Yesterday Was Long Ago: Part Two Read online

  Philip’s sons, at eighteen, were already their father’s height and were known to be not only handsome, but also kind and never showing off their wealth. Paul had still not forgiven Gaby von Walden, though he never uttered a word. With her mother and brother, however, he was extremely polite, but Gaby never came along on any of their visits. While the three men were having a good time playing cards, Victoria and Anette shared their usual cup of tea. From time to time, however, both couldn’t resist walking to the window and watching many of the wounded and crippled waving their red flags. Doubtless, they had returned from the war extremely disillusioned, reading and hearing about the revolution in Russia, not knowing that so far, it had brought them only death and misery.

  “When I think back to just one year ago—and it is possibly a very selfish thought—nothing really happened which was to me of great signifance. Scanning my diary, I encountered mostly empty pages, omitting of course the on-going war. But we took only a belated trip to Berlin, and yes, America entered the war and yes again, Russia had an uprising… but this was all so far away and foreign to me. And without a loved one involved— I am almost ashamed to say that helping in the hospital or giving food away seems not quite enough!” Victoria uttered.

  “You’ve done more than your share,” Anette replied.

  “When Paul mentioned that England now has new weapons called tanks, which run on tracks instead of wheels, I never thought of the damage and lives it would cost until Paul gave me all the facts,” she answered quietly.

  Both women were glad when Gisela interrupted. “You know, I was just thinking while watching the unruly and noisy crowd below us. In 1914, we were rather happy and waving cheerfully, believing by Christmas it would all be over.”

  “We remember. If we only knew then what we know now,” Victoria replied sadly with a long sigh.

  ∼

  Several days later all headlines stated that America’s President Wilson suggested fourteen points to end the war! Austria was number ten, where it put forth that the people of Austria-Hungary should have the right of autonomous development.

  “Nicely said,” Philip answered sarcastically. “It shows he is poorly informed, or he would know that Hungary, like everyone else, wants their own independence from us. In the end, we will be carved into little pieces. I hate to think of the outcome, as we depend on all those little countries for one thing or another; especially Hungary, our main food supplier.”

  “Well, Father, it will be the black marketers who will be profiting from all the misery. Thank God we don’t depend on them,” said Peter rather proudly.

  “But let’s not forget the millions who don’t have it,” reminded Philip, with everyone else present agreeing wholeheartedly.

  ∼

  Spring had arrived, all schools re-opened, and the factories worked overtime, while the unrest continued in every country that was involved in the war. One looked to a bleak future and hoped that one of these days the rumors would become reality. Victoria arrived from her daily activity at the hospital and was glad to find a stack of letters, which had doubtlessly been mailed weeks before. “I can’t believe it!” she shrieked, after opening her daughter’s letter first. “Elisabeth married that Dutchman, the last day of February!”

  “So what?” Anette replied. “Holland is a neutral country. She may have a better future there than here.”

  “You should have seen that snobbish doctor! Actually, he was her teacher in Biology; twenty-two years older, bald, and even shorter than she!” Victoria fumed. “My mother never said a word about him at our visit last year when we met him. Even Gisela didn’t like him,” she tried to justify.

  “Elisabeth was always her own woman and Lotte may not have known about it either,” Anette replied with indifference.

  That prompted Victoria to open her mother’s letter quite nervously. “Well, well. Just as you suspected, Anette. It was a surprise to her too! I imagine they told her one week before, as it was a small civil ceremony with only two of their own friends as witnesses.”

  “As long as they love each other,” Anette said calmly.

  “Mother writes further, they will take a train to Amsterdam the moment she finishes her studies. She plans to do her residency in his city’s hospital. Needless to say, he teaches there too and for the time being, they will live with his parents. I just cannot believe it!” she lamented, still shaken. “Well I should be grateful she let us know his name. It’s Adam van Dreesen and I don’t like it either. It’s not a ‘von’ like in our nobility, possibly from a town called Dreesen, a suburb of Amsterdam.”

