How Soon the Flowers Fall

By Walter Soellner

The enthralling Kalvarianhof historical fiction series continues in this fourth book. "How Soon the Flowers Fall" is a story of family and friendship, the difficulty of doing the right thing in dark times, and overcoming tragedy. Tender romance, daring escapes, and real history combine to tell the story of Germany between the first and second world wars.

Markus Mathais and his friend Solomon Levi resume their lives with their families after the struggle to survive World War I as soldiers in the Kaiser's army in the German colonies in Africa. After the tragic death of his wife, Helena, Markus returns to his mother's apartment in Munich with his children and brother-in-law Wolfgang. Levi returns to his family and farm, Kalvarianhof, in the forests near Munich.

It is the mid-1920s and Germany is reeling from the effects of inflation, unemployment, and violence in the streets. The Jewish Levi family experiences the growing threat of the fascists, and with the terrifying election of Hitler as president in 1933, the danger increases, threating their very lives. The two families support each other, resisting the rising antisemitic violence ensnarling them. All are tested as the Nazis assume complete control of the country, imposing draconian rule. To escape prosecution, some family members flee the country, some go into hiding, and some join the underground resistance, bringing danger and death closer to all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667834658

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How Soon the Flowers Fade

© 2022 WALTER SOELLNER

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the explicit consent of the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental, or are historical background for this novel.

