Berlin, February 1944
Sabine and her husband of five years Werner sat at their kitchen table having dinner. On the radio, Goebbels’s propaganda ministry raved on about yet another glorious victory of the Reich. She wondered whether anyone still believed those lies.
But she didn’t voice her concerns. Not because their small row house on the outskirts of Berlin had paper-thin walls and the sounds of their neighbors on either side could easily be heard. No, she had made it a habit to mind her own business and not complain.
What difference would it make anyway?
Food rationing. Lack of adequate transportation. The horrid nightly bombings by the Allies. The god-awful work in the munitions factory. There was nothing she could do about any of it.
She didn’t even complain, the way some of her work colleagues did, about the ever-increasing quotas they had to fill. The soldiers needed rifles, and complaining about exhausted feet and numb hands would only bring the wrath of her superior upon her. It wouldn’t change a thing in the greater scheme of warfare.
Weapons were needed and someone had to make them. People who stuck their noses into someone else’s business tended to disappear. That wouldn’t happen to her.
“How was your day?” Sabine gave Werner a tired smile as the news report ended. Usually he would pull her onto his lap after finishing dinner, but not today. He hadn’t even bothered to change out of his uniform, and merely unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt and rolled up his shirt sleeves.
Werner sighed and a look of sadness flashed over his face. “There was another incident with the SS.” He paused for a long moment, reluctant to tell her what bothered him.
“What happened this time?” She knew how much he adored being a fireman. His father and grandfather both had been firemen, and it was only natural that he would follow in their footsteps. But the work had changed so much, it wore on his soul, until most of the joy drained away. Instead of serving and protecting his fellow citizens, he had to stand by helplessly and watch the atrocities the SS or Gestapo committed. He rarely complained, afraid to utter criticism against the Party, but she knew how much he hated the cruelty of the regime.
Sabine sat quietly, waiting for him to speak again. The pained expression on his face struck panic in her heart. It beat so fast, she thought it might gallop out of control. After a few minutes, he finally looked up, and she read the sorrow in his eyes.
“They torched another building. With people inside, women and children. Sabine, some of them were jumping from the windows in their desperation, and the SS men trampled on those who survived the fall. God, it seems wrong to even call those thugs men. What I saw today was devoid of any humanity or compassion…” He paused for a moment and she saw a depth of bleakness in his eyes she’d not seen before.
She reached across the table and gripped his hand. “You saw this?”
Werner hid his face between his palms. “Yes. A neighbor called us, but the SS wouldn’t let us extinguish the fire, not until everyone inside was burned alive and the building in ruins.” He looked at her, dampness shimmering in his eyes. “Slaughtered. Everyone. Even babies. For allegedly housing traitors.”
“This is so awful.” Sabine squeezed her husband’s hand in sympathy.
“I wanted to do something, anything …but what could I do?” He buried his head between his hands.
“Don’t blame yourself. You couldn’t have done a thing. You did right by staying out of it, or they might have killed you too.”
Werner looked at her and his gaze turned to steel. “I’ve been staying out of it for such a long time and look what’s happening. The SS has more power now than ever before. Maybe it’s time we stopped minding our own business and stood up against injustice.”
Sabine released his hand, her eyes going wide at his statement. “Werner, that’s crazy talk. You don’t mean that.”
“I do mean it. Germany, the Germany I love, isn’t a country of insane lunatics who bully others and kill anyone who has a different opinion…” He jumped up and paced the kitchen.
“Shush! Or the neighbors might hear!” Sabine pushed up from her chair and stepped into his path.
“See where this has got us?” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “I can’t even tell my wife how sick and tired I am of these thugs. And thugs they are, make no mistake.”
Sabine agreed with her husband on the thug part, but getting involved would put their safety at risk. Those people must have done something illegal. Why else would the SS go after them? “Don’t talk like that. Promise me you won’t do anything stupid. Simply do your job and ignore what’s happening around you. Please!”
Werner took hold of her hips and moved her out of his way to take up his pacing again. “Ignore it? How can I ignore German women and children being slaughtered like this? My job is to protect…”
“And you’re doing just that, but the Nazis have changed the ways things are done. You should be grateful that your job as fireman exempts you from serving at the front.”
Werner turned around and stepped in front of her, his handsome face mere inches away. He glanced down at her for a long moment and then sighed loudly. “I know, and I’m grateful, but…this is not right…we should…put out fires, not watch toddlers and their mothers perish…”
“You have to distance yourself from what happened today. You can’t draw attention to yourself or let anyone suspect that you object to their methods. That would be painting a target on your back – and mine.” She wrapped her arms around his chest, hoping her pleading words would ring true with him. They had endured so much together.
“I know. I just needed to vent my emotions for a few moments.” He hugged her, resting his chin on the top of her head.
Sabine pushed back a bit and looked him in the eyes. “Promise me you won’t do anything stupid? I love you so much; I couldn’t live without you.”
“I promise.” Finally, his usual smile returned as he gathered her into his arms and carried her to their bed. “I love you too, Sabine. I’d do anything for you.”