The Boy with Four Names by Doris Rubenstein

Author:Doris Rubenstein [Rubenstein, Doris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781663223395
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2021-06-21T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

PREPARATIONS AND THE BOY

GETS HIS SECOND NAME

The next few days were spent by the family poring over the documents that Abie and Max brought back to the Fermi farm. Photos needed to be taken. Forms had to be filled out, honestly. At least, they didn’t have to figure out what to take with them and what to leave in Italy. They owned very little more than the clothes on their backs, the jewelry in the safe-deposit box, and each other.

It was the beginning of May. They decided to make the trip in June. Max had bought an almanac. It reported that hurricane season in the Caribbean Sea starts in late May and went through September, so the threat to their boat being hit by a hurricane were not so great in June as later in the summer. That gave them nearly two months to prepare if they caught a boat late in the month.

They already had learned that Herta was a wonderful planner. They would not be together that day if she had not planned every step of the process to smuggle her parents out of Germany. Herta now had two jobs: To cash in more of her jewelry to pay expenses, and to make the plan. She would leave the others to carry out the plan and she could dedicate herself to Enrico’s care. As a toddler, he was a handful now!

Selma was to make sure that all of their clothing was mended and clean. She took care of the villas until they left.

Abie would continue working with the Fermis. It was spring, 1939 and the grape vines were blooming.

Max’s job was to make sure that every detail needed for them to leave Italy safely and legally was in order. He was a businessman and knew how to deal with government agents and other businessmen.

The next Wednesday in May, Herta drove into Milan with Signor Giuseppe. She got off at the Banca Monte dei Paschi and walked in confidently. She always went to the same teller.

“Buongiorno!” she greeted the teller.

Without another word, the teller reached into her drawer, took out a key and gestured for Herta to follow her into the vault with safe deposit boxes. Herta took out her precious bag with its even more precious contents and peeked in. Yes, it seemed to be all there. She closed the box, turned and walked back to the teller’s window.

“Grazie,” Herta began. “I am here to end my rental of the box.”

“At your service,” the teller replied. “I will not charge you rent for the rest of this month. Is there anything else I can help with?

Herta nodded, “And I want to close my account here. Can you please give me most of it in American dollars?”

“There will be a small charge for the dollars.”

Herta nodded again. The teller stepped away and Herta waited for a few minutes. When the teller returned, she explained the value of the dollars as they compared to Italian liras. Then, she leaned

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