Jacob sighed. “If the Gestapo took them, they could be anywhere.”
Elsa spoke up. “I heard it’s Sachsenhausen. The SS is also involved.”
“Isn’t Sachsenhausen meant for communists and political dissidents?” Jacob asked. They’re not sending regular people there, surely?
“All I know is that they won’t tell our neighbors anything. They don’t even have to give a reason for taking them.”
Hermann stood up and poured himself a glass of water, waving off Elsa’s tea offer.
“If the Gestapo and SS are involved, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re sent to Sachsenhausen. They’re worse than the Brownshirts—they’re just a group of thugs. The SS is the law, as far as Goebbels is concerned.” He looked outside; the last rays of sunlight reflected off the pavement. “I’m worried the police aren’t involved.”
“They seem to be mere bystanders these past few days,” Jacob added. “It feels like a coup.”
Ethan picked at a splinter on the table, and silence fell for a while, all four of them staring into space.
Jacob broke the silence. “So, now what? They’ve taken the pharmacy from us; they’re arresting innocent people everywhere. What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to sit tight,” Hermann said. “There’s nothing we can do. Surely when the city hall opens again, we can get this fixed.” There was little confidence in his words.
That night, parts of Goering’s speech were broadcast on the evening news. The Kagans listened to their radio, shocked by what they heard.
“Did he just say all Jewish business will be taken over by Germans?” Elsa said, her eyes wide.
“Aryan Germans,” Hermann corrected. “We’re as German as everybody else.”
They turned back to the radio—Goering could be heard clearly.
“The fundamental idea in this program of elimination of the Jew from the German economy is for the Jew to transfer his property to the state. All business owners will be compensated.”
Hermann scoffed. “So much for that. They just took our store!”
Goering’s voice droned on in the background. “But, because there are too few Aryans to take over all the stores, we have to find another solution. We will liquidate these businesses, as there is obviously no demand. This is all perfectly fine.”
Jacob looked at his father, who’d gone pale. This can’t be happening. This isn’t real.
Loud cheers went up in the background. Goering proceeded to lay out his plans for the factories of Germany, moving away from the stores. Hermann switched off the radio.
They sat in stunned silence. The family wouldn’t get the pharmacy back—that much was now evident. Goering finished stating that all insurance money from the damages of a few nights before would not go to the former owners but to the German state.
Hermann looked around the table. “We’re ruined.”
Jacob had a sleepless night. He tossed and turned, expecting a truck to stop outside their house, SS men breaking down their door and taking him to an unknown camp.
But they never came, and he got up early to find his parents already at the kitchen table.
“You couldn’t sleep, either?” Hermann asked. His father had the morning newspaper in front of him, and his mother poured him a cup of coffee.
Jacob shook his head. “I thought about what we can do, but I have no solution.” He took a sip of the steaming hot coffee, which did little to calm him.
His parents exchanged a look. Jacob raised an eyebrow.
“We need to consider leaving,” Hermann said.
Jacob looked at his father. “Leave Berlin?”
“Leave Germany.”
Hermann slid the newspaper toward Jacob. “Here’s an overview of all the new rules the government will put into effect. They’re all related to us.”
Jacob looked at the front page. It confirmed what they’d heard the previous evening. All Jewish businesses were to be sold to Aryan-Germans—stores, factories, any ownership—but that wasn’t the worst of it.
“One billion marks?” Jacob looked up at his parents. “They’re holding us responsible for the damages of the past few days?” He was incredulous.
His parents remained silent as Jacob read on. The government had decreed that the damages were to be paid back by all Jews in Germany.
Jacob put the paper down. “This is madness!”
Hermann scratched his chin. “I’m not allowed to run any kind of business anymore. And nobody will hire us to work for them, for fear of reprisals.”
Jacob saw the determination in his father’s eyes. He’s made up his mind.
“We still have some money and jewelry,” Hermann continued. “We’ll need to use that to get out of the country. There’s no other option.”
“So, where will we go?” Jacob asked.
Elsa looked at him. “We can’t move east—Poland hasn’t accepted any refugees for a few months now. And Austria is out of the question.”
Jacob nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the situation is just as bad there, too many Nazis since the unification.”
“We’ll have to look west—we might still have a chance in the Netherlands,” Hermann said. “Amsterdam has lots of Jewish businesses.”
“And it’ll be temporary,” Elsa smiled wearily “until people come to their senses.”
Jacob listened to his parents, who’d clearly thought this through. The new decrees must have been the final push. There was nothing left for them in Berlin. Their pharmacy had been their life, and his father was right—they wouldn’t be able to get new jobs.
“When do we leave?”
His parents looked at him. “Today,” they said together.
4
While Hermann and Elsa packed their belongings, Jacob sprinted to Ethan’s house. He learned Ethan’s family had toyed with the same thought, and it hadn’t taken much persuasion to get them to join them. They agreed to meet at the station and were hopeful they’d be able to take a train out of the country together.
When Jacob returned home, his parents were ready, holding only a suitcase each. They had packed only their most valuable belongings. Jacob carried a suitcase containing jewelry and money packed among a few articles of clothing. It was heavy, but he didn’t mind.
Hermann and Elsa wore their best clothes, looking as respectable as possible—and not like poor refugees—for when they got to the Dutch border. Jacob wore his usual jacket to keep warm. They looked like a family going on holiday.
“Here we go, then,” Hermann said, closing their front door with a loud thud. He pulled at the door, making sure it was well secured. Satisfied, Hermann lifted his large suitcase and took Elsa’s as well, despite her protests.
It was a short walk to Berlin’s Lehrter train station. A weak mid-day sun battled its way through the thick clouds. The cobblestone streets were quiet, most people staying inside on this cold Sunday afternoon. They passed many shops with boarded-up windows. Some of the owners hadn’t bothered, and their once-impressive storefronts had been quickly reduced to ruins. Jacob wondered what would happen to these stores; would the Nazis consider them interesting enough to sell to Aryan storekeepers, or would they just let them be?