Chapter 22 Chapter Twenty Two
Children in Berlin played a game called "Come here, woman."It's one of a dozen games boys play with girls, but Carla discovers that it has a new meaning.The boys line up to catch a girl.After seizing the girl, they shouted "Woman, come here" before throwing her on the ground.They would pin the girl to the ground and take turns pressing on her to mimic sexual positions.The game was invented by seven or eight-year-old boys after they witnessed Red Army soldiers gang-raping German women.All Red Army soldiers who entered Germany knew the German phrase: "Woman, come here!"
Why were they raped by Red Army soldiers?Carla hadn't seen a single German woman raped by French, British, American, or Canadian soldiers, though there were bound to be.In contrast, women she knew between the ages of fifteen and fifty-five had been raped by at least one Soviet soldier: her mother Maud, Frieda's mother Monica, their maid Ida, No one is immune.
But they were lucky—they all survived.Some women were brutalized to death after being abused hour after hour by dozens of Soviet soldiers.It is said that a German girl was even killed by the Soviets.
Rebecca Rosen luckily escaped being raped.Carla rescued Rebecca the day she was liberated from the Jewish hospital, after which she moved into the von Ulrich home.The Ulrich family was in the Soviet zone, but Rebecca really had nowhere else to go.She hid in the attic like a prisoner for months, coming down only in the dead of night when the brutal Soviets were drunk.Carla would spend time in the attic with her, playing cards and telling each other stories.Carla wants Rebecca to treat her like an older sister, but Rebecca treats her like a mother.
Kara found herself really close to becoming a mother.
Maud and Monica were in their fifties, and there was no way they could conceive a child.Ada was lucky not to get pregnant.But Carla and Frida were both pregnant with the rapist's child.
Frida had an abortion.
Abortion was illegal, and Nazi laws that punished abortion were still in effect in Germany.So Frieda found an elderly midwife for five cigarettes.During the abortion, she developed an infection that would have killed Frida had it not been for a bit of penicillin Carla had stolen from the hospital.
Carla decided to have the baby.
Her feelings about the child often swung from one extreme to the other.In morning sickness she would rage at the beast that had invaded her body and left this burden behind.At other times, she would press her belly and meditate, thinking about what kind of clothes to put on the child.Then she wondered if the sight of the child would remind her of some man who had raped her and make her hate her child.But the child should also inherit a little of the von Ulrich family's genes.She was both looking forward to and afraid.
In January 1946, Carla was eight months pregnant.Like most Germans, she was cold and hungry, without food or clothing.After her stomach became obviously bigger, she quit her job as a nurse and joined the army of millions of unemployed.Food was rationed every ten days, and each person could only eat 1,500 calories a day.Of course, the food still has to be paid for.Even wealthy customers with ration cards sometimes run into situations where there is no food to buy.
Carla considered asking for special treatment from the Soviet Union as a spy during the war, but Heinrich's terrible experience cut her off.The Red Army intelligence agency hoped that Heinrich would continue to be their spy, spying on American military intelligence for them.Heinrich said he didn't want to do it, and they threatened to send him to a labor camp.Because he could not speak English, the Soviet Union finally let him go.After hearing about this, Carla decided that she had been a spy for the Soviet Union and never mentioned it.
On this day, Carla and Maud were very happy, because they sold a chest of drawers.This Art Nouveau oak chest of drawers was bought by Walter's parents when they married in 1889.Carla, Maud, and Ida moved the chest of drawers onto a borrowed wheelbarrow.
The Ulrichs were still without a man.Eric and Werner were among the millions of missing German soldiers, probably all dead.Colonel Baker told Carla that three million German soldiers had died on the Eastern Front, and many more had died in Soviet prison camps—from hunger, cold, and disease.But two million German soldiers are still alive, toiling in Soviet labor camps.Some have returned—some have escaped from the labor camps, others have been sent away because they were too ill to work.After leaving the labor camps, these people went into exile in Eastern European countries, trying to find their way home.Carla and Maud wrote several letters and asked the Soviet Red Army to forward them for them, but they never received a reply.
Kara is conflicted about Werner's return.She still loves Werner deeply and hopes that he will live well, but she is afraid that Werner will find out that she was raped and pregnant with a child.Even though it wasn't Carla's fault, she still felt very ashamed.
Three women push carts across the street.They left Rebecca at home.The Red Army of the Soviet Union is no longer as rampant as when it first arrived, and Rebecca has also left the attic, but it is still dangerous for beautiful girls to walk on the street.
Unter den Linden Avenue, where the German elite used to stroll, is hung with large portraits of Lenin and Stalin.Most of Berlin's roads had been cleared, and the rubble of broken buildings was piled every few hundred yards for reuse, but it was not known whether the Germans would be able to rebuild their homes.Entire houses were bombed flat, and in some places entire blocks were gone.It will take years for Germany to rebuild these places.There are thousands of dead bodies in the ruins, and this slightly sweet smell of corpses can be smelled in Berlin all summer.Now, this smell can only be smelled after the rain.
