The Jewish Dog (6 page)

“We had a normal life,” Kalman told his wife
,
“more or less
.
I'm not deluded
.
I don't claim that the
goyi
m
liked us
.
But when they hurt us
,
we had somewhere to go
.
There were authorities
,
there was the police
,
there was a court of law. . . .”

“Times have changed,” Shoshana responded laconically
,
without elaborating.

My morning and afternoon walks were shortened
.
Kalman and Shoshana would ask Matilda if she would mind taking me for a walk
.
Matilda was inexperienced in the rules of dog-walking
,
and she never let me linger as long as necessary at my favorite sniffing spots.

This same feeling of tension encroached on the Shabbat meals
,
which used to be the height of peace and quiet
.
The family sat around the table and sang “
Yah Ribon Olam
,
God
,
Master of the World” in three part harmony
,
and they sang with extra passion the line “God
,
to Whom glory and greatness belong
,
save Your flock from the jaws of the lion and take Your people out of exile – Your people whom You chose from all other people.”

“Why doesn't God take us to Israel?” Reizel asked
.
Even she could sense that something was not right
.
“Why doesn't He perform a miracle and take us out of Germany?”

Kalman explained
.
“Man's eyes look up to God as a dog's eyes look up to his master
.
The dog knows in his heart that even if his master's actions aren't clear to him
,
it is clear they are good for him
.
Thus every man of Israel should know that even if it seems as though God has abandoned us
,
we must trust the mercy of heaven and hold no doubts in our heart
.
God has only the good of His people in mind.”

“Reading those damn horoscopes again?” Kalman reproached his wife.

“Where will I find hope if not in the horoscopes?”

“Pagan nonsense!”

Shoshana waited for him to leave the room
,
and then shared with me the prophecies written in the constellations.

“Don't listen to him,” she said
.
“I'll read out loud
.
You are a Pisces
,
like me
.
Next week
,
you can expect pleasant surprises
.
Just as everything seems dark and dreary
,
you will receive the news you have been waiting for
.
Be prepared so you do not miss the opportunity!”

Shoshana was right
.
The horoscope was accurate
.
The pleasant surprise did not tarry.

“Caleb
,
my friend,” Kalman said to me as he read the new sign put up on the door of the Tsuzamen café
.
“I have wonderful news for you
.
No more waiting outside alone.” He read me the words on the new sign
:
‘No entrance for dogs and Jews.'

“What can I say? Who even wants to sit in a place that won't let in dogs? Let us be on our way.”

We walked on
,
sparing me the embarrassment of being tied to the pole
.
I was beside myself with happiness
.
I was deeply grateful to the man who had put up the sign
.
How wonderful
!
Never again would I be left tied outside as Kalman sat inside enjoying his morning cup of coffee.

CHAPTER 7

I
heard footsteps in the stairwell
.
Three people
,
I told myself
,
listening closely to the differences in their strides
.
I had a feeling they were on their way to our house
,
but I stopped myself from barking.

Slow
,
deliberate knocks sounded from the other side of the door.

Matilda hurried to answer the knock and found herself
,
as I had guessed
,
in front of three people
.
The visitors wore uniforms that only differed from one another in the amount of metal on their chests and shoulders
.
Their clothes were dark
,
their boots heavy
.
They greeted her with a curt
,
official
“Guten tag.
”
The tallest one asked coldly
,
“Are you Mrs
.
Matilda Schwartzschpiln?”

“Yes,” she replied
,
drying her hands on her apron
.
“How can I help you?”

The three walked into the foyer and presented Matilda with a document
.
The taller one added in a commanding tone
,
“The law doesn't permit Jews to employ housekeepers under the age of forty-five.”

“These aren't
ostjuden
,
”
3
Matilda claimed
.
“These are good Jews.”

“Good Jews!” The tall one laughed ruthlessly
.
“If you want to find a good Jew
,
go to Dachau.”

Another added
,
“A Jew is a Jew
,
and the law is the law.”

The three examined her reactions in the same way Karl Gustav had examined mine when we first met
,
scanning her eyes for signs of rebelliousness
.
Matilda understood that any defiance would come at a great cost and made sure to exhibit submissiveness.

“Listen,” one of them said sympathetically
.
“You're Aryan
!
You deserve more than this
!
Scrubbing sinks in a Jew's kitchen. . . 
.
Don't you agree that you deserve more?”

“They really treat me well
 . .
 .” she said meekly
.
“And it's my job. . . .”

“Making a living is important,” the third said dryly
,
“but purity of race is more important
!
And besides
,
you needn't worry
.
The Jews will compensate you.”

Matilda took another moment to read through the document
.
It was apparent that she was perturbed and didn't know what to do.

“You must leave immediately!” the tall one said
.
He extended his right arm
.
“
Heil Hitler!
”

After the uniformed men left
,
Matilda handed the document to Shoshana and Kalman.

“I'm so sorry that I'm not forty-five yet,” she said
.
“I'm so sorry.”

I tried to understand the situation
,
but to no avail
.
I tilted my head
,
but the new angle didn't give me any new insight.

Matilda took her few belongings
,
hugged Shoshana
,
and shook Kalman's hand
.
After she left
,
Kalman and Shoshana sat down for a cup of sugarless tea
.
They drank in silence
.
I could smell their profound grief and knew Matilda would never come back.

