Page 58 of The Righteous
IT WAS NINE AM Washington time when Julia placed a call to John Pehle. “Good morning, John,” she said in a serious tone. “Do you have a few minutes to talk to me?”
“Always. Are you all right?”
“Personally, yes, but the conditions here have deteriorated badly over the past several days, and they’re getting worse by the hour.”
“That’s what I understand. I spoke to Carl earlier this morning. He filled me in on the recent attacks by the Arrow Cross regime. We are so proud of Carl. The man is a genuine hero. Imagine jumping into the Danube in his business suit to save a woman who had been shot by the Arrow Cross gang.”
“I don’t have to imagine it,” Julia said.
“I saw him right afterward. I’m witnessing what’s happening here, and in a way, that is why I called you.
I want to do more than witness. I want to make a difference.
The Arrow Cross have their eyes on the rest of the Jewish community, like a hungry wolf, starting with the leaders.
They came by to arrest Dr. Weissbach at his home, but fortunately, he wasn’t there.
Now I hear they are asking about the rabbi.
They want to take away the leaders so the people have no guidance.
John, I want to save lives before the Nazis and the Arrow Cross take them all away.
They’ve already killed more than half the Jewish population here, over four hundred forty thousand. ”
“What do you have in mind, Julia?”
“I want to take a large number of Jews out of here, to a place they can be safe. I thought maybe the WRB could help me.”
John made a whistling sound. “No one can accuse Julia Powers of lacking courage. Okay then, let me ask some basic questions. How many are you contemplating? How will they be chosen? Where are you planning to take them, and how are you going to get there? Who is going with you? Who will lead them? Do you have answers to those questions yet, or are you still in the planning stage?”
“How many? As many as I can take to a place far away. If we don’t rescue them, John, they will die.
They will be taken by a train to Auschwitz and poisoned, or marched to the Mauthausen camp in Austria, or murdered in cold blood in the middle of a Budapest street.
If you witnessed it, if you saw it, you wouldn’t believe your own eyes, that such a wicked, bloodless gang of devils would…
would…” The rest was garbled. Julia was crying so hard she couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Julia, I’m here for you,” John said. “Calm down, if you can. We’re going to make this happen.
You’re going to take some people out. We’re going to save some lives.
Let me work on it and see what I can come up with.
Have you spoken to Carl or Raoul about your plan?
Are Theresa and her father part of your preparation? ”
“I haven’t spoken to anyone yet,” Julia said. “Not even Theresa. It came to me as Dr. Weissbach was doctoring that poor mother who was shot for no reason and pushed into the river. They shot her for fun, John. I cannot stand by and watch any more of this. I have to do something. Will you help me?”
“Yes, I can, and yes, I will. I will contact essential people. In the meantime, you need to provide a reasonable estimate of the size of a group that can be rescued. I need to know in order to arrange for the transports. Is it three hundred or a thousand? Or more? How soon will you have the group assembled? Then I’d like to know how many of them would have passports, letters of protection, or foreign birth certificates. ”
“I’ll get that information to you as soon as I can. I will have to meet with Carl and Theresa.”
“And Raoul Wallenberg, make sure you include him. He knows the territory, and he wields a lot of influence. And Dr. Weissbach, and maybe the rabbi. They will all help you choose and assemble the emigrants.”
“Certainly. I didn’t mean to leave anybody out.”
“Call your meeting, but expect that there will be resistance to such a bold move. That’s typical. Let them share their ideas with you. Let them know you spoke with me and that the WRB is behind it.”
“I will.”
“Call me whenever you can,” said John. “I will work on it from my end. I’d also like to run this by Carl and Raoul, if you don’t mind.”
“I should have expected it,” Theresa said with a smile. “You want to bring a group of Jewish families out of Hungary, away from the Arrow Cross, and take them somewhere safe. But you don’t know where you will be taking them yet, right? Have you talked to John Pehle about it?”
“I did, and I’m even more encouraged. We’re going to take people out of Hungary before the Arrow Cross can kill them, and you know they will.
It’s like Holland. You can’t save them all, but you can try to save as many as possible.
John told me to have a meeting and invite important people like you and your father.
Are you in agreement? Do you want to come with me and rescue as many as you can? ”
Theresa nodded. “I sure do. It seems like a Herculean task, but I’m with you.”
“Then get your father, and let’s meet with him, and maybe the rabbi. John is planning on talking to Carl and Raoul. They will tell us what is possible and what is impossible.”
The Great Synagogue was even less crowded than the last time Julia was there.
The number of families had decreased, not because they were arrested but because they were now living in the safe houses that were acquired by Gertrud and Raoul.
There were over one hundred units now housing thousands of residents.
They had emblems on each of the doors showing that the properties were owned by Switzerland or Sweden.
They were untouchable, and so were the people who lived inside, as long as they stayed inside.
Those who remained in their own homes, like Apa and Anya, were required to paste a yellow shield on the door reading Jude .
Even though he and Anya had Swiss IDs, Apa chose to put a Jude shield on his door, and he wore a yellow star on his jacket, all to show solidarity with his community.
If he was stopped, he would show his Swiss ID, but it was risky.
Who knew what the Arrow Cross Party would do?
Would they tell him that he couldn’t be both?
Would they tell him that he was a Jew and he couldn’t change it?
The Arrow Cross had recently taken to breaking into houses that had Jude on the door.
