Yesterday Was Long Ago: Part Two Read online

  “Oh, Nico,” she replied. “there are some greedy Christians too.”

  “Not like the Jews, Mother,” he insisted, and all guests knew where they stood, commenting no further.

  Nico and Isabella had several dates, went to a movie, and a concert where she had to endure the music of Wagner, which she hated and he loved, and went one time to the famous Sacher Café. Always being impeccably dressed, he in uniform, they, like her parents, made a dashing couple. Both were sure they were in love, especially after he thought Lillian was the best-looking horse he had ever seen. Both sides of parents took it in stride, and they shared their first kiss on the day of his departure. It was her first one, in any case, but she was sure not his, as some experience was apparent.

  They would write each other, that much both knew, but otherwise it was Isabella’s first real romance and she took it very seriously. He carried a photo of her in his wallet and took a look at it from time to time, even when having a good time in a bar in Aachen, the town where he was now stationed.

  A good time for him never meant with girls. It was always with his buddies, who loved the fighter planes as much as he did. Girls who visited unescorted bars were to be avoided, like his father told him. They were easy prey. Being a Wiland, he knew better, as his father fought in the first war and told him quite a few stories he wouldn’t dare to repeat. Of course, he omitted his own involvement with some very willing French women. After months in trenches, who could have blamed him. But he was talking to his son and there lay the difference.

  1941

  26

  On March 15, 1941, First Lieutenant Nicolaus (Nico) Wiland arrived on the French west coast and had an APO number. He wrote faithfully at least once a week to Isabella. So did she, even if there were only a few lines, as she was preparing herself for exams on July 2. She would be a certified R.N. in the operating room. With all the help Uncle Peter, Andreas, and Theresa gave her, she was still nervous; not in failing the test, but to pass it with the highest marks possible.

  On June 21st after celebrating, in style, Robert’s second birthday outdoors in the castle’s garden, Isabella took him for a ride on her horse, which he caressed each time he had a chance. Both rode side saddle, and Paul was right next to them just in case. It seemed Robert would be his only son. But he was happy with it.

  The following day, all of Germany heard via radio that Hitler and the Axis powers invaded Russia, along an 1800 mile line from the Arctic to the Black Sea. It was the greatest military attack in history.

  “It is the beginning of our end,” Paul replied sadly. “If he thinks he can pull another Poland or France on them, he is just as mistaken as Napoleon was. They overlook Russia’s main ‘General Winter’, who freezes everything mercilessly to death.”

  Gaby only replied that she was glad not to have anyone so close to her who would qualify. But then again, for many people like Rupert, the real cruel war may just be starting. Rupert was now a Major in the SS and had a secure office job with much power to help even more, should it become necessary.

  Isabella was third in her class of sixty, but four hundred RNs who were to be stationed anywhere, also graduated.

  ∼

  Two weeks later as she was leaving the hospital for the evening, she had a great surprise. Nico was standing by the door. He had four weeks leave and wanted to spend as much time as possible with her. Uncle Peter promised to do his best to give her time off, but it was not to be. The first wounded soldiers from the eastern front arrived, making more work than ever and involved overtime, too. Nico was more than understanding. He left the dates totally up to her, knowing how tired she would be. As for his flying, he never mentioned which town in France, but said it was somewhere in the northwest, as the flights to England took place day and night. There was nothing he loved more than being a fighter pilot. “And as for the girls,” he smiled when asked by Isabella in jest. “Can you imagine a man like me going out with a street walker?”

  “Absolutely not!” she agreed, smiling.

  They went to see the Rupert Foster family. Seeing him in his SS uniform and his children in Hitler youth outfits impressed him. The talk was, of course, about the war and the stupid Russians who need to be told by Stalin, a former farmhand, what to do, while believing everything.

