Page 47 of The Righteous

GERTRUD AND THERESA arrived at the embassy meeting room shortly after five o’clock. Carl was notified and quickly joined them. Gertrud opened her briefcase and pulled out a folder full of documents. “We have six signed leases and four pending leases,” she said.

“How are they signed?” Carl asked.

“As you instructed me. The lessee is listed as Schweizerische Gesandtschaft—The Swiss Embassy , and it is signed by Gertrud, its authorized representative. Three of the leases are for whole-floor apartments in brownstone buildings, a total of nine units, and three are for single-family homes. Four more apartment leases are pending. One is on the first floor, and two are on the second floor.”

“Good work,” Carl said with a smile. “So that means that the apartment is leased directly to the government of Switzerland, and the government is the authorized tenant. How many people do you envision can occupy these leased apartments?”

“We discussed that,” said Theresa. “Right now, there are homeless refugees living in the sanctuary of the Great Synagogue. They share the two bathrooms, they sleep on benches, and there are no kitchens or living areas. I trust you can envision how difficult it is for people with babies and young children, but they have no choice. These are not vagabonds or derelicts by any means. They are good people who have fled their comfortable lives to protect their families from the SS. Gertrud and I have concluded that they wouldn’t mind sharing an apartment. ”

“That’s correct,” Gertrud said. “Take a look at 512 Juharfa. It has two bedrooms, a sitting room, and a small reading room. What did we say, Theresa? Three families or four families? Of course, it would depend on the size of the families, but we used a family of four as the model.”

“The apartment at 1032 Folyokep is on the third floor, and it is a studio, but it’s a good-size studio.

Two families can live there easily,” Theresa said.

“And 96 Gyorgy is an empty two-story building with large three-bedroom apartments on each floor. We figured between seven and eight families could live there, depending on the size of the family. It would be tight, but there is room.”

“We saw one apartment building that we think has potential. It looked empty. There was a broken window. I don’t know how much more work it needs, but I think it could hold four families.

It wasn’t one of the properties on my list, so there wasn’t any way to contact the owner today. I just left a note on the door.”

Gertrud poured herself a cup of coffee and became wistful.

“You know, Carl and I have been here for a couple of years now. As more-or-less outside observers, we’ve seen what has been happening to the Jewish community.

Some restrictions have been imposed, some limitations, decidedly unfair, but they have been minor.

Throughout the years of this terrible war, the Budapest Jewish community has remained strong and safe.

We never observed soldiers coming to arrest or discipline the Jewish residents in any way.

So, why did everything suddenly change in 1944?

The war started five years ago. It isn’t like the Jews took up arms or revolted.

Why did the Nazis suddenly pick this time to attack the Jews? ”

“Maybe it was because of Miklós Kállay,” Theresa said. “He sent those letters to Germany’s enemies seeking to negotiate peace agreements. Hitler found out about them and concluded that Hungary was untrustworthy. There is no doubt that those messages precipitated the takeover.”

Gertrud shook her head. “But Kállay isn’t Jewish.

Nothing in his treasonous letters even mentions the Jews.

The Jews didn’t commit treason. In fact, Jewish soldiers and workers supported the Hungarian army fighting alongside Germany in Russia.

Making the country Judenfrei won’t make Germany any safer. So, why now?”

“I think I know,” said Julia, entering the room. “Kállay’s treason was just an excuse to conquer Hungary. As long as Hungary was loyal, Hitler left it alone, even though it had a significant Jewish population. Once there was a sign of treason, a German takeover was inevitable.”

“But why take it out on the Jews?”

“Because Hitler does that wherever he goes. First, he conquers a country, then he orders the elimination of all Jews. He makes it Judenfrei . And he does it by annihilation.”

“Julia’s right,” Carl said. “Once Germany takes over a country, it is only a matter of time until the imposition of antisemitic laws that mirror what is already in effect in Germany and its occupied countries. Hitler’s extreme hatred of the Jews causes banishment of all from German-controlled territories. ”

“You could accomplish banishment by putting them on a train and sending them somewhere else—like Turkey or Palestine. You could remove them without killing them,” Gertrud said.

“It would be no more work. They wouldn’t need prisons or concentration camps.