At this time, Berlin was divided into the Soviet, American, British and French occupation zones.Many buildings that survived the bombing were used by the local occupying forces.Berliners can only find places to live, most of them live in the few useful rooms left in the bombed buildings.Water and intermittent electricity were restored in Berlin, but heating and gas for cooking remained in short supply.The chest of drawers may have been used as firewood by the buyer.
They pushed the chest of drawers into Vidin, which was under the French occupation.They traded a chest of drawers for a case of Gitani with a polite French officer.The Soviet Union printed a lot of currency in the occupied areas, causing serious inflation. People usually use cigarettes to complete the purchase and sale of real goods.
On the return trip, Maud and Ada pulled an empty cart, and Carla walked beside them.Pushing it all the way made her whole body ache, but at least they had some money - a whole case of cigarettes was enough for them to live for a while.
It was dark and the temperature dropped below freezing.On the way home they will pass through a section of British occupation.Carla sometimes wondered if the English would help if they knew what Maud was going through.But Maud has been in Germany for twenty-six years, and her brother Count Fitzherbert, despite his wealth and influence, refused to help her after Maud married Walter von Ulrich.Lord Fitzherbert was a stubborn fellow: he would not easily change his attitude towards his sister.
After walking a short distance, they saw thirty or forty Germans in disheveled clothes standing outside a house that had been requisitioned by the British occupying forces.Carla, Maud, and Ada paused to see what they were looking at.Through the windows they saw brightly lit houses, men and women laughing loudly with glasses of wine, and waiters weaving through the crowd with trays of food.Kara looked around.Most of the crowd were women and children—there were few men left in Berlin and Germany—like sinners abandoned at the gate of heaven, greedily watching the scene in the window.This scene makes people feel distressed.
"It's irritating," said Maud indignantly.Then, she walked towards the gate of the house.
The British guard at the door said to her in German: "No, no." This may be the only German word the guard can speak.
Maud said to him in the upper-class English she used to speak, "I must see your commander at once."
As always, Carla was in awe of her mother's courage and heroism.
The guard looked suspiciously at Maud's shabby coat, thought for a while, and then knocked on the door.The door opened, and a face poked out. "There is an English lady who wants to see the sir," said the guard.
After a while, the door opened again, and a man and woman stood at the door.They looked like caricatured couples of British officers: the man in evening dress and black tie; the woman in a long skirt and jewels.
"Good evening," Maud said, "I'm sorry to disturb your party."
The officer and his wife looked at her in surprise, wondering how this ragged old woman could speak to them in the tone of the British upper class.
Maud said, "I was just thinking maybe you should see what you're doing to these poor people out there."
The officer and his wife looked at the crowd gathered outside the house.
Maud said, "For God's sake, you should at least draw down the curtains."
After thinking for a while, the officer's wife said: "George, have we done something very terrible?"
"Possibly, but we didn't mean it," said the officer roughly.
"Can we send them some food to make up for our mistakes?"
"Yes," Maud said quickly, "this is an apology, and it also shows your kindness."
The officer's expression was a little hesitant. Giving food to the hungry Germans might have violated one of their regulations.
The officer's wife begged: "Honey, is it okay?"
"Okay, of course." The officer said hastily.
The officer's wife turned to Maud and said, "Thank you for your reminder, we didn't mean it."
"It's okay." After saying that, Maud left.
After a few minutes, guests brought out trays of sandwiches and cakes and distributed them to the women and children outside the house.Carla smiled.The daring mother was once again richly rewarded.She got a large piece of fruitcake and ate it in two or three bites.There was more sugar in this cake than she had consumed in the past six months.
The curtains were lowered, the guests returned to the house, and the people outside the house quickly dispersed.Maud and Ida pushed the cart forward again. "Well done, Mom," Carla said. "A carton of cigarettes and a free dinner. What a perfect day!"
Carla felt that, except for the Soviets, the occupying forces of other countries treated the Germans well.Carla found this phenomenon very strange.American soldiers often handed out bars of chocolate to the Germans.The French, whose children were starving under German occupation, were also very kind to the Germans.For all the suffering Germany had caused France, Carla thought, it was odd that they didn't hate us that much.Thinking about it in turn, Germany has experienced the torture of the Nazis, the Red Army, and air raids. They may feel that the Germans have received enough punishment.
Arriving home late, they returned the cart to the neighbor who had lent it to them, gave them a pack of cigarettes as reward, and returned home.Most of the windows in the home were glassless and the stone slabs were riddled with bomb craters, but suffered no structural damage.The home also protects them from the elements.
At this time, four women were sleeping in the kitchen.At night, they took the mattresses from the bedroom to the kitchen.They couldn't keep the whole house warm, they could only keep the kitchen a little warmer than it was outside.The kitchen stove used to burn coal, but coal has long been out of reach.Fortunately, they have already thought of other things to burn: books, newspapers, old furniture, and even mesh curtains.
