On the way home, the Chauffeur started telling me about his life with the Fuhrer. He was proud to be the man’s personal chauffeur. I wanted to ask a lot of questions, but was afraid until he started to say negative things about Hitler. He opened right up and told of a girl he had been in love with. A niece of Hitler’s who Hitler had stopped him from seeing. This girl was in love with him but Hitler wanted her for himself. He made so many demands on the poor girl and kept her almost locked up. She had committed suicide right in the Fuhrer’s apartment with his own pistol.
As he spoke, tears rolled down his cheeks. I heard him say faintly, “God, how I loved that girl.” For some reason, I asked her name. The poor man really began to sob; I told him I was sorry to have asked.
We had parked in front of the bakery. When I started to get out, he stopped me and said he would like to talk for awhile. He said his girls name was Geli Raubal, a daughter of Hitler’s half sister. He said he had loved her so much he almost committed suicide himself. I didn’t know what he expected me to say. I thought he just wanted to talk to someone outside of the people he worked with.
I asked, “Why do you keep working for the man? You don’t seem to like him.”
He sat quiet for a minute before he answered. “The boss is good to me and besides, I wouldn’t know what I could do. They would probably put me in the army, I sure don’t want that.”
I asked if Hitler had a wife.
“No,” he said, “He’ll never marry; he’s married to the Nazi party and Germany. He has a girl friend; she lives in the apartment house you just visited.”
I had to know, so I asked, “What’s she like? Is she pretty?”
“Not bad,” he answered. “Not as pretty as Geli, but a very nice girl, too good for him. He treats her badly; he won’t take her out in public and gets mad if anyone talks to her.”
“That’s a terrible relationship.”
“Yes, I agree. If you ever meet her, stay away, he doesn’t like men talking to her.”
“I’ll never meet her,” .
“You never know. You live here in Munich. She shops all the time. He gives her all the money she wants. He’s a very wealthy man.” He seemed concerned about me, I told him I would heed what he said if I ever meet her.
We sat talking for more than an hour, but I never got up the nerve to bring up the Jewish situation. It started to rain and I told him I had letters to write and I was very glad to make his acquaintance. I said, “Good night,” and went up to my room.
I wrote uncle Bob and the folks. I told them I had plans to buy a motorcycle, this was a very large city and I needed some cheap transportation. I liked this bike that I had looked at and thought it would be a good one.
That night, I dreamed I was back in Paris with Lilly and her mother. It all seemed so real when I woke up; I thought I was still in Paris. My bubble burst, I was here in Germany in this lonely room. It was Sunday morning and I had the feeling I had to go to church. After a hot shower, I dressed in my brown suit and headed for the Lutheran Church.
It had rained almost all night and the clear blue cloudless sky was a welcome sight. Most of the gutters in the city were still running with water. At the church, I found a seat near the rear. The service was like ours at home. I could see many young people, quite a few my own age, in the congregation. I said to myself this will be a good place to get to know people. The pastor, a Mr. Emil Cramer, welcomed me with enthusiasm as I left the church. He knew right away I wasn’t a regular German. He invited me to Sunday evening worship. He said he could introduce me to lots of people my age and many who went to the university. I told him I would be there for sure.
I hadn’t eaten anything that morning, so I looked for a café on the way home. I found one on the Maximilan Strasse downtown and stopped in. The place was filled with soldiers and some girls, all seemed to be having a good time. I got looked over pretty good as I entered and sat at the counter. The waitress who took my order was as friendly as any I had ever met. She looked to be in her late teens. When I went to pay, she told me I was welcome to come back anytime.
“If you’re here, I will.”
She smiled and said, “I work here every day.”
“Ha, things are looking up,” I said to myself.
I walked back to the bakery and to my room. I spent the rest of the afternoon writing letters home. Then lay down and took a nap. When I woke, I was as lonely as I had ever been. I was feeling sorry for myself and said so out loud.
I went down to the bakery; Alfred was there alone.
I asked “Where’s Jennifer?”
Alfred kind-a hung his head and said “She has gone to Switzerland; the Golden family have all gone. It’s been planned a long time. I now own this bakery. Jennifer asked me to tell you good bye and she said she will miss you.
There I go again Jinxed with women. Find one I like: she’s gone I hope they will be safe.
I said a silent payer to God to keep the Golden family safe.
I felt hungry, so decided to go back to the café I had been at this morning. There I saw the young woman I had talked with this morning still working. I took a table by the window. She came and took my order. When she came with the food, she sat down and asked questions about me ; I told her my story. Right away, she became friendly and told me her name was Rose. She said she had never met an American.
