Amid the Rubble of World War Ii

By Gudmundina Haflidason

Lust and love ran in high gear. The pubs were packed with servicemen dancing with beautiful girls in their arms to the lovely war songs sung by the deep throaty voice of the soloist in the band. Paper doll, white cliffs of dover and love me tonight ---we may never meet again --- there may never be a tomorrow---

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 16, 2010
• ISBN: 9781450070645

Gudmundina Haflidason

Miss Haflidason is 100 percent Icelandic. The author is a daughter of a late sea captain, Sigurdur Rósenkar Haflidason of Reykjavik, Iceland. The author arrives from a long line of Icelandic writers in her family and began composing poetry on her native language when still a child. Iceland has more writers, more bookstores, and publish more books than any country in the world—per capita. Icelandic writer Haldor Laxness is a Nobel Prize winner for his novel Independent People. During Miss Haflidason’s visit in Iceland, her cousin, Όlöflavia Arnadóttir, a renowned poet, and she payed Haldor Laxness a short stay at his small modest home by the sea. He was not at home. The door was unlocked. They went in. Icelanders never lock their doors.

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Copyright © 2010 by Gudmundina Haflidason.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2010904293

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4500-7063-8

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4500-7062-1

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4500-7064-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

GERMANY

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Dedicated to my devoted

Nieces, Lisa English and Inga Joseph

GERMANY

CHAPTER ONE

It was midwinter in Cologne, Germany, 1939. A pretty young fair-haired Fräulein dressed in the uniform of the Hitler Youth stood in the square of the Dom Hotel to hear the Chancelor of Germany speak. Lise looked fresh and trim in her blue skirt, white blouse, tan suede jacket, and a rolled scarf around her youthful neck.

When Hitler stepped out on the balcony, the shouting of Heil Hitler! rang out from the convocation below. Before his speech came to a close, it began to snow. Lise turned up the collar of her thin suede jacket and left the square.

Passing through the streets she observed the tacit expressions of fear on her countrymens’ faces. In her own heart was a feeling of unrest as the war continued. To the greatest degree Lise could hear the cheering from the square.

As she walked she reminisced about her last three years in the Hitler Youth. Lise had been a member of the Union of the German Girls since the age of sixteen. Now that she was older she felt that she should serve her country in a more substantial action. Lise turned up the path leading to her home, where she lived with her parents, Dr. and Frau Alberich Eikman. Stamping the snow from her boots, she removed them and entered the house.

The dim light of the late winter afternoon cast a heavy shade across Frau Eikman’s features as she sat in the living room, staring with vacant eyes into the unlighted room.

Walking in softly, Lise turned on the light. She noted that her mother had been crying again. This was a common scene since the war had begun. Frau Eikman, rising abruptly from her chair, feigned a cheerful air. Well, Lise, how was Adolf Hitler’s speech?

Fine, Mamma, she answered, absorbed in her own thoughts. Will Papa be home on time this evening?

Yes, and I think we had better get dinner started. Your father will be home anytime now.

After dinner, Lise and her parents sat in the living room before an open hearth fire. The threesome reclined on the sofa quietly gazing into the flames, each preoccupied with his own mental engrossment of the war. Lise glanced at her parents with renitency, dreading to disclose to them her plans for the future. Rising, she passed over to a window and riveted her eyes upon the snow-covered earth. After mustering up enough courage to annunciate her endeavor to them, she turned away from the window, moved to her mother’s side, and supported herself on the arm of Frau Eikman’s chair. Mamma . . . Papa, I’ve decided to become a nurse. This of course means that I’ll be leaving home.

Leaving home! cried her mother.

Yes, Mamma. There’s an excellent hospital in Munich.

But, Lise, you’ll be drafted into the army! Being a member of the Hitler Youth is one thing, but this is war, Lise! Frau Eikman shifted her eyes to her husband. Tell her, Alberich, that we want her at home.

I truly believe, Hilde, that our daughter is showing good judgment. I’m proud of her firmness of mind. And I’m sure that Lise will be much safer at the hospital than in our home. Rising from his chair, he gaped pensively into the fire. Moreover, after Lise is finished with her three years of nurses’ training, the war could be over.

She’s all we have, Alberich! protested his wife.

And we are Germans, Hilde. A German must sacrifice everything for the fatherland.

You’ve always been a hard man, Alberich, but a wise one.

Several weeks passed. Dr. and Frau Eikman accompanied their daughter to the railroad station. Dr. Eikman paced restlessly back and forth in the waiting room, then from his vest pocket, he removed a platinum watch, which was swinging from a silver chain. His wife and daughter sat tense and anxious, waiting for the overdued train. Dr. Eikman was about to pull out his time-piece again, when the train whistle blew in the distance. Shortly ensuing, the locomotive pulled up to the wooden platform.

