Page 58 of Library of Forbidden Books

March 6, 1940

Helene lay awake all night waiting for Derek. When the sun peeked over the windowsill, she knew he had been arrested. There were any number of reasons it could have happened, but she knew that Fuchs and the awful Captain Kummer were behind it. She was the one they really wanted. She figured they must have suspected the existence of something like the Secret Library.

Her first call was to her father-in-law, to see if Blaz could find out where the Nazis had taken Derek. She reached him in his office at the war college.

When he realized who it was on the other end of the phone, Blaz said with painful enunciation, “What are you doing calling me here?”

“They’ve got Derek,” Helene said.

“What?” the man asked, confused. Despite his disagreements with his son, he loved his firstborn ferociously. Derek was his spitting image in almost every way. “Who’s got him?”

Helene explained the threats they had received and that Derek had not come home the night before. Blaz was silent but agreed that Helene should come over later that afternoon after Blaz had contacted as many people as he could.

Next, she called Lena. They had to relocate the books, but how? Their collection was now too large for two small trucks. And where could they put them?

Helene prepared a typical breakfast and tried to make the day seem normal for the children. Then she bundled them up for a visit to Auntie Lena’s house. Lena had not felt well enough to go into the library that day. She lived in an adorable little home in the upscale neighborhood of Charlottenburg. It wasn’t easy carting the children across town, but since Derek had left the car at their apartment, Helene took the Mercedes.

Lena lumbered out to meet them. At seven months pregnant, her belly was larger than Helene’s had been with either baby. They hugged and went to the living room that looked out onto the yard. Alexander and Matilde ran to the large picture windows.

“What’s so important that you’ve dragged your children out on a freezing day like this?” Lena said, her head cocked warily.

“I’m afraid it’s bad,” Helene said. She got out the story of what had happened as quickly as she could in a race against her tears.

Lena clambered up from her armchair to hug Helene. “Okay, don’t worry—we’re going to get him out,” she said, though she had no idea if her words could ever be true.

“And what about the Secret Library?”

Lena sat back and thought for a few moments. Alexander had found a stack of coasters and was making a tower, which Matilde knocked down whenever it climbed three stories high. Lena pointed to a framed photograph on the coffee table. It was Gabor’s rugby team from years ago. They still got together to play.

“Gabor and his friends train at an old hangar just outside the city. With the war and everything, they haven’t been practicing, but the hangar might be an option.”

“Can we trust his teammates?”

“Well, guys from his church got together to form a team for the club. They’re all part of the Confessing Church. They’re pastors who’ve refused to swear loyalty to the Führer.”

Helene had heard about people like that but did not know any personally.

“They’ve got trucks and other resources, though when Hitler came to power, of course, he outlawed religious associations from doing charitable work among the marginalized. In the new Germany, there’s no place for the poor and downtrodden. But Gabor’s friends keep passing out food and other things in the working-class neighborhoods.”

Helene bounced Matilde on her knee while Alexander studied a rugby manual with complicated diagrams of game strategies. Helene wished Kaiser were there for comfort, but he was getting old and they no longer took him out of doors.

“When do you think they could move the books?”

Lena smiled. “I won’t be any help at all, but we can ask them to do it as soon as possible.”

After lunch, Helene drove with Matilde and Alexander to her in-laws’ house. Gisela greeted her warmly, especially the children, cooing over how big they were. Derek had visited once since his return from Poland, but it had been a while since Helene and the children had stopped by. Her presence in the home always caused conflict with Blaz.

“It’s so nice to see you, Helene. But where’s Derek?” And, eyeing the children’s mismatched clothing and Helene’s rumpled hair, she added, “Is everything okay?”

That was when Helene realized that Blaz had not informed his wife about their call that morning.

“Oh, Mr. von Sholtz didn’t tell you. I’m so sorry to be the one . . . They’ve got Derek.” Helene’s carefully controlled tears spilled out as she recounted all that she knew.

Gisela held her hands and listened carefully. Then she nodded resolutely. “We’ll get him out. Don’t worry. Blaz will take care of it.”

The women fixed the children a snack and, about an hour later, Blaz showed up. He seemed weary under the weight of his officer’s uniform. He kissed his wife’s cheek and patted each of the children, then grimaced when he saw Helene.

“Does she have to stay?” he asked his wife, fully aware that Helene could hear him. She cared not a whit about his attempts to degrade her; she just wanted him to save her husband.