ISBN 978-1-66-783465-8

Cover by Edward C. Rooks

Cover images provided by Walter Soellner

Gossip Park Books

Visit the author’s website at waltersoellner.com

Table of Contents

Dedication

CHAPTER I

The Mind’s Eye

CHAPTER II

British Occupied German South West Africa April 27th, 1923

CHAPTER III

Turmoil and Grace

CHAPTER IV

Bauhaus and the Tomb

CHAPTER V

A Shot in the Ceiling November 8th, 1923

CHAPTER VI

The Amerikaschiff and a Tuxedo

CHAPTER VII

The Governess

CHAPTER VIII

Settling In

CHAPTER IX

Zeppelin Airfield, Friedrichshafen, Germany August 1924

CHAPTER X

The Kalvarianhof Secret Fall, 1924

CHAPTER XI

Otto’s Secret

CHAPTER XII

The Plunge

CHAPTER XIII

Friedrichshafen Airfield October 12, 1924

CHAPTER XIV

Hanukkah at Kalvarianhof December 21, 1924

CHAPTER XV

What Came Before 1925 - 1929

CHAPTER XVI

Josephine, Wolfgang, Markus & Lotti September 1929

CHAPTER XVII

The Winds of Change

CHAPTER XVIII

A Storm, A Memory

CHAPTER XIX

A Race Across the Sky

CHAPTER XX

Former German East Africa, A Memory

CHAPTER XXI

Turmoil and Bliss December 1929

CHAPTER XXII

Advice From One Who Knows 1930

CHAPTER XXIII

A Wish, a Dream, and Dens of Iniquity

CHAPTER XXIV

The Incident May 1930

CHAPTER XXV

The Turning of the Tide July 1930

CHAPTER XXVI

November Winds 1930

CHAPTER XXVII

Sweetness and Fear

CHAPTER XXVIII

Skis, Bread, and Memories January 1932

CHAPTER XXIX

The Tale of the Tree Hole

CHAPTER XXX

Of Boys and Men

CHAPTER XXXI

Golden Leaves Blown Far and Wide 1932

CHAPTER XXXII

I Am My Beloved’s and My Beloved is Mine Mid-January 1933

CHAPTER XXXIII

Two Worlds Spring 1933

CHAPTER XXXIV

First of the Lists May 1933

CHAPTER XXXV

Unfortunate Aberrations June 1933

CHAPTER XXXVI

Resistance of a Kind July 1933

CHAPTER XXXVII

The Canal and the Bomber August 1933

CHAPTER XXXVIII

Perfection of a Kind September 1933

CHAPTER XXXIX

Schadenfreude Late Fall, 1933

CHAPTER XL

Gestapo Headquarters Wittelsbacher Palais Briennerstraße 20, Munich

CHAPTER XLI

December 1933

CHAPTER XLII

Ominous

CHAPTER XLIII

Tears of Truth Spring 1934

CHAPTER XLIV

The Jupiter Square

CHAPTER XLV

A Beautiful Day Summer 1934

CHAPTER XLVI

Reckless August 1934

CHAPTER XLVII

Gestapo Headquarters, Again

CHAPTER XLVIII

Changing Fortunes November 1934

CHAPTER XLIX

Choices January 1935

CHAPTER L

The Plans March 1935

CHAPTER LI

Escape April 1935

CHAPTER LII

The Castle Park Incident June 1935

CHAPTER LIII

Rebecca’s Letter

CHAPTER LIV

The Visit August 1935

CHAPTER LV

I Think I May Have a Solution September 1935

CHAPTER LVI

Subterfuge in Desperate Times October 1935

CHAPTER LVII

The Tour November 1935

CHAPTER LVIII

Herr Twain’s Joan February 1936

CHAPTER LVIX

Lebensraum, Living Space March 1936

CHAPTER LX

The Only Ones April 1936

CHAPTER LXI

Black Boots May 1936

CHAPTER LXII

Like A Gathering Storm June 1936

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Bibliography

Dedication

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Dedicated to Maria Therisia Loibl Soellner

Born Schleissheim, Germany Under Kaiser Wilhelm II

November 1, 1914

Died Royal Oak, Michigan

January 1970

Dear Mom

"For you and me,

it will always be,

a sunny autumn day,

in the castle park,

in Schleissheim."

Books by Walter Soellner

Kalvarianhof: The Perilous Journey

1900-1909

The Storm That Shook the World

1909-1919

An Incident in Africa

1919-1924

How Soon the Flowers Fall

1924-1936 

The upcoming finale of the five-book series:

Before Eternity’s End

1936-1946

PREFACE

Lifelong friends Markus Mathais and Solomon Levi, Catholic and Jewish Germans, were soldiers together in the Kaiser’s army during the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900. In the years between that conflict and the First World War, the two men and their families experienced adventure and romance in Kalvarianhof: The Perilous Journey.

When the Great War broke out in 1914, both men found themselves marooned in Imperial Germany’s African colonies as soldiers. They faced death-defying dangers and thrilling adventures across the continent, and Markus found love, in The Storm That Shook the World.

After four long years of war, both men returned home to their families, Levi to his family farm in Bavaria, and Markus to his family near Windhoek in German Southwest Africa. Markus’s return to civilian life is interrupted by events that take place in An Incident in Africa. With the tragic death of his wife, he decided to return to Germany with his children and brother-in-law.

How Soon the Flowers Fall picks up directly after that decision. Now the Mathais and Levi families face a Germany in turmoil during the roaring twenties and the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s. Both the Markus and Levi families now face a future of threats from all sides, requiring clever planning, daring actions, and dangerous challenges of escape, subterfuge and resistance to the growing Nazi menace. Wounds of the heart and body, forbidden love and even death consume family members and friends in a struggle against what has arrived and what is to come. 

Book five, the dramatic concluding novel of the Kalvarianhof series will be available soon.

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Former German Southwest Africa

CHAPTER I

The Mind’s Eye

The early weeks of April 1923 were a busy but melancholy time at the Conrad ranch, north of Windhoek in what had been German South West African. With the defeat of Imperial Germany in the Great War, Germany had surrendered its African holdings, and now British South Africa occupied the former German colony. Turmoil, exploitation, and despair confronted the conquered inhabitants. Like others, members of the extended family at the Conrad ranch also sought new opportunities elsewhere.

Wolfgang Conrad, a robust 40-year-old rancher, sorted through the large, scuffed up chest of drawers in his room at the ranch house, deciding what to take, what to leave behind, and what to give to the church in Windhoek for their relief box. He also tried to sort out his turbulent feelings after announcing his intent to leave the ranch in Africa and seek a new life in Germany with his brother-in-law Markus Mathais.

I must do this, I must…but I’m hurting everyone I’m leaving behind, especially Christina. Dear sister Christina, how can I ever forgive myself for leaving you. She and her brother Michael must take Helena’s place, Markus’s dear dead wife, in running the ranch. But I have to go, everything over there in Germany…it’s wonderful. I’ll find someone maybe. I want that…but they mustn’t know…I don’t want them to know the real me.

Markus and Wolfgang’s announcement preyed on the minds of everyone as the days counted down to the day when Markus, his children and Wolfgang were to depart. Christina, Markus’s sister-in-law, lay in bed on her back, staring at the ceiling as tears trickled down her cheeks to wet her pillow.