Interminable lines of soldiers poured out of the train and into the waiting room of the station. The young men were grubby and unshaven. In addition, the atmosphere seethed with excitement and apprehension, which was filling their unordered lives.

As the Eikmans hurried out on the platform, Lise took her father’s hand. Auf Wiedersehen, Papa! I’ll come home as often as I can, she sobbed, tears flowing from her eyes as she kissed him on the cheek. Lise embraced her mother. Oh, Mamma, I’m going to miss you and Papa so much!

All aboard! announced the conductor. Lise, with suitcase in hand, and stirred with deep emotion, flew across the planking.

Be sure and write to your mother soon, Lise! shouted her father. Lise, without glancing back, nodded her head and disappeared into the train.

Throwing her bag up on the rack above the seat in the compartment, she pressed her nose against the window pane and waved a white lace handkerchief at her parents, who looked so helpless and alone. They stood tearfully clinging together on the platform, then, the train, expelling sudden gusts of smoke and vapor, gave forth a huff and a puff. Due to the overload of the troops, the train was experiencing great resistance. Then, in degrees, the locomotive picked up speed, chugged up the tracks, and disappeared around the bend.

Lise, dropping down on the seat, noted that it appeared to be the only one left, and she began scrutinizing her three companions with whom she would be sharing the by-room on her long journey. The group consisted of two soldiers and a female in uniform, a sergeant. Examining the woman next to her, she decided that, although the sergeant appeared to be over thirty years of age, she was still very beautiful. Her dark, silky hair gave emphasis to her fair skin and sky-colored eyes. Lise thrashed nervously in her seat and observed that her companions appeared completely oblivious to her presence. They gave an outward impression of being unfriendly and preoccupied with their own interests. Lise’s eyes rested on the handsome blond soldier, seated across the aisle from her. He appeared to be the scholarly type, and different from the soldier sitting next to him.

The hours passed, and soon the nocturnal shadows of the early winter evening filled the compartment. Lise and the blond soldier exchanged glances intermittently, then he rose. It’s getting dark in here, he smiled, switching on the overhead light in the compartment.

Blushing, and feigning not to hear him, Lise reached under the seat for her lunch box, and began to eat. Her companions, who were trying to get some sleep, blinked their eyes from the glare of the light, shifted into more comfortable positions, and returned to their naps. The grim silence continued through the long evening.

It was now almost midnight. Lise and the blond soldier, who remained awake in their seats, observed their sleeping companions’ grimacing expressions as they slumbered in cramped sitting positions.

Lise felt relieved when a conductor switched off all of the overhead lighting on the train, except for the night lights, which offered some relaxation in the semi-darkened by-room. When the blond soldier cast a coquettish glance at her, their eyes locked. And, for a moment, she found it difficult to look away. She was glad for the dim light when her cheeks bloomed with fervor.

The train juggled on through the night, the heads of the passengers bobbing up and down with the rhythm of the motion. As the train whistle blew at intervals, a surge of nostalgia swept over Lise. What a depressing sound! She told herself. Oh, Mamma was right! I should never have left home! Feeling the blond soldier’s eyes upon her, she retrieved a tear with her hand.

Is this your first time away from home, Fräulein? asked the young man.

Yes, she smiled, does it show?

Yes, very much.

Their companions, stirring, shot them a disgusting glance, and the lady sergeant raised her head from her arm. Would you two night owls please pipe down! How in the world do you expect anyone to get any rest!

Rising, the fair-haired soldier looked over at Lise. Fräulein, would you care to step out on the observation platform?

Lise rose timidly, and the couple left the compartment, treading their way through sleeping soldiers in the aisles, baggage strewed everywhere. As they continued on their way to the rear of the train, the cars rattled and banged, the whistle of the locomotive deafening their ears.

Out on the observation platform, numerous pieces of luggage stacked against the wall attracted the young man’s attention. Let’s sit down on the bags, Fräulein, he suggested. Lise dropped down bashfully on the heap. I’m Private First Class Hans Vonderburg, Fräulein, he announced, sitting down beside her. My home is in Frankfurt am Main.

I’m Lise Eikman, Hans. I live in Cologne.

You wouldn’t be Dr. Alberich Eikman’s daughter, I don’t suppose?

Yes, I am.

I was only kidding! You mean to tell me that you’re the daughter of the well-known scientist there!

yes, do you know him?

