Trapped in Hitler's Web by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Author:Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch [Skrypuch, Marsha Forchuk]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2020-10-06T00:00:00+00:00

Over the holidays, what with all the food and visitors, it was almost as if the war didn’t exist for the Langs and Hubers, but when Otto went back to the Front, the entire household was plunged into sadness.

Sophie was back to her usual routine of leaving before the cows were milked and coming home after dinner, only to sleep, but then late one morning in mid-January, I encountered her in the kitchen, wearing her uniform and fussing about nervously, wiping down counters that were already clean. A suitcase was wedged between two of the kitchen chairs. When a sharp knock sounded on the kitchen door, she grinned. “Find Mutter,” she said to me as she opened the door.

Gruppenführerin Winter stepped inside, and while Sophie took her coat and chattered about the weather, I went upstairs to get Frau Huber. She was exactly where I knew she’d be: sitting on a wooden chair in Otto’s bedroom, staring out the window. Today she was holding one of his old farm shirts up to her cheek. Once when I had gone up to get her she had dumped all of Otto’s socks on the bed and was methodically sorting through them, putting them in some sort of special order. When I told her about the Gruppenführerin, she put down the shirt and said, “I’ll be right down.”

I set a plate of leftover swastika-shaped Linzer cookies on the kitchen table between Sophie and her unit leader. They were a bit on the stale side now and dare I admit that I had a mental image of Gruppenführerin Winter choking on one? But instead she bit in and chewed, and her face lit up. She turned to Sophie. “Did you make these yourself?”

“I did,” said Sophie. “They’re a lot of work, but I take pride in doing things properly.”

In truth, Sophie had only watched them being made, but swastika cookies were not something I ever would have made out of free choice, so I was happy for her to take the credit. Frau Huber came downstairs as I poured boiling water into the teapot. I listened in on the conversation between Frau Huber and the group leader.

“Our girls have received a great honor,” said Gruppenführerin Winter, taking another cookie.

“How wonderful,” said Frau Huber in a voice that did not convey any enthusiasm. “And what might this honor be?”

“Our unit has been selected to assist with a group of Aryan infants and children who have been evacuated to Czechoslovakia.”

Frau Huber was silent for a long moment and when I set the teacups on the table, I noticed that her hands were in a white-knuckled clench on her lap. Finally, she answered, “That is indeed an honor. When will Sophie be leaving?”

“I’d like to take her with me now,” said Gruppen-führerin Winter.

Frau Huber inhaled sharply, but no words came out of her mouth.

“Don’t worry, Mut … Frau Huber,” said Sophie. “I’ve already packed my suitcase and I’m ready to go.”

Frau Huber stood up so quickly that her kitchen chair nearly upended, but I caught it before it crashed to the floor.

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