  Isabella and Nico visited many of his relatives and it was now understood that he was very serious about her, and an engagement was just a matter of time. Knowing he would leave in the next few days for the western front, his mother gave him a two-carat diamond ring from her grandmother. He knew it was a great honor, as it was a family heirloom.

  Isabella heard about it via her parents, who were only concerned about her love for him. Otherwise, Nico Wiland was a very respected young man who had studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and planned to practice law until Hitler took over Austria. Then, seeing the disciplined military and knowing of Germany’s help via planes in the Spanish Civil War, he decided to follow his secret love, ‘flying’. His parents were extremely disappointed, never having much use for those noisy mechanical birds, but had no choice but to give in. He was otherwise a model son. Nico was twenty-six, tall, and considered by many to be very good looking. And the waiting for the right woman was now over for him

  He would always be able to support a wife. He inherited a great sum, ironically from a man who served, like many of his relatives, the Reinhardts. It was their money, which now became his. But Isabella loved him the way her mother loved Lucas Rosatti, though Gaby never shared her secret with anyone other than her brother.

  “Mama, Nico is leaving in four days and wants to give me an engagement ring. He loves me like he never loved any woman. As a matter of fact, he told me he barely dated anyone and after a kiss or two, he knew it was over because he never felt anything.”

  “And with you? How do you feel after a kiss or two?”

  “Mother, in my own way, I love him. Yes, I do feel good when he holds me, but I was never held or kissed before.”

  She thought about her own situation with Lucas. “We will talk to Papa about it.”

  “I am the wrong person to ask as I hate to talk about my first marriage, and the one to your mother is heavenly, although I know she doesn’t feel that way.”

  “How can you say that, Papa?” she asked, surprised.

  “For one thing, I am an insanely jealous man, without any reason for it. I know it hurts her, but I am trying hard to be a less possessive husband.” That was news to Isabella, never giving it a thought why her mother always had to wait until her Papa came home to go out.

  Gaby smiled sheepishly. “You may not believe me, Paul, but after three years of marriage I started to get used to it. And I know you will take any spare time to take me anywhere, as long as you can be with me.”

  “I think this is very nice of Papa. The real trouble is the war, Mother. I see it with me; so very little time for anything. But speaking about the engagement, I could be falling in love with him in time and I told Nico that last night, but he said there is a big difference between that and being in love, which he is with me very deeply.”

  “He is a fine young gentleman,” Paul assured her in honesty. “I know the Wilands better than anybody. They don’t come any better.”

  Gaby nodded, thinking once more of Lucas, wondering how everything would have turned out. They would have been married almost twenty years.

  “Should we have a little engagement party?” Paul asked. “Just his parents and us.”

  “Papa, that will never work even though it’s very sweet of you. The Wilands are a large family, and there are the Reinhardts and von Waldens with so little time.”

  Paul agreed. “We will give one on his next furlough. How about it?” Gaby assured her that it would be fine, and all was settled.

  Isabella received her ring one day before his departure, but not before he asked the Reinhardts for Isabella’s hand in marriage. They were happy about it, but Gaby still missed her daughter’s ‘glow’.


  ∼

  The daily propaganda about Germany’s victories against the Russian giant continued, as did the air war over Great Britain. Germany was still on the go. Letters arrived almost weekly from Nico, along with photos in front of the Eiffel Tower, as he got a three-day pass.

  Strange as it seems, he loved the French, spoke the language fluently, and bought many bottles of fine perfume, gloves, and even a watch of pure solid gold for Isabella, mailing it early for Christmas with a note that read, ‘DO NOT OPEN UNTIL DEC. 24’. He also explained to her the difference between the Marshal Petain and Vichy governments in France. She replied that she was glad to read that he held no animosity against the French, as they were just as good or bad as many Germans. Nico took it for granted that she spoke with his mother, and she did.

