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Authors: Jackie French
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had the joyous gleam of a good gossip nonetheless.
‘If the Jews just go to the camps to work, why did Herr Henssel have to hide them? Are the camps so terrible?’ asked Heidi.
Frau Leib shrugged. She didn’t care what the camps were like. The things that were important happened in her village, or to people she knew.
‘Are there any other Jews near here?’ asked Heidi.
‘Not in our village, not any more. But before the war, in town, there were the Solomons, of course, in the drapers’ shop—not that I ever went there, you understand. My husband would have been angry if Iwent to a Jewish shop. And there was Herr, oh, what was his name? The teacher at the school, and the doctor, not the new one, the old one. One of his children went to school with Gerta, who married my…but you know that, I showed you the photo of the wedding, and the Führer sent a copy of his book with his signature just inside the cover. Not that I have ever read it. I have sometimes taken it and looked inside. I have looked at it often. Such a wise clever book. But now, of course, all the Jews have been sent to the camps…’
‘Heidi!’ Fräulein Gelber stood at the door. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Helping Frau Leib,’ said Heidi.
Fräulein Gelber fixed them both with one of her hardest looks. It was evident she had heard at least the last part of the conversation.
‘It is time for your lessons,’ she announced, although the only lessons they had had recently were the passages Heidi read at night by the light of the candles on the table and the fire in the stove, while Fräulein Gelber sewed or looked at the flames as though she were far away and listening to a voice that was not Heidi’s at all.
‘Yes, Fräulein Gelber,’ said Heidi.
Brown water splashed across the road as Mrs Latter pulled the bus up to the curb.
chapter thirteen
Heidi’s Plan
‘I’ve guessed what happens now,’ said Mark.
They were at the bus shelter. (‘You want to go early again ?’ Mum had demanded in disbelief.)
The rain still melted from the clouds. Ben was still in bed with his cold.
‘What?’ asked Little Tracey eagerly.
‘I bet Heidi organised some escape plan for the Jews from the concentration camp. Now she’s found out what’s happening, I mean. Or she spies on Hitler and passes on the information.’
Anna looked at him steadily. ‘Would you spy on your father?’ she asked him quietly.
‘No,’ said Mark. ‘But my dad isn’t Hitler.’
Anna shook her head. ‘How could she spy on him? It had been months since she’d seen him. And even then just for a few minutes. Who would she passinformation on to? Besides, she didn’t know all that much—she didn’t even know they were all meant to be killed in the camps. She only knew enough to wonder, what Jews were like? That’s what no one seemed to be able to tell her. Just that they were different.
‘Well, she was different too. And somehow she built up a picture of Jews in her mind. Jews were people just like her, with red marks on their faces and one leg just a little short. Different people, who had to be hidden away.’
‘So she did try to help them,’ said Mark at last.
Anna shrugged. ‘Sort of. She made a plan. She’d keep a watch out for any Jews who came to their garden, who needed help. And she’d hide them in the old hen-house down past the orchard where no one went except in summer when the plums were ripe.’
It was easy at first. She told Fräulein Gelber that she was going to clean out the hen-house for the rabbits, for when the doe had babies.
Then she shovelled out the muck. It was the first time she had held a spade and her hands became sore. She spread fresh straw down. Fräulein Gelber gave Frau Leib money for the straw and Frau Leib’s husband brought it to the house.
It didn’t look too bad when she had finished.
There had to be food, too. That was the next part of the plan. When they came to the garden for shelter she would have to feed
‘If the Jews just go to the camps to work, why did Herr Henssel have to hide them? Are the camps so terrible?’ asked Heidi.
Frau Leib shrugged. She didn’t care what the camps were like. The things that were important happened in her village, or to people she knew.
‘Are there any other Jews near here?’ asked Heidi.
‘Not in our village, not any more. But before the war, in town, there were the Solomons, of course, in the drapers’ shop—not that I ever went there, you understand. My husband would have been angry if Iwent to a Jewish shop. And there was Herr, oh, what was his name? The teacher at the school, and the doctor, not the new one, the old one. One of his children went to school with Gerta, who married my…but you know that, I showed you the photo of the wedding, and the Führer sent a copy of his book with his signature just inside the cover. Not that I have ever read it. I have sometimes taken it and looked inside. I have looked at it often. Such a wise clever book. But now, of course, all the Jews have been sent to the camps…’
‘Heidi!’ Fräulein Gelber stood at the door. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Helping Frau Leib,’ said Heidi.
Fräulein Gelber fixed them both with one of her hardest looks. It was evident she had heard at least the last part of the conversation.
‘It is time for your lessons,’ she announced, although the only lessons they had had recently were the passages Heidi read at night by the light of the candles on the table and the fire in the stove, while Fräulein Gelber sewed or looked at the flames as though she were far away and listening to a voice that was not Heidi’s at all.
‘Yes, Fräulein Gelber,’ said Heidi.
Brown water splashed across the road as Mrs Latter pulled the bus up to the curb.
chapter thirteen
Heidi’s Plan
‘I’ve guessed what happens now,’ said Mark.
They were at the bus shelter. (‘You want to go early again ?’ Mum had demanded in disbelief.)
The rain still melted from the clouds. Ben was still in bed with his cold.
‘What?’ asked Little Tracey eagerly.
‘I bet Heidi organised some escape plan for the Jews from the concentration camp. Now she’s found out what’s happening, I mean. Or she spies on Hitler and passes on the information.’
Anna looked at him steadily. ‘Would you spy on your father?’ she asked him quietly.
‘No,’ said Mark. ‘But my dad isn’t Hitler.’
Anna shook her head. ‘How could she spy on him? It had been months since she’d seen him. And even then just for a few minutes. Who would she passinformation on to? Besides, she didn’t know all that much—she didn’t even know they were all meant to be killed in the camps. She only knew enough to wonder, what Jews were like? That’s what no one seemed to be able to tell her. Just that they were different.
‘Well, she was different too. And somehow she built up a picture of Jews in her mind. Jews were people just like her, with red marks on their faces and one leg just a little short. Different people, who had to be hidden away.’
‘So she did try to help them,’ said Mark at last.
Anna shrugged. ‘Sort of. She made a plan. She’d keep a watch out for any Jews who came to their garden, who needed help. And she’d hide them in the old hen-house down past the orchard where no one went except in summer when the plums were ripe.’
It was easy at first. She told Fräulein Gelber that she was going to clean out the hen-house for the rabbits, for when the doe had babies.
Then she shovelled out the muck. It was the first time she had held a spade and her hands became sore. She spread fresh straw down. Fräulein Gelber gave Frau Leib money for the straw and Frau Leib’s husband brought it to the house.
It didn’t look too bad when she had finished.
There had to be food, too. That was the next part of the plan. When they came to the garden for shelter she would have to feed
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