Chapter 13: Heinrich, Herschel, and Talia

Heinrich took a holiday to New York City in July 1955. He arrived on a Pam Am airplane at LaGuardia Airport on July 1st. His wife, Gilda, had just given birth to their fourth child and decided to stay home with the children. Heinrich took the subway to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where many Jews had settled. The streets had endless apartments and businesses on the lower levels. Herschel and Heinrich became pen pals after the war. His father opened a soda shop with a soda fountain selling ice cream treats and lunch items, like sandwiches, French fries, onion rings, burgers, and potato chips. They had a jukebox and a popular spot for teenagers to dance and spend money. Herschel started as a soda jerk and eventually took over as manager. African Americans and Latinos began moving into the neighborhood, to become one of the first integrated neighborhoods of New York City. Herschel’s father is often the headliner at the Yiddish Theater. His mother helps with the bookkeeping. His cousin Talia performed with the New York City Ballet. They performed a program at the City Center of Music and Drama. They had an Osage dancer from Oklahoma and an African-American dancer from Harlem at the company. Rifka’s father was a professor at Harvard University, and once a year they took the train to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Aunt Miriam’s husband was an accountant at the Plaza Hotel and often hosted Sabbath meals in their townhouse. Heinrich walked the streets with his suitcase, trying to find his friends’ apartment building once he got off the subway. He believed he had found the correct address and entered the apartment lobby with mailboxes along the wall. He viewed a tall, large African-American man getting his mail. He turned to gaze at Heinrich.

“Excuse me, sir. Do you know if Herschel Pfieffer lives here?” asked Heinrich to double-check the address on an envelope.

“Upstairs,” the man replied, pointing his index finger upwards.

“Thank you, sir. I was unsure if I had the correct entrance. Good day to you, sir.” Heinrich reacted and headed up the stairs behind the man.

“Let me walk up with you. You must be Heinrich. Herschel said his German friend was coming for the 4th of July. He said you saved his family from the Nazis. Is that true?” questioned the man.

“Yes, I found his family in our barn. We gave them food and shelter before they left for the Catholic monastery to take them to the train station to Switzerland.” explained Heinrich.

“Here we are, 302. It was a pleasure meeting you, sir. Good day to you.” said the man to continue walking upstairs.

Heinrich knocked on the door, and Herschel opened the apartment door.

“Heinrich, so good to see you again after all these years. Come in.” Herschel spoke, and Heinrich stepped into the spacious apartment with the radio playing “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” by Perez Prado. “This is my wife, Lilah. My sons Joshua, Nathaniel, and David. My daughters Deborah and Naomi.”

“How do you do?” the family reacted.

“How do you do?” Heinrich replied.

“Please sit down,” Herschel offered, and the family sat down in the living room.

“Herschel, it is good to see you too. I met one of your friends downstairs, a large black man getting his mail. He said you lived upstairs, so I knew I had the correct entrance door. I never realized how big New York City is. Endless apartments.” replied Heinrich.

“That was probably Bubba. His name is Elroy Johnson, but his friends call him Bubba. We met when my father hired him at the soda shop after school. He just finished high school and is an apprentice to a plumber. He says they make plenty of money repairing leaking pipes and removing clogs.” Herschel reacted.

“I see you have a television set. I just bought one last month. Gilda loves watching children’s literature programs while she does the laundry and baking. I like family dramas they have before night comedies when I have to work at the cabaret.” Heinrich reacted.

“We like to watch a police drama called “Dragnet”, a family comedy “I Love Lucy”, the music performances of “The Ed Sullivan Show”, and the new quiz show “The $64,000 Question”. We must have lunch at the soda shop while you are here and see Talia at her Broadway show on Thursday. They live on the fourth floor. Her husband is a subway train operator and will be home for supper. Talia quit the New York Ballet after their first child was born and joined my papa at the Yiddish Theater dancing in musicals. She auditioned in Broadway theaters to dance in a few musicals with them. You can see the 4th of July parade from our fire escape. You can visit museums, and the Yiddish Theater has performances on Saturday, with matinee and evening shows. I am excited to introduce you to my friends, the boy who saved my family from the Nazis before the war.” Herschel said.

“And introduced Talia to her husband after the war,” Heinrich added.

“Yes, we must not forget that part. How is Yoseph? Last you said he was a teacher at an orphanage in Munich.” Herschel inquired.

“He moved to Boston last December. He got remarried to a Jewish teacher at the orphanage who hid in the Catholic Monastery outside Munich during the war. Her husband was arrested and shot at the Dachau concentration camp, and she took her children to the Catholic Church. Her two children were enrolled in the parochial school, and she pretended to be a nun. After the war, she started teaching at the orphanage in Munich where Yoseph taught. The Americans found records that Yoseph’s wife and daughters were sent to Ravensbrück, then Sobibor in Poland, and they were not liberated by the Soviets. He is now teaching literature at Boston University and heads the chess club. They have five children now.” Heinrich explained to the family.