“It’s time for me to go home; would you like to walk me there?”
“You bet I will.” Walking her home, I told her I had planned to go to church this evening. “Will you go with me?”
“Yes, I don’t belong to that church, but I’ll go anyway.”
I left her standing on the porch of her home. I said to myself, “I feel better meeting this good looking girl.” I could hardly wait to see her again. It was not far to my room from her house. I took a short nap.
On the way to her house, I stopped at the bakery and had two donuts for supper. As I approached her house, she met me on the sidewalk. She asked, “Do you go to church much at home?”
“Most of the time I go every Sunday.” We walked to the church and went down to the basement where the young people were meeting. It was a little strange, to say the least. There was little talk of Jesus or of God, a lot of talk of the new Germany. One girl asked Rose why she was there. “You don’t belong to this church.” Rose only looked away.
I told the girl, “She’s with me.” That’s all that was said.
After the meeting, Rose and I walked on the way to her home. She had said very little, I was afraid I had offended her somehow. We were passing a short wall of a house. I asked if we could sit and talk awhile. She sat right down, took my hand and said, “Frank, you are the most pleasant boy I have ever met. You must know that I am Catholic, do you care?”
“No, I think that’s swell; you are the kind of girl I am looking for. Rose, would you leave your country and come live in America if you fell in love with me?”
“I can’t answer your question, only if I fell for you.”
We stood, I took her in my arms, she looked up at me, and her beautiful round laughing eyes looked straight into mine. Her dimpled cheeks and long brown hair made a perfect picture in the dim moonlight. I could not help myself, I kissed her soft lips. She pulled away, then came back and kissed me hard on the lips.
“I’ve never been kissed by a boy before.”
“I hope I’m the first and the last.”
She was smiling as she spoke, “You speak German very well, did you learn it in school?”
“No, my grandparents are German, they speak it all the time, so does my Father. My mother is French. She made my brothers and I learn as we grew up. We also speak Mexican, as that’s about all the cowboys on our ranch speak.”
“That’s wonderful, Frank, to have command of so many languages.”
“I wish I was better.”
By then we had reached Rose’s home. As we climbed the steps to the porch, her mother opened the door and said, “It’s late, Rose, past your bedtime.”
Rose turned to me and said, “Thank you, Frank, for a swell evening.”
Her mother pushed her through the door and gave me a hard look, never saying a word. As I walked away, I said to myself, “I don’t think that woman cares for me.
I had a fitful night, I dreamed of Lilly and her mother, somehow Jennifer and Rose seeped into my dreams also.
It was Monday morning; I had a bike to go get. I sang all the way to the auto shop. The song was {Bicycle Built for Two}.
At the shop, she sat out on the sidewalk all polished and shining. Wow! She looked better than I expected, I asked if she ran. Hans said, “Like a top. She’s full of fuel and waiting for you, I checked her out complete. She is ready to take you anywhere you want to go.”
I paid him, got on and kicked the starter. She fired right up. “Thank you, Hans!” I yelled over the engine noise and rode out on to the street.
It was an hour before I had to be in class, so I took a ride around town, and then parked in the lot at school. Several guys came over and told me the Army had many bikes with side cars like mine. After class, I drove around some more. Hunger got to me, so I went to the café Rose worked at. She wasn’t there. I asked the boss about her.
He told me she only worked part time now, she had studies to do. She worked a few hours in the mornings only.
I rode passed her house with no results. I went on home to the bakery and parked in the shed at the rear of the building. I went in the shop to see Alfred to tell him about my bike. He gave me some strudel for my supper. I retired to bed after writing letters home to Mom and Uncle Bob.
The week fairly flew by. I had heard more disturbing words about Jews from my classmates. I tried to defend them, saying we had many well known Jews in America and no one said anything bad about them.
One smart ass boy said to me, “You don’t know the Jews in this country. They own everything, all our trouble was started by them.”
“The Jewish people I have met in Germany have come to be my friends; they don’t brag or are pushy at all.”
That boy didn’t like what I said but he would not challenge me. After that, I didn’t hear much from the students about the Jews.
I kept going to the café Rose worked at, but I had not seen her in quite awhile. I began to wonder if my kissing her turned her away from me. I thought I sure was jinxed when it came to women. I thought I should turn to God, maybe he could help me.
I hope he can find a girl I could be with awhile.