That same evening
,
Baruch Zonenfeld came by
.
He visited often to delve into conversation with Kalman and enjoy a cup of coffee and biscuits
.
Kalman used to call his friend
Rotes Haar
.
I have no idea what the nickname means
.
After carefully smelling Baruch's shoes and the hemline of his pants
,
I detected no traces of a wife or children
,
but the scent of his dog Kugel clung to his clothes like a tick
.
Kugel was a dark dog with curly fur that hung over his forehead
,
slightly covering his eyes
.
Sometimes Kugel would join his owner when he came to visit us
.
I was told to receive him with open paws
.
I understood that they expected me to act courteously
,
but I can't say that I liked having another dog in the vicinity of my food dish
.
Every dog knows that a flagrant violation of the intimate dog-dish relationship cannot be ignored
.
The sudden aggression that descended on me when Kugel neared my bowl was expressed in a ­series of loud barks
,
the quivering of my upper lip
,
and my bared fangs.

“Caleb
,
calm down.” Kalman kneeled at my side and stroked my head
.
“You are descended from Abraham's dog
,
and you must show hospitality
,
as our forefather and his canine did.” Kalman spoke softly
,
and his words soothed me enough to allow me to watch with furious restraint as Kugel plundered my food dish.

“Coffee?” Shoshana asked.

“Gladly,” said Kalman.

Baruch added
,
“Yes
,
for me too
,
please.”

I walked Shoshana to the kitchen and back as she carried a tray with three mugs and a plate of cookies
.
As we entered the living room
,
Kalman was in the middle of a story
.
“. . 
.
then who comes out to greet him but the
mikve
h
4
lady
,
holding a frying pan in one hand and a rolling pin in the other
,
and hitting the frying pan against the rolling pin twice
.
Then the butcher's wife tells the rabbi
,
‘if you had a gold watch and you went to the
mikveh
. . . .'”

Shoshana set down the tray
.
“
Nu
,
Kalman
,
that annoying joke again
.
You know that I don't like it when you tell crude jokes in the house
,
let alone ones that aren't even funny.”

“Let me be
,
Shoshana
.
This isn't a crude joke and it's
extremely
funny.”

“So tell it some other time
.
I don't like this joke.”

“I'm not sure there will be another time,” Baruch interjected
.
“As a matter of fact
,
I just came to say goodbye.”

“Goodbye?!”

“Yes
.
I've decided to take a train to Italy and sail from there to Israel
.
Things here have become absolutely unbearable.”

“Are you serious?”

“I'm completely serious
.
I've already paid for the tickets
.
One for me and one for Kugel
.
How could I joke about this? I've been thrown out of six work interviews already
.
They ask if you're a member of the party
,
and once they understand that you're Jewish
,
they won't even let you finish your sentence
.
You know what it's like
.
You're looking for a job too
,
aren't you?”

Kalman lowered his head
.
“I went to one interview
.
That was enough.”

“So what are you living on? How can you support your family this way?”

“I think you'll eventually regret your decision,” Kalman said
.
“Running away isn't the way to go
.
Yes
,
I agree
.
Things are very difficult for me and Shoshana as well
.
In the meantime
,
thank God
,
we still have some savings. . . 
.
I hope it won't be necessary
,
but if we need to
,
we can sell some of the jewelry
,
too.”

“Kalman
,
we have to get out of here
.
There's no future here
.
We need to get out of here before it's too late.”

“It's never too late
.
We can always get up and leave
.
But running away like this is a mistake
!
Today it's Hitler in Germany
,
and tomorrow it will be somebody else somewhere else
.
We can't show them that if they give us a hard time
,
we just get up and run
.
My Uncle Yechiel was injured twice in the war against the French
.
Twice
!
For two months he lay in the hospital
,
and then he went back to the battlefield
.
In the end. . . .”

“In the end he got the Iron Cross
,
yes
,
I know
.
I've heard this story before.”

“Our family
,
and us too,” said Kalman
,
getting straight to the point
.
“We fought for this country
.
We can't just get up and leave.”

“But Kalman
,
I'm telling you
.
This is just the beginning
.
Blood will be flowing in the streets.”

“You're exaggerating
.
You've always had a flare for the dramatic
,
and you're being dramatic now
.
It's a passing fad
,
a whim
.
Today
,
in order to be popular in Germany
,
you have to be an anti-Semite
.
It won't last
.
Look
,
they've even taken down the signs in the parks and stores.”

“They've taken down the signs so that the foreign press won't take any pictures
.
When the Olympics are over
,
the signs will be back and things will get worse.”

“The Nazi thugs can be wholly unsympathetic
,
I agree
.
But to get up and run. . . 
.
No!”

“I'm not running because of a couple of thugs,” Baruch said
,
looking prophetically out the window
.
“This time it's much more than a couple of thugs
.
This time it's darkness
.
It's darkness
,
Kalman
!
Do you understand? Darkness
!
A great big darkness is going to descend on our Germany
.
And it won't dissipate quickly
.
Germany has willingly cuffed itself to the devil
,
and will ultimately pay a grave price.”

A long moment of silence pervaded the living room.

“Listen,” Baruch continued
.
“A government emissary came by my house this morning
.
He made me sign a court order
.
There's a new law
,
Kalman
.
I have to give up Kugel within thirty days.”

“Give up Kugel?”

“The decree is based on new laws – you read the paper
,
don't you? The Nuremburg Laws
.
Jews are not allowed to raise dogs.”

The air in the house froze.

Shoshana lifted me onto her knees and said weakly
,
“If we have to give him up
,
the children's hearts will break.”

“Enough,” Kalman said
.
“I'm sick of talking about this.”

He rose and turned on the radio.

Through the netted front of the wooden box barked a voice that I had already learned to recognize
.
Hitler's voice
.
I listened with them
,
but I could not understand a word.

“Yes,” Baruch concluded
.
“This time Hitler has crossed the line
.
I have decided to take Kugel and run
.
And I'm telling you again
,
you should do the same.”

“Look at him,” Kalman nodded in my direction.

Baruch and Shoshana looked at me and smiled.

“He's listening to the radio with us,” Shoshana said.