Page 46 of The Pianist's Wife
‘Did they tell you where they were taking him?’ Hans asked.
Amira noticed that he appeared less surprised than Gisele, who looked as if she might faint. Hans was steadily watching Gisele, with no expression at all on his face, and she found it most unsettling.
‘He’s one of the most talented musicians in Berlin!’ Gisele cried. ‘How could Fred be taken? He’s as good as a national treasure, and Hans, he was only performing for you all so recently. I just cannot—’
‘Where was he taken, Amira? Did they tell you?’
‘Auschwitz,’ she said. ‘The SS men told me he was being taken to Auschwitz.’
The room fell silent. The only noise Amira could hear was the sound of her own breath as the word settled between them.
‘Auschwitz?’ Gisele finally echoed. ‘The death camp?’
Amira ran the word over in her mind, just as she had done every minute of every hour since she’d lost sight of him.Auschwitz, Auschwitz, Auschwitz.It was like a record she couldn’t stop playing. They all knew there was a reason no one came back; so many pleaded ignorance, but in truth, they knew what happened there, and she couldn’t bear to think that Fred might never come home.
‘Yes.’
‘Do you know why he was arrested?’ asked Hans.
‘Hans, how would she know why he was arrested? She’s come here for help, not to be interrogated!’
He folded his arms across his chest, his eyes never leaving Amira’s. ‘Amira came here today to see me, and that indicates to me that she would like my help in some way. So, I will ask again, do you know why Fred was arrested? Did anyone explain it to you?’
Amira hung her head. This was the part she did not want to share with Hans. It had been hard for her to accept when she’d first found out, before she’d come to understand that the love Fred felt for his partner was no different than the way she felt for Maxi. A shiver ran through her, and she tried to imagine Fred standing beside her, strong and steady. For she only had to tell Hans why he’d been arrested; she still had every intention of concealing the truth from him.He is a tolerant man, but I fear that even he wouldn’t tolerate this.Gisele’s words from the night Amira had first met Fred echoed through her mind.
‘Hans was arrested on suspicion of having...’ Amira hesitated, deeply uncomfortable. ‘Of having relations with another man.’
The words sat heavy in the room between them, until Hans eventually cleared his throat. Amira couldn’t bring herself to look at Gisele; she was afraid if she did they’d give away that they both knew.
‘Well, that is highly unusual for a married man to be accused of such a thing,’ Gisele muttered. ‘The authorities would only have to take one look at his new bride, and his paperwork, to see what a grave mistake they’d made. It’s outrageous if you ask me.’
‘Is this something you were aware of, Amira? These rumours?’ Hans asked. ‘I can’t imagine what it must have been like for you, as his wife, to hear such a thing.’
‘I, I—’ She let out a breath. ‘Hans, I just want my husband home. I love him very much, and a dreadful mistake has been made.’ She hoped that he wouldn’t be able to detect her lie. ‘He’s everything a husband should be to a wife, of that I can assure you.’
He held her gaze, as if waiting for her to say something else, but she chose not to. She’d made a promise to Fred to keep his secret, and she intended on honouring that promise. She also had no doubt that he would have fought for her, would have begged anyone for favours to ensure her safe return if it had been her whowas taken. He’d proven to her over the past month what type of person, what type offriend, he was.
‘Please, is there anything you can do to help him? I am begging you, please do something,anything, to help me bring him home.’
Hans sat on the edge of his desk, his legs crossed at the ankles and his palms against the wooden top. ‘Amira, from what I understand, Fred was given up by his... what should I call him.’ He paused, looking most uncomfortable as he glanced at his wife. ‘By hislover, for want of a better term.’
Amira couldn’t breathe. She placed her palm on her chest, fought for every gasp of air as she stared back at Hans. Hans had known, and he hadn’t done anything to help. He’d known what Fred had been accused of, which meant that he must have known what was going to happen.
‘You knew he was going to be arrested?’ Gisele asked, frantically. ‘You knew that Amira’s husband was going to be taken, and you didnothing?’
Hans tugged at the top button of his shirt as if it were suddenly too tight.
‘I was aware in recent days that he was under suspicion for being a homosexual, which we all know is illegal and an offence punishable by imprisonment. It seemed strange to me, given your recent marriage, but his lover gave up Fred and a number of other men from their circle of acquaintances,’ he said. ‘I’m afraid that he may have made you believe that he was something he was not, and quite frankly, given the speed of your courtship...’
Amira gulped as she tried to comprehend what he was telling her. She wasn’t sure what was worse – the fact that Hans had known, or that this man, presumably Christoph, had given up his name and whereabouts. If Fred ever found out about such a betrayal... she imagined it would break him, knowing the person he loved had done such a thing. All those hours they’d talked aboutwhat it would be like when they were both reunited with those they loved, and yet Fred’s had given him up just like that, presumably to save himself.
‘Would this man, thisloveras you’ve described him, have given up that information readily?’ Amira asked, trying to keep her voice level as she spoke to Hans. ‘Or would it have been to free himself from prison or a camp? To save himself from death?’
Hans didn’t reply.
‘I’m only trying to understand how such a lie could be accepted about a married man,’ she said. ‘If a person said this under coercion, then how is it to be believed in the first place? Wouldn’t a man say anything to save his own life? And Fred is an easy target. He’s well known and people are jealous of his success.’
Hans blinked back at her as if to tell her that he wasn’t a fool; it was as if he knew she was lying. Amira tried to hold her expression steady, not to buckle under his scrutiny. Because why would he suspect that she knew?