Wolfie’s really going, leaving us. My brother, my dear brother, how could you? What can I say, what can I do to change your mind? Wolfie please don’t do this to me…to me. I love you so much. What will I do without you? Nobody can stop you, not even me…I understand Markus wanting to go home. He came here because of Helena. With her death, there is nothing for him here.

So, Markus is going back to his people in Germany and taking Wolfgang with him…you think he’ll come back, Petre? Sambolo, the stable boy, asked old Petre, the Conrad’s cook and houseman. They were in their cottage out behind the ranch house.

Be back? Maybe. But you’ve seen the pictures in those German magazines. Seems like a very pretty country with all that greenery, and the big cities, the big houses and castles. Petre glanced at Sam who was sitting on his bunk, thought a bit, then smiled and asked, Are you courting that girl I see you with in town?

I’m…er, well…we’re going to marry someday soon. I don’t want to wait. He looked over to his longtime companion. Petre, you ever have a girl?

The old African man sighed and leaned back, looking Sam in the eye. A long time ago. She was from my village. My village… he paused as the memories came back. We were driven off by those first, bad Germans. Bad, bad people. Her family and mine, we ran into the Kalahari. That desert… awful country! We got separated. I never saw her or my family again. Tomas Conrad found me half-dead out there, brought me to the ranch, and I’ve been here ever since. He hesitated. It’s all right. The bad times ended a long time ago. Best to forget that pain. No use remembering it. We’re settled in just fine where we are, you and me.

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CHAPTER II

British Occupied German South West Africa

April 27th, 1923

The ship to Germany, scheduled to leave April 27, 1923, was booked solid with other Germans who had sold their farms or ranches to victorious British South Africans, or lost their jobs like Markus Mathais, or simply didn’t want to live under the new South African government.

But Papa, I want to take my pony! Why can’t I take him?

Markus tried one last time his usual answer, patiently explaining, You can have a fine pony at Kalvarianhof, my friend Levi’s beautiful farm in Germany. He promised. Now, up the gangway with your sisters. The ship is leaving.

Everyone from the ranch, the Conrads, Petre, and Sambolo, accompanied Markus, Wolfgang, and Markus’ children Rupert, Charlotte, and baby Mary, to the port of Wales Bay, located on South West Africa’s Atlantic coast.

Their steamer trunks were already in their staterooms, and Markus carried in a money belt on his hip, six thousand South African Pounds, the inheritance bequeathed to Helena, his recently deceased wife. Wolfgang, Helena’s brother, refused his share, saying, The Conrad ranch will always be my home. Besides, I’ll return every so often to round up stray cattle, just like old times! He had laughed heartily, and his merriment was so infectious that everyone joined in, lifting their spirits at an otherwise melancholy departure.

Christina, holding Markus’ baby, said, When will I see you again Mary darling? Will you remember your auntie? You must have your papa bring you back here many times!

Markus heard Christina and added, You must visit us in Munich soon!

Soon, Wolfgang agreed. He leaned on the portside railing of the HMS Sheffield, holding Mary in his arms, while Markus kept an eye on Charlotte and Rupert who were playfully waving and shouting to everyone on the dock below.

You should have good sailing; the cirrus clouds are riding high, said Michael.

What’s that, Michael? Markus said distractedly, staring at the horizon.

When they’re this high it means there’s good weather ahead.

Oh, you ranchers sure know how to read the sky. He turned to smile at his brother-in-law. Take care and good luck, you and Christina and everyone at the ranch. Good times are on the way for all of us, you’ll see. They shared a handshake, then Michael hurried down the gangplank to join the Conrads on the dock. 

The sound of the great ropes securing the ship smacking the water as they were hauled on board, brought home the finality of the departure and the breaking up of the Conrad family. The HMS Sheffield churned the waters into a boil, adding a final gloom as the remaining Conrads returned to their uncertain lives in Windhoek and the ranch.

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CHAPTER III

Turmoil and Grace

Two weeks later, after sailing into London harbor, taking a cross-channel ferry and then an express train to Munich, the exhausted travelers were shocked by the sounds near Munich Central Station.

Did you hear that Wolfie, gunshots! What’s going on, can you see anything? They both peered out the train window, seeing a crowd of people scurrying in different directions. The gunshots stopped as their train came to a halt inside the cavernous station.

Minutes later, Markus stepped onto the platform and into the embrace of his sister, Anji, who was there with her husband Johann and daughter Hannah. It’s been too long…I’m so happy you’re back, brother, she whispered to Markus.

