T he train slowed as it approached the Brenner Pass checkpoint on the Italian-Austrian border. The snow-capped granite of the Zillertal and Stubai Alps towered over the pass. When the train hissed to a stop, Levi watched in trepidation as the Nazi guards boarded. The closer Levi got to Vienna, the more insecure he felt.
‘Papieren!’
Levi handed over his Austrian passport to the officious young border guards.
‘Zweck der Ihr Besuch? Purpose of your visit?’
‘I’m returning to Vienna,’ Levi replied, as calmly as he could, feeling like a stranger in his own country.
‘ Beruf? Occupation?’
‘Professor at Universitat Wien.’
One of the border guards looked at the photograph in Levi’s passport, scrutinised Levi’s face, looked back at the photograph and handed it back without a word.
Levi heaved an inward sigh of relief. Roberto had been right. Neither the Italians nor the Germans were yet completely organised. Benito Mussolini was busy supporting his ally, General Franco, in the Spanish Civil War, and the bustling port of Naples had been relatively free of scrutiny. Here, on the border, the arrogant but inexperienced young guard had asked his questions by rote. Four rows behind, and unseen by Levi, a large man in a grey trench coat flashed his SS identification to the border guards and they quickly moved on. The SS agent went back to his copy of Corriere della Sera.
Levi pulled his fedora down over his forehead as he alighted from the old tram on Franz-Josefs-Kai near the Donaukanal, not far from the steps that led up to Judengasse. Vienna was crowded with Nazi soldiers and Brownshirts: on the trains, the trams, the buses, the street corners and in the bars and cafes. He scanned the steps, instinctively clutching at the satchel hidden beneath the overcoat he’d purchased in Naples. He reached the top of the stairs and crossed into the shadows of the Saint Ruprecht steeple. At the far end of Judengasse, a group of Nazi soldiers were leaving a bar and their drunken singing echoed down the cobbled streets. The light was on in his apartment. Levi’s heartbeat raced at the prospect of seeing Ramona and the children again. The Nazis disappeared towards the Hofburg Quarter, and Levi walked quietly to the back stairs which led up to his apartment.
‘ Wer ist es?’ Ramona called from the other side when Levi knocked. Her voice was strong, but Levi sensed her fear.
‘ Levi, meine Liebling… I’m back.’
Ramona wrenched open the door but it banged against the security chain. ‘Levi! Levi! How…?’ Ramona tore at the security chain, opened the door and threw her arms around Levi’s neck. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home? I’ve been so frightened, Levi!’ Tears of relief flowed down Ramona’s cheeks as she clung to her husband.
‘Papa! Papa!’ Rebekkah and Ariel came running down the hall. Rebekkah launched herself at Levi and fastened her little arms around his neck in a vice-like grip. Levi kissed his daughter and put his free arm around Ariel. ‘We’ve missed you, Papa!’ Rebekkah said, hanging on to her father for dear life.
‘I wasn’t sure if the Nazis were tapping our phone line, so I couldn’t ring,’ Levi said, after kissing the children goodnight. He took a seat at their kitchen table. ‘I hardly recognised Vienna for the soldiers,’ Levi added, after he’d explained his escape from Tikal.
‘It’s been terrible, Levi.’ Ramona sipped her tea. ‘Rebekkah and Ariel are too afraid to go out, and so am I. We can’t even walk in the park. There are signs everywhere: Juden Verboten. ’ The Brownshirts have been here twice already this week, demanding that I close my boutique. Not that I have any customers any more,’ she said, wiping a tear from her cheek.
Levi reached across the kitchen table and held Ramona’s hand. ‘We still have each other and the children, Liebling, and that’s all that matters.’
‘I’m frightened, Levi. Won’t Himmler and this von Hei?en be looking for you?’
Levi cursed himself for leaving his family unprotected. ‘I should never have gone; not that I had much choice,’ he added ruefully. ‘Although I don’t think von Hei?en will have admitted to Himmler that he had the figurine in his possession, much less the reason it disappeared. But you’re right, we’ll have to leave, and quickly. I’ve made contact with Ze’ev Jabotinsky down at the Jewish Agency. They’re setting up escape routes through Istanbul. If we can get to the United States or England, Albert Einstein or Erwin Schrodinger might be able to put in a good word for me at Princeton or Oxford. I can carry on my Mayan research,’ he said, ‘and you can start another boutique.’
‘And what about the apartment? Even if we could sell, in this market we won’t get anything.’
‘My brother has German citizenship. He can look after it until things improve.’
‘He’s a Nazi sympathiser, Levi!’
‘Yes, but that can work to our advantage. At least the apartment will stay in the family until all this is over.’
Ramona’s sobs diminished, calmed by her own inner strength and conviction, which was in turn underpinned by an unshakeable faith. Suddenly shouting and the sounds of shattering glass carried through the cold night air. Levi got up and went to the front window. Further down Judengasse he could see torches.
‘Turn off all the lights, quickly!’
The sounds of shouting and the smashing of glass intensified. A menacing group of young thugs – members of the Austrian Hitler Youth and Brownshirts – had entered Judengasse.
‘ Judenfrei! Judenfrei! ’ The yelling echoed off Judengasse ’s buildings. ‘Jew-free! Jew-free!’ Just as Nebuchadnezzar and Titus had destroyed the First and Second temples in Jerusalem, Hitler and Himmler were determined to destroy the Jews of Vienna. Bricks were being hurled through the plate-glass windows of every shop daubed with the Star of David.
‘Get the children and lock them in the bathroom,’ Levi whispered. In the shadows, he could feel Ramona’s fear. Levi quickly picked up the precious Mayan figurine that had remained in Vienna, wrapped it in red velvet, lifted the carpet in front of the fireplace and hid the figurine alongside the other one in the long tin trunk he’d placed under the floorboard. He’d thought about putting them in the big safe in his study, but he knew that would be the first place the Nazis would look. Satisfied the figurines were as secure as he could make them at short notice, Levi hid his notes on the Fibonacci sequence and the pyramids in Tikal inside one of his friend Erwin Schrodinger’s books, Science and the Human Temperament. He slid the book back on the shelf and turned to secure the apartment. He and Ramona moved a heavy dresser over the big trapdoor that concealed the stairs leading to Ramona’s boutique below.
‘Go and join the children now,’ Levi said, and he moved towards the front window. The mob was getting closer; the sound of glass smashing was sickening. Levi drew back as a group of about twenty young thugs stopped outside Ramona’s boutique.
‘ Juden verrecke! Death to the Jews!’ one of them yelled, hurling brick after brick through the window. The mob, armed with iron bars, stormed in and began systematically smashing glass shelving, counters, cases, anything that would break. They splashed yellow paint over the designer dresses and hats. One thug climbed the stairs and began to batter the door with the butt of his rifle, but the rest of the mob was moving on, and he gave up. ‘We’ll be back, Jew bastards!’ he yelled as he ran down the stairs to catch up.
‘How long do you think we’ve got?’ Ramona asked, her arms around Rebekkah and Ariel. Rebekkah sobbed and Ariel fought back the tears, both of them terrified. The sounds of smashing glass receded, replaced by sirens as flames began to pour from the Synagogue, just a block away from Judengasse.
‘We’ll have to pack tonight,’ Levi replied, his eyes moist.