Page 54 of All We Thought We Knew
As I quietly climbed the stairs, Mark’s bedroom door closed, a sound I’d heard a million times. Although my brother would never sleep in his room again, somehow knowing Nash was underour roof brought a sense of normalcy my life had lacked for over a year.
At the upstairs landing, I tiptoed to the window that overlooked the farm. Stars twinkled in the midnight sky, visible now that the storm had moved south, and everything was beautiful and still.
Peaceful.
“Good night, Mark,” I whispered.
Good night, Sis,my heart heard him say.
SIXTEEN:GUNTHER
CAMP FORREST, TENNESSEE
FEBRUARY 1942
Nervousness swam through Gunther as he sat in a metal chair in the reception area of a building at the far end of the hospital complex. Three young women seated at desks pretended to keep busy with their work, but Gunther felt their curious looks as he waited to meet with Colonel Hew Foster, the man in charge of the entire hospital.
Why did the officer want to meet with him?
That question had run through his mind ever since a guard found him in his hut yesterday afternoon and told him about the appointment. He could only guess it had something to do with what happened the day the soldier collapsed in the mess hall. He’d been a fool to let Mrs. Delaney talk him into administering chest compressions on the unconscious man. That it had turned out wellseemed not to matter. The angry doctor who’d arrived at the scene had chewed Gunther up one side and down the other when the dust settled, then banned him from ever entering the hospital again.
He glanced at the closed door with the colonel’s name on it. Fear roiled in his stomach.
Would he be deported back to Germany because of his reckless actions?
The very thought sent an icy chill down his spine.
While he would enjoy seeing his mother again, he had no desire to live in Nazi-ruled Germany. He, along with the rest of the world, heard horrifying news coming out of his home country. Jews murdered by the thousands. People arrested and shipped off to work camps if they didn’t conform to the Nazi regime.
Mutterhad seen this coming.
“You must go to America,” she’d told him two months before his eighteenth birthday. Rolf wasn’t home, giving Gunther and his mother the freedom to speak their minds without his brother’s condescending censure. “Hitler is building his army, and I fear you will be forced to join.”
They’d had this conversation before. From the time Hitler became chancellor in 1933, his racist ideals frightened her, and that only grew once Rolf joined the Hitler Youth.
“You know we cannot afford to send me to America,” Gunther reminded her. “Besides, I will be studying medicine in Munich. Hitler himself says he wants more doctors and scientists in Germany.”
His mother sat across the table from him, a grave look in her eyes. “Son, listen to me. Hitler is an arrogant man. He will not stop until he has what he wants: a Germany free of the people he deems unworthy to be German.” She rose and retrieved a book from the drawer. “I found this in your brother’s room.”
She handed it to Gunther. “Mein Kampfby Adolf Hitler. I have heard of it, although I don’t know what he means bymystruggle. Rolf tried to get me to read it, but I said I was too busy with schoolwork.”
“I’m glad you didn’t read it, but now you need to know what it says. Hitler talks about his plans for transforming Germany into a perfect society based on race. He says Jews, people with dark skin, and those with mental problems poison society. According to Hitler, the only solution is to remove them... permanently.”
Gunther stared at her. “Surely the government would not allow such extremes.”
“Hitleristhe government, son. Terrible things are coming to Germany.” Terror shone in her eyes and laced her voice. “I have lost one son to him. I cannot lose you, too.”
She pulled a leather pouch from her apron pocket.
Gunther gasped when she removed a wad of reichsmark banknotes. “Where did you get that money from?”
“I sold the car.” She passed the bills to me. “I want you to purchase passage on a ship, bound for America. Go, study medicine in a place where you will be free, and I’ll know you are no longer in danger.”
Yet Gunther was now a prisoner of the very country where she thought he’d be safe. How he’d hated to write a letter to her, informing her that the freedom they both dreamed of had turned into a nightmare.
The door to the colonel’s office opened. Expecting to see a uniformed man, Gunther was confused when Mrs. Delaney walked out. Her gaze met his, and a slight smile touched her bright red lips.
“Good morning, Mr. Schneider. Colonel Foster will see you now.”