"Ja, ja, but what’s going on? We heard gunshots as the train pulled in. What’s going on in Munich? From the train we saw trucks full of armed men! Don’t tell me there’s still fighting about who should run the government? It’s like the war’s still on! Who are the troublemakers?"

Johann answered for her. The ones you saw are called ‘Brown Shirts,’ and yes, the same characters as before are still fighting each other and the government. Don’t worry though, we’re safe here.

Anji bent down and exclaimed, Why, children, look how you’ve grown! She tussled Rupert’s hair, cooed at Mary, and admired Charlotte’s dress. How pretty you look in blue and white, Charlotte, just like our Bavarian flag.

Solomon Levi, Markus’s childhood friend, with his wife Katherina, pressed in close, offering hugs and greetings. With a big grin, Levi said, See Markus, I knew you would come back to Bavaria. Welcome home.

Thanks everyone, it’s good to be home, so good. It’s been a long trip.

Markus, Wolfgang, and the children settled into the Munich apartment once owned by Markus’s mother. Despite the turmoil in the streets, Markus resumed his old job as wireless operator at the airfield, grateful they saved the position for him. Wolfgang, like so many veterans, walked the streets lined with beggars, looking for work, passing old people selling tin cans for a penny apiece so they could buy bread.

In late fall, Markus and family with Wolfgang, were invited out to Kalvarianhof, the Levi estate in the forests outside of Munich. Wolfgang and Markus spent the afternoon wandering the grounds with Levi. It was a cold day, but the blue sky dazzled. The sun blazed down and provided a welcome warm feeling. 10-year-old Rupert, Markus’ son, played with Levi’s 14-year-old daughter Rebecca in the meadow near the barn, with Levi’s young children, Karl and Isaac. They kicked a ball around for a while, then took up shooting arrows at a target set against a hay wagon.

Sitting on a crude log bench watching the children, Wolfgang asked, Levi, what do you make of the Weimar government? I mean, can it get control of the country and stop the fighting? He looked intent as he continued. Back home in Africa, after the war, after the British South Africans took over our country, they at least made a point of running it efficiently. But here… he paused, whistling through his teeth. There’s fighting somewhere most every day, and when the Bolsheviks and the Fascists aren’t fighting each other, they’re fighting the government. It’s got to stop eventually, right?

"Ja, it seems like anarchy, or near enough, but the Weimar government is still in control of the country, or most of it anyway. We hope for the best and they do what they can." Levi turned to stare significantly at Markus.

Levi’s right. The Weimar government is gaining more and more control, but it’s weakened because of all this far right, far left friction, and the money situation. And remember, the government was blamed for signing the Versailles Treaty that has been so abominable for Germany, having to accept responsibility for the war and pay reparations. He paused, then smiled slightly. "Frankly, I’m still a monarchist. We had a good life under the Kaiser, remember, ‘til the war. If the king had been stronger-willed, not so impulsive and belligerent, and if it weren’t for all those secret treaties that sucked everyone in…Ja, well, that’s ancient history now."

Right, Levi replied dismissively.

After a sumptuous dinner of Rouladen and hot cabbage salad with apple cake for dessert, the family retired to the overstuffed chairs in the front parlor, the most beautiful room at Kalvarianhof. The walls, tables and shelves displayed exotic artifacts from Levi and Markus’s tour of duty in China and the South Seas. Way back in the summer of 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion, when there was still an empress on the throne of the Middle Kingdom, Levi started collecting things. He’d brought his treasure with him on the troopship taking them back to Imperial Germany, and when they’d stopped at the German colonies in the South Pacific, including New Guinea and Samoa, he’d acquired more exotic art, including wooden carvings of fierce warriors and voluptuous women. After returning to Bavaria Levi added to the collection, acquiring artwork from South America, the Ottoman Empire and Africa. It made for a veritable museum in the large Levi farmhouse.

After settling in, Otto reflected, "Ja, these are very hard and perilous times for most," he said, sipping Jägermeister from a cut crystal glass. Here at Kalvarianhof, isolated as we are, in this museum my son Levi created, he waved his hand in the air, it’s easy to forget what’s going on in the cities and across the country.

He looked at Markus and Wolfgang. I’ve been collecting newspaper headlines for over a year now—not everything, just the odd front page and editorial. Here, take the stack. Taken together it makes quite a picture. He reached down beside the sofa and scooped up the torn pages. "Stay the night and get caught up, ja? I’ll tell Friedl," he said, not waiting for an answer.

