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With the war, the vice tightened around the Roma. Along with communists and foreigners, they were in effect the first French victims of the conflict. Suspected of being spies, they were gradually excluded from society and effectively banished. On October 22, 1939, a military decree prohibited them from travelling in eight ‘départements’ of Western France and from making camp in two ‘départements’ (Indre-et-Loire, Maine-et-Loire). The military authorities invoked Article 5 of the Law on the State of Siege which dated from August 9, 1849, and had previously been used during World War I to justify interning the ‘Gypsies’ in ‘clearance camps’ and ‘suspects’ camps’. On April 6, 1940, a legislative decree issued by the president of the republic banned itinerants from travelling anywhere in metropolitan France for the duration of the war and made them subject to compulsory residence orders. Officially, this measure was meant to reduce the risks of espionage; unofficially the aim was to force the ‘Tsiganes’ to settle.
—INTERNMENT IN FRANCE 1940 – 1946
March 31, 1940 – May 31, 1940
Spring made Berlin a garden city, bright and green in the sunlight. Gestapo General Heinz von Klopfer threw open the drapes that covered his bedroom window so the golden rays could dispel the gloom of his all-night vigil with the medium. All seemed to be correct in the Reich in the way he and a few others had dreamed of. Everything was going according to plan. This was not accidental. The General and his Gestapo troops were the guardians of the purity of the Third Reich. No available resource was to be spared to achieve their end.
“It’s unfortunate,” he said to himself, “that in the name of achieving racial purity, I have to resort to impure methods.” He straightened his uniform and lit a cigarette.
“That will be all for now,” he told the gypsy fortune teller gruffly. “Return tonight at the same time. We’ll continue our reading then. As I told you, I’ll report the results of our current session to the Führer. He’ll have questions. He always does. I’ll need your help answering his questions. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Herr General, I understand. I will return at ten o’clock tonight,” Nadya Hanstein said as she bowed, swept up her Tarot deck and backed to the door. She felt the doorknob behind her and turned it. When the door opened, she felt relieved. She would survive another day.
Then she was outside the General’s bedroom and free again, at least for a while. She was trembling from the unpleasant contact. Struggling to catch her breath, she hyperventilated. After she had calmed down, she went down the stairwell to the small closet and retrieved her cape with the hood. Properly shrouded, she left the General’s home and returned through the busy city streets to the tiny apartment that also served as her place of business. She had a pass signed by the General, but she did not want to take any chances of being roughhoused by Brown Shirts. After all, she was Romani. By law, she should be wearing a black badge or a green one.
She reflected silently. Let’s see. I’ve only scheduled two appointments today, one in the morning and the next in the late afternoon. Perhaps I can catch a few winks between them. I must be at my best tonight for the General. So much depends on the Führer’s love of divination. So far, I’ve been lucky.
As she stepped through her door, a large man rushed up behind her and thrust her inside. He slammed the door and waited for her reaction. She stayed still while her hand slipped to her waist, groping for her knife.
“Who are you? What’s the meaning of this? I’ll yell for the police!”
“Do you recognize my voice?”
She froze. Then she turned and flew into his open arms and hugged him, desperately.
“Tobor, it’s really you! I thought I’d never see you again.”
She felt his warm embrace. He was standing tall, strong and handsome as always. She relaxed for a moment. Then she thought of the enormous risk he had taken to come to Berlin and pushed back from him. She looked him in the eyes.
“You’re in great danger here in Berlin and anywhere in Germany. I’m terrified of your being found and taken to the camps, or shot on sight. There’s a big reward on your head. The police have orders to shoot to kill. What are you doing here?” Her eyes flashed. He could see her initial relief was completely replaced by anger for his rashness. She was worried now and concerned for his welfare. He smiled and changed the subject.
“Aren’t you going to offer me something warm to drink? Given your Gestapo friends these days, you must have real coffee and perhaps some schnapps?”
“Those you call my friends are not my friends. I can offer you tea and cookies. Will that be all right?”
“Yes, please. At the Marzahn camp, the others told me you’d been taken to a work camp. They said I’d never see you again.”
“I was processed with others to go to a work camp. That much is true. During the processing, I caught the eye of a spotter for the Gestapo. It’s a long story, but I was passed up the Gestapo chain of command to the General.” As she spoke, she put a kettle on the stove for tea and laid two cups with saucers on the table.
“What special services did you have to perform to get an exemption? Many others, women, and children went to the kind of camps from which no one returns.” He spat out these words accusatorily.
“I know what you’re thinking. You think I must have slept with them all. But you’re wrong. It was my fortune telling skills they wanted, not my body. The Nazi doctors discovered that I was what they call a ‘pure Roma.’ To prove it to themselves, they made me the subject of all sorts of experiments. I must have passed their tests. I was eventually introduced to General Klopfer as a mystic and reader advisor. I’ve been his personal fortune teller ever since.”
“I followed you to the General’s home last evening. I followed you back here this morning. Do you expect me to believe that you spent the entire night with this man and had no sex with him?”
“Tobor, you’re naïve. The man is gay. He likes young boys. I’m his beard. Because he thinks I’m past childbearing, he can pretend I’m his mistress. That deflects suspicion.”
“Now you’re telling me that a General in the Gestapo is playing a dangerous game of deception. His being homosexual could cost him his life.” He was somewhat skeptical yet willing to believe that a general officer could have a depraved secret life.
“The General seems to like skirting danger. He’s like a moth to a flame.”
“Why’s fortune telling so important for him?”
“The tea water is ready. I’ll pour the tea. Look up in that cupboard for the tin of cookies.” She pointed to the middle cabinet above the sink.
Tobor found the tin and two plates. He put two cookies on each plate while she put tea leaves in both cups and poured boiling water over them. They both sat and watched the tea steep.
Nadya began to answer his question. “Fortune telling for him and his masters is essential. They don’t know what tomorrow will bring, except for their victims. They’re flying blind and taking the entire nation with them.”
“Do you guide what the Nazis do?” he asked with an incredulous expression.
“I certainly hope not, given what they’re doing. I just deal the Tarot cards and try to interpret them in a way that keeps me alive.” She sat down and sighed. She searched his face for a sign of affection and found a trace in his smile. She crossed her legs, leaned back in her chair and kept her eyes on his face as she continued.
“Brother, tell me what you’ve been doing to stay alive.”
