’m not a Jew, but I’m no Nazi either. Pearl is my friend, Jew or no Jew. That is why I pulled my gun on you.” He stuck out his hand. “My name is Ansgrat. Thom Ansgrat. If Pearl is your aunt, then you must be Jewish too. If I was you, I’d watch my backside, if you know what I mean.”
“I do, Thom. I appreciate the warning, but I think we should be going now.”
Thom stepped aside, and Julia, Theresa, and Althea walked outside, locked the door behind them, and climbed into the BMW for the trip home.
Julia breathed a sigh of relief as Theresa fired up the car and they pulled back onto the road.
The trip back was uneventful until they were fifteen kilometers outside of Budapest. They came down the hill and around a curve and were confronted by a blockade.
Wooden barricades stretched across the highway.
Armed Nazi guards stood to the side, stopping and searching each of the cars.
They questioned the occupants and on occasion pulled them out of the car, handcuffed them, and held them captive on the side of the road.
Theresa wanted to make a U-turn and drive away, but with cars in the front of her and to the rear, it was impossible.
The only hope was that the Swiss IDs would do their job.
“They’re looking at lists and comparing them to the occupants,” Julia said. “They must have the names and addresses of Jewish residents in this area. I wonder where they got that?”
“Do you think they have the names and addresses of nine hundred thousand Jews?” said Theresa. “It would take a library to hold that list.”
“Thom said they had the names of the Jewish people who lived in the country. Maybe that’s why they haven’t come into Budapest yet,” said Julia.
“It wouldn’t be hard to get that information,” Theresa answered.
“The synagogues would have the names and addresses of their members. There are birth certificates and registrations at the city halls. They can’t go everywhere in the country at once, but they can go from section to section, and ultimately, it can be done.
It’s just a matter of where and when they concentrate their searches next. ”
Finally, Theresa’s car moved to the front, and the SS guard walked up and rapped on the window. “Identifications,” he said. He looked at the dog and smiled. “I wouldn’t mind taking this one home,” he said to his companion. Then he turned his attention back to Theresa. “Identification, now!”
Theresa pulled out her Swiss ID and showed it to the guard.
“We’re Swiss embassy officials,” she said.
He curled his fingers, instructing her to hand the paper to him.
She hesitated. It could be a mistake to give her ID to the guard.
She might never get it back. “We are Swiss government employees, and we have an assignment in this area,” she said.
“We have authority to travel these roads without interference. We are returning to the Swiss embassy in Budapest.”
“Get out of the car,” the guard ordered. “I’ll decide who has authority. Right now, it’s me! I’m going to search you two and the contents of this car. That is my authority.”
Theresa stuck out her chin. “You have no right to search Swiss vehicles. You are committing a violation of German law by disrespecting Swiss immunity. I will report you. What is your name and rank?”
Julia sat silently, amazed at the boldness displayed by her friend. She held Althea, who must have recognized the confrontation and buried her head.
“ Raus! ” the man shouted and waved his gun. Again he gestured for the ID. “ Das Dokument. Steig sofort aus dem Auto aus! Mach schnell! ”
Theresa stayed firm and didn’t move. The guard leveled his rifle, pointing it at Theresa’s head. With his finger on the trigger, he pointed it first at Theresa, then at Julia, and then at Althea. “ Raus! ”
Theresa opened the door and got out of the car.
As she did, the guard grabbed her ID. He looked it over as though he didn’t understand it and tore it in half.
With his rifle, he gestured for Theresa and Julia to follow him.
They were walking in the direction of a group of people in handcuffs, prisoners standing by the side of the road.
Theresa loudly stated, “ Immunit?t der Schweizer Regierung! ” and repeated it loudly.
They passed a guard with a billed cap, obviously of a higher rank, perhaps an officer.
He heard Theresa’s shouts and walked over.
He gestured for the SS guard to talk to him in private.
They had a quiet discussion, during which the guard kept shrugging and the officer shook his head.
As they returned, Theresa shouted again that she was a Swiss embassy administrative assistant.
The officer stated, “ Beseise es mir ,” which Theresa understood to mean, “Prove it to me.” The officer repeated, “Let me see your Swiss identification.”
Theresa replied, “I can’t. He took it and tore it up. It’s on the ground somewhere.”
The officer had a questioning look on his face. Maybe Theresa was lying. She couldn’t prove what she was saying. At that moment, Julia stepped up and held out her ID. “Here, look at this. A Swiss ID. Hers is just the same!”
The officer reached for it, but Julia withdrew it.
She didn’t want to hand it to him; she might never see it again.
If they were arrested and taken somewhere, at least she would still have her ID to prove they were covered under Swiss diplomatic immunity.
The officer nodded and bent over to read the ID that Julia held.
He nodded again, and then faced the guard with an annoyed look on his face.
“Let them pass,” he said, and he walked away.
The other guards pulled back the barricade, and the BMW was finally on its way home.
As the blockade faded away in the rearview mirror and the car was speeding down the road, Theresa said, “Can I breathe now?”
Julia petted Althea and said, “Some watchdog you are.”