War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 168

Chapter 23

September 1944

L

otte spent as much time with Peter as she possibly could. She liked his courage and determination. And she knew she could implicitly trust him. Despite fighting on the opposite side of the war, his presence gave her security and comfort.

When nobody listened, they shared whispered anecdotes of her family in Berlin. Maybe she felt so strongly towards him because he was the one person who would understand her dilemma with Johann. When Anna had fallen in love with Peter, she hadn’t known his real identity either.

Day after day, this question burnt on her lips, wanting to bubble out. But she bit her tongue every time. It wouldn’t be prudent to ask. It would only force Peter into an impossible situation, since he would have to advise her to stay away from Johann – the enemy.

“We need a plan to get you back to Germany. You’re not safe here,” he said one day.

“Probably safer than in Berlin with all the air raids going on,” she reminded him, dressing his wound with a new bandage. During her first days as auxiliary nurse she’d felt a strange awkwardness seeing men in their underwear, but with time, the sensation faded.

“Once I resume command of my unit, I’ll arrange for your release and see that you have safe passage back to Germany myself,” he said.

“Stand up,” Lotte ordered him, a smug smile crossing her face when he winced with pain. “Apart from the fact that it’ll be a while before you resume command of anything, I won’t be of any use in Berlin. Get me out and I’ll return to my position as radio operator. I’ll send you messages with intelligence from there.”

“No way. That’s too dangerous. Anna would gladly cut off my head should anything happen to you.” He took several steps, wheezing like a locomotive.

“We don’t have to tell her that you were involved.” The mischief twinkled in her eyes. “I am staying. This is my last word.”

Peter groaned, “I’ve heard those words before. In fact, I believe all the Klausen women love using them.”

They repeated the same argument several times over the next few days, until Peter finally caved.

“Here’s a special radio frequency the Home Army uses for urgent communications. Use it wisely. And be careful. Don’t get caught.”

“I won’t. I learned my lesson,” Lotte said, a familiar excitement taking hold of her. She’d return to action and make a meaningful contribution to the war effort. She might even see Johann again. Whether she wanted or not, her thoughts and emotions revolved around him, worrying whether he was safe…was still alive.

Later that afternoon, Mors slipped into the hospital and sought her out.

“Mors. I haven’t seen you for days. I was worried…” She welcomed him with a big hug.

“I know. It’s been very busy and the Germans…I don’t want to talk about them right now.” Mors’s lower lip quivered, and Lotte pressed him tighter against her body, wrapping her arms around his small shoulders. This poor little boy had grown up way too soon.

He was stirring in her embrace, struggling to free himself and trying to maintain a worldly-wise expression, when she saw Peter shuffling towards them. The young boy turned to look at the approaching man, when he suddenly stiffened in her arms. His mouth opened, and tears formed in his eyes.

Lotte looked between the boy and the man, unsure of what to do or even what had caused this reaction. Peter wore an expression of utter disbelief on his face and his glacial blue eyes filled with dampness. Before Lotte could process what was happening, Mors escaped her embrace and flung himself into Peter’s arms, almost toppling him over with the might of his attack.

“Tata! Tata! I knew you weren’t dead and would come back for me,” Mors cried.

Peter held the boy close to his chest, obviously battling his own emotions, while the patients in the ward clapped their hands and shouted congratulations at the happy scene.

Lotte’s tears spilt over her own cheeks as she witnessed the reunion between father and son.

Peter held

the son he’d thought dead in his arms, still not quite believing it could be true. His mind flashed back to Janusz’s birth, happy times in Warsaw, and the day he’d left him and Ludmila with his family in Lodz, before the invasion. Then to the notice they’d been taken to the Jewish Ghetto.

He released the boy, smoothing his hands over the youngster’s face, a face he barely recognized. He hadn’t seen his son for five years, but the eyes revealed who he held. He needed confirmation, though, and hoarsely said, “Tell me your name.”

Mors wiped his tears and stood up nice and tall. “Mors.”

“Your real name.”

“Janusz Stanislaw Piotr Zdanek.”

The words dispelled any doubt Peter still harbored in his heart. He hugged the boy close again, taking him out of the ward and to the doorway where he pulled his son down to sit beside him on a bench. It was the best the hospital had to offer in terms of privacy. “Jan. My darling Jan. Tell me, what of your mother? Is she…?”

Jan took a deep breath. “Mama is dead. When they took us to the Ghetto, she contracted typhus and…” Tears threatened to overwhelm the little body.

“But you? How?” Peter asked, unable to stop touching his son’s face and shoulders.

“Aunt Agnieska took care of me. She even hid me for a year and a half, after all the children were deported to another camp in Chelmno.”

Peter stiffened at his son’s words. That’s what the British had told him, that Janusz’s name had been on the list of deportees to Chelmno. A death camp.

“Chaim Rumkowski, the head of the Council of Elders, said it was for the best. But my

ciocia

didn’t believe him. She said she’d never let them separate us. To avoid problems, she put my name on the list, gave payola to one of the guards and instructed me to hide. Papa, I missed you so much. I knew you’d come one day for me.” A bright smile replaced Jan’s tears.

“I missed you, too. And your mom.” Peter paused for a moment. “But how did you get out of the Ghetto?”

“That was red hot.” Jan hopped up and down in excitement. “Aunt Katrina’s boyfriend staged an escape plan for Auntie and me. Can you believe it? We escaped right under the Nazis’ stupid noses.”

Peter smiled. His son might only be twelve years old, but he had the life-experience of an adult. Still, the notion of his baby sister Katrina having a boyfriend didn’t sit well with him. Katrina would turn eighteen next month. She still seemed way too young to go out with men.

“I’ll have to thank this man personally. Where’s your Aunt Agnieska?”

“She lives in Zoliborz. We came to Warsaw with Gentile papers, because it wasn’t safe anymore in Lodz.”

“I’m so glad to have found you.”

The head nurse approached them. “Sorry to interrupt, but the doctor needs to give Mors a message,” she said and ushered the boy away.

Peter was still basking in blessedness when a very unhappy-looking Lotte approached him. She didn’t wait long to vent her anger and hissed, “Does Anna know you are already married and have a son?”

“Of course she knows. I don’t keep secrets from her. I love your sister. My first wife Ludmila died more than three years ago and for all I knew Janusz had been deported to a death camp.”

“So, now what happens? Are you going to resume your old life and abandon my sister?” Lotte asked him in a harsh whisper.

Peter opened his mouth to respond, but in that very moment, the doors of the hospital were thrown open and German troops marched inside.