“As you know, I had to leave Germany with the other men the night after Jaelle’s marriage. We’re working against the Third Reich everywhere in Europe. Only a few women are with us. I married one of them. You’ll surely remember Drina. One day, perhaps, you’ll see her again.” He smiled briefly and drank some tea.
“I’ll look forward to meeting her when it’s safe to do so. Can you tell me where you call home?” She picked up a cookie and held it in the air while she waited for him to answer.
“No, I can’t tell you yet. That would be dangerous for you, me and the others. I can say that as long as we are away from Germany, we’re as safe as anyone can be in these times. The trouble is, we can’t work against the Nazis from any fixed base in Europe. We have a base of operations, but we have to keep moving.” His tone was matter of fact. He ate a cookie while she thought about what he had said.
“You can’t operate in Europe effectively without intelligence and support.”
“We’re gypsies, so we improvise and live off the land.” As if to illustrate this, he chose another cookie and waved it in the air.
“It’s becoming increasingly difficult for anyone to ‘live off the land.’ Germany is a counterintelligence state. Everyone is a government spy. No one can be trusted.”
“Can I trust you?” His question was uttered harshly, brooking no nonsense. He looked into her eyes accusatorily.
“Of course, you can trust me.” Her voice pleaded and sounded hurt. He nodded.
“We do have intelligence and support.”
“I guess that’s how you found me?”
“No, not exactly. I found your General. While I watched him, I was shocked to discover that his nights were entirely devoted to you. Imagine my surprise!”
“I understand you. Whoever you’re working with wants to assassinate the General. That might be a big mistake.” She shook her head as she thought about the enormity of the idea. He stood up and started pacing the room.
“Tell me one reason why this man should live. You just told me you don’t have a relationship with him.”
“What I tell him goes straight to the Führer, my real customer. The General is only a conduit from me to him.”
“What do we gain from letting the General live?” Tobor’s eyes were sparkling now with rage. Nadya saw the sign in them of his determination.
“Perhaps I should tell you what I’ve learned so far. I can’t do that now. I’ve got a customer coming here for a palm reading in twenty minutes.”
“Can you hide me here while you do your business? We can talk after that.”
“Yes, I can—under my bed. You’ll have to lie very still. I don’t want noises breaking my concentration while I work. My customer is a friend. You’ll hear what the information I glean from the General does for your cause.”
After she had used a mop to pick up the dust under her bed, Tobor slipped under the bed, uncomfortable and cramped. He felt frustrated by having to keep a low profile. Nadya adjusted the long bedspread so it reached the floor on three sides. Satisfied that her guest would not see her brother in hiding, she prepared for her session.
Her customer arrived at precisely ten o’clock. The fortune teller took his palm in her hand and began to read it. When she had done her palmistry, she asked him whether he would like her to show him Tarot cards.
“I’d very much like to see the final card you played last night.”
Nadya searched her deck, found the Hierophant card and laid it on the table.
“What am I to make of this? It looks positively papist.”
“It’s an ancient symbol of order. Do you see the two crossed keys below the standing figure?” With her right index finger, the fortune teller pointed to the keys.
“Of course I do.” He sounded impatient, even insulted.
“It would take me hours to explain every detail of this image. If you focus only on the keys, you can capture the gist. Tell me what you see.”
“The two old keys are crossed. Their shapes are identical.” He looked up at her for her approval.
“Look again, please. Don’t be fooled by your first impression.” She spoke calmly, encouraging her customer. “Relax and focus on the particulars.”
He breathed in deeply and looked again. “I see now that the keys are colored differently. One is yellow. The other is white.”
“Good, but that yellow is gold. The white is silver.” She corrected him like a patient school teacher.
“So we have a golden and a silver key, overlaid cross-wise. What do the keys mean?” Now he seemed genuinely curious to know the meaning of what he saw.
She said, “In one tradition, they’re the keys to Paradise and Purgatory. The golden key is for Paradise. The silver is for Purgatory. In Catholic tradition, St. Peter stands at the Pearly Gates and holds the keys. As souls approach, he lets the soul enter the gate that God has approved for him.”
“My mother used to tell me these things because of my saint’s name. Surely that can’t be the interpretation the General wanted to hear!” He exclaimed.
“Definitely not, Pierre. He was interested in another interpretation. The first question he had was, ‘Why are only two keys represented on the card?’”
“What did he mean by that?” He was now probing for information that only she could tell him because she was the person who had gotten closest to the General.
“He thought there should have been a third key made of iron. ‘It is the key,’ he said, ‘to Hell.’ Then he fell silent when I told him that perhaps the third key was mystically present but could not be revealed.”
“What did he say to that?”
“He said he would confer with the Führer about it today. I’m to answer any questions the Führer has tonight.”
“Nadya, I’m afraid you’re getting in too deep for your own good.”
“Whatever do you mean, Pierre?” She was alarmed now and fully alert.
“The Führer’s insane. The closer you get to his secret thoughts, the less likely you are to survive. The man’s jealousy of his secrets is a killer.”
“I’m living on borrowed time as it is. You know that.” Her voice sounded determined in spite of the horrors that were flying through her mind.
“Is there anywhere you could escape to? Why not just flee? A gypsy can’t possibly survive what’s coming in Europe. In just a few years, the Reich will kill all the gypsies just as it will kill all the Jews and all other misfits in the Reich. I’ve got Jewish blood in my veins through my grandmother. If I’m not already on a list, I expect my name will be on one soon. I’ll be arrested in the middle of the night and sent to a work camp. I’ll never get out. I’ll die there or be sent to a worse place.” Pierre was sounding hysterical. He was sitting on the edge of his chair.
“Can you tell me what would be worse than a work camp?” Nadya asked him.
“A death camp.”
Nadya was shocked to learn this heavy news. She contemplated the idea for a moment before she spoke.
“Oh, my! Is there such a place?”
“Do you remember when the first gypsy camps were established in the cities?”
“Of course I do. Everyone in our caravans went to Marzahn.”
“That camp was the prototype. When it proved effective, the Nazis built the other holding camps all over the country in a matter of months. At the same time, they signed contracts for the work camps. That’s where you would have gone if you hadn’t gotten lucky. Well, now they’ve quietly begun awarding contracts for death camps.” He hesitated to give her time to absorb what he was saying.
“How do you know these things, Pierre?”
“I am an architect. I work for a contractor that does secret work for the government. I see the classified solicitations. I draw up my company’s bids for the work. The monetary awards go to companies like mine. We don’t just do single camps. We do dozens, even hundreds of them under contract.”