  “Nevertheless, Elisabeth van Dreesen sounds good to me, especially if she puts the title of ‘Doctor’ before it,” Anette replied, rather pleased. In her opinion, Victoria never liked any of Gisela’s suitors either.

  “Wait until Philip hears about it!” Victoria tried to console herself.

  But she got another surprise. Philip reminded her gently but firmly of all the opposition both of them had encountered, not only from her father, but also from his mother, who left her family for four years! ‘As long as they love each other’ came like an echo from him and Anette, who had uttered the very same words just a few hours ago. Gisela, however, was on her mother’s side agreeing, that the doctor had behaved like a first-class snob towards everyone. Peter and Paul heard about it hours later, and while Peter admired his teaching profession at the Robert Koch University, Paul only shrugged, reminding them that Elisabeth cared only for knowledge in the field of medicine to begin with and let it go at that.

  Victoria felt defeated but had no choice then but to write a letter of congratulations with no offer of an invitation to Vienna. To her great amazement, she received an eleven-page letter in return from Adam, writing about his own upbringing in Holland. Being the only son after six girls, he was for his parents the greatest joy, though a lot was expected of him. Three pages were devoted to his great love for Elisabeth, which had developed gradually, and he assured her that he had proposed only after he was absolutely certain. She was quite pleased with his frankness, and there was nothing she or anyone could do about it unless she was willing to lose Elisabeth.

  The Kronthalers’ mail had arrived too. Since there were three letters from her, she didn’t know which one to open first, as the dates on the stamps were unreadable. The first letter stated that Ernst was extremely sick with influenza at a hospital in deplorable condition, as the sickness spread as fast as the plague. Then her oldest son Wilhelm was in a hospital for the blind! She hoped that at least her other son Ernst, Jr. would make it home, as so far, no letters had arrived the last four months. Otherwise, not a word about Kaiser Wilhelm, or how he dictated to Austria’s new Emperor and their worn-out army, which, like his own, was ready to collapse. Of course, those ugly Frenchmen were responsible for her son’s blindness, which once more aroused Victoria’s wrath with a long sobering letter in return. At the time of the arrival, and Irma by now agreeing with her, her husband of almost forty years was dead. One more dead among the many thousand civilians who didn’t even have to fight on the battle front.

  Peter blamed all the misery on Russia and the Bolsheviks, knowing very little else to say, and Paul lamented that Germany’s flying ace, the Red Baron, was shot down. “Germany’s planes bombarded Paris by moonlight,” he added, as if the war was only about technology.

  One could still read in the daily newspaper that Germany had a new cannon called ‘Big Bertha,’ which shelled Paris again, killing over eight hundred civilians. Or that the Allies captured 40,000 Germans on one of those many battles on the river Somme. Aside from that, the Berliners trampled on posters of their Kaiser Wilhelm.

  “That should give that bastard something to think about,” Anette mumbled with a high fever as Paul read all the latest to her. He was astonished at her language but didn’t think much about it as all tempers were high.

  “You know, Anette, for the first time I believe the war will come to an end, simply because there is
nothing left to fight,” he replied, tip-toeing out of her room and re-telling Philip about the incident. “Well, it’s Germany who asked America’s President Wilson if they could stop now, mind you. ‘Peace with honor.’ Of course, America refused.

  Astrid von Walden arrived looking quite distraught, with a telegram in her hand which stated that Colonel von Walden is among many other brave men declared as missing. She could and would never know that her husband had drowned while fleeing across the Italian river Piave, where 45,000 barely alive and exhausted Austrians who made that gruesome journey fell prisoner to the waiting Italians.

  “Of course, I am so relieved that I decided to leave my children in Lausanne. My sister and brother-in-law insisted on it as many neutral countries started to take those half-starved children into their safe homes. Switzerland has stopped giving visas to foreigners for the moment, or they would have half of Europe to accommodate. On the other hand, I will never leave until my husband comes back, whenever that may be.”

