She gritted her teeth as the runner lowered his torch and the copper bowl burst into flames. Whatever the truth of Michael’s words, all she wanted to do today was enjoy the spectacle, not become it.
‘Michael, please, not this again, not here. Fine, I got a bit carried away, but that’s not a crime. It’s the Olympic Games! Can’t you forget about politics for once?’
‘Everything is politics! And not thinking, and pretending everything is rosy, is what’s got us into this mess. You’re like a child dancing after the piper – you all are.’
That sneering tone again. No matter how hard she tried not to react, it always made Liese lash out harder than she meant to.
‘Why do you have to be so patronising? I’m sick of hearing about the communists and how they’re going to save the world. And as for the Jews and this reclaimed religious heritage you’re all het up about, I’m sick of that too. Fine, be a communist if you want; be a Jew if that makes you happy. Don’t expect me to be either.’
She would have left it there, if he hadn’t raised his eyebrow.
‘What? Are you going to tell me I’m Jewish again? Saying it doesn’t make it real, you know. I don’t go to the synagogue; I don’t keep Jewish holidays; I don’t follow Jewish laws. None of us do, including you, the last time I checked. We’re Germans – good Germans, like everyone else here – and that’s all we are. Well, except you apparently: you’re also a bore.’
Michael’s answering snarl made her eyes smart.
‘Well, forgive me, Princess, for spoiling your day. It’s not like the Party are really that bad. And Jewish? You? What a crazy idea. How could the granddaughter of Nathan Elfmann, whose Jewish family fled the pogroms in Hungary, whose father made his fortune in the Jewish rag trade, possibly be Jewish?’
They were attracting more attention than ever – even Paul was looking along the row.
‘Michael, for Heaven’s sake, lower your voice!’
It was a waste of her breath; he grew louder.
‘Seriously, how could I be so dumb? It’s not as if anyone could think Elfmann is a Jewish name. Or Wasserman either. Remind me to tell that to the universities I’ve applied to, who seem less certain of our heritage than you. How great it must be to live in such denial. You’ll be telling me next that Jesse Owens is white. Fine, don’t be a communist, but don’t say you’re not Jewish, as if that makes it true.’
More heads were turning, none of them friendly.
‘Michael, this isn’t the place—’
It was like trying to calm a charging elephant with a wagging finger.
‘Really? Where is more fitting? All this shouting and saluting, playing to the gallery like they don’t know what you are. When did you become so accepting, Liese? You used to drive me crazy with your questions – what happened? Don’t you care about all the new rules and the curbs on our freedom? Don’t you wonder why you can’t walk anywhere alone anymore, or go to school?’
‘Of course I do, but Father says—’ But Michael’s hand was up.
‘Don’t bother, I can guess. He said it’s for your own safety, because the Brownshirts might not realise you’re a good German. Did he also tell you Hitler would bring his hooligan army back into line once the Party was secure? I can see in your face that he did. It’s horseshit. Hitler’s had power for three years – he’s as secure as a bank vault. Come on, Liese, you can do better than this. Our glorious new leaders don’t care much for Jews and they’re getting very skilled at spotting us. Why do they want to do that? Do you want to guess, or shall I tell you? It’s so they can remove us. So they can lift us out of our lives.’
People in the rows around had started to mutter. Liese longed for Michael to be quiet and knew that he couldn’t be.
‘Don’t you get it? Everything from the stadium to the prettied-up streets: it’s all window dressing. In two weeks’ time, when the visitors go, the slogans and the arrests and the boycotts will be back. I know you believe me, or you wouldn’t have blushed when I called you out for shouting your devotion to Hitler. What I don’t know is why you’re pretending none of this matters.’
Otto, more conscious than Michael of the mood in the surrounding seats, grabbed his son’s arm. Michael shook him off. He was so focused on making Liese believe him, she doubted he could see anyone but her.
‘What do I have to say to persuade you that danger is coming? You must sense it. Didn’t you notice that there were no tramps or drunks on the streets today? All this nonsense about us being “safer in our beds under our new government”. More horseshit. The streets are empty because the Party’s rounding up everyone they don’t count as German anymore and dumping them in camps. There’s a massive one at Oranienburg, barely an hour from the city. There’s rumours of torture there, of killings.’
Someone yelled at him to shut up. Liese winced; Michael didn’t notice.
‘People I know, from the meetings I go to, have disappeared—’
And then his words were lost in the blast of a cannon and a furious squawking as thousands of doves burst into the sky. Liese screamed in fright as the birds’ frantic wings shook the air, as their grey bodies merged into a storm cloud.
More faces turned; more complaining.
‘What are you doing, making such a show?’
Liese had never seen her father so white.
‘It’s my fault, Herr Elfmann; forgive me. I upset her.’
Liese could see from Michael’s stricken face that he was genuinely sorry. He tried to push in between Paul and Liese, but a burly man from the row behind was already on his feet.
‘You’ve upset everyone with your communist filth. And as for this one, screaming like a banshee, and in front of the Führer. It’s unpatriotic; it’s a disgrace. If you people don’t know how to behave, you shouldn’t be allowed in.’
You people floated off through the stands to be clapped at.
Paul bowed and reached into his pocket. ‘I must beg your forgiveness: someone has clearly chosen my guests for today rather badly. Their sentiments embarrass me as much as they, quite rightly, upset you. I will make sure they leave immediately. Now, you, sir, you look like a man of good taste. Take my card, please. You must come to my salon tomorrow and choose something pretty for your wife. Will that smooth the day out?’
The wife’s beam assured Paul that it would.
Liese stared at her father, waiting for the nod that would signal that this was a charade, a face-saver. There was nothing in his voice but contempt.
‘Get out, both of you.’
Liese looked to Otto for help, but his expression was studiously blank.
‘Don’t react. Don’t let him see that you’re hurt. It’s my fault, not yours. And it’s about the business, not you.’ Michael’s hand was on her elbow, his mouth at her ear.
Liese shook him off, her eyes bright with tears she wouldn’t let him see. He had the sense not to speak again as they crept out of the stadium and back through a city that was no longer beautiful.
The whole fortnight of the Games, not just the first day, had been ruined. Paul and Margarethe had carried on with their whirlwind of events and receptions and confined Liese to the house as if she had the plague. Even if she had been allowed out, the gloss had gone: Michael’s words had scoured away Berlin’s shiny veneer. More importantly, Paul’s fury at the potential damage to the salon’s reputation had been implacable. If it wasn’t for her skill with the perfumes, Liese doubted her father would even be speaking to her tonight. Well, he had reopened the door to the only parts of her life that mattered and Michael’s moods were not going to close it again.