The two of them slept with two of them.Carla slept with Rebecca, and Maud slept with Ida.As on the day her parents died, Rebecca often cried in her dreams after falling asleep in Carla's arms.
Carla was exhausted from walking so long and soon lay down.Ada fired up the stove with old magazines that Rebecca had brought down from the attic.Maud added water to the lentil soup she ate at noon, and was going to reheat it later for dinner.
As she sat up to drink her soup, Carla suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach.She realized that it was not the pain caused by pushing the cart, it should be discomfort caused by other reasons.She calculated the interval between that day and the day the Jewish hospital was liberated.
"Mom," she said fearfully, "I think the baby is coming soon."
"too fast."
"Thirty-six weeks pregnant and I'm already starting to feel contractions."
"Then make some preparations."
Maud went upstairs to get towels.
Ada brought a wooden stool from the dining room.Using a piece of bent iron from a bombed house as a hammer, she broke the stools into sections and threw them into the stove to keep warm.
Carla put her hands on her distended stomach. "Maybe you should wait until it's warmer, child," she said.
Soon, Carla was in so much pain that she couldn't feel the cold. She had never experienced such severe pain.
But the pain lasted for a long time.She was in labor all night.Maud and Ada took turns holding her hand as they wept and moaned.Rebecca's face turned pale with terror, and her eyes were fixed on her.
When the blue-gray sunlight streamed in through the window nailed up in the kitchen newspaper, the newborn's head finally popped out.Although the pain did not subside immediately, Kara breathed a sigh of relief, as if she had unloaded a burden.
After a violent push and pull, Maud lifted the baby from between Carla's legs.
"It's a boy," she said.
Maud slapped the boy on the face, and he opened his mouth to cry.
She handed the baby to Carla and helped Carla sit up on some pillows she had brought from the living room.
The newborn has a lot of black hair.
Maud tied the umbilical cord with a small piece of cotton and cut it open.Carla unbuttoned her coat and brought the newborn's mouth to her nipple.
Carla is worried that she won't be able to breastfeed.By the end of the pregnancy, her breasts should have started to swell and be able to drip milk, but neither of those things happened.This may be because the baby was born too early, or the mother's nutrition is insufficient.But after some sucking, she felt a strange pain and the milk came out!
After the baby is full, he quickly falls asleep.
Ada fetched a basin of warm water and a cloth, and gently scrubbed the baby's face and head, then continued to scrub the rest.
Rebecca whispered, "He's so pretty."
Kara asked Maud, "Mom, can we call him Walter?"
Kara didn't think about it that much, but Maud had already completely collapsed.She wrinkled her face, bent down, and burst into tears.After a while, she recovered her composure: "I'm sorry." But soon she was overwhelmed with grief, "Oh, Walter, my Walter!" she cried out the name of her dead husband.
At last Maud stopped her tears. "I'm sorry," she apologized again, "I didn't mean to make a fuss," she wiped her face with her sleeve, "I just wish your father could see this kid too. It's so unfair."
Ada surprised the mother and daughter, and she recited the scriptures from the first chapter of the Book of Job: "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!"
Carla does not believe in God—if there was a God, what happened in the Nazi concentration camps would not have happened—yet she finds comfort in this passage.Life is about accepting everything—from the pain of the birth of a child to the grief of the death of a loved one.Maud seemed to feel the same way, and she calmed down a lot.
Carla looks lovingly at newborn Walter.She swore secretly that no matter what difficulties lay ahead, she would let him have enough food and clothing.He is the most perfect child in the world and she will love him forever and ever.
The newborn woke up, and Carla brought her breast to his mouth again.Satisfied, he sucked and smacked his lips under the gaze of the four women.In the warm, dark kitchen, nothing else could be heard for a while.
The first speech of a member of Parliament is called an "Inaugural Address", and it is usually a dull speech.The speech must take into account all aspects, say some clichés, and the theme cannot be clearly directional.Peers and opponents congratulate the new MP.As long as this tradition is followed, the new councilor will be integrated into the big family of the parliament.
The real challenge for Lloyd Williams was when he gave his first real speech in the debate on the National Insurance Bill, months after becoming an MP.
As he prepared his speech, images of two eloquent experts appeared in his mind.Grandfather David Williams loved to quote from the Bible.He uses it in church, but more often in unions when he talks about the hardships of coal miners and the injustice they face.When talking about mines, mine deposits, and the graves where miners are buried, David often uses short but meaningful words such as toil, sin, and greed.
Churchill is the same, but he has a sense of humor that David Williams lacks.His grandiose sentences often end with unexpected pictures or charming metaphors. During the general strike of 1926, as the editor-in-chief of the government mouthpiece, the British Gazette, he once warned the union leaders: "You have to think about it. If you have another general strike, we will have another one." The British Gazette responded." Lloyd felt the need for the unexpected in speeches, the surprise of raisins hidden in bread.