  “Prisoners of the so-called ‘missing’ arrive on a daily basis, dear Astrid,” Victoria soothed with Philip adding, “In all the commotion, he will show up sooner than you think.” He hoped this was true for her and Andreas’ sake, whom he truly liked, but felt sweat running down his back, feeling that if anyone would return it would be ‘Bertie the pimp’!

  “If I may, I’d like to pay Anette a little visit, as I don’t plan to leave my house frequently with all those many demonstrations.”

  “By all means, Astrid. You know she thinks the world of you.” Entering her room, they found a shivering and feverish Anette not recognizing anyone. Both women shrieked simultaneously. “Oh, dear Lord! She needs a doctor fast,” Victoria cried, running to find Philip, who had just talked to Paul. He was confiding to his father that something was wrong with Anette, not wanting to alarm his mother. He ran to her room, got her in his car, and went to the hospital, but it was too late

  “All of you take a hot bath in sulfur and do this quickly. The sick started to arrive by the hundreds and, the way I see it, it’s just the beginning of the Spanish flu!”

  Philip started to shake and couldn’t suppress his feelings, with tears flowing in front of the physician. It was so unlike him, as he never even showed any emotion at his mother’s death. Arriving at home with the sad news, it was not much different. Victoria and Astrid were in each other’s arms, with the children in shock and unable to believe it.

  “I just talked to her!” Paul stuttered, almost in a trance. We all loved her so much.”

  Only the servants bowed their heads slightly, out of the usual respect for the dead, but each of them had, by now, lost someone much dearer to their heart than old Anette, who only made sure the Reinhardt household ran smoothly.

  Despite all the ongoing tragedy, Vienna’s cafehouses, theaters, and even the opera house kept their doors open as usual. That was what Vienna wanted and needed.

  ∼

  Within a few weeks, between October and November, all former countries that entered the ‘war to end all wars’ had collapsed. Kaiser Wilhelm, the man mostly responsible for all the misery with more to come, went quietly with his family to Holland, like nothing had happened. Austria’s Emperor Karl I had gone, by the end of October, to a small town in Hungary. After his peace proposal was rebuked by America, Austria became a Republic. One could find leaflets that read ‘Down with Habsburg.’ After all, they were co-instigators of a long, drawn-out war, disregarding the lives of millions, and made, like Germany, peace offers only after their empires were ready to collapse completely. On November 11, an armistice with Germany was signed, with Austria preceding them on November 3!

  THE WAR WAS FINALLY OVER!

  ∼

  In front of Vienna’s still elegant and timeless Hotel Imperial stood a few English officers, smiling while reading through their own newspapers that the war had ended. “How about that?” expressed one, “Now we can go home!”

  Right after Anette’s death, and without telling anyone, Philip went to Berlin to bring Victoria’s mother to Vienna. He knew both felt all alone and needed each other desperately; Lotte, who doubtlessly missed Elisabeth, and his own wife with the loss of Anette. It was the least he could do, he felt strongly, as Berlin had become a battleground for civilians. Many new political parties made their entrance and, along with the rampant spreading of influenza, this was no place for an old lonely woman who had her own family in Vienna living so much better. Though both encountered many difficulties by changing trains so many times, their determination finally won out, as he made his entrance on the arm of Victoria’s mother.

  “Our Christmas present to each other… though a bit early,” Philip stated to an extremely surprised and happy family.

  “How can we ever thank you?” Victoria mumbled still in disbelief.

  “Why the gratefulness, my dear wife? It is I who will never be able to repay you.”

  “For what?”

  “For everything!” he answered, with a wink only she understood.

  “I must have a bath to get four days of soot off me,” he replied in jest.

  “And that goes for me too,” Lotte replied. “And then we will talk and talk and talk.”

  “Also eat and eat and eat,” she heard the grandchildren laughing in unison.