“So that’s the iron key.” The whole diabolical picture was finally coming together in her mind.
“What do you mean, Nadya?”
“We can see the golden key in camps like Marzahn, which was a promise of security from persecution—until you were inside and could not escape.”
“And the silver key?”
“The Nazis are always talking about work making you free. It’s like Purgatory. Those work camps are for people who don’t deserve Paradise. Of course, no one ever returns from those camps either.”
“That leaves us with the iron key.”
“Yes, that’s the key that doesn’t appear on the Tarot card. It’s the hidden key of death. I think we’ve done enough for today, don’t you?”
“Nadya, knowing what you now know—”
“Don’t try to scare me. It’s not yet time for me to flee. I was spared for a purpose.”
“What if your purpose is to confirm to the Nazis that their plans will be fulfilled?”
“We’ll see about that, Pierre. What do you do to cleanse your conscience for the work you do for these monsters?”
“I come to you for my absolution.” He leaned forward humbly and his voice trembled.
“I can’t forgive you,” she said with tears running down her face. “After knowing what we know, what forgiveness can there be for us?”
“You may not forgive me, but you can listen. Thanks for letting me know about the card and the keys. May I come next Tuesday again at the same time?”
“I’ll make a note of that. Our session today will be ten Deutschmarks, please.”
“Here are twenty. Remember, if anyone asks about my visit, we only read my palm today.”
“I’ll remember. Be safe. Goodbye.”
When Pierre had departed, Nadya asked her brother to come out from under the bed.
“Did you hear what we said?” She asked while he stretched and walked around her apartment.
“I heard every word. Death camps are being contracted. The work camps are full already. To accommodate the swelling numbers of interned people, they’ll have to get rid of anyone who can’t work to their standards. Their standards will be more than humans can bear.”
“Now do you understand why I continue to remain in Germany?”
“Nadya, that makes no sense to me. You’re insane to stay. Come away with me. Escape before it’s too late.”
“Tobor, you’re being importunate. Let’s have something to eat. I have to take a nap, or I’ll fall asleep at work tonight. Listening to my discussion with my second customer of the day will clarify what I do.” She sounded exasperated and frustrated with him.
They ate a spare lunch of milk and black bread with butter and jam. Compared with the average German’s fare, they ate well. Nadya took a nap while Tobor considered what Pierre had said. He awakened her a half hour before her second appointment so she could freshen up and prepare. She installed him under her bed as before.
At four o’clock sharp her customer, Hans Melder, a Gestapo Captain, arrived. He carried a riding crop that he struck against his high, polished boots when he was nervous.
“Good day, Nadya. I’ve been working hard for the General today. I need to know whether I’ll be promoted for what I’ve done. Will you look into the flame and predict my future?” He was both demanding and patronizing.
“Please be seated at my work table.” She ignored his impatience and set the pace for both of them. He sat in the customer’s chair and waited for her to begin.
She sat opposite him and set a red candle upright in a saucer on the table. She lighted the candle.
“Captain Melder, please relax. Breathe deeply. Now look into the flame with me.”
He took his time observing the flame before he became frustrated and confessed, “I don’t see anything but the blue and orange flame.”
“Be patient. Don’t forget to breathe. Empty your head of all thoughts. Give it your full effort. Concentrate. When you’re ready, just nod.”
The Captain struggled to concentrate.
“All I can think of is CZ. Concentration camps. I see fields of swine. I see asocials, criminals, vagrants, idlers, the maimed, the halt, the legless, the incurably sick, the deformed, the mentally disturbed and the aged.”
“What are they doing?”
“They’re all defiling the purity of the Reich.” He spat out these words in rage and disgust.
“Keep looking at the flame. Tell me what’s happening.”
“Work will make them free, but they hate work. They won’t work. The Reich must be cleansed.”
“How will that happen, Captain?”
“The Führer will tell us when it’s time for us to know it. Heil Hitler!” The Captain’s right arm snapped out in the familiar Nazi salute. He held the salute as he gazed into the flame, his eyes on fire with fanaticism.
“What do you see now, Herr Captain?”
“I see a great night gathering of the people by torchlight. The Führer is on a podium. Behind him spread out in iron is the bird symbol of the Reich. The people are shouting, ‘Heil Hitler!’ He calmly waits until their fury has abated. They become very silent. When he starts, the Führer speaks low so he can hardly be heard. He gradually raises his voice. Now his voice rings out. It resounds in every true German soul.”
“Can you tell what he’s saying?”
“He’s saying those who aren’t pure Germans should be exterminated. A plan to cleanse the Reich has been adopted. He’s asking whether anyone has seen an undesirable person, whether it be Jew or Romani. The Führer is saying that it’s every German’s duty to report any such person to the authorities.”
“Captain, can you see whether you are standing near the Führer?” She encouraged him in a calm voice.
“Yes, I am among the men standing just behind him. I’m wearing my uniform. Ach, I’ve been promoted!” Tears formed in the man’s blue eyes. He nodded his perfectly formed Aryan head, with its golden hair. “Thank you, my Führer. Thank you.” Captain Melder kept his eyes fixed on the flame, hoping to learn more.
“What do you see now, Captain?”
“I see that I must redouble my work to achieve my goal. I’ve been slacking. There’s no excuse for that. I must get back to work right now.” He looked at her, knowing she would understand.
“Captain, today’s session costs ten Deutschmarks.”
He narrowed his eyes and held his breath because she had broken his concentration for mere money.
“Did we agree on that amount?”
“Yes. It’s my usual fee. You must remember.”
“Yes, yes. All right, there’s your fee.” He slapped a crisp note on her desk. Then he rose to his full height, carefully adjusted his hat on his head and struck his riding crop against his boot twice. “How again did you avoid the camps?”
“The General wanted to engage my services for the Reich.”
“Yes, well, be sure to keep him happy.” He grinned broadly, insinuating that he knew very well what she was doing for the General. His eyes scanned her from head to toe appraisingly. “What he sees in you is quite beyond me. But if it’s for the Reich, so be it. Good afternoon.”
“Goodbye, Herr Captain.”
The man marched out of her small apartment, reassured that he would get his promotion. Once the door had closed, Nadya fetched her brother from under her bed. He crawled out and stretched his arms and legs to relieve his cramped muscles.
“Did you hear?”