“I am glad he recovered from the trauma of the war. Some Jews will never speak of the Shoah. We received a letter from the Berlin Catholic Church who hid our valuables in a barrel, asking what to do with the artwork, jewelry, money, and religious items made of gold or silver of people who did not retrieve them. They thought to make candlesticks with the metal items. They could sell the other items and send the money to their synagogue. We replied that it sounded like a good plan to give the name and address to our synagogue. They exchanged the currency into American dollars and sent five hundred dollars to the synagogue with a beautiful candlestick encrusted with jewels. It sits in a corner to memorialize the murdered. I try to get Talia to talk to the children at the synagogue about it. People must know what happened there. When she dies, the truth dies with her.” Herschel said.

“Maybe someday when her soul heals. Yoseph said when he remarried that the best revenge against the Nazis who destroyed his life was to live a happy life now. Never take anything for granted.” Heinrich said.

“I will drink to that. Want some wine and cheese with crackers after your long flight?” offered Herschel.

“Yes, please. Please feed me American food while I am here. Mama said Italian restaurants had pizza and pasta. Chinese restaurants had rice with vegetables. She loved hamburgers in America. She said some Kosher deli in Queens sold wonderful roast beef sandwiches when she did movies for Astoria Studios.” Heinrich said.

“I will show you as much of New York City as I can the next two weeks. Lilah needs to start supper for the family. Let me show you the soda shop. Teenagers like rhythm and blues music, so we got a record of Bill Haley and His Comets' “Rock Around the Clock” for the jukebox, in addition to Spanish mambo music that is popular. I have heard the record “Earth Angel” by the Penguins so many times that I have it memorized. Naomi likes “Mr. Sandman” by the Chordettes.” said Herschel.

“I do not know how to mambo,” explained Heinrich.

“You must teach you then. But first, I must show you the soda shop down the street.” Herschel said.

They walked down the stairs with the children while Lilah prepared supper. They walked out into the street and down the block to the soda shop. It was full of young people having dates at the tables. Couples were dancing in the center with the jukebox playing. They sat down at the counter to order a hamburger with French fries. The employees made the meal, and Herschel said it was on the house for his friend. Eight-year-old Deborah picked a song on the jukebox called “Mambo No. 5” to sway her poodle skirt, and when it started playing, she danced the mambo in her saddle shoes with her father. The teenagers in the soda shop had different clothing styles. Many Italian youths took on the greaser look with ducktail hairstyles and leather jackets, while their ladies wore bandanas around their necks, tight pencil skirts or pedal pushers, and high heels. The Irish youth took to wearing Peter Pan collar shirts, poodle skirts, saddle shoes, and had their hair in ponytails, while the boys wore plaid shirts with blue jeans and slicked hair. Herschel seemed to fit right in with the Irish youth in his Carey Grant slicked hair under a Trilby hat, a white T-shirt over a checkered shirt, and fitted khaki chinos with brown and white oxfords.

“That is the mambo, Heinrich.” explained Herschel.

Heinrich noticed Bubba, wearing a fedora and plaid jacket, entering the soda shop with a lady in penny loafers and a polka-dot dress with a pleated skirt. They started dancing with the others while “Rock Around the Clock” played.

“That is the Lindy Hop. The guy with the pompadour with a lady in the pink pedal pushers are doing the Boogie Woogie.” Herschel pointed out.

“I feel lost among all your American dances. The American soldiers taught us the jitterbug and fox trot during the occupation. We were still doing the Charleston and Waltz.” explained Heinrich.

Heinrich finished his hamburger and French fries.

“You are not too full to eat Lilah’s pot roast?” Herschel asked.

“No, I can manage a few pieces of pot roast with carrots and onions.” Heinrich replied.

They walked back to the apartment to enjoy Lilah’s pot roast. Herschel’s parents, who live on the second floor, were there. Miriam and her husband came over. Talia was there with her family. They extended the table with two card tables to fit everyone.

“How do you do, Aaron?” greeted Heinrich.

“Excellent, Heinrich. Children, this is the man who introduced Daddy to Mommy after the war.” Aaron explained.

“Yes, and he saved my family, who got lost on our way to Switzerland. He gave us food and shelter, plus a photo of him in his Hitler Youth uniform for his aunt in Switzerland to convince the Border Patrol, which rejected Jews, that we were Christian. His mother gave Grandpa his father's coat because Grandpa’s coat was torn from the death of cousin Avram the night before his bar mitzvah during the Night of Broken Glass.” explained Herschel.

“Please do not talk about those awful years. I cannot bear it.” Talia declared.

“I am sorry, Talia. I must bring up awful memories that haunt your dreams. My father never spoke about the war in France and buried his emotions in beer mugs. My mama had to sleep in another room because his nightmares caused him to attack her as if he were back in battle again. I even caught him using acid on his Nazi dagger to remove the number on it that would identify him as the original owner. He died six months ago from liver failure. He drank himself to death. Last month, a twelve-year-old boy from France showed up at our house. A priest in Rouen had my father’s German address to send his effects if he got captured or killed. He was my father’s son with a French woman who had died from cancer. His half-sister’s husband and his mother’s family refused to take him in, so the priest sent him to us. My mama refused to accept my father’s infidelity and refused to allow this child to live in her house. He lives in my house; otherwise, I must send him to an orphanage. He attends the parochial school and is learning to speak German. The past does not disappear just because we do not discuss it. Do not let bad memories hurt you too.” Heinrich said.