  ∼

  On the eighth of December, President Roosevelt called on his Congress for a declaration of war on Japan, as Japan’s Air Force had attacked, the previous morning, the American fleet stationed in Pearl Harbor. He called it, “a day that will live in infamy”. Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the USA and America declared war on them. Most Germans were pre-occupied with Russia’s terrible winter and how their sons, husbands, or fiancés would survive. Still, so many fanatic Nazis spread the rumor that Germany was in the process of developing some secret weapons which were so powerful that they wouldn’t have any trouble reaching America too.

  Nico Wiland wrote regularly to Isabella with the greatest confidence of a sure victory. Germany against the whole world!

  For the last few months, many of those skinny, ragged, and worn-out prisoners from Russia arrived by the thousands. How they ever made this long, awesome journey verified their strong stamina, having been through much hardship throughout their lives. They came just in time for harvest, with every available young man by now in uniform, possibly fighting in Russia. The Reinhardts, although extremely careful, made sure these Russians got a little extra food rations, while their guards were invited to eat with the servants in a section reserved for them. Also, a few glasses of wine got the guards in a better spirit before rounding up those ‘poor devils’, as the Reinhardts called them, and bringing them to their wretched barracks.

  Isabella took her ballet teacher who had a Russian name, Olga Platikova, into the castle not only to continue with her ballet lessons, but to teach her Russian. She didn’t know why, knowing quite a few languages already, this one would be a new challenge. She found two Belgian prisoners who understood much about horses and she trusted them with Lillian, who had a special added room for her well-being. But mostly it was because Isabella was paranoid that someone would steal her. The three old Reinhardt stablehands were quite relieved about the new arrangement, as by now their bones were already aching.

  Food and clothes rationing made their entrance and, to Paul’s amazement, Gaby took charge of many things previously meant for managers. She ordered their many beautiful flower beds to be replaced by potatoes, cabbage, and carrots; anything edible. Victoria and she, along with their household help, looked ahead when it came to food, remembering the value of it from the first World War. Whatever there was available in canned goods was sent to the troops. By now, very few countries were neutral and none of them were willing to take Jews. They went from port to port to find a ship, hardly ever in the destination they hoped for. Switzerland turned them back to their borders to keep their neutrality, and the German border guards were always there waiting. They stole their valuables before rounding them up for a cattle train ride to a concentration camp. Isabella was frequently asked why she wouldn’t return and sit the war out. “I have my family here and would feel like a traitor. One has to take the good times with the bad.”

  ∼

  German Commanders started to pull troops back before reaching Moscow, giving the cold weather as an excuse for one reason. But Josef Goebbels, being the minister of Germany’s propaganda, claimed it was their new strategy. He was their best spinmaster and had a positive answer, no matter how obvious the defeat. Leningrad was under siege, people starving by the thousands. Even their late arriving food was never enough. And Christmas of 1941 was anything but a holiday.

  The Reinhardts invited only Nico’s parents and Father Sebastian, their family friend. After a short prayer before a rather plain dinner, and once leaving the table going to another room, Gaby took him aside and told him what was on her mind.

  “You know, Father Sebastian, it seems to me that the Church and Germany’s dictator work hand in hand. And needless to say, it’s not the first time in history either. You Catholics tell your families to have as many children as possible, and a dictator like Hitler takes them to have them killed.”

  The priest was stunned. “I have never questioned the Law of God.”

  “Therein lies our difference. I have.”

  “Mrs. Reinhardt, people make war! Life has become so disheartening and our hands are tied. And if we, or let’s say ‘I’, would say what I think, I would be sent where other religious people are, sent right along with the Jews or the Jehovah Witnesses. Maybe I am not that brave. As long as they let me preach in my church and do good in my own way, I feel many people are better off.”

  Gaby understood his meaning and was sure many Viennese were hidden.

  1942

  27

  Chris O’Hara read his morning papers while eating breakfast. He was a happy man, as he had just returned from San Francisco after witnessing his daughter’s short civil ceremony. He loved her chosen husband like the son he never had, not because he was Irish and worked in his bank, but he knew Daniella and Thomas were totally in love. Though the family background was to his liking; a hard-working family who immigrated two generations ago, with his father working himself up in the management of an insurance company in Hartford, Connecticut.