“Yes, unfortunately, I did hear every word. How can you stand listening to that mindless goon?”
“That same Captain picked me from all the gypsy women to avoid the work camp. If he hadn’t done so, I would be lost. Sometimes I know he has second thoughts.” She sounded resigned. “Once he told me his saving me might cost him a promotion. That would be intolerable for him. He actually does stand right behind Adolf Hitler in all the photographs where Gestapo troops are featured. He’s the perfect poster-boy Aryan. He told me how he’d been trained to disregard the pain of those he tortured. I passed out when his unspeakable cruelty became clear to me. He laughed at my squeamishness.” She raised her hand to her head as if she had a migraine.
“Do you want him to live?”
“Tobor, there are so many like him. You can’t possibly kill them all.”
“Conversely, they can kill all us gypsies. They have a grand plan for doing just that. Will you tell me why you won’t come away with me? I can get us both out of Germany.”
“I’ve got a few hours before I have to visit the General again. Tell me how this would work. I’m not saying I’m going to do it. I just want to know how it might be possible.”
Tobor started at the end and walked her back to where she was tonight. He described life in the compound where the growing nursery was the center of the gypsy women’s attention. He told her that Anastasia, their Soviet leader and control, was about to give birth. He described in vivid detail the dark night in 1938 that Anastasia served as a midwife, transforming her own life in the bloody, soul-wrenching birthing process.
“So you are working for the Soviets,” Nadya said. “You must know that their pact with Hitler isn’t going to last. Then war will become global. In the meantime, you’re walking a tightrope over an abyss since all gypsies are to be exterminated as a matter of Reich policy.”
“If you want to come with me, leave the General’s bedroom window unlatched tonight so I can get inside. Once I kill him, my people will assure that we both get out of Germany safely. If I don’t kill him, I’ll be left on my own to be captured, and I’ll die.”
“How many men have you assassinated, Tobor?”
“Not as many as I’d like. Far too few to be useful in stopping the killing of our people. What does it matter, anyway? I’ve kept alive doing my work just as you’ve managed to survive doing yours. How does it feel to gratify the ego of a man like Captain Melder?”
“This afternoon with you listening nearby, I had to wonder about that.” Her eyes were downcast with shame. Her brother’s presence during her work and the prospect of escape had given her a new perspective on her life and work.
“From what the Captain told you, the Nazis have been sweeping up everyone who doesn’t fit the image of their model citizen. It’s not only gypsies, but we are a major segment of the population for their extermination plan. It’s only been three years since Marzahn opened. How can this horror have happened so rapidly?”
“They’ve been moving gradually and keeping their dirty work under control through propaganda. Once they see the way clear, they move with the speed of lightning. With us gypsies, at first, they were indiscriminate. They focused only on the caravans. They moved the populations of our caravans to the city camps as they built them. Once they filled all the city camps, they had to devise ways to transfer people to the new work camps. Those camps filled up too since the closer they examined the bloodlines of descent, the more hybrid gypsies they found. Some were part Jews, of course.”
“The Jews had money and valuables to bargain for freedom.” Out of frustration for the current state of Europe and jealousy for those who had means enough to escape, Tobor had taken out his knife. He was testing its sharpness by running the side of its blade against his palm.
“True enough, but even the rich ran out of money eventually. No gypsy had the kind of wealth that some Jews did. Without money, though, everyone in the disrespected classes of society was reduced to incarceration and slavery. Outside Germany, who would believe this was happening?”
“The wider the Nazis spread their evil net, the greater the danger for everyone in Europe. Today the pattern the Nazis established in Germany is being emulated wherever they annex or co-opt other countries. Soon there will be nowhere left to hide. While there’s still time, we have to go.”
“I’ve heard of terrible purges in the Soviet Union. Are those as bad?”
“Compared with German thoroughness, the purges are minor. Old scores are being settled. The numbers are few. Nevertheless, fear is everywhere.”
“Are you afraid?”
“I take my chances. In balance, I choose to be where my people are.” There was no shadow of doubt or fear in Tobor’s voice.
“Make the possibility of escape seem real to me. I still can’t believe how this will happen. I’m afraid.” Her voice dropped as she said this, wavering slightly. “I don’t mind admitting the fact. I want to escape. Convince me that we can do this.”
The pair discussed in detail what was going to happen that night at the General’s house and afterward. After a light supper, Nadya gathered her traveling kit. Meanwhile, Tobor went out into the night to get in position at the rear of the General’s house. When it was time to leave, Nadya locked her apartment for what might be the last time.
She arrived at the General’s house and knocked on the door at precisely ten o’clock. The door opened immediately. The General took her forearm and drew her into the hall.
He shut the door and whispered, “He’s here now.”
“Who’s here?”
“The Führer. He wants to have you interpret the Tarot for him.”
“Why would he want me to do that?” She wondered what was going to happen to the intricate plan she and Tobor had devised. Hitler’s presence could ruin their plan. They might never escape Germany.
“I can’t say. When I told the Führer what you saw in the cards, he asked me questions I couldn’t answer satisfactorily. He flew into a rage at me and demanded to see you at once. I’m afraid things don’t look good for me right now.” The General was sweating profusely. He mopped his brow and neck with his handkerchief.
With gallows humor, Nadya spontaneously thought, His beautiful Gestapo uniform is going to need cleaning and pressing.
They went up the stairway to the General’s bedroom. When they opened the door, Adolf Hitler was seated at the small table, examining Tarot cards. He sprang to his feet and advanced to take Nadya’s hand and kiss it. The gesture did not seem forced, but sincere and natural. He led her to the table by the hand and asked her to take her seat. With the back of his other hand, he gestured for the General to leave the room.
“General, please wait outside and close the door so we can be alone.”
The General pulled the door closed, and Hitler turned his full attention to Nadya.
“Miss Hanstein, I’m here to ask questions about one Tarot card. I won’t take much of your time. I’ll pay your normal rate for the information you give me.”
“My Führer, let me find the card so we have a common reference.” She flipped through her Tarot deck to find the Hierophant card, which she placed face up on the table.
“That’s the card,” he said. “I’m familiar with it in general terms. I want to ask about one feature specifically. By that, I mean the crossed keys right there. Tell me about those.”
“My Führer, would you mind if I let some air into this room?”
“Of course, go right ahead. I find it beastly hot. How does the General stand it?”
