Fritz let her do what she wanted with his shoes, and afterward the young woman plopped down by side him on the sofa. After some stumbling around the conversation then turned to love and marriage. Fritz spoke of his own bad luck: that was the curse of his home. The employer continued to complain.
“I’m sorry.
“What do you know about love?”
“I had a fellow once, and the gentleman couldn’t remain faithful; and more than that, let me tell you, since he couldn’t remain faithful he couldn’t expect fidelity from his wife.” Fritz heard enough; but Eva wanted to tease him more, so she said, “For a servant such as me it’s not unusual. Believe me, we’ve all been through it. Why do you think infidelity has become so much in vogue? Why men must stray here, there, and everywhere? Why they always pick some pretty little thing, who’ll inevitably break their hearts? Can’t they see it coming? How charming they are! Here I’m a blunt and honest woman! Because I’m your employee, and that more than anything else is proof that I’ve been nothing more than someone’s lassie. Don’t feel sorry for me. Give me a little time, and I’ll make you smile. I promise that I won’t deceive you. I now must check on the boys.”
Fritz wanted her and looked for a way to make her stay. When he gave her orders he generally gave them in the manner of a general in the field dictating his Operational Orders. “Stay!” commanded the retired soldier. “Madame, you understand me so well.”
Eva laughed, for her boss’ speech seemed so elevated that he sounded ridiculous.
“No, don’t laugh at me, or question my sincerity. Ask me anything,” he continued, as he gave it his best. “I’ll wager that you’ve never met anyone like me?”
Eva’s smile was seen rapidly enlarging, and her admirer’s mood shifted away from foreboding.
“Thank you, thank you!” said Fritz, while observing with astonishment his own boldness.
“Not worth speaking of, is it? Indeed, it’s not such a big deal to have an affair and be disappointed. Why be so upset, when you’re only talking about a broken heart? There’s always another night. But I must keep going. I’ve got a very demanding employer, and I hear a couple of restless boys,” whereupon she left him to himself.
Astonished Fritz tried to make sense out of what he just heard. He knew the reasons for his sadness. Now he had a new reason for happiness.
The Hertzl household seemed tranquil. Fritz seemed the same as he had been before the war. Each evening Pauline disappear; and there was plenty of evidence that her husband never objected. He seemed satisfied and achieved such bliss that it didn’t bother him when he stopped being honest. Of course he laid the blame for his dalliance on his absent wife.
“Now, Gnadige Frau, who’s at fault?” asked Fritz laughing. “I can’t help thinking that the problems lay in a mind that insists on thinking too much. Just imagine what our lives would be like if we could move Heaven and Earth. I hope you’ll stay. I’m of the opinion that you’re looking for something permanent.”
“Is that what you’re offering?” asked Eva.
“I’ve seen how well you get along with the boys.”
Eva responded with a silly grin.
At the same time Fritz rubbed his finger across the bridge of her nose and laughed good-naturedly.
”God help us.”
“Fat chance.”
Before long Fritz and Eva no longer looked on their relationship with misgivings. They thought that they loved each other. He’d sing to her. She’d listen to his tender serenades, tunes that he reserved for her alone. Each evening, after the boys went to bed, they shared aspirations. Later they absolutely crossed legal boundaries based on race, but undoubtedly Eva, from Fritiz’s perspective, didn’t act or look like a Jew. To justify his crime he overlooked many of his principles, or shall we say prejudges.
The burden his relationship with Eva created was tremendous. At one point Fritz came close to having a nervous breakdown. He had to be very careful. He couldn’t afford to raise suspicions. Out of necessity he convinced himself that it didn’t matter that Eva was Jewish. At the same time he arranged the deaths of many Jews, for which he was later accused. All of this continued as he vowed to distance himself from the Nazis.
Pauline scolded Fritz, for she knew her husband and suspected what was going on way before she had any concrete evidence. They both still believed what they learned as children and went on viewing Jews as wicked. For Fritz, at least, his relationship with Eva proved it, or else wickedness held an attraction for him. At one point Pauline threatened divorce and threatened to change her religion to achieve it. She found herself in distress and asked her husband, for the sake of their children, to keep his hands off Eva.
Discouraged Fritz turned to his work. He knew he’d lost Pauline. Now he also had to face losing Eva. He didn’t want to be part of that and for the longest went around in the fog of gloom. Of course he knew the law forbidding Aryans from having sex with Jews. He wondered how many people knew the truth. Mechanically he rode the tram. It seemed as if it took him across town in the blink of an eye. Sadly Eva would have to be turned over to the Nazis. Fritz let that sink in, as he hurried to the court. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that it was Pauline who packed Eva’s bag.
Randy Ford