I know of him. I’ve read a lot about him in the newspapers. Hans smiled. I hope to become a scientist also someday, if this war ever ends, and I can go back to the university and finish my education, he added, reaching into his pocket for a package of cigarettes and offering one to Lise.

No thank you, Hans, I don’t smoke.

Mind . . . he asked, pulling out a cigarette.

Not at all, she replied, feeling more relaxed now. How far is your troop going, Hans?

Right now we’re going to Munich. After that, who knows!

Oh! I’m going to Munich myself. I’m entering nurses’ training at Holy Cross Hospital.

That’s great, Lise! Maybe we can see each other sometime.

Maybe, she smiled, blushing with her pulses quickening.

Several hours passed. The young Germans spoke about the war and their country’s future, and soon daylight of the early aurora peeped through the windows of the train, and the passengers began stirring in their seats after the long, uncomfortable journey.

We’d better return to our compartment, Lise, suggested Hans. We’ll be arriving in Munich in about twenty minutes.

The train drew up to the station. Hundreds of German soldiers poured from the train. Lise and Hans left the compartment, weaving their way through the crowd. When they reached the waiting room, Lise stopped abruptly and extended her hand. I have someone meeting me, Hans, she said nervously. I hope we will meet again.

I’ll contact you at the Holy Cross Hospital. He assured her, as they clasped each other’s hand in correlation.

Lise, nodding, withdrew from their elongated clasp. Auf Wiedersehen, Hans!

Auf Wiedersehen, Lise! He picked up his cloth bag from the floor and disappeared into the throng.

Feeling a lump beginning to form in her throat, she was once more enveloped in nostalgia. She was now realizing the improbability of ever seeing Hans again.

Lise’s eyes searched through the crowd for the two nuns from the Holy Cross Hospital who were to meet her. She then noted two elderly sisters standing by the ticket window. Steeling her emotions, Lise pushed her way through the horde of passengers. Sister Marta . . . ! she called out excitedly.

I’m Sister Marta, smiled the elder. And I trust that you are Fräulein Eikman. Lise nodded and followed the nuns out of the waiting room.

When they reached the institution, Lise glanced up at the gold engraving above the entranceway, reading: HOLY CROSS HOSPITAL.

CHAPTER TWO

As the weeks passed, the young student nurse remained homesick, often crying herself to sleep. The work at the hospital was laborious, and, except for Sister Marta, the nuns were strict and deaf to reason. Lise thought about Hans often, however, her hopes of seeing him again had faded, and she was almost certain that he had left Munich by now.

Lise came down to breakfast, looking neat and trim in her gray uniform, white apron, and nurse’s cap. She had lain awake most of the night, dreading to go into the mother superior’s office to inform the director of nurses that she was leaving Holy Cross Hospital; that she did not want to become a nurse after all.

Gulping down her coffee, Lise left the dining room and hastened up the long corridor to the office of the mother superior.

At the desk sat a cold, stern looking woman with black, piercing eyes. When the young student approached her chair, Mother Superior glared icily at her. Fräulein Eikman! I am not aware that you have an appointment with me. How dare you enter my private chamber unannounced—and with such precipitous behavior!

I’m sorry, Mother Superior! Sister Marta informed me that I would have to wait until tomorrow for an appointment with you, but I can’t wait until tomorrow because I’m going home today.

You’re going home today! With whose permission, please?

Oh, no one’s permission, Mother Superior. I’ve changed my mind about being a nurse. I’m leaving Holy Cross!

Mother Superior rose from her desk. Very well, Fräulein Eikman, if you don’t care for nursing then you wouldn’t make a good nurse in any manner.

Oh, I like being a nurse, Mother Superior. It’s the scrubbing and the dirty work that goes with it I don’t like.

My dear Fräulein, you cannot separate one from the other. And, if you have not learned that by now, then you have not learned anything here!

Mother Superior began pacing up and down the floor with continuing and deep spite of malice. Holding her breath at short intervals, she then let out of her nostrils, less wide than customary, an audible emission of breath.

Lise sat petrified, her pale-blue eyes glued to the black-like hairs growing from a thick wart on the mother superior’s chin. When the woman came back to her desk, Lise glanced over at her and broke into a sob. I’m sorry, Mother Superior!

Being sorry, young woman, is not going to help your praise-worthy father. Your loss of honor and ignominy has brought shame and discredit upon his head!

Lise’s low, mournful sounds of lamentation continued, and Mother Superior looked on, incapable of counsel or mercy. Yes, Fräulein Eikman, you are correct. I believe it is best that you leave this hospital at once! Lise buried her face in her hands and fled from the room.

