Armageddon_ A Novel of Berlin - Leon Uris [299]
Chapter Thirty-five
A MAID LED GERD to his Uncle Ulrich’s study. He was surprised by the austerity in which the Oberburgermeister of Berlin lived, although it was in keeping with his political image with the people.
The idealists such as his uncle were necessary for that transition period Germany was going through to keep the occupation authorities content. Soon enough, Gerd thought, the German people would look to the new generation of businessmen such as himself who were rebuilding Germany from its ashes. The Ulrich Falkensteins would pass on and no one would replace them.
Ernestine entered. “Hello, Gerd, won’t you sit down?” He made himself comfortable, lit an Ami cigarette. “Tomorrow is Christmas Eve,” he said tersely. “It would please us if you paid us a visit.”
“I see.”
“It is Father’s idea and I agree. We should try to become a family again.”
“I am sorry,” she said. “I will never go to your home so long as Hilde is not welcome.”
“Erna, we must begin again somewhere. You will find a number of changes in Father’s attitude.”
Ernestine had met her mother secretly from time to time and learned that her father was in poor health. In their visits her mother had spent most of the time echoing Father’s views about the cruelty of fate. Yet, this was a good moment. Ernestine had always desired a reunion and the first move had come from her father.
“Our parents,” Gerd said, “must accustom themselves to a new generation which rebels at the kind of obedience we were forced to give. Having Frau Kirchner as Oberburgermeister of Berlin came as a prelude of drastic changes in the German society.”
Ernestine had spoken about Frau Kirchner and the new generation of Germans with her uncle many times. Gerd, like most Germans, dropped the hostility of the defeat as well as their Nazi friends when it was no longer profitable. His attitude, arrogance, and ambitions had not changed. The only change was the way of doing business. Gerd was clever, she thought, and his kind will be able to convince people, particularly the Americans, about the “new” Germany.
“You will come?” he asked again.
“It is a matter I must discuss with Uncle Ulrich.”
“By all means. I hope you decide favorably. I trust Uncle Ulrich will honor us with a visit,” he added carefully, “and I should like you to meet my fiancée.”
She spoke to her uncle about Gerd’s visit later in his study where they had whiled away many hours just talking together.
“It is not like Father to either forgive or forget anyone whom he feels has wronged him,” Ernestine said.
Ulrich nodded.
“From the time you were sent to the concentration camp until you returned to Berlin your name was forbidden as was Uncle Wolfgang’s.”
“Time,” Ulrich said, “time softens us all up. It bleeds the will power that is needed to sustain a long feud.”
“But do you really believe this comes from his heart?”
“I think,” Ulrich said, “the ring is closing.”
“Don’t be a mystic, Uncle.”
“But mystics we must be. Men such as Bruno are common in our people. They are certain their life is guided by a mysterious fate and not by themselves. Unavoidable ‘fate’ is a built-in excuse for failure. One, like your father, who sees himself as a victim of fate is apt to be superstitious, unclear of mind. Bruno cannot admit to himself his life was a lie. He has wrapped himself in ‘fate’ to avoid both guilt and shame of the Nazi era. But ... every man and woman who lived in Nazi Germany in our generations must, in the end, seek an acquittal from God.”
“Once I had a letter from that boy in the SS,” Erna said. “It was his last, from Stalingrad. He wrote me that now that he was facing his Maker he was frightened because of the things he had done.”
“Yes. And it is the same with Bruno. It will be the same with sixty million Germans. They will come to that place far up the road where they can no longer avoid the questions.”
“But what does Father seek from us?”
“An avenue of redemption, a proof of his innocence. Some Germans will stand at the Lord’s throne and say, see here, God, I had a Jewish friend. I did not like what