Restitution by Kathy Kacer Read Free Book Online

more than he wanted to incite anti-Semitic ones, and both were easily aroused. He nodded, and ushered Leila along. It was only once they were safely back home and Karl had deposited the groceries in the kitchen that he turned to face her.
    â€œYou’re the mainstay of this family, Leila,” he said in his near-fluent German. “We’d be lost without you.” He hugged her lovingly, nearly smothering the tiny woman.
    â€œAnd you and Hana are like my own.” Leila returned the hug, sniffling loudly, and then shooed Karl out of the way so that she could begin to prepare that evening’s meal.
    But the news of the Sudeten takeover was still troubling Karl. He was overwhelmed by the growing fear that his mother and George Popper might be right, that this was only the beginning. There was a smell of war in the air, and it was settling over the country like a thick fog. It had been easy to dismiss the unrest when the events were taking place elsewhere, across the borders. Karl, like many others, had tried to hold fast to the belief that his country was safe from conflict and that if circumstances escalated, other countries – more powerful and influential – would come to Czechoslovakia’s aid. One by one, these beliefs were being eroded.
    And the situation continued to spiral downward. That November, in Germany and Austria, Jewish shops and department stores had their windows smashed and contents destroyed in what was being called Kristallnacht – the night of broken glass. One hundred and nineteen synagogues had been set afire and another seventy-six burned down completely while local fire departments stood by. More than two hundred thousand Jews had been arrested. Many were beaten and even killed. Once again, Hitler’s voice shrieked from the radio. Appearing before the Nazi parliament, Hitler made a speech commemorating the sixth anniversary of his coming to power. He publicly threatened Jews, declaring, “In the course of my life I have very often been a prophet, and have usually been ridiculed for it…. Today I will once more be a prophet: if the international Jewish financiers in and outside Europe should succeed in plunging the nations once more into a world war, then the result will not be the bolshevizing of the earth and thus the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe!” 4
    That same month, Karl celebrated his seventeenth birthday. What should have been a memorable occasion passed as a non-event in the Reiser household. There was no possibility of festivities given the intense feelings that Kristallnacht had aroused in everyone in the family. As Marie became even more resolute in her urging to leave the country, Karl felt his resolve crumble once and for all. He joined his mother’s camp, advocating for the family’s immediate departure from their home. Meanwhile, Victor continued to pronounce that all was still well.

    Karl at age 16 in Rakovnik

    Marie and Victor's Catholic marriage certificate, dated December 19, 1938. Behind are Marie and Hana's false baptism certificates.

    A letter from the Deputy Mayor of Rakovnik (top) dated December 2, 1938, stating that the Reiser family is held in high esteem within the community. The translation (bottom) is notarized in Prague on June 14, 1939, suggesting that Marie must have had the translation done when the family fled there.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Rakovník, Late 1938
    BY LATE 1938, despite the fears arising from Kristallnacht , life went on as usual in Rakovník. There were still no laws enacted to discriminate against Jews in Czechoslovakia. Victor’s work continued unchanged. The family lived in their home and could come and go as they wished. The synagogue was open and functioning. Karl still went to the theater and cinema, played sports, and socialized with his few friends. School exams were still approaching.
    Victor noted the passing of time with satisfaction. “You