It was almost evening when Lise arrived the following day in Cologne. She was grateful that her father would be at the laboratory when she reached home. He was a stern man and would be disposed to doubt that his daughter had any justification for leaving nurses’ training.

Lise advanced slowly toward the house, dreading to go in. When she entered the foyer, she softly placed her suitcase down on the floor and crept into the living room. What in the world are you doing home? cried her mother, glancing up from her sewing.

I’ve left the hospital, Mamma! I’ve changed my mind about becoming a nurse.

Left the hospital! What will your father say!

I don’t care what he says, Mamma! I am not going back!

Passing to the kitchen, Frau Eikman shook her head confusedly. We will speak to your father when he comes home, Lise. She stated, patting her daughter affectionately on the shoulder. Now, dear, it is time for me to start dinner.

In Munich, Private First Class Hans Vonderburg climbed the multitude of steps to the Holy Cross Hospital, then approached the nun sitting at the desk in the reception room. I beg your pardon, Sister . . .

Sister Marta! May I help you, young man?

Would it be possible to see one of the student nurses, Sister Marta?

Which student, Private/

Fräulein Eikman, Sister.

Oh, Lise Eikman? exclaimed Sister Marta. Suddenly her features doured. She has left the hospital, young man.

Left the hospital! U-mm, well, could you give me her address in Cologne? Fräulein did go home . . . ?

As far as I know, she went home. However, I am not allowed to give out any of our students’ addresses, Herr, you understand? The door of the mother superior’s office opened slowly and the cold, unfriendly face of the director of nurses appeared in the portal. You’d better leave now, Herr, whispered Sister Marta. You’re a nice young man and I’m sorry I can’t help you. Hans left the reception room and walked disappointedly down the hospital steps.

Dr. Eikman turned up the winding path leading to his home. He entered the foyer with mincing steps and hung up his wraps on the coat rack. His inerta was becoming more apparent each day as the adversities of war continued. He eyed curiously Lise’s suitcase for a moment, then, with giant steps, he moved into the living room, where Frau Eikman and Lise sat timorously waiting for the master of the house. Lise! What are you doing home? he bellowed angrily.

Alberich, please! broke in his wife, there is nothing to be excited about. Lise has changed her mind about becoming a nurse, and I think she is showing a great deal of insight. Moving to her husband’s side, she touched his arm affectionately. Come now, Alberich, dinner is on the table.

Lise, shouted Dr. Eikman, get your coat on! There’s a train leaving for Munich in half an hour, and, you, my girl, will be on that train! he promised, stalking back into the foyer for his wraps.

But, Alberich, pleaded Frau Eikman, following her husband into the foyer, the girl hasn’t had a thing to eat!

That’s all right, Mamma, broke in Lise, with choking sobs. I’ll do as Papa tells me, she added resignedly, rushing to the coat rack and removing her jacket from the hook. Dr. Eikman picked up Lise’s suitcase from the floor and strode out of the house, his daughter following closely behind him.

Upon arriving in Munich, Dr. Eikman and Lise left the railroad station by taxi and headed for Holy Cross Hospital. When they entered the reception room, Dr. Eikman paused to inform his daughter to wait for him there.

Lise dropped down into a chair, making no reply as she watched her father’s bounding steps head for the office of the mother superior.

Dr. Eikman walked into her chamber unannounced and with unwavering decision, that his daughter would be allowed to continue her nurses’ training. Lise was hoping that the mother superior would refuse to take her back. However, she was quite certain that her father’s well-known reputation as an outstanding scientist would have a lot of influence, even with a mother superior.

Sister Marta entered the reception room. Fräulein Eikman! What are you doing back?

Papa is in the office with Mother Superior, whispered Lise.

Oh, I understand! she exclaimed, in abated breath, sitting down at her desk. And do I have news for you, young lady! Last evening a handsome blond soldier came to the hospital looking for you.

Springing to her feet, Lise dashed up to the desk. Hans! It had to be Hans! Oh, I hope he comes back, Sister Marta!

That’s not likely, Fräulein. I told him that you had left the hospital. Shh! Here they come now! whispered Sister Marta as Mother Superior and Dr. Eikman came down the long corridor toward them.

Dr. Eikman, clearing his throat, moved to his daughter’s side. Lise, I’ll be going home now. Write to your mother soon.

Lise glanced up at her father’s stern face, then at Mother Superior. Breaking into tears, she followed the woman up the stairs to her familiar lonely dormitory room.