Later that evening, with the children snug in bed, Katherina, Otto, and Friedl said their good nights as Markus and Wolfgang spread out front pages cut from the Munchener Abund Post on the alcove kitchen table. Levi looked on, nursing his beer.

So much chaos in Europe, Wolfgang said, Look at these headlines.

March 15, 1922, France Seizes German Raw Materials As Reparations 

June 24, 1922, Walter Rathenau, Jewish Foreign Minister Assassinated

July 20, 1922, League of Nations Gives British German East Africa

July 24, 1922, League of Nations Gives British Palestine, Cameroon & Egypt

July 26, 1922 League of Nations Gives France Syria and German Togo

Aug. 5, 1922, Nobel Winner Albert Einstein Flees German Assassin

Oct. 30, 1922, Mussolini’s Fascists March on Rome 

Nov. 21, 1922, French Clemenceau: Stop Hitler’s Militarism

Nov. 30, 1922, 50,000 Gather for Hitler Speech

Aug. 6, 1923, Bread Riots In Northern Germany

Aug. 7, 1923, German Mark Reaches 3.3 Million To The U.S. Dollar

Sept. 2, 1923, Hitler Speech Attacks Weimar Republic

The next morning at breakfast, after saying grace, Katherina and Friedl were feeding the children when Charlotte said, We’re not having antelope? We ate antelope with Mama in Africa all the time. Even so, Charlotte didn’t stop gobbling down her boiled eggs and potatoes. The women looked on with smiles.

Friedl said Child, we don’t have antelopes in Germany, but we do have deer. Venison.

Rupert and Charlotte together asked, What’s venison? and then laughed at their simultaneous question.

Now, now, quiet down, your father is still sleeping. Venison is deer, deer meat. We have many deer in the forest surrounding Kalvarianhof. I’m sure, if you are very quiet, you’ll see some when you walk in the woods.

Wolfgang walked into the kitchen. Good morning, everyone, he said, standing in the doorway scratching the back of his head. Do I smell coffee?

Here you are Wolfie, come sit down. Where’s Markus? Kathi asked.

He’s up, should be down in a minute.

Up down, up down, Papa’s up and down, up and down! Hahaha!

You kids are pretty lively this morning. Wolfgang said, reaching over to tickle Charlotte.

Oh, the Wolfie’s got me, got me! she laughed. Katherina slid a basket of fresh baked rolls in front of Wolfgang and a bowl of butter.

Marmalade?

"Ja, thanks. Oh, do you have honey?" 

Friedl and I prepared several baskets of food for you and Markus to take back to your apartment. With inflation raising prices, the Mark is worth nothing, nothing at all. One egg in Munich costs…I don’t even know what it costs anymore. Katerina paused to peer into a basket. There’re eggs, four loaves of bread, potatoes and sausages and the last of the vegetables from the garden. She sighed and shook her head. It’s a wonder there’re any vegetables left at all; they’re stolen all the time. City people suffer so much in hard times, just like during the war, they’re selling everything for food. Why, I saw people cutting up a dead horse for meat the last time I was in Munich. It’s just…

Markus interrupted Katherina as he stepped into the kitchen. Good morning, good morning!

Papa’s up! Up, down, up, down! Hahaha!

Otto came in right behind Markus and shared his greetings. I assume you had quite a reading last night?

Thanks for saving those clippings, Otto, it seems things are a real mess right now. The situation has to improve soon or there’ll be anarchy. He thought for a moment. Actually, isn’t that what we’ve got now?

Otto shrugged. It’s not so bad in other parts of the country, but here in Munich and in Berlin we have the Fascists and Communists constantly fighting.

Katherine stood up as Levi entered the kitchen, and gently pushed her husband towards a spot at the table. Come, eat your breakfast. You can’t do anything about it on an empty stomach. There was silence for a moment, then all the adults burst into laughter.

"Ja, Levi will solve everything…right after breakfast!"

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CHAPTER IV

Bauhaus and the Tomb

They enjoyed their coffee, hot rolls, marmalade and honey and the lovely late fall morning sun coming through the kitchen windows. Returning to the previous conversation Levi said, As a matter of fact, all is not doom and gloom. There’re lots of interesting things, good things, going on all across the country.

Really, what are you thinking about? Wolfgang asked.

