Chapter 19

THE POSTCARD TO TÖPPER

Work activities at Gross Breesen became more efficient and productive as the year progressed. The community melded with a sense of high purpose and anticipation that emigration would come soon. Töpper was confident and energetic, until he came down with a persistent skin infection on his chest in mid-September. Ilse Lehmann, the doctor at Gross Breesen, who had been stripped of her hospital affiliation because she was Jewish, urged Töpper to go to the Breslau Jewish Hospital for treatment. Once there, he thought the hospital was just not clean or efficient enough, and after several phone calls home, he received permission to return to Berlin for treatment. In typical Töpper fashion, without going through the customary sign-out formalities, he snuck out of the hospital at night, “threw his little bag over the wall, climbed over, and took the next train to Berlin.”⁹⁰

By mid-October, the infection was cured, and he could not wait to see his friends and get back into the routine of work and study. He was relieved to leave Nazified Berlin. His return to Gross Breesen was met with a joyful reception, but his exuberance was short-lived because of a postcard he received from his father:

19 October 1937

My dear Töpper, I am writing to you at this unusual time for a reason. I must speak to you, and ask you to come to Berlin on Saturday with a weekend ticket. Monday noon you’ll go back to Breesen. Don’t ask any questions…we will talk about it when you’re here…a big kiss, Papa.⁹¹

Töpper was mystified, especially since he had just been home. When he returned to Berlin, he found that his father had flown to Amsterdam to make arrangements for the family to go to England and then immigrate to somewhere as yet determined. Töpper’s jaw dropped. He had no idea that the family was fleeing Germany, and on top of that, he had no intentions of going with them. His place was at Gross Breesen, and he fully anticipated immigrating with his friends as a group to a farm colony somewhere else. His mother left him alone in the house for a few hours. He related years later, “My head was spinning. The thought of having to leave Gross Breesen and my friends so suddenly, to break off my training, maybe never to settle overseas with my friends, was more than I could handle at that moment.”⁹² In the quiet of the apartment, he made up his mind. He would disobey his parents, stand up for what he wanted and return to Gross Breesen. He selected a few books from the family library and hurriedly made his way to the railroad station, heading for Breslau and then to Gellendorf.

From the railroad station, Töpper lugged his heavy suitcase to the Schloss. Bondy met him at the door and invited him to his room to talk over the situation. Afterward, Töpper went to his room, shoved his suitcase under his bed and went to Scheier to get his work assignment for the following day. He was determined to stay, and he thought he would.

But he couldn’t stay. Bondy went to Berlin to confer with the organization that sponsored Gross Breesen and also to discuss the matter with Töpper’s father. The decision was final. Töpper had to leave with his family. If he didn’t, the Nazi authorities could arrest him and use him as a hostage to force his family to return to Germany and return the money they intended to smuggle out of the country, which was against the national currency regulations. In addition, the Nazis could close down Gross Breesen in retaliation for his father’s illegal actions. Töpper had just a few days to prepare himself for his departure from Gross Breesen. He was distraught, but he promised Bondy that he would not reveal all the facts of why he was leaving. The Gestapo should not find out. On the day before he was to depart, there was a brief farewell by Bondy. Then the string quartet played Tchaikovsky’s “Italian Capriccio,” which was Töpper’s favorite piece. He was accompanied by Leus, his girlfriend, to the railroad station. They hugged and kissed and cried.

Töpper looked out into the dark night from the train window. He believed his life and dreams were being crushed. He could not believe that the year and a half of joy at Gross Breesen was over. He could not hold back the tears. He was suffering. There were so many questions, but the most important one was written in bold black print in his mind: Would he be able to emigrate with his Gross Breesen friends when the time came? Bondy assured him that “someplace, sometime in the future” he would, but it seemed so hard to believe.⁹³ Where would he get the courage to go on without Gross Breesen?

Töpper left Gross Breesen in October 1937. Though Eva hardly knew him, she listened to many Töpper stories. They did not know it at the time, but their lives would be intertwined in the near future and for the rest of their lives.