While he continued to stare in fascination at the card, Nadya went to the arras and parted it. She unlatched the window and pushed it open a crack. Then she let the arras fall.
“That’s better.”
“I agree. In case we get thirsty, I brought two glasses of carrot juice. I’m a health nut and a vegetarian. I never touch meat or alcohol.” He said this casually as if they had been familiar.
“My Führer, the two keys shown here are linked to religious symbolism and to mystical symbolism. The two are not the same.” She let this basic difference sink in. He nodded.
“One key is golden. The other is silver.” She carefully explained the Catholic symbolism of the two keys. When she had finished, she paused. Then she told Hitler that the third key was not present in the Tarot image. This thought intrigued the Führer. He sat straight up in his chair with his lips pressed together.
“Yes, tell me about the third key.”
“The third key traditionally is made of iron. In many stained glass windows and a few illustrated manuscripts, St. Peter is shown holding the three keys.”
“They symbolize Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory?” Hitler asked.
“Yes, Führer. If you already know the tradition of the three keys, what more do you want to know?”
“I want your interpretation of them. You said there was a mystical meaning.”
Nadya nodded. Then she knew what she must do. She decided to tell the Führer exactly what Captain Melder had seen in the flame that afternoon. She took a red candle from her pocket and placed it upright in a saucer on the table. Then she lit the candle.
“My Führer, will you please look into the flame? Please relax. Try to achieve a state of meditation. Empty your busy mind and focus only on the flame. I’ll tell you what I see there. Then you tell me what you see in it.” She paused and looked at him.
He was inclining forward and already completely fixated on the flame. His hair and mustache were exactly as she had seen them in newspaper pictures and films. She never dreamed she would be close enough to him to hear him breathing and smell his hair oil. Everything was happening too quickly for her to process the situation. She did not make the attempt to do that; instead, she described her vision.
“I see a giant stadium by night. Many torches are borne by an enormous crowd. I see a giant podium arranged above the crowd and behind it, the eagle of the Reich pinned like an iron butterfly against a huge wall. The red flag with the swastika is draped over a lectern. A row of pure Aryans with blonde hair and blue eyes stand in their Gestapo uniforms, waiting for the arrival of the hero. Here you come. They snap to attention and raise their right arms to salute you. The crowd erupts in a single repeated shout, ‘Heil, Hitler!’”
She had then repeated the vision that Captain Melder had seen word for word. When she finished, she paused while Hitler nodded reflectively. He kept his gaze fixed on the candle.
“The crowd is stilled by your commanding presence. ‘I see a golden key appearing above you in the sky,’ you say and pause. ‘It is the promise of heaven on earth,’ you say and pause again. ‘It is the promise of the Third Reich.’ The people erupt into cheers. The torches wave. A giant spotlight begins to circle in the sky. You now say, ‘This promise is not given freely. It must be earned.’ The golden key disappears. Then a silver key appears.”
Now Hitler takes over the vision. His eyes flash with inspiration as they meditate on the flame.
“It is the promise of work on earth. Work will earn you paradise. This silver key can open the way to heaven. But the work must be totally absorbing and cleansing. Hard work will set you free.” He stopped with this thought as if he were talking to the crowd that had formed in his imagination.
“The silver key is disappearing. I now see the crossed keys together. I hear the people cheer. I say, ‘This is the promise. But there’s more.’ Now the iron key appears. It overlays the crossed keys like a vertical sword. It’s covered with rust. I say, ‘This is the secret key of death. Those who will not or cannot work for any reason must surely die. They are consigned to Hell. So it shall be for anyone who does not participate in the glory of the Reich.’”
Adolf Hitler repeatedly blinked as he regarded the flame. Then gradually he came out of his vision. He sat back in his chair and took a sip of his carrot juice.
“That was hard work, but we did it. I have the answer I came for. Thank you. You are remarkable.” His eyes were wide in wonder. His voice was filled with amazement and appreciation. “That dolt of a General doesn’t appreciate you for what you are. I’m going to pay you one hundred Deutschmarks.” He laid the note on her table. Taking one last look at the red candle burning, he rose. She blew out the candle and rose with him and walked him to the door.
The General, who was waiting outside the door, snapped to attention, clicked his heels and thrust out his right arm, “Heil Hitler!”
Ignoring him, the Führer walked straight past, down the stairs and out the front door to his waiting car.
The General and Nadya breathed sighs of relief to know the man was gone.
“Well, Nadya, tell me what you told him.” The General was clearly worried.
“Herr General, the Führer did all the talking. All I did was light a red candle. He looked into the flame, and his great mind took flight. What he said was what I told you last night, nothing more and nothing less.”
“Do you think he was satisfied?”
“Can the Führer ever be satisfied? I just don’t know.”
“Let’s light the candle again. Maybe I can see in it what he saw.”
“As you wish, Herr General. I’ll seat you exactly as he was seated. I didn’t drink my carrot juice. Maybe if you take a sip of that, the magic will work better. It seemed to help the Führer. I wasn’t aware he’s a vegetarian.”
“He told you that?” The General, of course, knew that Hitler was a vegetarian. “I’m surprised that the leader would tell you this. You’re merely a fortune teller, after all.”
Nadya arranged the General in the seat. She lighted the red candle.
“Now Herr General, please concentrate on the flame.”
She sat opposite him and watched as he tried to focus. She kept her eye on the flame now, because behind the General her brother was coming through the arras silently with his knife drawn. He quickly cut the General’s throat from ear to ear. The General rose with his hands, trying to stop the gushing of blood from his neck. He could not speak but gurgled as he began to understand the extremity of his wound. He fell to the floor and bled on the oriental carpet. As blood poured on the floor, his body went rigid. His glazed, vacant eyes made it clear that he was dead.
After Tobor had wiped his blade on a pillowcase, the assassin extended his hand to his sister. She took his hand and wrung it. Even after witnessing such a bloody, violent killing, she was handling the situation well. She was trembling slightly and seemed unsteady on her feet.
“It’s time to leave now,” he said. “Lock the door and pick up all your things.”
She locked the door to the bedroom from the inside before picking up her Tarot cards. She blew out the red candle but left it on the table. Having climbed out the General’s bedroom window, the pair walked coolly to a getaway vehicle that was idling two streets away. They got into the back of the car and disappeared into the night.
Nadya did not know what to expect next. She had placed her fate into her brother’s hands. Tobor did not say a word while they were in transit. The driver stopped in front of the Catholic Church, where the priest was waiting to escort them through the maze that led all the way to the gypsy barracks in the USSR. The priest had brought a nun’s habit for Nadya and a friar’s robe for Tobor.