“I am sorry you lost your father and are raising your half-brother. You are correct. Bad memories can hurt us.” Talia replied.

“Tell us about your family, Heinrich. I believe you have four children now.” Lilah changed the subject.

“Yes, my eldest daughter is Christine, is seven and is beginning primary school in the autumn. My son Felix is five years old and in kindergarten with my daughter Emma, who is three. My wife Gilda gave birth to our son Luis three weeks ago. I promised to take her to Munich’s Oktoberfest in September since she could not come here. She decided to stay home with the children, with her mother helping her. My great-uncle in Munich retired from his law practice and let his son take over, who has lived with him since my great-aunt died of pneumonia two years ago.” Heinrich said.

“How are your brothers and sisters?” inquired Lilah.

“Greta helps me manage the cabaret and does the bookkeeping. My brother Rolf drives the dairy delivery truck to the towns and helps my stepcousin Kort manage the dairy. My stepcousin Hans is quite a mechanic at the petrol station. My sister Ingrid graduated from high school in May. She performs at the cabaret and helps cook in the kitchen. Stepcousins Hilda and Elsa are married now, raising their children. Stepcousin Emilia graduated from high school this spring and got a scholarship to nursing school.” explained Heinrich. “Aunt Heidi still lives with grandfather and takes care of her husband too. Her husband does the dairy bookkeeping from his wheelchair. He lost both his legs above the knee from a mine in France. His family was killed during a Dresden bombing raid. He came home to Drubeck to stay with his family. He met Heidi at church when she returned home. He said he dropped his Bible and asked her to pick it up, then asked her out on a date. They have triplet girls and an adopted son now in school.”

“It is good to know dear Heidi found love. We prayed for her to find happiness. She still paints?” asked Rifka.

“Oh yes, she sells much of her artwork." answered Heinrich. “Did I ever tell you we met Eva Braun, who came by to buy some of her paintings for Hitler when he was coming to attend the celebration of the new highway being finished. I thought she was snobby and refused to speak directly to Heidi. My papa got Hitler’s autograph at the highway celebration. I did not go because I had chickenpox. I got his autograph when we went to the Nuremberg Rally. My uncle was well connected to the Nazis, helping keep Heidi from being found. We had to write affidavits of his generosity when he had a war crimes trial for aiding the theft of Jew owned artwork. He may have hated Jews, but also helped many who were fleeing by buying their jewels and helping them connect with art museums in Switzerland and France to sell their artwork to keep it out of Nazi hands. His judge absolved him of collusion with the Nazis at his trial.” Heinrich said.

“What was Hitler like?” asked Joshua.

“Very disappointing. In front of the crowds, he looked at the sky and stood still like a statue absorbing the cheers. When I got his autograph at a hotel private party, he never looked at us. He looked at the wall. I even asked him if he had children I could play with, and he replied that he had no wife or children. He signed the sheet of paper and went on to the next autograph like I was a decoration in the room. Joshua, you could say he was like meeting a statue of Julius Caesar at a museum. He showed no emotion, except during his speeches. Somehow, the adults thought him enchanting, and one gaze from him made them a patriotic Nazi immediately. My parents, wary of his Third Reich laws against undesirables, were not so enchanted to think he was polite.” Heinrich explained.

“Sounds like a wet rag,” replied Joshua.

“You could say that,” Heinrich reacted.

During his time in New York City, Heinrich saw Talia perform on Broadway, Anshel perform at the Yiddish Theater, the Statue of Liberty, and the Empire State Building. He walked past Madison Square Garden, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, saw the American Museum of Natural History, and walked through Central Park to buy hot dogs from a vendor. He saw the Rockettes perform at the Radio City Music Hall, saw an opera at the Metropolitan Opera House, and visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He enjoyed their 4th of July celebrations. The parade ran down their street, and they sat on the fire escape to watch it. It was a mixture of races of people in the parade. Their high school played with drum majorettes twirling batons and flags. Astoria Park hosted a celebration with games, musicians, and lots of food vendors. They stopped to watch the musical entertainment on stage. An African-American band played rhythm and blues, including songs by Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley, finishing with a Nat King Cole song. A white band came up next to play Pat Boone, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra songs. They ate supper at the soda shop, where Heinrich had his first banana split and met Aaron’s parents. Then they took the subway to Brooklyn to watch the fireworks over the river from the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a tradition for Aaron’s family in Brooklyn to watch the fireworks on the bridge. America was an amazing place. Heinrich could understand why they never returned to Berlin after the war. Anshel decided they had no home to return to when his father was forced to relinquish his bakery and their upstairs apartment, so it was best to start fresh somewhere else.

THE END