The Jews wouldn’t resist, and it would be a lot cheaper. ”

“My wife, you are engaging in rational thinking,” Carl said. “Hitler is a psychotic sociopath. Rational thinking does not apply.”

Gertrud nodded and looked at Julia. “How did it go at the Great Synagogue? Did the rabbi cooperate?”

Julia smiled and turned to Martin. “Tell them, Marty. Did Rabbi Levy cooperate?”

Theresa closed her eyes. She heard Julia say Marty and thought, Uh-oh.

“He cooperated one hundred percent,” Martin said. “The rabbi is totally on board.”

“Tell us what happened,” Carl said.

“Because of the influx of refugees at the synagogue, the rabbi is no longer in a wait-and-see state of mind. He is counseling the families the best he can, but he is overwhelmed. They tell him about their travails and their anguishes, and it’s all pretty much the same.

They were living a peaceful life in the country or in a small town, and the Nazi soldiers marched in from out of nowhere and started loading them into trucks.

They drove them to the nearest town and put them in a confined area—a ghetto. ”

“How did the families get away? Did they escape from the town?”

“Not any of the ones we talked to,” Martin said.

“Once you’ve been taken into a town and put into a ghetto, you are held under guard as a group until they send you away.

The ones in the synagogue found out about the arrests because rumors spread quickly, and these families didn’t wait for the SS to get there.

They dropped everything and left on their own as fast as they could.

They all made their way to Budapest, to the heart of the Jewish community, figuring that there was safety in numbers. ”

“Theresa’s father, Benjamin, took us into the synagogue,” Julia said.

“Benjamin is a well-respected man there. He used to be the president, and he is still a member of the board of directors. I have heard Theresa say that he thinks of the congregation as family. In the same way, the congregation looks up to him and regards him as a leader. When we talked about the Swiss letters of protection, the rabbi was totally unaware that they existed. He was surprised that the Nazis would honor anything. ‘That is a gift from heaven,’ he said. ‘How are we going to pass them out and to whom?’ Benjamin volunteered. He said that he and the rabbi could meet with the families, one at a time, in private, and take down the information for the letters. Then they could bring that information to Carl so that he could prepare the letters for them.”

“That’s an extra step,” Carl said. “Why doesn’t the rabbi fill out the letters himself?”

“He is not authorized,” Martin said. “He might make a mistake.”

“How can he make a mistake?” Carl asked. “All he needs to do is type in the family names in the empty spaces on the forms we give to him, and bingo! Now it’s authorized. What about the housing? Did you talk to the rabbi about assigning people to available housing?”

Martin shook his head. “As of this morning, we didn’t know whether we would have any available housing or what kind of housing it would be.

Second, we weren’t sure how to approach that issue.

Are we going to let the rabbi decide who gets to move into the housing?

Is it going to be a lottery, or is he going to choose the people? ”

“Why does that matter?” asked Carl. “Whatever he wants should be okay. Let’s get the refugees out of the synagogue and into safe housing.”

“I understand what Marty is saying,” said Julia.

“Picking families and giving them housing puts the rabbi in an awkward position. He has to stay independent, detached, neutral, like Switzerland, and not play favorites. The families that don’t get chosen will resent him and the synagogue and may cause trouble. Maybe pull the names out of a hat.”

“No. Not a good idea. These are official documents created by the Swiss government for a specific recipient. If the Nazis learned they were drawn out by luck, they would be worthless. Benjamin and the rabbi will have to interview families, decide which ones are appropriate for the available housing, and make the assignment. And it has to be confidential.”

“What is next on your calendar?” Gertrud asked Theresa.

“I don’t know whether you are familiar with my brother, Samuel Weissbach,” said Theresa.

“Everyone calls him Sammy. He’s an executive at the telephone company.

He is also a good friend of Joel Brand, who helped form the Aid and Rescue Committee.

As Carl knows, I have been trying to set a meeting with the Aid and Rescue Committee for some time.

We were referred there by John Pehle at the WRB as an organization that might help families escape from Europe.

We are hoping to have a meeting with them on Monday night, but I’m not sure; it hasn’t been confirmed.

I asked Sammy to come over here tonight if he was available. ”