The three commenced their long trip east. They traveled mostly by night, often staying in religious dwellings during daylight. Sometimes they rode in cars; sometimes they rode in horse carts. For a while, they rode horseback. Behind them in Germany, they knew an intensive hunt for the gypsy fortune teller was underway. Reprisals were being taken against the entire gypsy population. Apprehension, torture, and inquisitions were widespread.
When brother and sister reached the transition point for their transfer from their Catholic escort to their Orthodox one, Tobor told her, “We’re now beyond the reach of the German authorities. We still have a long trek to our destination, but we can stop and relax if you like.”
“Tobor, I want to spend time reflecting on the sudden change in my life.” She sounded both stressed and exhausted.
“Let’s spend a week living in a religious house, where we can both labor in the fields.”
She was glad to immerse herself in another world. The claustrophobic Nazi environment had suffocated her spiritually since her trip to Marzahn. She hoped work in the sunshine would restore her soul.
While hoeing weeds around grape vines, Tobor confessed that he had heard everything Adolf Hitler had said while he looked into the candle’s flame.
“So you were behind the arras then and could have killed him.”
“That’s right, but my orders were clear. I was sent to kill the General. I had no orders to kill Hitler.”
“Was it wise to let Hitler live?”
“Sometimes killing a bad man brings a worse man to the fore.”
“You followed orders. You weren’t always that obliging before.” Nadya looked at Tobor with a new appraisal. She was genuinely surprised to see how much her willful brother had changed on account of his experiences.
“Well, I didn’t follow all my orders.” He arched his eyebrows.
“What do you mean?”
“I was also supposed to eliminate the fortune teller who was causing all the trouble. She was reinforcing the egos of the major figures in the Reich.” He smiled ruefully when he told her this.
“So you were ordered to kill me. Why am I not surprised? Will your control kill you because you failed in this?”
“I didn’t really fail. I was only ordered to eliminate you. I did that by taking you out of Berlin.”
She laughed heartily. “What if I hadn’t agreed to come with you?”
He got an impish grin. “In that case, I would have improvised.”
“You’ve always been resourceful.” She said, cynically.
“I should warn you. The Soviets have as great a reliance on fortune telling as the Germans.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“I’d like to get you an audition with certain powerful people at Moscow Center. That way we might learn how long their pact with Germany will last.”
Nadya acknowledged his words with a nod. Then she abruptly changed the subject.
“Tell me again how many children are in the nursery where we are going.”
Tobor enumerated the inhabitants of the barracks and the wagons one by one. “By now they’ll have done the planting and stolen livestock. Most of those who were out on missions will have returned.”
“How long will it be before they send you out on a mission again?”
“I never know for sure how long I’ll have to wait. They like to keep me busy.” He dug with his hoe at a large patch of weeds. “By the way, I think you’ll like Anastasia. Jaelle will be delighted that you decided to join us. She’s been through a lot. So has Milosh.”
“The more I dwell on it, the more I’m glad I came. Germany was choking me to death. I was always afraid someone would decide to send me back to the camps. I could do nothing to help any of our family or friends. Guilty for living in luxury, I yearned for a deus ex machina. Then you came like my knight in shining armor.”
“Ironically, I slew your knight in shining armor. The General fit that role perfectly. Was it true the man was gay?”
“Yes, it was true. He was so plagued by Hitler about the progress of the concentration camps, he didn’t have a lot of time for his young Lotharios.”
“I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone turned him in.”
“Probably you’re right. Then he would have faced the guillotine, so your slice across his neck was fitting. I’m satisfied with the General’s death, though I’m still having trouble processing that someone was killed right in front of me.” She looked down at her feet, avoiding eye contact. Her voice was very quiet.
“Do you regret my not giving Captain Melder the same treatment?”
She sounded weary, and her shoulders drooped when she spoke. “As I said at the time, he’s only one of thousands of his kind. You couldn’t kill them all. One day a great retribution will harvest them. In the meantime, people will suffer. That can’t be helped. I do regret not helping Pierre to find a way out.”
“Maybe the next time you can.”
“The next time?”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you before. When I bring people across, part of the deal is that they have to work for Moscow Center as assassins and spies.”
“Now you tell me this!” She looked cross.
“You could always stay here instead and work alongside the religious people.”
“That’s a thought, but then I wouldn’t get to spend time with my daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren.”
“Did you say, grandchildren?”
“I can always hope, can’t I?”
Tobor could not help but ask, “Maybe we could find a real man for you as well, Nadya? You’re still a good looking woman with many years ahead of you.”
She looked away, embarrassed. “Tobor, I’ll take things day by day. We’ll see what turns up. I’m in no hurry. Right now I just want to be reunited with my family.”
At the end of their week’s stay, they pushed on through the early summer landscape to their destination.
When they finally arrived at the gypsy camp, they were welcomed by the whole gypsy contingent. Tobor received a warm welcome home from Drina and her three brothers. Tobor felt pride in feeling his wife’s stomach where their child was growing. Nadya was pleased to be shown to her own wagon dwelling, which she said was almost as large as her apartment in Berlin.
The gypsies orchestrated a ‘welcome back’ feast in Nadya’s honor. Goats were slaughtered and roasted. Wine flowed as it had not done since Jaelle and Milosh’s wedding. The couple was delighted to have Nadya back with the family. Jaelle introduced Nadya to her grandchild and confessed that another grandchild was on the way.
During the feast, Anastasia was visibly pregnant, but very much in charge. She gave the welcoming speech.
“Welcome, Nadya Hanstein! Congratulations on your escape from Berlin. I’m glad to have a new, solid worker and a family member on our team. Nadya and I saw eye to eye from the time of her arrival. When Tobor told Gregor and me about her critical role in the General’s assassination, we arranged for Nadya’s residency papers immediately with Moscow Center. These things take time, but the bureaucratic machinery has been set in motion with Center’s approval. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to having my fortune told by an expert who has advised Adolf Hitler personally.” The words came out in a light-hearted way, but there was a distrustful edge in her eyes when she mentioned Hitler.
She laughed merrily and toasted Nadya’s health. “Here’s to Nadya and our growing family. Comrades, drink and eat heartily.”
