Ten Green Bottles by Vivian Jeanette Kaplan

Author:Vivian Jeanette Kaplan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

CHAPTER 22

BESHERT 1939

In the evenings, I write to Poldi by a dim light in our small cramped rooms and beg him to send word of conditions in Milan. I tell him of our plight but assure him that all my family has arrived safely in this strange land and urge him to come as soon as possible. I have not told him that I have received no mail for several weeks from Herr Berger and that I am desperately worried about the Kosiners. I describe where we are in Shanghai and tell him to find us as soon as he arrives.

After I make countless trips to the post office and empty-handed retreats in disappointment, some letters finally arrive. I keep them in my pocket unopened all day and through the night hours when I am at work in the club. I run my fingers over the envelopes many times and smile, thinking that he held them in his hands. When I finally return home in the early morning, I slip into bed and open each one. I devour the words, rushing through them and then rereading them over and over with great pleasure, until every one is memorized.

I feel a lump rising in my throat when I read his words. He is still so far away, and the dangers in Europe seem to be getting worse.

“Dear Nini,

“With all my heart I wish I could be with you now. I know there are hardships in Shanghai and you and your family are struggling. Please be brave and strong and relentless in your fight against the Missionaries. As hard as it is for you, it is still so much worse here in Europe. Have you got any news from Herr Berger about my parents? I still hope that they will be with you in Shanghai by the time we get there.

“The Nazis are becoming more ruthless every day in their goal of ridding the world of us all. Hitler has promised a special holiday when the last Jew has been driven from the continent. Life is a bitter medicine that we swallow each day and pray for a cure to this evil plague, but there is none to be found. The Italians have changed their rules and the Lloyd Triestino Line is no longer permitted to leave from Trieste to take refugees to Shanghai. You might have been on the very last of those voyages.

“The only way out now is by land through Manchuria, which is the route that we must take.

“Dolu and I will make our way overland to Shanghai within another month or two, but I only received one letter from the lawyer Berger and he still has not succeeded with the exit visas for our parents. I cannot discuss it with Dolu. You know what a temper he has and he always rants about Berger, that he should have done more, that he never wanted to help us. I have tried to reason with him many times and have

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