As a result, many of the residents had taken them down, even though they didn’t have Swiss or Swedish IDs.
That was a direct violation of Hungarian law because they were required to identify themselves.
It was doubly dangerous because the Arrow Cross had an index of where the Jews lived.
Many were afraid to live alone, so they were now living in the synagogue.
Theresa, Benjamin, and Rabbi Levy met with Julia in the rabbi’s study.
Julia told them about her plan, that she had decided to take a group out of Hungary to safety.
She told them what she had discussed with John Pehle and the questions he wanted answered.
She told him that she didn’t know how many families would want to go.
She would have to find out. She needed experienced leaders for the journey, like Rabbi Levy and Benjamin Weissbach.
Wherever the group of refugees settled, wherever the WRB thought it best, they would need leaders to help establish and run a settlement.
Of the greatest importance, they would need financial support.
Wherever they landed, wherever they settled, they would need to make a home.
They would need housing, they would need essentials.
“I applaud you for taking the initiative to rescue our endangered people,” said Rabbi Levy. “And I am honored that you think I should go with you as a leader, but I cannot leave my flock. Their fate is mine, and I am here to guide them and comfort them. That is the vow I have taken.”
“You would still be guiding them,” Julia said, “but in a new land. A land with no Nazis or Arrow Crosses. Maybe it will be a bigger number than you lead here, or maybe not. Apa, will you go with us? And bring Anya and Becca and Aunt Pearl?”
Benjamin grimaced and shrugged. “You should certainly take Anya and Becca, but for me, I don’t know. How can I leave my fellow congregants, the ones I have led for so many years? Just like Rabbi Levy, their fate is mine.”
Surprisingly, the rabbi turned to Benjamin and said, “Ben, I disagree with you. You won’t be leaving your congregants; you will be leading them.
As powerful and determined as these two young girls are, you can’t put the entire burden of the pilgrimage on their backs.
The people respect you and look up to you.
They already recognize you as a leader. They will need you as they make their way on their journey and as they build their settlement in a new land. ”
Benjamin realized that the rabbi was right, and he nodded.
“I thank you, Rabbi. I will do my best.” Then he looked at Julia and Theresa.
“Where is the journey going to take us, Julia, and how are we going to get there? Hungary is landlocked in the middle of Axis Europe. Are we going to Switzerland? Do you have answers to those questions? Is this a dream, or are plans actually being formed?”
“I don’t have answers yet,” Julia said, “but I did discuss this at some length with John, and it’s not just a dream; it’s going to happen.
I asked him where we could take our journey.
As I’m sure you are aware, there are no close destinations that are safe.
I initially thought of Switzerland too, but it is a thousand-mile journey through Austria and Germany, and Carl said that Switzerland is opposed to mass immigration.
Not that they don’t like us, but the immigration quotas would prevent it, and it wouldn’t be our permanent home.
They have restrictive quotas like the US.
Then I thought of Sweden and what King Gustav said after he read the Vrba-Wetzler report.
He said that Sweden would welcome us and make us all citizens.
But getting there is the problem. It’s a two-thousand-mile journey, almost all of it through the heart of Nazi Germany.
That leaves British Mandatory Palestine, and according to John, that should be our destination.
It is a thirteen-hundred-mile journey through Romania and Turkey and then on to Tel Aviv. ”
“Do we have permission to travel through Romania?” Rabbi Levy asked.
“John is working on that, and he is confident we will have it. Ira Hirschman was an ambassador there.”
“What about Palestine?” the rabbi said. “I understand the British are very strict with their immigration rules. Will they let us settle there? I remember the Balfour Declaration. We discussed it in synagogue and whether some should consider moving to Palestine. The Balfour Declaration said, ‘His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.’”
“That was in 1917,” Benjamin said. “Their attitude has changed. Because of the Arab uprising and the tensions between the British and the Arabs in Mandatory Palestine, the British Parliament issued a formal statement called the White Paper of 1939, which placed restrictions on further Jewish immigration.”
“So the British ignored what they said in the Balfour Declaration?” Theresa asked.
“Not exactly, but they placed tight restrictions to appease the Arabs,” Benjamin answered.
“John thinks he can get diplomatic permission for a settlement through the WRB. Remember, it was Churchill who so vehemently condemned what was revealed in the Vrba-Wetzler report and called for the Nazi leaders to be tried for war crimes.”
The rabbi spread his hands. “Then who is going to lead this pilgrimage to Palestine, and who are the pilgrims?”
“Those were John’s questions this morning,” Julia said. “Now it is in our lap, and we must supply the answers. Which families will go with us? How should we make up this list?”
The group looked to Benjamin. “Rabbi and I will talk to families, one at a time,” he said, “and determine who is prepared to make this journey and start a new life in a new land. It won’t be easy, and many will choose not to go.
They would rather rely on their letters of protection or just hope that the Arrow Cross doesn’t come to them. ”
“I am scheduled to talk to John tomorrow morning,” Julia said.
“I will be anxious to learn who he was able to talk to and who will be involved. How long will it take him to line up the transports? How will it be financed? When he does tell us, how much time will we have to get ready? It might be very short. That means that you need to start talking to potential passengers right now.”
“Be aware,” Benjamin said, “that our conversations with families must be confidential. We can’t afford to let the Arrow Cross know of our plans to escape. As much as they want us out of Hungary, they would take all measures to prevent it. They only want us to go north to Auschwitz.”