Staring at the newspaper lying across her desk, Nancy tried to wash away the nausea she felt bubbling up inside her with a swig of lukewarm coffee. Wincing at the bitter taste, she set the cup aside and picked up the paper as if it were a live grenade.
Splashed across the front pages was the devastating news that the Germans’ onslaught across France was succeeding. Hitler’s troops had torn through Allied lines separating British and French forces, leaving them stranded in a small area of France. Pictures of a victorious Hitler were beaming from the page like the sun. Nancy couldn’t tear her eyes away. Everything she feared was coming true. How long now until the Nazis came to England and destroyed the country just as they had the rest of Europe?
Nancy reached for the letter she had received from Alex earlier that week. She knew it by heart, she had read it so many times. But now, she felt she needed her husband’s comfort and she pulled it from her desk drawer.
14 May 1940
Dear Nancy,
How are you, sweetheart? How’s the Palais? I hope things are going well. Mother wrote to me to tell me about your plans for a small dance festival and I must say I think it’s a wonderful idea. I knew leaving the Palais in your capable hands was the right thing to do and I hope you’re finding Mother’s help invaluable.
Believe me, Nancy, I do know she can be difficult, I know you often think I always take her side just because she’s my mother but she has so much knowledge about the Palais, I felt sure she was the one to help you whilst I’m away. Trust her, my love.
I also wanted to hear more about the Jewish children you want to give a home to. My zisele, I know you will give any child a perfect home and salvation during troubled times. I can’t say too much but I can tell you things are worsening. The world is in a dire state, but it’s thinking of you and the Palais that keeps me going. I like to know that when I finally do come home for good when this blessed war is at peace we can be together and things can be as they should. Who knows, perhaps we can start a family of our very own?
Stay safe, zisele,
Your loving husband, Alex xxx
As she reread the words Nancy felt the tears form. Alex had been away now for over six months and she missed him, not just as her husband, as her guiding hand, partner in life. But somehow this letter felt off. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but for a few weeks now the letters Alex sent seemed more reserved, more distant. He was changing, she thought sadly as she put the letter aside.
Throwing the newspaper in the bin Nancy focused her mind on the Palais. This week Sybil had been dismayed to discover a case of whisky had gone. More stock going missing, even if it was minimal compared to the recent break-in, made her want to scream. Who was doing this to them, she wondered angrily as she heard a knock at the door.
‘Come in,’ she called only for Violet to appear.
Nancy smiled. The girl had only been with them for a few weeks but already she had proven herself and Nancy was sure she would go far.
‘How can I help, honey?’
Violet cleared her throat. She looked nervous, Nancy thought.
‘Well, I wondered, what with the Kindertransport children if there was anything I could help with?’
Nancy looked at her in surprise then gestured for her to take a seat opposite her.
‘You mean with the kids?’
Violet shook her head as she sat down. ‘No, I mean with the Palais. Any filing you need doing? Anything that might lighten your load while you sort out a proper home for these children.’
Nancy couldn’t miss the hope in Violet’s eyes. She found herself warming to this young woman even more than she had when she hired her. Yes, she wanted to help Nancy but she was doing it to further her own experiences and career. For that Nancy had to applaud her. It was tough enough to be a woman with a job in this country and God help you if you wanted anything more. It was down to every woman to create her own opportunities and Violet was doing just that.
‘Isn’t the community event enough to keep you occupied?’ Nancy asked. She didn’t want Violet to take on too much.
Violet shook her head, before she realised her misstep. ‘I mean it is,’ she said quickly. ‘It’s just I so want to learn.’
Nancy leaned back in her chair and regarded the girl. She reminded her of herself an awful lot at that age – always keen to get ahead.
‘You know, Violet, that would be a big help. Thank you. Perhaps you could spend an afternoon a week helping me in the office.’
‘Thank you.’ Violet practically leapt from her chair in excitement as Nancy had known she would.
Nancy smiled back but she wasn’t going to make this too easy for her. Violet had only been with them a few weeks. She didn’t want her to think she gave away positions of responsibility just like that.
‘All right,’ she mused. ‘But I will expect you not to shirk the rest of your duties. You know that, right?’
Violet nodded and got to her feet. As she did so she passed the window and let out a gasp of shock. Nancy stood up and followed her gaze. Army truck after army truck was passing through Brook Green Road. This in itself was not unusual but there were so many of them.
‘What’s going on?’ Violet asked.
Nancy shook her head as the thirtieth lorry passed by the window. ‘I’ve no idea, honey.’
But as she continued to watch she felt a shiver run down her spine. They were of course used to soldiers at the Palais. Usually cheerful and well-groomed, the soldiers in these lorries looked broken. Dirty, dishevelled with sun-tanned faces and swollen eyes from lack of sleep.
As the reality began to dawn, Nancy ran across the room and fumbled with the little Bakelite radio she kept on top of her filing cabinet.