As Tobor predicted, all the gypsy men had returned from their European missions. They had planted spring crops and worked to create areas for their growing numbers of livestock. In the last four months, the men had harvested four milk cows, ten pigs, two dozen chickens and five turkeys from neighboring farms. They had also managed to liberate some ancient farm machinery, including a tractor and a utility truck.
“As you see, Tobor, all the makings of a working farm have come together.”
“Anastasia, I’m proud they were able to rebuild their old life in this new place. Clinging to normalcy is important, especially when at any time they might be captured or killed. It’s a good thing gypsies have always been ready to pack up and leave. We’re capable of adapting rapidly and finding enjoyment wherever we go.”
Satisfied at their progress, Tobor and Anastasia discussed the future.
“I’ve now told you all I know about what’s happening with the secret camps in Germany. Can Moscow Center do anything about this?”
“Comrade, the relations between the USSR and Germany are delicate. We can’t do anything. Stalin and Hitler want total solidarity. So no, our hands are tied. Even if we saw an opportunity to make our knowledge public, who would believe us? What proof do we have?”
“I suppose the observations of an assassin and a fortune teller wouldn’t count for much.”
“You make my point.” She said this with an ironical smile.
“Do you think we could organize to get endangered people out of the Nazis’ sphere of influence?” He knew this was a long shot.
Anastasia rubbed her swollen stomach, feeling her child there. “That would be difficult. Consider what it took to get your sister out. If we created a pipeline for refugees, it would quickly be discovered. Then we’d have problems denying our involvement. As it is, we’re taking phenomenal risks with our ongoing operations. Moscow Center’s purges won’t go on forever, but as long as they continue, we’ll try to keep quiet. I haven’t told the others what I’ve had to do to placate the authorities.”
“Can you tell me about that?”
“One faction wants to break up our operations entirely. They worry about the risks of exposure. They ask, ‘What if our assassination work was known to be coming from the USSR?’ They think that if that happened, we’d all be liquidated by state security.” She gave Tobor a sobering look to indicate the seriousness of their situation.
“And the other faction. What’s their view?”
“The other faction wants to use us exclusively against enemies of socialism. They also worry about the risks of exposure, but for other reasons. Their concern is creating a stigma against violence to promote the historical movement towards World Communism.”
They both thought about this for a moment.
“Where does this infighting leave us?”
“We’re lying low until the danger’s passed. Gregor and I have deflected attempts to infiltrate our operations or replace our leadership with new players. We had a visitor not more than two weeks ago. He’s buried in the land behind the barracks.” She said this with grim determination and looked him in the eyes.
“Who was the visitor?”
“He was a German doctor tasked to do an analysis on gypsy populations in the USSR. Moscow Center sent him here. They informed me about him and ordered me to give him an appropriate reception.” She smirked slightly at the memory of the “reception” they gave him.
“Can you tell me what happened?”
“Herr Doctor Jorgen Bierstadt showed up according to schedule. I let him sleep in an empty wagon. All day he interrogated everyone, starting with Gregor and me. Each night after his questioning sessions, I talked with those he had questioned. He was a qualified medical doctor, but he was also a particular kind of German spy.”
“Why was he here?”
“He claimed to be doing a research study on Romani ancestry. That may have been true. He was also asking the same questions he asked the gypsies at the Marzahn camp. In addition, he had a list of particular gypsies he was looking for. Your name topped the list.”
“I’m not surprised. Did he recognize Jaelle or Drina?” Tobor was so used to danger at this point that he shrugged off the threat. Still, he felt he needed to know all the facts possible.
She became serious at the recollection. “Yes, the doctor recognized Jaelle immediately. She had recently married Milosh when he last interviewed her at the Marzahn camp. He seemed to be delighted to learn about her child. Perhaps he was trying to act friendly to lower our guard. I just don’t know. Being curious about how she’d managed to travel all the way to Russia, he became excited. He said he’d have to report her current location and condition to the German authorities.”
“Did he have any way to do that?”
“Not from here, he didn’t. Because our operations are secret, any information about us must be protected. I, therefore, assured that the doctor would never report what he’d found.” She sounded weary but resigned.
“Won’t he be missed by his handlers back in Germany?”
“Perhaps, though I don’t think much will happen. After the man had died, I informed Moscow Center that he’d departed here unexpectedly and left no indication where he might be heading.” She reported this deadpan. She seemed relieved the issue was likely dead.
“For my part, I’m glad to know he won’t be reporting our whereabouts. It seems Hitler’s tentacles are extending deep into Russia.”
Anastasia laughed. “He came this far and went no farther. Comrade, we must stay vigilant. Others will be sent in this man’s wake.”
“Can Moscow Center help us?”
“We don’t want to ask too much from our masters at this sensitive time. Our best strategy is to be silent.”
With that sage idea, Tobor waved goodbye and went away.
Tobor and Drina talked that evening about the doctor’s visit.
“Tobor, do you think the Russians will be adopting the German methods for exterminating us gypsies?”
“Anything is possible in war. I think it’s highly unlikely they’ll do much more than accommodate a few German spies. Don’t be afraid. Be vigilant.”
“Do you think all the work you and my brothers have done in France will be necessary?”
“Yes, I do. When the Germans attack France, our networks could provide the resistance necessary to upset their plans.”
“Was it wise for us to conceive a child in these terrible times?” She almost sounded guilty, regretting the choice she had made with him.
“Our people have survived for thousands of years in times just as terrible as these. When all the current struggles have ended, we’ll look back and rejoice that we brought our child into the world.”
“That’s what Nadya said. She wants us to have lots of children. She’s so happy now that she’s escaped Germany. She wept when she told me how grateful she is to you.”
“I’m glad I had a chance to help her. She’s been lucky twice, I think. She escaped the work camps and then she escaped the General she was working for.”
“Is it true that the General was Hitler’s key man for the camp system, including the death camps?”
Tobor smiled sardonically. “You could say that, Drina.”
“Why are you smiling?”
“You mentioned the word ‘key’ and I recalled a Tarot card that your aunt explained to Adolf Hitler himself.”
“Tell me the story.” She leaned back and got comfortable. Her eyes sparkled with anticipation.
“I should let Nadya tell you the whole story. The short version is that the Hierophant card in question shows crossed gold and silver keys. Those represent Paradise and Purgatory. A third key, made of iron, is not shown. It represents Hell. In Nadya’s interpretation, the iron key is hidden because it represents the secret Nazi plan to send all undesirables to their deaths. I honestly don’t know how much longer the Nazis would have allowed Nadya to live knowing what she’d divined.”
