Restitution: A family's fight for their heritage lost in the Holocaust by Kathy Kacer

Author:Kathy Kacer [Kacer, Kathy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: HIS043000, HIS037070
Publisher: Second Story Press
Published: 2010-03-31T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Zurich–Prague, May 22, 1989

KARL ADJUSTED his airline seat into a reclining position and closed his eyes, trying to take advantage of the only solitude he might have for some time. He was on a Swissair flight from Istanbul to Zurich, a two-hour journey. He would spend one day in Zurich and then board a plane for Prague. But it was difficult to relax. His mind beckoned him back and forth in time, a siren call to the events of the preceding weeks, and those that lay ahead.

He had been fully engaged in the tour of Turkey, immersing himself in history and photography as he always loved doing, and enjoying this fascinating country. He had explored archeological sites, museums, mosques, and scenic countryside in a jam-packed tour from Ankara to Istanbul. But as captivating as Phyllis’s itinerary had been, Karl had often felt his mind turning to the pending trip to Prague and his meeting with the grandson of Alois Jirák. At the thought of Jan Pekárek, Karl felt a fresh stirring of anxiety and uncertainty. Pekárek had never responded to Karl’s reply letter in which he had indicated that he was coming for this visit.

So many things could have gone wrong already, Karl thought. Perhaps his letter had never arrived in Prague. It was entirely possible that it had been opened and confiscated by the secret police who regularly tampered with the mail. In that case, who knew what might have already happened to Mr. Pekárek? He might have been interrogated or arrested for trying to conceal valuable goods from the government. In another scenario, Karl imagined that perhaps Pekárek had received the letter but was too anxious to go any further. One letter confessing to the fate of the paintings might have been enough and now, in response to Karl’s eager reply, perhaps Mr. Pekárek wanted to withdraw his offer to finally reunite Karl with his family’s property, and regretted that he had even initiated the process.

But, more than anything else, Karl feared that by now the paintings had already found their way into the hands of the Communists. If Pekárek had indeed begun to inquire as to how to get the paintings out of the country, then the authorities may well have become suspicious. It was unlikely that anyone would put forward such a request if they didn’t have property of value to inquire about. Could he come this close to fulfilling Marie’s dream only to have it dissolve into thin air once more?

On top of that, Karl was feeling skeptical of Jan Pekárek’s offer to return the paintings. What motive would he have for contacting Karl after so many years? Was he after a reward? Karl wanted to believe that Pekárek’s intentions were genuine. But with Alois Jirák’s history, Karl worried that his grandson might be similarly deceptive. It was entirely possible that Karl was traveling all this way, possibly risking his own safety, only to discover that Jan Pekárek had some kind of an ulterior motive.

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