Yes, Papa, do tell, Rebecca said. All eyes turned to Levi.

"Ja, so to begin with, Markus and I survived the war, and we have a democratic government here. Yes, I know it has problems, but I feel…I hope the chaos in the streets ends soon. And we have this new jazz music from America that Wolfie loves so much."

Everyone looked at Wolfgang who had a mouthful of buttered bun. He shrugged and smiled sheepishly as everyone laughed.

And we had Herr Einstein winning the Nobel prize in physics for his work on photoelectric theory. He’s exploring something about light and time and speed and matter…I have no idea what any of it means, but the people who understand it value his research very highly.

Levi learned forward, warmed to his little exposé. We have that new design school, the Bauhaus, in Weimar…very modern, very sleek and practical…and that beautiful post office in the Bauhaus style.

"Ja, quite! Rebecca exclaimed. I saw a photo of it in the newspapers."

Oh, you know about these things?

Yes, I do! And there is a new painting style called Expressionism. It’s kind of like Impressionism except it has more feelings and more emotions in the colors. They distort things, like a house that bends with the wind. She sat up straight while she recited, just the way she was taught in school.

An excellent art lesson, dear. Though, Kalvarianhof doesn’t bend in the wind, but when it does blow, the curtains move in every room! Katherina said, smiling as she patted Rebecca’s shoulder.

Wolfgang, listening quietly until now, broke in. Did you know Markus bought a painting in Munich? It’s in one of those new styles, just squares and shapes and colors. I don’t see anything in it, but he likes it. Everyone turned to face Markus.

Levi smirked. So, you’re joining the culture crowd, buying paintings now?

"Ja, well, a while back, when I was looking for work, I visited my old friend Gustoff in Munich and I walked by an art gallery several times. One day I walked in and saw a painting by this Russian painter, Kazimir Malevich. It was the name of the painting that caught my attention, Aeroplane in Flight. I just stared at it, for a long time, trying to figure out what it had to do with flying." By now everyone, children included, was staring at Markus. He looked around, amused.

I went back several times and it was still there. Eventually I figured out what I liked about that painting. It reminds me of what it’s like when I’m flying. There are no words to describe how wonderful it feels when I’m in the sky…it’s limitless, it’s pure, it’s freedom. No realistic picture could ever capture that feeling, but somehow that painting does that…so I bought it.

Everyone was silent for a moment, until Katherina said, We’ll have to see your painting the next time we’re in town. I’d like to see how it feels to fly. 

Levi followed up. That does sound interesting Markus, but have you seen the new Mercedes-Benz models? It’s the best auto in the world in my opinion! He turned to his father. Papa, you should trade in your old Benz and get a new one! Otto rubbed his thumb and index finger together. Everyone understood his gesture.

Levi took a quick drink of his coffee and returned to listing the good things happening in Germany. "Ah, the moving pictures are great fun, but some of the films are pretty scary. I saw an advertisement in the newspaper for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. We should all go to the Munich theater and…"

No, who needs to see such things? I read about it, Otto said. The war was scary enough.

Of course, Papa, it’s just entertainment, Levi said before quickly changing the subject. Another nice thing that everybody’s talking about is that amazing discovery over in Egypt: A Pharaoh’s tomb, King Tut…Kan…something. Wasn’t that amazing?

Katherina’s eyes lit up. We were just talking about that. I mean Professor Adelmann and I. You know he is retired now from the Archeological Department at the university. This is such an incredible discovery. Imagine after more than 3500 years, a Pharaoh’s tomb is intact, with all its fabulous artwork and treasures undisturbed. What a remarkable discovery for archeology and the world!

Rebecca added excitedly, Mama, maybe someday you’ll discover a tomb full of treasures too!

You’re my treasure, Katherina said with a smile, adding, As a matter of fact, Professor Adelmann and I are discussing another archeological expedition to the Holy Land. There are several sites that may have some very old tombs, out where people don’t often explore.

What? Really? Levi said, turning to his wife. This is the first I’m hearing of that."

I’ll give you more details later, dear, Kathi said smiling.

Markus grinned. "She’s way ahead of you, Levi, always has been, ja?"

Can I go, Mama, please! Rebecca pleaded.

