* * *
Donnelly met Eli in the reception area. “The hearing shouldn’t take too long,” he said. “Shael Bruchstein and Olga Helstein are both here, and they’re prepared to testify. We have more than enough proof to charge Poleski and set him over for trial.”
The two of them walked into the ceremonial courtroom, where Shael and Olga sat waiting. The hearing was scheduled for ten o’clock. At ten thirty, an adjutant came in and asked Major Donnelly to step out. A few minutes later, the major returned and said, “Apparently, there is something going on. The hearing has been postponed until two o’clock. I can show you all to the canteen, but I’m afraid there is nothing much for us to do but wait until this afternoon.”
Bottles of Coca-Cola, hot dogs and small talk occupied the recess while the four speculated about the delay. Eli was uncomfortable. “I know this guy,” he said. “He’s working his witchcraft, looking for an escape door. He said he had connections. If anyone can weasel his way out of a predicament, it’s Maximilian. I’ve seen him do it over and over.”
Donnelly shook his head. “Nah, we’ve got him dead to rights.”
Finally, at 1:45 p.m., they were told to return to the courtroom. Precisely at 2:00 p.m., Colonel Bivens entered the room. Alone. “I’m sorry to have inconvenienced you all,” he said. “But there will be no hearing today.”
Eli sighed. “What is the continued hearing date?”
The colonel solemnly shook his head. “We don’t have a continued hearing date. The charges against Mr. Poleski have been dropped.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I’m not happy about it myself.”
The news took Eli’s breath away. “This is unbelievable! How is this happening? You’re telling me that the U.S. government is going to willingly permit this man to continue his criminal enterprise?”
He shook his head. “There’ll be no further visas, Mr. Rosen. That was a condition of his release.”
“Does General Clay know? Has this capitulation been approved by OMGUS in Berlin?”
“General Clay knows,” he answered with a sense of resignation. “The orders were approved by his office. That’s all I can tell you. The war makes strange bedfellows; I’ve seen it time and again.”
“Why? Why would they do this?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Rosen, but it’s classified. It’s one of the many odd arrangements that must be made in the postwar world.”
Eli was thunderstruck. He pounded his fist on the table. “This can’t be happening. It’s wrong and I don’t accept it! Who pulled those strings? How does Poleski slither away when we caught him red-handed?”
“I’m not authorized to say anything further, Mr. Rosen. I do offer my apologies for your inconvenience today.” The colonel held out a sealed envelope, and he handed it to Eli. “Before he left, Mr. Poleski asked me to give this to you.”
“I don’t want anything from Poleski.”
“I understand. Do with it what you will.”
* * *
For Eli, the ride back to Föhrenwald was a mixture of sadness, rage and frustration. He had been so sure that if he had the opportunity to talk to Maximilian, he would have learned something helpful in his search for Esther. Maybe just a clue, a course direction. Yet it was all for naught. For all intents and purposes, that door was now closed.
When he entered the house, Adinah was sitting with a giggling Izaak, helping him with his homework. She immediately noticed Eli’s deflated expression. “I take it the trip was a disappointment.”
“They let him go.”
“Oh, no. Why would they do that?”
“Classified, I’m told. Friends in high places, he said.” Eli took off his jacket, and Max’s envelope fell onto the floor. He picked it up and flung it across the room.
Adinah retrieved the envelope and brought it back. “What is this?”
“The colonel gave it to me. He said it came from Maximilian. I don’t want it, and I don’t care what it says. If he wrote it, it’s a lie.”
Adinah tore it open to reveal a small piece of paper with a single printed word: Ravensbrück.
Eli read the note and tears filled his eyes.
Izaak picked it up and asked, “What does this mean?”
Adinah looked at Eli, who nodded his approval. “Tell him the truth,” Eli said.
Adinah put her arm around Izaak and said quietly, “Ravensbrück is the name of a Nazi concentration camp north of Berlin.”
Eli added, “The note implies that when Lipowa was closed, Mama was sent to Ravensbrück. It was a women’s camp.”
“Was that bad? Was it a sewing camp?”
Adinah shook her head. “The women there did hard work like building rockets, paving roads and working in a textile plant.”
“So my mama could have survived. She was a seamstress and a good worker. She could have worked in the textile plant. She could be alive somewhere.”
Adinah nodded. “That’s right.” But Eli said, “Tell him the truth, Adinah.”
“It was a very bad camp, Izzie. Many, many women died there. Of the thousands and thousands of women who were sent there, not so many survived.”
“But some did, didn’t they?”
Adinah nodded. “Some did. We won’t give up hope.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
ALBANY PARK
CHICAGO
ALBANY PARK NEIGHBORHOOD
FEBRUARY 1966
The morning Trib lay on her desk, and Mimi sipped her coffee. It was a shake-your-head kind of news day. Northwestern University’s Committee on Undergraduate Life unanimously rejected a proposal to allow men and women to visit each other in their school living quarters; the wife of the Chicago Bears’ coach, George Halas, was found mysteriously dead in the couple’s Edgewater Beach apartment; there were anti-American riots in the streets of the Dominican Republic; and state senator McGloon demanded that the March 29 fight between Cassius Clay and Ernie Terrell be canceled, insisting that “the Athletic Commission should call this Muhammed—whatever his name is—in and ask him about his views on being a conscientious objector.”
But for Mimi, the story that hit home was on page nine, under the headline SENATE, HOUSE GROUPS O.K. NEW VIET FUNDS REQUEST. President Johnson, flying back to Washington after an extensive meeting with South Vietnamese leaders in Honolulu, expressed his extreme pleasure with the news that billions of dollars in new war funding had been approved by his legislators. In the House, Congressman Witold Zielinski was proud to lead the Armed Services Committee in unanimous approval of the president’s emergency request for immediate disbursement of an additional 275 million dollars. Meanwhile, in the Senate the Armed Services Committee unanimously approved 4.8 billion dollars, almost all of it earmarked for “aircraft, helicopters, missiles and other military hardware.”
“What a banner day for Vittie, Nicky and all the greedy corporate executives,” Mimi said aloud. “Maybe they’ll throw a big party and decide how to carve up the kickback pie.”