After her shift, Sabine set off at a brisk pace. She arrived at the agreed-upon bench in the Tiergarten, Berlin’s biggest public park, surprised to see Lily already waiting for her.
“You look very elegant,” Sabine commented as she approached the other woman.
“I’m attending a formal dinner this evening.” Lily lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “For work. So what’s your exciting news?”
“I have finally managed to infiltrate the resistance organization. Tomorrow they’ll give me instructions for retrieving and moving a Jewish girl.” Sabine smiled as she finished talking, but Lily’s next words deflated some of her excitement.
“A Jewish girl? That’s all you came up with?” When Sabine nodded, Lily made a scoffing noise and shook her head. “Kriminalkommissar Becker isn’t interested in another filthy Jewish girl. He wants the head of this organization. That’s the information you’re supposed to provide.”
“But…”
“No buts. I’ll tell you what to do. You play along with their little game and endear yourself to those traitors. Charm them. Prove your usefulness. For God’s sake, if needed, even rescue that stupid girl, if it serves our goal of finding out who is in charge of organizing those activities. That’s the person we need. It makes no sense to capture one girl. If we don’t take down the entire organization, they will continue to smuggle Jews out of Germany.”
“So, why don’t we just let the Jews emigrate?” Sabine asked. “What’s so bad about it? They are not welcome in our country and if they want to leave, why not let them?”
Lily pressed a hand on her chest, giving a little high-pitched gasp. “You are so naïve. Haven’t you studied the work of our great Führer?”
Sabine nodded, although she wanted to say that Hitler’s book Mein Kampf, that every couple in Germany received as a gift on their wedding day, contained pages rife with an incoherent babble of hateful notions. After not being able to derive a single meaningful thought from the book, she’d given up on reading it and had put it on the bookshelf in the sitting room where every visitor could see it.
“Jews are vermin.” Lily continued her lecture, scrunching up her dainty nose as if she’d smelled a skunk. “If just one of them escapes, they will propagate like cockroaches, infesting our Lebensraum. No, no. Hitler says we need to eradicate them all to provide for a better world. We cannot let the seeds of a weed remain to grow and damage Germany.”
Sabine objected to that analogy, and she asked herself whether Lily meant eradicate literally and how exactly that would be performed. But she chose not to voice her own opinion, and instead gave a noncommittal nod, saying, “Thank you for your insight. I guess I hadn’t thought of things quite that way.”
Lily beamed at her, basking in the knowledge she’d been able to help Sabine see the light. Sabine, though, wanted to disappear from the face of the earth. Not only was she lying to the Klausens, but also to the very people she shouldn’t be if she valued her life and Werner’s. Not that she liked Lily, or the Gestapo, but the constant lying, cheating and hiding nagged at her soul.
Not a single word of truth had escaped her mouth in such a long time, she worried she wouldn’t remember how to be factual. Sabine had always prided herself on being an honest person, keeping her nose out of other people’s business. A wave of disgust shook her shoulders as she realized what had become of her. Deceiving a priest. And a very nice one at that! Pfarrer Bernau was the kind of person who emanated peace and acceptance. In his presence Sabine had felt cosseted.
And now you’re going to betray the man… But only to save the life of another.
Sabine gave Lily another encouraging smile and assured her, “I’ll find out who’s behind everything.”
“Good. And I’m sure Becker will reward you. Then you can put all of this behind you.” Lily put a perfectly manicured hand on Sabine’s arm. “I knew you would do a good job. Call me on the telephone when you have received your instructions.”
Sabine watched as Lily walked away, feeling an utter sense of hopelessness invade her soul once again. With her shoulders slumped and her eyes fixed to the ground, she returned to her temporary home.