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CHAPTER V

A Shot in the Ceiling

November 8th, 1923

Wolfgang hurried through the streets of Munich near the train station. The Bavarian statesman Gustav von Kahr was speaking at a government rally in the Buergerbraukeller beer hall. Wolfgang was curious about the government’s attempts to resolve the ongoing conflicts, so he didn’t want to miss any of the speeches. Weaving through the crowded walkways, he noted men wearing brown shirt uniforms of the National Socialists. Wolfgang ignored them and slipped into the noisy meeting.

 "Fraulein, eine beer, bitte!" he shouted to a buxom waitress carrying six beer steins. He settled in, off to the side but near up front to better hear the speeches. The first speaker was introduced and began to read from his prepared notes. So, this is how it’s done, big speeches to big crowds…but will anything come of it?

As Wolfgang sat there, half listening, half thinking, a commotion at the back of the hall startled him. Loud shouts, and the sounds of men pushing and scuffling with one another, preceded a crash as one of the long pine tables flipped over, sending a dozen beer mugs flying. From out of the melee a thin man of average height, wearing a brown shirt, leaped up onto a table, raised a pistol into the air and fired a shot into the ceiling. He was accompanied by armed stormtroopers and dozens more began to enter from the front door.

He advanced to the podium. Pushing away the speaker, the man with the pistol declared, The national revolution has begun! For the next several hours, Adolf Hitler harangued his captive audience, while his machine gun armed stormtroopers guarded the doors. The Bavarian leaders, now held hostage and forced to listen to his rambling rhetoric, eventually agreed to support the coup. Wolfgang sat transfixed, listening as the man with the pistol shifted from the local politicians to demanding the local people also join his march on Berlin to overthrow the Weimar government.

Hitler had brought one of his most famous supporters, General Erich von Ludendorff, a hero of the Great War, to the podium to echo his demands. Backed by Ludendorff’s fame, Adolf was convinced that the listeners would join him.

As the hours passed, Wolfgang spotted several men slipping out the doors. Wolfgang listened to Hitler, Ludendorff, and several others before he made his way to the back of the beer hall and stepped out into the night. Wait ‘til Markus hears about this. He won’t believe I sat through a coup right here in Munich.

Hours later the beer hall’s doors opened wide, and the crowd poured out behind Hitler and his gang. They made their way to Munich’s military headquarters, which had been seized by Adolf’s friend Ernst Röhm and his Brown Shirts prior to Hitler’s arrival. The next morning, after the local government fled to the city of Regensburg, Hitler and Ludendorff and a band of stormtroopers attempted to march through Munich. Shots rang out as Weimar forces and city police stopped the advancing troops. Chaos erupted, the Brown Shirts fled along with their leader, and the coup failed.

You should have been there Markus! Wolfgang said, as he and Markus sat in their shared apartment overlooking the park the next evening. Wolfgang had purchased several newspapers and the two men sat with the children, finishing a dinner of potato dumplings in a pork broth with boiled spinach and rolls.

Look at these headlines…! Here, you have to read this article. Wolfgang pushed the paper across the table to Markus. The headline for November 10th, 1923, read:

Adolf Hitler Leads National Socialists in Failed Coup Attempt

Markus pointed half-way down the page. I see Herr Hitler fled. He’s in hiding somewhere, but he’ll turn up and they’ll catch him. He’s such a danger with those Fascist ideas borrowed from his friend Mussolini. His antisemitic tirades are awful, but a lot of people listen to him. I’ve heard him, he’s got this way of speaking. He’s good, really good, with the crowds.

"Ja, Wolfgang agreed. You can imagine how the Levis feel with a character like that on the loose."

Invited out to Kalvarianhof the following weekend, Markus and Wolfgang sat with the Levis in the middle parlor with a massive heap of glowing coals in the fireplace. The children stretched out in front of the hearth, reading books.

This feels so good on a cold day like… Markus was interrupted by the jingling of the postman’s bicycle bell.

Here’re the newspapers and mail, Otto said, getting up. He subscribed to two papers, eagerly shared by everyone. Ah, they caught him, they caught Hitler. I knew they would, Otto said.

Katherina, reading the other paper, commented, Here it says he was hiding in a villa forty some miles from here. Some American owns the place.

Thank God they found him, Friedl said. That vile man and his evil ideas…I hope they lock him up!

I’m sure they will, dear. Probably for years, Otto said.

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CHAPTER VI

The Amerikaschiff and a Tuxedo

Late one evening Wolfgang arrived at their Munich apartment bursting to tell Markus his good news.

I believe I’ve found a job! he began enthusiastically. "You know about that cabaret jazz club I go to? Well,