Page 22 of Library of Forbidden Books

“We’re starting to get collections—people are asking us to keep their private libraries safe. At first I didn’t want to take anything, because I thought it might be a trap. But these are people we know and trust, not your average extremist,” Lena explained, taking a seat.

Kaiser—Helene had started bringing him to the office with her—gave Lena a curious look, as if he were participating in the conversation. Lena stroked his ears distractedly.

“Are they high value?” Helene asked.

Lena shook off her reverie and answered, “Yes, some of them: first editions of All Quiet on the Western Front and A Farewell to Arms. Also some first editions of Marx and other authors. But what’s coming our way most are Jewish books. Rabbi Moses has asked to keep his entire library here. And so has a Protestant seminary! The Nazis are purging all Christian books that speak positively about the Jewish people, as well as important manuscripts or ancient translations of Scripture.”

“We can’t keep every one of the 5,800 books on the list. I know Kummer’s behind all this nonsense.” Helene was testy with anxiety simply trying to protect just Neukölln’s collection, let alone the entire neighborhood’s.

“But some of these are unique editions . . .”

“But the risk is getting too high. In our quest to save one more book, we might lose all of them.”

Lena deflated at Helene’s words. She picked up a book from the desk and started flipping through, immersing herself in the feel of worn pages and the smell of aged paper.

“Each book that disappears causes irreparable damage. Think of the Library of Alexandria or the Library of Pergamon. We’re witnessing the fall of ideas before the ideologies and new pagan gods that have taken the place of the old Judeo-Christian God. Those barbarians are going to devour everything as they spread ignorance and hatred all over.” She knew her friend was right but hoped her words would get through beyond reason.

Helene rested her hand on her chin and looked over their lists. Those yellow-lined pages were the library’s last hope. She hoped her colleagues throughout the country were doing something similar, but there was no way of knowing.

“The Nazis have destroyed a large portion of holdings at Humboldt University. They want to get rid of the Jewish Community of Berlin Library, and they’ve even gone after the Central Library . . .”

Helene sighed. “Fine, but how are we going to do it?”

“To start, let’s give this collection a name. Things don’t exist until we name them.”

The two friends started brainstorming while Kaiser licked his milk bowl. Eventually Lena went to fix tea. The steam rising from their teacups breathed new life into their thought process, and the sugar in the cookies inspired fresh ideas.

“The Library of Freedom . . .” Lena offered.

“Or Alexandria, in honor of what got burned,” said Helene.

“Too mythical,” Lena said. She bit into a cookie and savored the momentary pleasure of such an ordinary ritual.

“The Library of Forbidden Books?” Helene suggested, but Lena shook her head.

Just then Klaus popped his head in. “The Secret Library of Berlin?” It was clear that he had been listening.

Both women nodded.

“Yes, I like it! It’s an act of rebellion in name of our city. Berlin held out hardest against the Nazis, and now that they’re here, we’re the ones suffering most because of them.” Helene spoke animatedly now, energized by the solidarity of resistance.

“Perfect!” Lena declared. “And now, where should we put it?”

“Well, the best place to hide something is right out front, under the nose of the person looking for it. That is, exactly where they would never think to look,” Klaus said, helping himself to the cookies and tea. “Lucky for us, Hitler likes tea. If not, he’d say it was a foreign product and it would get black-listed as well. I’ve never been fond of those Alpiners in their silly little lederhosen playing their doodley-toodley-doo folk music.”

Helene giggled but Lena, impatient at Klaus’s vague roundabouts, insisted, “So what are you getting at?”

“In front of that building the Gestapo took over in Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse Plaza, there’s a little building that belonged to the Embassy of Czechoslovakia. I bet we could rent it and store the books in there. No one would think that right next to Gestapo headquarters and all the other government and ministry buildings was where the biggest Secret Library of Berlin was located.”

Helene and Lena stared in shock at Klaus, who was grinning from ear to ear. It was a dangerous plan, but a brilliant one. They would have to get the keys to the building and transport thousands of books to it under the noses of Nazi authorities.

Klaus was a firm believer that people’s greatness was a factor of the dreams they were capable of imagining, and he had a very active imagination.

Chapter 13

The Wedding

The outskirts of Berlin