Page 6 of All We Thought We Knew
“Are you Gunther Schneider?” a suit-clad man asked.
“Ja, ich bin Gunther Schneider,”he answered, nervousness causing him to slip into German. When the man scowled, he repeated it in English. “I am Gunther Schneider. Is something wrong?”
The man’s frown remained. “I’m Special Agent Malone, with the FBI. My colleague, Brock. We have some questions for you.”
Gunther’s heart pounded hard, and he feared they would hear it and assume he was guilty. Of what, he didn’t know. “Please, come in.”
Down the hall, a door clicked shut as the men entered the apartment. One of his neighbors must have heard the banging. Most of the residents in the tenement were like him—foreigners hoping to improve their lot in life in America, the land of opportunity.
The room seemed to shrink with four grown men standing nearly shoulder to shoulder. After Gunther handed his identification card to Agent Malone, the man told him to sit on the edge of the bed. The agent studied the card, then took a notebook and pencil from his coat pocket while the other agent and the police officer walked around, rummaging through Gunther’s schoolbooks and papers spread over the small table and floor.
“When did you arrive in the United States?” Malone asked, his attention focused on Gunther.
That information was on his ID card, but Gunther didn’t want to appear difficult by stating the obvious. “I came in 1937. In May, aboard the SSNew York. I—”
“Where were you born?”
Unease grew in Gunther’s gut. “Krefeld, Germany.”
“What is your business in the US?” The other men stopped their prowling and waited for Gunther’s answer.
“I am a student at Columbia medical school.”
The suit-clad men exchanged a glance before the questioning continued.
“Why did you take an apartment so close to the East River?”
This inquiry stumped Gunther. “It... it was the only one I could afford.” He didn’t confess the river reminded him of the Rhine, where he’d spent time as a boy with his father.
“You speak English surprisingly well for a Kr—” The man paused, smirked, and continued with, “for apersonborn in Germany. Where did you learn English?”
Gunther guessed the man was about to use a derogatory term for people of German descent. He’d heard them all, especially over the last months as Germany continued to raise its iron fist across Europe.
“I was tutored in English and French as a boy.Mutterwas a teacher. Both of my parents believed education was important.”
“What was your mother’s maiden name? Is she loyal to Germany?”
Alarm washed through Gunther. Would answering these questions putMutterin danger? She’d lost so much already. He didn’t want to bring more trouble to her.
“What does my mother have to do with this? Why are you asking all these questions? I came to this country to study medicine, and I have lived as a law-abiding citizen since my arrival.”
“Citizen?” Agent Malone shook his head. “No, Mr. Schneider. You arenota citizen of this country. You are an enemy alien. Do you know what that means?”
When Gunther didn’t answer, Malone said, “You recall registering last year in compliance with Congress’s Alien Registration Act?” He didn’t wait for Gunther to respond. “Now that we are at war, we can’t have potentially dangerous people roaming free. Therefore, the President and the Justice Department feel it is vital to national safety to remove any threat to ourcitizens.”
His brutally candid explanation stunned Gunther. “I am a student, not a dangerous criminal. Besides, the United States is not at war with Germany.”
Malone scoffed. “Surely you’re not so naive. But because I’m a generous sort of fellow,” he grinned, causing the other men to chuckle, “I’ll let you in on a secret. Wewilldeclare war on Germany any day now.”
Raw fear exploded in Gunther. “Are you arresting me?”
The man ignored the question and asked one of his own. “What is your brother’s name?”
Terrible awareness, fast and swift, surged through Gunther. “Is that what this is about? You think I’m like my brother? That is the furthest thing from the truth. My mother sent me to America to get away from my brother and the things he was becoming involved in. She wanted to protect me.”
“What sort of things is he involved in?”
Gunther turned away.
