Exodus - Leon Uris [35]
Johann Clement lit his pipe and sighed. Miriam cuddled at his feet and lay her head on his lap and he stroked her hair. Nearby, Maximilian stretched and groaned before the fire.
“I want so much to be as brave and as understanding as you are,” Miriam said.
“My father and my grandfather taught here. I was born in this house. My life, the only things I’ve ever wanted, the only things I’ve ever loved are in these rooms. My only ambition is that Hans will come to love it so after me. Sometimes I wonder if I have been fair to you and the children ... but something inside of me will not let me run. Just a little longer, Miriam ... it will pass ... it will pass ...”
NOVEMBER 19, 1938
200 synagogues gutted!
200 Jewish apartment houses torn apart!
8000 Jewish shops looted and smashed!
50 Jews murdered!
3000 Jews seriously beaten!
20,000 Jews arrested!
FROM THIS DAY ON NO JEW MAY BELONG TO A CRAFT OR TRADE!
FROM THIS DAY ON NO JEWISH CHILD MAY ENTER A PUBLIC SCHOOL!
FROM THIS DAY ON NO JEWISH CHILD MAY ENTER A PUBLIC PARK OR RECREATION GROUND!
A SPECIAL FINE OF ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS IS HEREBY LEVIED ON ALL THE JEWS OF GERMANY!
FROM THIS DAY ON ALL JEWS MUST WEAR A YELLOW ARM BAND WITH THE STAR OF DAVID!
It was hard to believe that things could get worse. But the tide ran higher and higher, and the waves finally crashed onto Johann Clement’s island when one day little Karen ran into the house, her face covered with blood and the words, “Jew! Jew! Jew!” ringing in her ears.
When a man has roots so deep and faith so strong the destruction of his faith is an awesome catastrophe. Not only had Johann Clement been a fool, but he had endangered the life of his family as well. He searched for some way out, and his path led to the Gestapo in Berlin. When he returned from Berlin, he locked himself in his study for two days and two nights, remaining there hunched over his desk, staring at the document that lay before him. It was a magic paper the Gestapo had presented him with. His signature on the paper would free him and his family from any further harm. It was a life-giving document. He read it over and over again until he knew every word on its pages.
... I, Johann Clement, after the above detailed search and the undeniable facts contained herein, am of the absolute conviction that the facts concerning my birth have been falsified. I am not now or never have been of the Jewish religion. I am an Aryan and ...
Sign it! Sign it! A thousand times he picked up the pen to write his name on the paper. This was no time for noble stands! He had never been a Jew ... Why not sign? ... it made no difference. Why not sign?
The Gestapo made it absolutely clear that Johann Clement had but one alternative. If he did not sign the paper and continue his work in research his family could leave Germany only if he remained as a political hostage.
On the third morning he walked from the study, haggard, and looked into Miriam’s anxious eyes. He went to the fireplace and threw the document into the flames. “I cannot do it,” he whispered. “You must plan to leave Germany with the children immediately.”
A terrible fear overtook him now for every moment that his family remained. Every knock on the door, every ring of the phone, every footstep brought a new terror he had never known.
He made his plans. First, the family would go to live with some colleagues in France. Miriam was nearly due and she could not travel far. After the baby came and her strength had returned they would continue on to England or America.
It was not all hopeless. Once the family was safe he could worry about himself. There were a few secret societies working in Germany which specialized in smuggling out German scientists. He had been tipped off to one working in Berlin—a group of Palestinian Jews who called themselves Mossad Aliyah Bet.
The trunks were all packed, the house closed down. The man and his wife sat that last night in silence, desperately hoping for some sudden miracle to