But when he stood up, he immediately found that the sentences he had carefully prepared suddenly became unreal.The audience seemed to feel the same way. The fifty or sixty MPs in the conference hall had obviously deserted.Lloyd felt a panic: How could he present a profound issue so flippantly before so many MPs?
In the front row of the government box he saw his mother Ethel, Minister of Education, and Uncle Billy, Minister of Coal.Lloyd knew that Uncle Billy had gone down the mines when he was thirteen, and that Mother had been Ty-Gwynn's maid at the same age.The speech is not a collection of rhetoric, but it is about the lives of these people.
After speaking for a while, he put down his speech and began to play freely.Lloyd said working-class families, which he had seen first-hand in the east end of London and in the mines of South Wales, often suffered from hunger and cold due to disability and unemployment.His voice conveyed his true emotions, sometimes a little bleak, but he continued to speak.Lloyd felt that Congressmen began to turn their attention to his speech, so he mentioned his grandfather who spoke out to implement employment insurance and eliminate unemployment panic, and the pioneers of the labor movement.When the speech was over, the MPs cheered loudly.
Lloyd's wife, Daisy, smiled proudly in the audience and gave him a thumbs up.
He listened to the others in the debate with some contentment, feeling that he had passed his first real test of being an MP.
After the debate, Lloyd met in the halls of the House of Commons the disciplinary committee who had assured his party's votes.After congratulating Lloyd on his speech, the disciplinary commissioner asked: "Would you like to be a parliamentary secretary?"
Lloyd was very excited.Every Government Minister or Secretary of State has at least one Parliamentary Undersecretary.In fact, the deputy minister of state affairs is just a bag-carrying role, but this position is the only way to become a minister and minister. "I'm very honored to be in this role," Lloyd said. "Who will be my boss?"
"Ernie Bevin."
Lloyd couldn't believe his luck.Bevan was Foreign Secretary, the closest person to Prime Minister Attlee.The two come from very different backgrounds, but they are close friends.Attlee came from a middle-class family: his father was a lawyer, he was an Oxford graduate and an officer in the First World War.Bevan was the illegitimate son of a maid. He didn't know who his father was. He started working at the age of eleven and established a large-scale transportation union.They were physically different, too: Attlee was lean and quiet, Bevan was tall and strong, with a loud laugh.The Foreign Secretary often referred to the Prime Minister as "Little Clement".For all their differences, they were comrades in the same trench.
For Lloyd and millions of British people, Bevan is their hero. "I couldn't ask for more," said Lloyd, "but doesn't Bevin already have a secretary?"
"He needs two," said the disciplinary committee member, "start work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."
"Thank you."
Lloyd hurried down the oak-trimmed corridor toward his mother's office.He asked Daisy to wait there after the debate. "Mother!" he cried as he entered, "I've been appointed Ernie Bevan's Secretary of State!"
At this time, he found that besides Lloyd, Earl Fitzherbert was standing in the office.
Fitz stared at Lloyd with surprise and disgust.
Although startled, Lloyd noticed that his biological father was wearing a finely tailored gray suit and a double-breasted waistcoat.
Lloyd glanced at his mother.Ethel was calm.She was not at all surprised that Fitz and Lloyd met; it must have been arranged by her.
The earl obviously came to the same conclusion: "Ethel, what is going on?"
Lloyd stared at the man who had given him life.Even in such an embarrassing situation, Fitz was neither humble nor overbearing.Despite the droopy eyelids from the Battle of the Somme, he was handsome.After that battle, he never left his crutches.Although he will be sixty years old in a few months, he is well dressed, his shoes are well polished, his tie is meticulously tied, and his silver hair is combed perfectly.Lloyd also likes to be well dressed.He wondered if the habit had been inherited from the Count.
Ethel walked over and stood beside Fitz.Lloyd knew his mother well enough to know what she was doing.She often uses this trick when she wants to persuade the other party.But Lloyd didn't want to see his mother being so enthusiastic about the man who had always abandoned her.
"I was very saddened to hear of Boyie's death," she told Fitz. "There is nothing more precious than our children, isn't it?"
"I have to go," said Fitz.
Before that, Lloyd had only brushed shoulders with Fitz a few times.He had never been with Fitz for a long time before, or heard him talk so much.As uncomfortable as it was, Lloyd was happy to be in the situation.Although irascible, Fitz has a natural appeal.
"Fitz," Ethel said, "you have a son you don't know—a son you should be proud of."
"Ethel, you can't do that," Fitz said. "A man has the right to forget his youthful mistakes."
Lloyd was very embarrassed, but Ethel asked persistently: "Why forget? I know it was our mistake to bring him into this world, but look at him now - just doing delivered a stirring speech and was appointed Parliamentary Undersecretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs."