“I like the idea of the golden key. The silver key sounds tolerable too, though Purgatory is supposed to be an ordeal. I hate the idea of the iron key. Tobor, take me in your arms and hold me. The world is cruel. I need your love to guide me.” She moved closer to him and he put his arms around her.
The next morning Tobor visited the nursery and found Nadya playing with her grandchild.
Tobor said, “The Germans have found us. I don’t know how they did it. Evidently Moscow Center sanctioned a German doctor to visit.” He tried to gauge Nadya’s reaction.
“The one who was killed and buried on the property?” she asked, forlorn.
“So Anastasia told you.”
“She killed him because he was a spy. She said she was acting on orders from Moscow Center. It would’ve been a security risk to let him live.”
“Others will follow. We need to be on our guard.”
Three weeks after this when the camp had reverted to its joyful norm, a representative from Moscow Center showed up at daybreak to talk with Anastasia and Gregor. The old, gray man, called Alyosha, spent three hours in the Barracks. He then came to talk with Tobor and Nadya together in her wagon.
“Comrades, my name is Alyosha. I’ve been sent from Moscow Center with questions about your recent operation in Berlin. Do not be alarmed. If you are truthful, no harm will come to you. If you lie, I won’t be able to save you.”
“Ask your questions. We’ve nothing to hide.” Tobor spoke confidently.
“Good. My first question should have an answer that is either yes or no. Did you, Tobor, assassinate General Heinz Klopfer of the Gestapo in his home in Berlin?”
“Yes, I killed him.”
“How did you kill him?”
“I cut the man’s throat with my knife.”
“Please be more specific.”
“I came up behind him while he was gazing into the flame of a red candle. I moved my arm around so my blade was under his left ear, and I pulled the blade across his throat to his right ear.”
“What made the General so fixated on the flame that he did not know about your approach?” As a seasoned interrogator, the man sounded accusatory even when he was simply being analytical.
“First, I can move quietly and quickly. Second, the General had been told to concentrate on the flame by my sister. He was doing that to the exclusion of all external phenomena. He was in a kind of trance.”
“And this occurred where?”
“I killed him in his bedroom on the second floor of his home.”
“How did you gain access to the General’s bedroom?”
“I can tell you that,” said Nadya, sounding confident like Tobor. It was her first break into the conversation. “I unlatched and opened the window. As for the General’s focus, he was trying to achieve the vision that Hitler had just seen.”
“What was the vision that he saw? Anastasia told me it had something to do with a Tarot card.”
“The card was the Hierophant.”
“Go on, please, Comrade Nadya.” The interrogator had a smooth way of keeping things official and on track.
“It was not the entire card that held Hitler’s interest. It was only the crossed keys.”
“Can you tell me what the crossed keys meant?”
Nadya explained what the keys meant. She also explained Hitler’s interest in the third key that was not shown in the image. As she walked through her interpretation, Alyosha nodded as if he were hearing the whole account for the second time.
“So it’s exactly as Anastasia reported to Moscow Center?”
Nadya replied, “Comrade, I don’t know how to answer that question because I don’t know what she told Moscow Center.”
Alyosha stared at her for a long while. Then he shook his head.
“I’ve come all the way from Moscow to discover the truth about what happened during the assassination of the General in Berlin. Naturally we’re delighted at Tobor’s performance. We are also pleased that you, Nadya, were instrumental in his success. I’m satisfied with what I’ve heard. It substantiates the third-party accounts of Anastasia and Gregor. I can, therefore, endorse their recommendation that you both be awarded certificates of merit from Moscow Center for your service to the state. Comrades, will you share vodka with me to celebrate? I’m afraid I’ll be departing early tomorrow, so we’ll have to make this suffice for the time being.”
Alyosha pulled a bottle of vodka from his bag, took a drink from the bottle and passed it around. Tobor and Nadya also drank, relieved by this friendly gesture. They passed the bottle around until the vodka was gone. Then the representative of Moscow Center went back to the barracks to prepare for his departure. The siblings talked until late in the evening about what they had heard. Around midnight, Anastasia dropped by Nadya’s wagon for a quick chat.
“Alyosha is pleased with what you and your brother told him. He said you reported exactly what I wrote to Moscow Center. We both get high marks for our truthfulness. You also get high marks for what you and your brother did. Besides your commendations, Alyosha is going to recommend that you be considered for missions critical to state security. I’m to train you for your future role in our group. Congratulations, Comrade Nadya Hanstein. I’ve brought your state identification papers. You’re now an official citizen of the Soviet Union.” Anastasia enfolded her arms around Nadya and hugged her tight. She kissed her on both cheeks. Her eyes were full of tears.
“Comrade Anastasia, thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I’m overwhelmed. I’m reunited with my family. I have a new prospect for a job. I have my citizenship papers. I’m so very grateful.”
The women hugged again. Then Anastasia departed to attend to her business with Alyosha. Tobor went to his sister’s wagon to discover what the two women had discussed. He found Nadya quietly weeping for joy. He sat by her and held her hand, waiting for her to recover from her tears. Finally, she broke the silence.
“Tobor, I’m so happy. Everything is working out just like you said it would. I was trapped in Berlin with no way out until you arrived.”
“I hope, Nadya, that we can complete your happiness by finding you a man worthy of your affections.”
“That would be nice, but for now, I’m satisfied getting my feet on the ground in my new life. Anastasia said I’d be trained for a job on the team. I’m looking forward to that. Thank you for everything you’ve done.”
She yawned and stretched. “I’m exhausted now. I’ve got to get some sleep.”
“Of course.” He stood and pulled her to her feet so he could hug and kiss her. “Goodnight, sister, and welcome home again.”
***
ANASTASIA’S ROMA CAMP was unsettled by the news in April 1940 of the French decree against itinerants traveling in France. The three Mettbach brothers immediately departed Russia to activate their clandestine French resistance cells. Anastasia and her gypsies remained at her base to coordinate their activities with Moscow Center.
Shortly afterward, the Mettbach brothers arrived in France and activated their networks, and German troops raced through the Low Countries and invaded France. By June, the Vichy government assured German control over the country, and the thirty-one internment camps were filling with Roma. At first, the only difference between the camps in France and those in Germany was that in France, the interns were permitted to leave their camps to work in the immediate vicinity. The results were the same.