Page 41 of Who We Think We Are

K elli runs down the stairs and into the dining room, where Kate is working on the Holocaust project at GG’s table, reading letters and entering names, last known addresses, etc., into a spreadsheet.

“Mom! You have a new DNA relative! It might be Bertrun!”

“Let it be, Kelli. Bertrun made it clear she doesn’t want to be in touch. If she changes her mind, she knows how to find me. I’m not going to push her. The poor lady is going through enough.”

Paige pops her head into the dining room. “What’s going on? I heard you yell, Kelli.”

“I found a DNA relative, but Mom doesn’t want me to do anything with it.”

“Why?”

“Mom wants me to let it be. If it’s Bertrun, Mom doesn’t want me to push her. The poor lady is going through enough.”

Paige looks at Kate, raises her eyebrows, and squints her eyes. “Who are you?”

Kelli chimes in, “And what have you done with our mother?”

They all laugh.

“I’m not being as heroic as you think I am,” says Kate.

“Sit down, girls. I want to give you an update. I already told your dad. Ingrid and I have been texting and emailing each other. After I came home, I remembered that I had taken a picture of the man who threatened me on the train, who turned out to be Holger Fischer. So, I sent it to her.” Kate pulls up the picture on her phone and shows it to the girls.

She continues while they’re looking at it.

“Last week, Ingrid texted me. She said she would show it to Bertrun this weekend when she saw her. Well, I got this email from her this morning.” Kate opens her laptop and reads the email to Paige and Kelli.

“‘Hi Cousin, I showed Holger’s photo to Tante Bertrun. She became furious at Martin. Up to now, she’s been standing up for him and denying that he did anything to you. But when she saw the picture you took, she couldn’t deny it anymore.

“‘She called him up and told him she needed to speak to him about etwas von hochster wichtigkeit, a matter of supreme importance, and it had to be in person. But she wouldn’t tell him what it was. He has to be in Berlin all week at court, but he will go to Lüneburg to see her next weekend. She told him to come alone. She doesn’t want Holger or Martin’s wife to be there.

She’s going to confront him with the photo.

Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall for that confrontation?

“‘I asked if I could be there, but she wanted it to be only her and Martin.

“‘I’ll keep you posted. Liebe (love), Ingrid.’”

“Wow!” says Paige. “You’re right. You’re not that heroic. I take it back. I can’t wait to hear how that all goes down.”

Kelli says, “I still think you’re showing remarkable restraint. You still get points from this judge!”

That afternoon, Kate comes across two letters that she must immediately show to Grandad. She gets dressed and rushes over to his place. He’s sitting in Oma’s wheelchair at the window again, as he does more often these days.

“Grandad, I found two letters in GG’s Holocaust letters that you have to read!”

“Could you read them to me, please, Katie? My eyes don’t work so well these days.”

“Alright.” Kate pulls up a chair to sit beside him. “The first letter is from Sofia Bentick, a schoolteacher in Utrecht, to GG on 16 September 1945:

“‘Dear Flo, As you might expect, things are hectic these days as everyone tries to put our world back together after the war. I am writing to help you and will get right to the point so you have time to intervene.

“‘Your son Leslie is about to marry a known Nazi collaborator, Katrina Van Dijk. Her parents are in a prison camp for being Nazis, and Katrina was in the Hitler Youth. She even had a baby for the Nazis in the Lebensborn program.

“‘You should warn your son right away so he can call off the wedding and avoid a catastrophe.

“‘Sincerely, Sofia Bentick.’”

Grandad’s eyes widen, and his eyebrows are raised. He starts to say something, but Kate says, “Wait. The next letter is GG’s reply to Sofia Bentick on 10 October 1945:

“‘Dear Sofia, I want to thank you for the good work you did in assisting your students during the war.

“‘As for my family, I will say this: I trust my son, and Katrina is a lovely girl whom we are eager to welcome into our family.

“‘This war forced people to make difficult decisions. We may not approve of others’ choices, but none of us can know what others have had to contend with. It does nothing but harm to judge people.

“‘Haven’t we all been through enough already? It is time to live and let live.

“‘I welcome all correspondence about helping refugees. But as for my family, I will thank you for staying out of our business.

“‘Yours truly, Flo Hathaway.’”

Grandad is crying. Kate hands him a tissue, stays quiet, and waits for him to absorb what she has read to him. Finally, he says, “Mom knew the whole time? Well, I’ll be damned. She never breathed a word about it. And she was as good as her word. She welcomed Oma into the family with open arms.”

“GG loved Oma for who she was the whole time, Grandad. That’s what you wanted.”

“Yes, it is. I still can’t believe Mom knew. She never said a word. That’s going to take a while to sink in.”

“Well, our family is very good at keeping secrets, Grandad!”

“Until we get dementia.” Grandad looks at Kate and winks. “Then all bets are off.”

The following Sunday afternoon, November 22, Kate gets an email from Ingrid.

She calls out to Jake, Paige, and Kelli to join her at GG’s table because they’ve been asking all day if she’s heard from Ingrid yet.

They all shuffle in from the kitchen. Today is a baking lesson.

Kelli carries in a plate of sugar cookies.

Some are shaped and decorated like Christmas trees and Santas and some like dreidels, stars of David, and menorahs.

“We’re practicing for Chanumas,” says Kelli. “Try one.”

They each munch on a cookie.

“This is good!” says Kate. “I love the orange peel. I received an email from Ingrid. Want to hear it?”

“Yes!” says Paige. “What does it say?”

“I haven’t read it yet. I waited for you.”

She starts reading:

“‘Dear Cousin, I spoke with Tante Bertrun a few minutes ago, and she said that at first, Martin was defiant, denying that Holger Fischer would do anything, such as put a flag on his mother’s file in the national database or follow or threaten you without his permission.

Bertrun asked him what he had instructed Holger to do and if he had followed up to see what action he had taken.

“‘Martin said he had simply given Holger the box and told him to take care of it. (I don’t believe Martin is this na?ve or innocent.) And no, he didn’t follow up with him. Then Tante Bertrun showed him the picture you took of Holger.

“‘Now, Martin is paranoid about you, me, and Holger, worried that we are all up to something nefarious. He’s worried that you and I want to publish something about Tante Bertrun or her parents being in the SS, which will harm him. And he’s worried that Holger didn’t get rid of his stuff and will use it against him as blackmail.

“‘It must be exhausting to be him! But he’s probably right about Holger.

“‘Anyway, Tante Bertrun feels protective of Martin and is trying to help him unravel the tangle he’s in. She believes that neither you nor I want to hurt her or Martin. But she promised Martin that she wouldn’t pursue a relationship with you unless and until he feels more comfortable about it.

“‘Mothers! Always sticking up for their kids, even when they’re someone like Martin. Well, it looks like it’s just you and me for the foreseeable future, cousin. Take care. Liebe, Ingrid.’”

“Well, that sucks!” says Kelli. “I agree with Ingrid. I don’t think Martin is being completely honest with Bertrun.”

“Yeah,” says Paige. “He’s full of shit, lying to his mother to cover his own ass.”

“What do you think, Kate?” asks Jake.

“For what it’s worth, I agree. But ultimately, it doesn’t change anything. Bertrun doesn’t want to have a relationship, and that’s the end of it. For now, we let it go. Love conquers all, but sometimes it takes its sweet fricking time.”