White Rose Black Forest(25)
The decision to join the League of German Girls came easily. All her friends already had. She was almost seventeen then, and a bit old to be a member, but the promise of possibly being a group leader spurred her on. She didn’t want to be left out, and besides, this was not a time to stand on the sidelines. This was a time for bold action. So she joined, despite the protestations of her parents, who seemed wary of the Nazi Party at almost every level. Franka Gerber was the model of the magnificent youngster that Hitler prophesized would help Germany dominate the world, and she wasn’t going to let any old-fashioned notions stand in her way. She was going to do her bit for the cause of the German people.
Franka cherished her uniform of a white blouse with a loose black tie, pinned tight with the emblem of a swastika, over a navy skirt. The girls of the league marched in much the same way as the boys in the Hitler Youth who eyed them. They performed drills and did calisthenics and went on long hikes, often camping out under the stars, where they sang songs glorifying the führer and longing for the day when they might provide strong sons for a future war effort. A sisterhood developed between the girls. Their common goals and focused efforts brought them together. It felt wonderful to be accepted, to be valued, to be superior.
Daniel was a troop leader in the Hitler Youth and led the drills as they jogged through town in swastika-emblazoned singlets, singing “the old must perish, the weak must decay.” Truly they were the finest of German youth, slim and lithe, as fast as greyhounds, and as hard as Krupp steel, just as Hitler himself had demanded. And Daniel was the finest of them all and directed the younger members with a strict but fair countenance. With flushed cheeks, all the girls talked about him and whispered behind their hands as he strode past. He and Franka came together like magnets—all that was strong and beautiful about the new Germany encapsulated between them. His father, who had been unemployed before the National Socialist revolution, was now a leading member of the local council. Franka never saw him without his Nazi pin on his chest, or the Nazi armband adorning his bicep. His son was the realization of his dreams, the promise of a new and better life for the Aryan race.
Daniel was stern with his recruits but reserved a tenderness that he seemed to show only her. He was ambitious and forward-looking, serious and determined. He was the perfect boyfriend for the exciting times she was living through. She found herself drawn in deeper and deeper. It was the end of school, just before graduation, when she took him home to meet her parents for the first time. Daniel was respectful and polite. He wore his Hitler Youth leader’s uniform to dinner and gave the Nazi salute as Franka’s father opened the door to him. Franka’s mother stepped forward, doing her best to smile as he greeted her. They made their way to the table, and Franka sat down next to him. Fredi sat in his usual spot at the end of the table. Daniel greeted him with a nod. He wasn’t shy toward her parents, however, and spoke of his plans to join the newly formed Gestapo, the elite police force, and about the need to protect the revolution from spies and malingerers. That was the first time Franka ever heard the phrase “enemies of the state.” Her parents retained their polite demeanor, but she saw them glancing toward one another during the meal through slit eyes, could feel their judgment. She knew what was coming after he left.
Franka’s father carried Fredi up to bed. Her mother waited until he got back downstairs before she sat Franka down. She put a pale hand on Franka’s leg. She looked tired all the time now, her beauty dulled by the unseen enemy within her. Her bloodshot eyes were earnest but calm.
“How serious is it with Daniel? I know you’ve been seeing each other awhile.”
“I love him, Mother. You were only a little older than I am now when you met Father.”
Thomas sat down, rubbing his eyes. “I was twenty-two, your mother nineteen. You’re just seventeen and still in school. We’re wondering if Daniel is a distraction to your studies. You’re so involved with this League of German Girls now. It seems that you’re spending all your free time with them.”
“I love my troop. I’m part of something. You don’t know anything about what’s going on in this country. You’re stuck in the old world of the kaiser and the Weimar idiots who ran Germany into the ground.”
“The old world?” Sarah said. “Who taught you these things?”
Franka fought back the sympathetic emotions telling her to comfort her mother. That wouldn’t have been the patriotic thing to do. This was an opportunity to convince her parents that every German had a duty to help with the National Socialist revolution.
“We’re worried about you,” her mother said.
“Worried about what? I have the comradeship of the other girls in the league. Even my teachers all express the glory of the new movement. Everyone seems to but you.”
“So tell me about your glorious revolution,” Thomas said, his voice low.
“You only have to look at the statistics in the newspaper. Hitler is ending the depression. Unemployment is dropping to levels no one could have dreamed of before the führer swept to power. The German workman is productive once again. Surely that is an achievement worth lauding?”
“Yes,” said her father, “but think about how it’s being done. The wheels of industry are beginning to turn again—war industry. Hitler is taking us on a path to war. And those statistics you’re talking about don’t include women, or Jews—two groups that have been frozen out of the labor force.”