Page 21 of Library of Forbidden Books

“Oh, Klaus, you lout. Men can’t be there—it’s bad luck,” Lena joked.

Before she finished speaking, they heard the door. So few people entered the library anymore, and they all three turned at the occurrence. They were surprised to see two men in long black trenchcoats. One removed his hat upon entering.

“Good afternoon, I do hope we aren’t interrupting. I believe we’ve met before,” he said, holding out his hand to Helene.

“Herr Kummer, I didn’t know you had planned to visit today.”

The man studied the three librarians with a penetrating stare before barking to his men, “Search the place from top to bottom!” He then turned back to the librarians. “I’ve compared the register of destroyed books with your holdings, and they don’t fully align. Some books are missing.

“I’ve been quite benevolent with you up to now, Miss Nathan. I have overlooked your Jewish blood, the fact that you’re a pacifist, and the fact that you’ve not joined the Party. Herr Krüss encouraged lenience. The old man is too soft on Jews and communists. It doesn’t hurt that your fiancé is the personal assistant to the Minister of War, but everything has a limit.” His tone grew increasingly angry. He glanced toward Klaus and Lena. “You, Miss Nathan, are endangering your colleagues. I understand you are to marry in a few days. Go on with your husband. Think long and hard about whether you should come back to the library or become a good Aryan woman and bring many children into the fatherland. Lena could take over for you with no difficulty—that is, once she joins the Party.”

Helene thought carefully about how to respond, took a deep breath, and then spoke. “I understand that there are new rules and that Germany is changing. I request that you do nothing to my assistants. I take full responsibility.”

Lena, fearing that Helene was going to confess, jumped in and said right in Kummer’s face, “If she goes, we all go!”

Kummer wrinkled his nose and stepped back at her outburst. Before he could respond, one of the Gestapo agents called, “Boss, we found something!”

They all turned and watched the agent pull the lever that opened the secret room. Helene’s heart raced. She licked her lips in preparation to give an explanation.

Then the agent said, “It’s empty.”

Helene’s heart stopped again, and she looked at Lena, who gave her a subtle wink.

“What is the purpose of that room?” demanded Kummer as he stormed toward the space and saw with his own eyes that it was completely empty. Yet the scent of old books still hung in the air.

“That’s where we used to keep rare books, but now it’s just storage,” Lena said with a smile.

The three Nazis sported lips pursed in annoyance, but they had no proof to implicate the librarians.

“As I’ve said, you would be well served to join the Party—better a latecomer than never. I will return personally to see that everything is in order.” Kummer spat out his words with hatred shooting from his eyes.

When the Nazis had gone, Helene, Lena, and Klaus stayed frozen in disbelieving silence for a moment, then burst out laughing, though they knew that Kummer was no joke.

Catching her breath, Helene asked, “What in the world did you do with the books?”

“We took them to the old butcher shop, the one that closed a few weeks ago when the owner left the country. The only downside is that now the books will smell like meat,” Klaus joked.

Helene checked the clock. It was time to leave for her fitting. Lena grabbed her purse, and together they headed downtown. That minor victory over the Nazis energized her with a strength she had never felt before.

Chapter 12

The Plan

Berlin

June 19, 1933

With five days left before the wedding, Helene was busier making plans about where to hide the books than about the menu or the order of ceremony. Derek had taken charge of most of the wedding details, with his mother’s help. Mrs. von Sholtz did not take kindly to the fact that a bride-to-be was barely interested in the most important celebration of her life.

Helene spent most of the day in the library with Klaus and Lena, organizing their lists and files of books and adding new ones that might fall out of favor with the Nazis. The more radical the regime grew, the greater the amount of oversight Rudolf Kummer exercised—and the less safe it was to be in the library. It seemed like they were racing against two clocks: one for hiding books, and one for the impending wedding.

Lena came into the office with one eye cocked in perplexity.

“What’s going on?” Helene asked. Though she had come out of her emotional slump, she did not feel strong enough to bear more bad news.

“It’s not terrible, but I’m not sure if it’s good.”

That got Helene’s attention. She put down her pencil and studied Lena.