Fitz purposely avoided seeing Lloyd.
Ethel said: "You see our relationship as a teenage affair, but you know exactly what it is. Yes, we were really young, we were really stupid, and we couldn't stand the opposite sex. Temptation - you and I are the same - but we do love each other. Fitz, we loved each other. You should admit it. You know? If you deny the truth, you are a loser people."
Lloyd found that Fitz's expression was very disturbed, and he was trying to control his emotions.Lloyd knew that Mother had hit on the heart of the matter again.Fitz didn't care much about having an illegitimate child, but pride wouldn't allow him to admit that he had fallen in love with a maid.Lloyd feels that he may love Ethel more than his wife, but that goes against most of his beliefs about social hierarchy.
Lloyd spoke for the first time. "Sir, I was with Boyie when he died, he was brave."
Fitz glanced at Lloyd for the first time. "My son doesn't need your approval."
Lloyd felt as if he had been slapped.
Even Ethel was surprised. "Fitz!" she cried, "how can you be so vicious?"
At this moment, Daisy walked in the door.
"Hello, Fitz!" She greeted Fitz happily. "You may think you got rid of me, but now you are my father-in-law again. Isn't it funny?"
"I'm trying to convince Fitz and Lloyd to shake hands," Ethel said.
"I try to avoid shaking hands with social democrats," Fitz said.
Ethel is fighting an unwinnable battle, but she's not ready to give in. "Look at all your influences in him. He looks like you, dresses like you, is as interested in politics as you are—maybe he'll be the Foreign Minister you've always wanted to be!"
Fitz's expression darkened even more. "I'm not going to be some kind of foreign minister," he said, walking towards the door. "I wouldn't be happy if the sacred office of the foreign minister was occupied by this Bolshevik bastard, and that's unlikely!" said After he finished, he walked away.
Ethel cried out of anger at him.
Daisy hugged Lloyd. "I'm sorry for you," she said.
"Don't worry," Lloyd said, "I'm neither shocked nor disappointed." It was just an excuse, but Lloyd really didn't want to look pitiful. "I was abandoned by him a long time ago." He looked Daisy, with love in her eyes, "But I'm so lucky to have so many people who love me so much."
Ethel said with tears in her eyes: "It's my fault. I shouldn't have let him come. I should have known this would happen."
"Never mind," said Daisy, "I have good news."
Lloyd smiled and asked, "What good news?"
Daisy looked at Ethel: "Have you changed your mood?"
"yes."
"Stop spinning around," Lloyd said. "Just talk."
"We're going to have a baby soon," Daisy said.
This summer, Carla's brother Eric came back dying.He contracted tuberculosis in a Soviet labor camp, and was released because he was too ill to work.He camped out for weeks, then returned to Germany by freight train and hitchhiking.When he returned to von Ulrich's house, he was barefoot and in tatters.His cheeks were sunken like a skull.
But he didn't die.Maybe it's because of being with the people who love him, maybe it's because the weather is getting warmer, maybe it's getting enough rest, and his body is gradually recovering.His cough has gradually improved, and he has the energy to do some housework at home.He repaired all the broken glass, arranged all the roof tiles, and cleared all the clogged water pipes.
Frida Frank hit a stroke of luck.
Ludwig Frank was killed in the air raid that destroyed the factory.After that, Frida and mother were as impoverished as everyone else.But Frieda soon became a nurse in the American occupation zone.Not long after she had been there, she told Carla that several American doctors had asked her to sell their surplus food and cigarettes on the black market for other necessities.Some of it she could keep for herself.After that, she showed up at Kara's house every week with a small basket: warm clothes, candles, flashlight batteries, matches, soap, food—bacon, chocolate, apples, rice, and canned peaches.Maud divided the food into portions and gave two of them to Carla.Carla accepted without hesitation, not for herself, but for her newborn baby Vali.
Valli couldn't have thrived without the food Frieda got from illegal sources.
Wally grows fast.Gone was her birth black hair, replaced by a shaggy blond lock.At six months, Wally's eyes were getting closer in color to Maud's green ones.After the face was formed, Carla noticed that the corners of the little guy's eyes were slanted, and she thought his father was probably Siberian.Kara couldn't remember the few people who raped her. Most of the time, she closed her eyes.
She doesn't hate those people anymore.This feeling is very strange, but very natural.She's happy to have Valli and doesn't think too much about what happened in the past.
Rebecca is attracted to Valli.Although only fifteen, Rebecca was beginning to feel motherly, and she desperately wanted to help Carla bathe and dress Vali.She often plays with Wally.Upon seeing her, Vali smiled happily.
As soon as Eric felt he had fully recovered, he joined the Communist Party.
Carla was very puzzled.After suffering so much in the Soviet Union, why did Eric join the Communist Party?But she soon discovered that Eric spoke of Communism with exactly the same earnestness as he had expounded on Nazism a decade earlier.Kara can only hope his disillusionment doesn't come so quickly this time.