It was almost midnight. Splashing rain beat down upon the dreary hospital grounds. Lise, tossing restlessly in her bed, envisioned the next three years of nurses’ training. And now I have lost Hans! she told herself, sobbing on her pillow. I shall never see him again! She then fell into an exhausted slumber, nestling her tear-stained face on the palm of her hand.

As the months went by, the lone student settled down to work. The hospital wards were filled with soldiers, moaning with pain from every source of physical demolition. The uncomeliness and abhorism of the war sickened the young student until she thought she could not stand any more. Still, as the months began flying by, Lise became more objective, and soon her work was only a job she had to get done. She became an excellent nurse, projecting the best part of her being to the sick.

CHAPTER THREE

It was now the middle of the year, 1940. Over eighteen months had passed since Lise had come to Holy Cross Hospital. Going off duty for a few hours, she slipped her navy blue cape over her gray uniform then placed a matching shoulder veil across the white cap, and stepped out into the freshness of the early spring evening. She accelerated her gait when she reminded herself that she was on a three-hour break from duty, and would have to be back at the hospital by 10 P.M.

As she walked, she passed by a group of soldiers singing in an alley. What a lonely song! She told herself, glancing subtly over at the men. When several of them began whistling at her, she averted her eyes and hastened up the street.

Lise! Lise! called out a voice from the alley. Stopping suddenly, she glanced back over her shoulder, her eyes widening when she saw a soldier running up the street after her.

Hans! she cried. They embraced simultaneously, and an ecstatic interlude passed between them.

Hans released her and held her at arms’ length. What are you doing in Munich again, Lise?

You didn’t notice my uniform . . . ?

No, Lise! All I could see was you, and then I thought that I was dreaming. At the hospital . . .

I know, Sister Marta told you that I had left Munich Thank God I came back or I would never have found you again!

Well, I figured when you left Munich without leaving me your address with Sister Marta, and not asking her to give me a message in case I showed up, it was only logical that you weren’t interested. Hans took her hand and their fingers entwined. Lise, there’s a small beer garden on Kriegerstrasse only a short distance from here. You probably know where the place is—noisy, but at least we can be together for a while.

Anywhere is fine, Hans! she exclaimed, favorably impressed with the notion. She smiled affectionately into his light blue eyes. I happen to have a split shift tonight, so I have a three-hour break.

Great, Lise. That was mere luck.

When they approached Bjorgarten, they could hear the blustering laughter and excited voices of the patrons inside the tavern. Loud accordion music blasted through the partitions. Hans and Lise threaded their way through the overfilled room, which was reeking with the stale odor of beer and smoke, then crossed to a small table in the rear of the tavern. Sorry about this place, Lise, but on such short notice, and having little time . . . At any rate, we can be together.

Lise glanced around the overmuch packed room. We’re lucky to get this table, Hans. It looks like we got the last one.

I hope you don’t mind sitting so far back. But at least the music won’t be so loud.

No, I don’t mind, Hans. Actually, I’d rather sit where I can’t be seen anyway. After all, I’m wearing a nurse’s uniform! If Mother Superior finds out.!

Take off your cap and veil, Lise. You’re uniform doesn’t show from under your cape.

Three accordions, one played by a woman with heavy make-up, struck up the tune of VONDERBAR. Let’s dance, Lise. said Hans, pulling her up from the table. Lise wrapped her arm around his neck, and he swept her onto the small, crowded dance floor.

In each other’s arms, they danced the hours away. It was now 9:30 P.M. When the orchestra began playing the song, MY BLUE HEAVEN, Hans whispered softly in her ear. When the war is over, Lise, you and I will have our very own blue heaven. He began singing the song.

All at once, Lise glanced at him with ebbing spirits. I’m sorry, Hans, it’s time to face reality. I have to go! she exclaimed, running off the dance floor to their table, and picking up her cap and veil.

We still have over fifteen minutes yet, Lise. It’s only a ten minute walk back to the hospital.

I have to be on the medical floor by ten. There isn’t that much time.

Please, just a few minutes longer. Lise, smiling, placed her cap and veil back on the table.

When the small orchestra started playing the tune, "I’M IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, the female accordionist, a frippery blonde, in showy display of dress and manners, began to warble. Swelling with emotion, the minnesǎnger’s large, naked breasts heaved with vibration as the soldiers threw their caps into the air and goaded her on.

Subsequently, the accordions drifted into the melody of AUF WIEDERSEHEN. Lise, whispered Hans, from now on, this should be our song.

Yes, Hans, it will always be our song. She withdrew her arm from his neck. I have to leave now, Hans.

Drawing her closely to him again, he swept her into his arms. "Can’t we finish this dance, then