‘What are you doing?’ Violet cried.
‘Those soldiers have just come back from France,’ Nancy said, trying to tune the radio.
‘No, that can’t be right.’ Violet shook her head. ‘Our soldiers were doing well. The papers said the Germans had stopped their troops. We had them on the run, everyone thought so.’
‘It’s the only explanation. Didn’t King George say on Empire Day last week that Hitler was intent on overthrowing the Empire? If Hitler’s successfully invaded France this could mean the King was right.’
The colour drained from Violet’s face as she turned back to look out of the window. Nancy didn’t need to join her to know the lorries were still pouring down the road.
Listening intently to the News at One Nancy waited for an explanation why troops were pouring through the city but none came. Instead tributes were paid to the loss of Prussia’s Prince Wilhelm who had died in action in France.
As the news came to a close Nancy felt a grip of fear. She knew without doubt something terrible had happened in Europe that would shake the country beyond all recognition.
It was a feeling she couldn’t shift as the rabbi visited her at the Palais. With the tea dance in full swing, Nancy suggested they drink coffee in the corner of the dance hall, hoping that the ambience there might reinforce the fact she could provide a happy, healthy environment for any children on the last of the Kindertransport.
The effect wasn’t lost on the rabbi who was tapping his foot in time to the music, this afternoon provided by a guest band.
‘So as you know the last of the Kindertransport made its way from the Netherlands on the 14th May,’ the rabbi said, stirring his tea.
Nancy nodded. The fact that Britain had refused to allow entry to any more aliens, as the children were known, wasn’t lost on her. At this current moment she had never felt more alien in the country she had lived in for almost a decade.
‘We haven’t been able to find homes for many of them,’ the rabbi continued, his tone filled with sadness. ‘And those poor children are now at a refugee camp in Dovercourt.’
‘It’s just too awful,’ Nancy said sadly. ‘To think those kids have said their goodbyes to their homes, pets and their families, never knowing if they will see them again.’
The rabbi shook his head. ‘The world is in a state of despair, Nancy, which is why it is important we do all we can.’ He looked around him and Nancy tried to see the Palais through his eyes. What was he thinking?
She was about to ask when Sybil appeared with a tray of tea. She winced at the sight of it and looked sharply at the barmaid.
‘Did you forget the coffee, honey?’
Sybil glanced apologetically at Archie who was sitting at the other end of the bar. ‘He had the last of it. I’m sorry, Miss Blum.’
For a second Nancy was tempted to rip the coffee from Archie’s hands. She knew full well why Sybil had chosen to give her ex the drink rather than her boss – clearly the girl was hoping to curry favour with the butcher’s lad and persuade him to come back to her. But to choose romance over your employer was a mistake. She glanced warily at the rabbi. Would he think her a poor role model if she couldn’t keep her staff in line?
‘I can nip out to the café across the road,’ Sybil suggested suddenly.
Nancy shook her head, aware she was overreacting. ‘It’s fine. Just make sure to order more would you, honey?’
Nodding, Sybil walked away, and Nancy turned back to the rabbi, grateful she had shown compassion.
The rabbi smiled and reached for the teapot. ‘Nancy, we would like you take on a couple of older children. Children that perhaps need a little less mothering but still need the care and support a place such as the Palais can provide.’
As the rabbi looked at her, a small smile played across his lips and Nancy allowed the feeling of happiness to bubble up inside her.
‘We have two children in mind,’ the rabbi continued, ‘a brother and sister. Here is a photograph.’
The rabbi reached into his pocket and pulled out a dog-eared sepia photograph of two unsmiling, but unspeakably beautiful dark-haired, large-eyed children.
‘This is Peter and Ruth,’ the rabbi explained. ‘It was taken about a year ago. They’re fourteen and fifteen now. Quite grown up, though Peter is a solemn creature. We hoped the Palais might help bring him out of himself.’
Nancy took the picture and found herself staring into the children’s eyes. She could almost feel the pain of Rosa’s children as they stared into the camera lens. More than anything she wanted to help these kids.
‘When can we take them?’
The rabbi laughed and rested his small hand over Nancy’s larger one as a gesture of comfort.
‘Steady, my dear. We have to make preparations. Paperwork and so on. But perhaps you can come to the centre so you can meet them both.’
Nancy nodded eagerly.
‘And then when we have the finalities drawn up we will arrange to have the children sent to you where they will remain in your charge.’
‘How long do you think that will take?’ Nancy asked.
The rabbi frowned. ‘It’s very difficult to say at the moment. Things are taking longer as the war is worsening. What we do know is that these children benefit enormously from visits from their new foster families and you and perhaps the girl, Miss Adams, that joined us last time I was here will help to lift their spirits, I am sure of it.’
Nancy nodded again and ran her fingers over the photograph. More than anything she wanted to be a good foster parent to these children. She would give them everything they needed.