The Allies wanted Germany to be re-established as a democracy, and elections in Berlin would be held in the second half of 1946.
Carla felt that only by handing over power to the people could Berlin return to normal, so she decided to support the Social Democrats.But Berliners quickly discovered that the Soviet occupying forces had a unique vision of democracy.
In November, the Austrian election results terrified the Soviets.The Austrian Communists, which had intended to sit on an equal footing with the Socialists, ended up with only four of the 165 seats.Voters seemed to think that communism and the brutality of the Red Army were the same thing.The Kremlin, which has not experienced democratic elections, obviously did not expect this.
To prevent the same outcome in Germany, the Soviet Union proposed that Communists and Social Democrats join forces to form a United Front to run the country.Under intense pressure, the Social Democrats rejected the proposal.In eastern Germany, the Soviet Union began to arrest people like the Nazis did in 1933.In East Germany, the communists and social democrats were forced to unite.But the elections in Berlin were overseen by the four allies, and the Social Democrats here do not need to be in power with the Communist Party.
After the weather warmed up, Carla started queuing up to get food again.She wraps Wally in a pillowcase and takes him with her—Walley doesn't have baby clothes.One morning, while picking up potatoes a few blocks from her home, Carla was startled to find Frieda in the passenger seat of a U.S. military jeep.The middle-aged bald driver kissed Frida on the lips, and Frida jumped out of the car.She is wearing a blue sleeveless dress and a new pair of shoes.After getting off the car, Frieda hurried to von Frieda's house with a small basket.
Kara understood everything in an instant.Frida's stuff didn't come from the black market, and there were no so-called barter doctors.She became the mistress of an American officer.
This was not uncommon at the time.Many girls in Germany face a choice: watch your family starve, or sleep with a generous officer.French women did the same when France was occupied by Germany.The wives of the officers who stayed in Germany were full of resentment when they talked about this kind of thing.
But Kara was still surprised.She thought that Frieda loved Heinrich so much that she would not do such a thing.They had planned to get married as soon as their lives were on the right track.Kara felt a chill.
After reaching the head of the line and buying her quota of potatoes, Carla hurried home.
She met Frieda in the living room upstairs.Eric was pasting newspapers to the windows after cleaning the room.Without glass, newspapers are the best protection against the cold.The curtains had long since served as sheets, but most of the chairs in the living room remained, with faded covers.The grand piano at home is still very well preserved.A Soviet military officer saw the piano and said that he would use a crane to take it away the next day, but he did not come again.
Seeing Carla, Frieda immediately took Vali from Carla's arms and sang to him. "A, B, C, kittens are running in the snow." According to Kara's observation, Rebecca and Frida, who have no children, are very doting on their children, but they lose their patience after playing with them for a while.Maud and Ada, who had given birth to their own children, loved Valli too, but took practical steps to take care of him.
Frieda opened the lid and motioned for Valli to press the keys while she sang.The piano had not been played for several years: after the death of Maud's last student, Josim Koch, it was never played again.
After a while, Frida asked Carla: "You are silent today, what happened?"
"I know where the food you brought us came from," Carla said. "It's not from the black market, is it?"
"How come!" said Frieda, "what on earth are you talking about?"
"This morning, I saw you jump out of a military jeep belonging to the US military."
"Colonel Hicks gave me a ride by the way."
"He kissed you on the lips."
Frieda looked away. "Just get off the bus earlier, I should get off in the American occupation zone."
"Frida, what are you going to do with Heinrich?"
"He won't know. I swear I'll be more careful in the future."
"Do you still love him?"
"Of course I love him, we are still planning to get married!"
"Then why do you...?"
“我过够苦日子了！我想穿上漂亮的衣服去夜总会跳舞。”
“你才不是这种人，”卡拉坚定地说，“弗里达，我们是这么久的朋友了，你骗不过我，快告诉我实话！”
“实话吗？”
“是的，请告诉我实话。”
"are you sure?"
“非常确定。”
“我是为瓦利这样做的。”
Carla was stunned.她从来没想过这种可能性，但细细想来，很有道理。她相信弗里达的确会为她和她的孩子做出这种牺牲。
但她还是觉得太可怕了。这让她感到对弗里达这样作贱自己负有责任。“你不能这样做——总有办法解决的。”她说。
弗里达抱着怀里的婴儿，突然从琴凳上站了起来。“不可能，你不可能有办法的。”她说。
瓦利吓哭了。卡拉从弗里达手中接过瓦利，拍着他的后背，轻轻地摇着他。
“你想不到办法的。”弗里达的声音小了点。
"how do you know?"