  Thomas Buchanan III asked on Christmas day for his daughter’s hand in marriage, which had to take place no later than January 3, as he was in the Navy and ready to be shipped out. They decided to make the trip to San Francisco together while Thomas’ own family was unable to travel for a week on such short notice. One trip took three days.

  Right after the nuptials, he took them to dinner and returned a few hours later on a sleeper train to New York. Arriving at home, he was in such a jovial mood that he decided to give his forever pleading former wife the approval for a divorce. She was spending her winter in Palm Beach, hating the cold weather in New York. Now she would be free to marry the equally anxious, divorced stockbroker who also resided in New York. His two teenage children lived with their mother in Philadelphia, seeing their father on rare occasions.

  The man in Anne’s life was Frank Leitner, which sounded as German as one’s name could get, yet he prided himself on being Austrian. But since Austria was now Germany, it made little difference. However, he was the fourth generation of naturalized Americans and owned real estate on Long Island and in Miami, so it didn’t really matter. This time, Anne claimed she was marrying for love only.

  “Speaking of love, Anne,” Chris responded, angry that she never inquired about Daniella, who had told her mother about her marriage. “Daniella is now married to Thomas Buchanan.”

  “When did that happen?”

  “Four days ago. I went with them to San Francisco for a short ceremony. They wanted to make it legal.”

  “I hope they are happy.”

  “No doubt about it. Her husband calls her ‘Dany’. Very Irish, I would say,” Chris O’Hara laughed in pride.

  “To me she will always be ‘Daniella’,” Anne replied sharply. “Her friends from Switzerland already called her ‘Ella’, as each one had a pet name. How many names should my poor daughter have to endure?”

  “Now Anne, ‘poor’ is the last thing that daughter of yours wants to be called right now. She is very happy and for all the right reasons.”

  “Good. And thank you, Chris, for being a better father than her own ever thought of being.”

  “Thanks, Anne,
for letting her make a choice. My mother calls her ‘my favorite grandchild’.”

  “I will write and mail her a wedding gift.”

  “That would be nice.” With a mellow good-bye, both hung up.

  ∼

  Though Chris O’Hara was as anti-Roosevelt as they came, this time he agreed with his State of the Union address, that America would not fight isolated wars. Since Berlin and Tokyo started it, his angered soldiers would finish it for reasons of humanity. America, like many other countries, was fully mobilized to fight from English soil their common enemy, which was now Japan and Germany. But his present and main concern was Japan. They still continued to bomb any ship, freighter, or cruiser in sight, seeing America as a weak enemy, ready to be fought.

  While the President was speaking, Navy Lt. Thomas Buchanan’s own submarine, Canopus, was leaving San Francisco and heading towards the Philippines. And Dany was on her way back to New York. Father and daughter talked about many things, including Europe, and also that her mother and he had made some sort of peace by agreeing on a divorce.

  “I thought Catholics didn’t do that.”

  “Well, I for one will never remarry, and your mother, who was previously married, had a proper annulment and thus I was able to marry her. But this time she is marrying a divorced Protestant with two children.” Dany was too tired to answer.

  ∼

  The R.A.F. and German planes flew day and night on their missions, and so, for the last several weeks, Isabella received no mail from Nico. Then, by mid-May, a letter arrived from England. He was shot down near London and captured. His left arm was severely hurt and might need to be amputated. He had been treated very well and hoped for a speedy recovery. However, he would be a P.O.W. until the war’s end. Considering that he could have been shot down over Russia, she was sad but relieved. So far, the ‘Ostmark’ had been spared any bombing, but Germany got heavily hit by the British bombers, Halifax and Lancaster, whose bomb loads were quite heavy, especially in compare to the Russians.