  At the first opportunity, Astrid von Walden was introduced to Lotte von Wintersberg. Both felt they were long, lost relatives, as each had heard so much about the other. Of course, Lotte years ago had her first lessons about the ‘dreadful von Waldens’ from Verena, and had then little choice but to endure her lengthy stories. Then came Christmas of 1914. Verena was hospitalized, and Lotte broke her hip and never traveled anywhere until Philip came to take her to Vienna. Their many changes from one unheated train to another would always stay on their minds, as it took almost four days to make it back. Now she, daughter Victoria, Astrid, and Mrs. Ruth Wertheim, who just celebrated Hanukkah, sat together forging a plan.

  By now, many returning soldiers, who had expected to be rehired by their once noble families in Lindenfels, found out that the nobility as they had known it as former servants had ceased to exist. Vienna, Lindenfels, and the rest of Austria began to suffer what was referred to in many circles as ‘a severe reduction complex’. The country was now only a seventh the size of its former empire, which dominated for six hundred and forty years under the Habsburgs’ rule. Also, the once fifty-four million different ethnic groups shrunk to barely seven million, with a third living in Vienna. Austria evolved from a former giant to a little dwarf.

  So far, only eight of the Reinhardts’ thirty-five young, male servants had made it back. But they knew that many more would come. After all, only five weeks had passed since the peace treaty was signed. By now, Victoria and Lotte’s plan created with the help of her friends Astrid and Ruth Wertheim took shape. The Reinhardts would open their castle in Lindenfels for the first time during the winter since the war started. Somehow, Philip would come up with coal or firewood for one or two days. It would give every returning soldier a chance to get not only a hearty meal, but Ruth Wertheim suggested clothing for those poor fellows who were still in their ragged uniforms. “We have lots of pants and jackets in supply as everyone wore only a uniform,” she said, pleased.

  The fact that some food may be made from ‘ersatz’ wouldn’t matter a great deal, as the volunteers from Lindenfels still had lots of the real stuff. By now, most of the Viennese were lucky to find a butcher who sold them horse meat. Jelly or jam was, for years, made from beets; saccharin replaced sugar; coffee was boiled from chicory and beets. Never mind the many ingredients the cooking oil was made of. Unless one went to the black market, one just did without it and stayed hungry and cold. But Lindenfels was in the country, and so far, everyone had survived quite well.

  Victoria was pleasantly surprised when her three children volunteered, forsaking their traditional skiing trip. And all other Lindenfelsers were enthusiastic too, many asking to be part of this gen
erous undertaking. It proved again to be a Reinhardt village who lived by the motto, ‘To be noble, courageous, and brave’. All able soldiers from Lindenfels hospital were invited, who could make it out of their beds, along with any sons of Victoria’s friends, and Philip suggested driving to the train station, where many lonely and tired men would be waiting for a train to take them home. Every station was overcrowded and unheated. Something had to be done.

  ∼

  No one in the newly formed Republic of Austria looked forward to a Christmas Eve with no exchange of gifts or even a Christmas tree. The midnight Mass was the only reminder of the holiday, and some Lindenfelsers would make sure that their skeptical and condemning priest would be well-informed beforehand about their act of kindness by inviting every reachable soldier for a good meal and a nice chat to show them that not all was lost. He mentioned it right from the pulpit, also inviting himself, as many brave soldiers may have doubted God’s existence.

  Astrid refrained from attending the Mass, always hoping her husband might just surprise her again. It wouldn’t be the first time either. But the first surprise came in the early evening, with both Silvermans paying her a visit along with a large basket of baked goods while explaining their own holiday. “We hope you don’t mind, but the baked goods are left over from Hanukkah.”

  “Why on earth should there be any difference? After all, we are worshiping the same Creator,” she answered in delight. Gertrude also mentioned that she, too, would be at the Reinhardts’ castle doing her little part, as there would be a lot of clothing from Martin. He only smiled, never one to give any opinion to a Gentile, although he admitted to himself that he hated being called a Jew.

  Just as Astrid was ready to call it a day, having all those fine delicacies put in the cupboard, there were three knocks on her window. She opened it abruptly, only to encounter two men right below with one on crutches saying cheerfully, “Merry Christmas, Mother! May we come in? I brought a friend along and we can only stay for two hours.”