“去年冬天，医院里送来了许多报纸包来的、因为饥饿和寒冷而死去的婴儿尸体。我都不忍心看他们一眼。”
“哦，天哪！”卡拉抱紧了瓦利。
“冻死的时候，他们全身出现了一种诡异的蓝色。”
“别说了。”
“我必须说，否则你不理解我为什么要这样做。如果没有这些食物，瓦利很可能也会变成蓝色的婴儿尸体。”
“是的，”卡拉小声说，“你说得没错。”
“珀西·希克斯是个好男人。希克斯在波士顿有个乏味的老婆，他说我是他见过的最性感的女人。他动作很快，总会戴上避孕套。”
“你应该终止和他的关系。”卡拉说。
"You're duplicity."
“是的，我是有点口是心非。”卡拉承认了，“这才是最糟的。我觉得有罪。我是个罪人。”
“你不必感觉有罪。这是我自己的选择。德国女人必须做这种艰难的决定。我们在为德国男人十五年前的轻率选择付出代价。比如认为希特勒上台有利于做生意的我爸爸和为安保法案投支持票的海因里希爸爸。父亲一辈所犯下的罪恶要由我们这些女儿来偿还了。”
有人在楼下重重地敲门。丽贝卡怕是红军，喘着粗气跑到楼上躲着去了。
楼下传来艾达的声音：“哦，是您啊，早上好！”她吃惊的声音里夹杂着一点点担心，但并不害怕。卡拉不知道谁会给家里的女仆带来这样的感觉。
楼梯上传来稳健有力的脚步声，接着，沃纳走进了客厅。
他全身都很脏，胡子已经很久没刮了，瘦得像根竹竿，但英俊的脸上洋溢着笑容。“是我！”他热情洋溢地说，“我回来了！”
接着，他看到了卡拉手里的婴儿。他目瞪口呆，笑容不见了。“哦，”他说，“怎么……谁……这个孩子是谁的？”
“亲爱的，是我的孩子，”卡拉说，“你听我解释。”
“解释？”他发怒了，“还需要什么解释？你都有别人的孩子了！”说完，他转身便要走。
弗里达说：“沃纳，这个房间里站着两个爱你的女人。别不听解释就走，不说清楚你不会明白的。”
“我觉得我什么都明白。”
“卡拉被强暴了。”
沃纳的脸变得苍白。“强暴？被谁？”
卡拉说：“我不知道他们的名字。”
“他们？”沃纳语无伦次了，“难道……难道还不止一个？”
“五个红军士兵。”
沃纳的声音小了：“五个吗？”
卡拉点了点头。
“但……你不能……我是说……”
弗里达说：“沃纳，我也是。还有我们的妈妈。”
“天啊，这里到底发生了什么？”
“这里发生了地狱里才会发生的事。”弗里达说。
沃纳重重地坐在破旧的皮椅上。“我原以为我遭遇的才是地狱呢！”他把脸埋在双手中。
卡拉抱着瓦利穿过客厅，站在沃纳面前。“沃纳，请你看着我。”她说。
沃纳表情扭曲地抬起头。
“地狱般的生活不会再来了。”她说。
"are you sure?"
“确定，”她坚定地说，“生活很艰难，但纳粹被消灭了，战争结束了，希特勒已经死了。那些红军恶魔也或多或少被控制了，噩梦结束了。我们都还活着，现在又聚在了一起。”
沃纳伸出手，握住了卡拉：“你说得对。”
“我们有了瓦利，过一会儿，你还会见到我阴差阳错认的女儿丽贝卡。我们必须在战争的残骸上建立一个新的家庭，如同在废墟上新建的这座城市一样。”
他点点头表示同意。
“我需要你的爱，”她说，“丽贝卡和瓦利也一样。”
沃纳慢慢地站了起来。卡拉期待地看着他。他什么话都没说，但过了一会儿，他伸出双臂搂住了她和孩子，温暖地抱在了一起。
根据仍然通行的战时规定，英国政府可以在不考虑土地所有人感受的情况下到处开煤矿。赔偿金只是征用土地上农田或商用设施的大致收入。
煤炭部长比利·威廉姆斯下令，在菲茨赫伯特伯爵的世袭领地阿伯罗温郊外的泰-格温建造一处露天矿。
因为不是商业用地，菲茨赫伯特家拿不到补偿金。
此举引起下议院的保守党议员一片哗然，“你们竟然把脏兮兮的煤矿建在了伯爵夫人卧室的窗户底下！”一个愤怒的托利党人提出抗议。
比利·威廉姆斯笑了。“伯爵脏兮兮的煤矿已经在我母亲的窗户底下待了五十年了。”
工程师开始钻洞前，劳埃德·威廉姆斯和艾瑟尔陪同比利到了阿伯罗温。劳埃德不太情愿离开还有两个星期就要生产的黛西，但这是个重要的历史时刻，他希望自己能在场。
他的外祖父母都快八十岁了。尽管戴着水晶眼镜，但外公的眼睛已经基本看不见了，外婆也驼着背。“很好，”大家齐聚在厨房的旧餐桌前时，外婆说，“我的孩子们都回来了。”她端出萝卜炖牛肉和涂了猪油的烤面包，给每人倒了一大杯加糖奶茶。
劳埃德小时候常吃这些东西，现在却觉得它们太粗糙了。他知道，从苦日子熬过来的主妇都很不容易，即便在最艰苦的日子里，法国女人和西班牙女人也会设法用香草来配菜。他为自己的挑剔感到羞愧，尽量开心地吃喝起来。
“泰-格温的花园可惜了。”外婆不合时宜地说。
比利不乐意了。“什么意思？英国需要煤炭。”
“但大家喜欢那些花园，它们很漂亮。我从小时候起，每年至少要去那儿逛一两次，破坏那些花园真让人难过。”
“阿伯罗温的休闲场所有的是！”
“这不一样。”外婆平静地说。
外公说：“女人不懂政治。”
“是啊，”外婆说，“我是不懂你们所谓的政治。”
劳埃德看了一眼母亲。艾瑟尔笑着，什么话也没说。
比利和劳埃德住在小卧室，艾瑟尔在厨房搭了张床。“参军前，每天晚上我都睡在这里，”躺下后，比利说，“每天早晨我都会看见窗外该死的矿堆。”
“比利舅舅，小声点儿，”劳埃德说，“你不想让外婆听到你说粗话吧。”
“没错，你说得对。”比利说。
第二天一早，吃完早饭后，他们沿着山道走向泰-格温。天气阴沉，但没下雨。山岗上长着一些翠绿的青草。看到泰-格温以后，劳埃德觉得，和阶级压迫的象征比起来，它更是一幢美丽的大房子。只要一牵涉到政治，任何事都不会简单。
花园美得令人震惊。大道两旁的栗树枝叶繁茂，几只天鹅在湖面上嬉戏，花圃中开满了五颜六色的鲜花。劳埃德觉得，为了让花园保持在最美的状态，伯爵一定费尽了心思。
劳埃德不由得同情起菲茨来。
市长开始做情况说明了：“镇上的人都反对建立这个露天矿，”劳埃德很吃惊，市里的议会被工党把持，市长实在不应该这样说话，“一百多年来，这座花园的美丽治愈了生活在这个艰苦工矿区的人们。”他丢开讲稿，抒发着自己的真实感受，“我让我妻子再去那棵雪松下站一会儿。”
他的演讲声被类似钢铁巨人脚步声的“哐嘡哐嘡”打断了。回头一看，车道上开来了一部庞大的机械，似乎政府把世界上最大的一部挖土机调了过来。挖土机上有个九十英尺长的巨大吊杆和能放进一辆卡车的巨大抓斗。它的钢铁履带只要在地上一滚，附近的大地就要跟着颤抖。
比利骄傲地对劳埃德说：“这部挖土机够大吧，它一次能抓起六吨土。”
照相机镜头对准了渐渐开上车道的挖土机。
劳埃德对工党只有一点疑虑。许多社会主义者有清教徒的倾向，他的外祖父是这样，比利舅舅也是这样，他们完全不能容忍感官上的享受，他们更容易接受牺牲和自我否定。他们觉得花园的美是浮华的，他们完全错了。
艾瑟尔和劳埃德与他们完全不同。这也许是因为他们没有外祖父和舅舅因为被压迫而产生的那种破坏一切的快意吧。劳埃德希望事实就是这样。
当挖土机开到指定位置时，菲茨在粉红色的砂石路上发表了演讲：“煤炭部长让你们以为煤炭资源正在枯竭，因此这座花园要被纳入他所谓的积极的复兴计划中，”他说，“我在这里告诉你们，那是一派胡言，我的祖父和父亲用了一个多世纪把这座花园开发得这么美，我愿意再用一个世纪把它建设得更美。”
挖土机的吊杆慢慢落下来，和西花园的灌木和花床呈四十五度角，抓斗正好落在门球草坪的上方。机械停顿了一下，人群非常安静。比利大声喊：“看在上帝的分上，赶快开始干吧！”
一个戴着圆顶礼帽的工程师吹了声哨。
抓斗砰的一声撞在地上，它的钢牙钻入翠绿的草坪中。拉绳绷紧了，挖土机发出咯吱咯吱的吃力响声，开始把抓斗往上拉。抓斗经过向日葵花圃、玫瑰花圃、一棵七叶树和一棵木兰，里面满是泥土、花朵和树枝。
抓斗随即抬到二十英尺的高度，松散的泥土和花瓣不断从抓斗上掉落下来。
吊杆横向一扭。劳埃德发现吊杆比房子还要高，生怕抓斗会撞碎楼上房间的玻璃，好在挖土机司机训练有素，及时停止了转动。吊绳松开了，抓斗往下一斜，六吨泥土掉在离别墅入口不远的空地上。
抓斗回到原来的位置，抓土过程又重复了一遍。
劳埃德看了一眼菲茨，发现他正在哭。
Notes:
Notes: