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Jutta Bentz Blog Entry |
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July 26, 2024, 12:00:11 AM July 26, 2024, 12:00:22 AM 7/26/24: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's characters from my anthro WWII storyline are Jutta Bentz, hair up (top drawing) and hair down (bottom drawing), and Lorentz Bentz. They own a shop next to Josef Diamant's jewelry shop and witness when he's taken prisoner and his shop gutted. Jutta's a bit of a busybody while Lorentz prefers to mind his own business but they're decent folk. There'll be more about them later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se. Regarding their design, Jutta is a Belgian Tervuren and Lorentz is a Bouvier des Ardennes, and for that reason alone I decided he must be a Great War veteran. I made his eyes a bit wider than I should have, ah well. TUMBLR EDIT: The Bentzes have been around for a bit, though I haven't much info on them yet as they're mostly background characters. They own some sort of shop--I'm not sure what sort yet, to be honest, I should really figure that out--next to Josef Diamant's jewelry shop early on. They stand back and watch uneasily as the Nazi Party rises to power and starts cracking down on the city's Jews, and Jutta peers out from the safety of their shop one day when a truck full of SS officers arrives, hauls out a battered Diamant and throws him in their truck, then sets the jewelry shop on fire. They don't agree with what's happening, yet also don't wish to endanger themselves by getting involved, so they have some serious mixed feelings. While I don't think they ever directly join the resistance effort, they do end up trying to help out in smaller ways. This part will be modified to avoid repetition. Jutta (pronounced YOOtuh) was initially the more developed character--which isn't saying much--though as soon as I locked in what dog breeds they are--both Belgian, as I'm less strict with the German citizenry's breeds than with the Nazis', which are usually purebred German breeds (there are a few exceptions like Dannecker and Arzt, who are Siberian huskies)--a bit of background info about Lorentz emerged. I soon decided that he's older than Jutta, maybe by about ten years, and likely met and married her after the Great War; I have a strong feeling, also, that this isn't their first marriage; I suspect they were both widowed, and perhaps this is the way they meet and connect with each other. (EDIT, while taking a break from writing, I imagined they may have met each other while visiting the cemetery to mourn their deceased spouses. Also, Lorentz lost his lower left arm in the war; Jutta attempts to boost his gloomy spirits when the doctors finally remove the bandages to reveal his stump. He receives a prosthetic but dislikes using it, so gets used to doing things--like wielding a rifle--with one hand and his elbow. FURTHER EDIT: When they meet in the cemetery, they realize their respective spouses died on the same day (though I don't think the same year); Jutta wonders if it's a sign that they were meant to meet.) Jutta isn't only the younger of the two, she's also the more social, outgoing one, as well as the more nervous one. She's a chatty sort, not because she's much of a social butterfly--I figure she's a bit too self-absorbed for that--but because she always has to be in the know. She has access to all the gossip that's to be had on her street, and always pokes her nose into things, so much so that her more reclusive husband sometimes has to pull her back. In short, she's a busybody. But at least this means, also, that she's one of the first citizens on her street to be aware when things start taking a turn for the worse. I don't have all the details yet of how Jutta and Lorentz meet, but I think it's while he's recovering from combat injuries. She lost her husband, perhaps in the war; he perhaps lost a wife or fiancée, in a manner of which I'm unsure. They get to talking and, despite the difference in their ages, eventually bond over their shared grief, and are married. They move to the unnamed city of the story (VERY loosely analogous to Berlin) and open a shop. WHAT KIND OF SHOP...ugh I don't know...maybe some sort of combo? Something for her to specialize in, something for him to specialize in?--probably baking confections or sewing for her, perhaps antiques for him. Given that they're next door to the best-known and most well-respected jewelry shop in the city--J. Diamant, Der Juwelier, or just Diamant's--it's likely a pretty well-off section of the city, so maybe it's not so odd even in all the economic uncertainty to sell something as frivolous as antiques. OR--maybe Lorentz paints? Either way...they open a little shop that they both contribute to in their respective roles, and they do a decent business. Diamant's, incidentally, drives business their way, as his clients often pop into the Bentzes' shop out of curiosity, and they have money to spend. One day a customer selects an old watch to buy, brushing off Lorentz's warning that it's broken and for looks only, by saying she'll simply take it over to Diamant's to fix. The Bentzes hadn't known that Diamant's also repairs watches. Jutta decides to pay the proprietor a visit--"We should always be good neighbors!" she insists to her husband--and pops on her best headscarf, coat, and purse, and heads next door. Jutta's boldness fades as she enters the shop, the little bell over the door startling her; she chose to visit near the end of the day when business has thinned out and the shop is likely to have few customers, and indeed she sees no one else. "I'll be out in a moment!" a voice calls from the back; "Just--just looking, take your time, bitte!" Jutta calls back--and she approaches the glass counters and peers at the pieces on display. The craftsmanship is breathtaking; every item has the finest, tiniest details, and she finds herself in awe. "Sure you're just looking...?" a voice says, and Jutta nearly jumps out of her skin, whirling around. A tall man in dark trousers, stark white shirt, a cloth in his hands, and a kippah on his head holds up his hands in apology--"Didn't mean to startle you"--and finishes wiping off his hands before holding one out; Jutta gingerly grasps it. "Josef Diamant," he says, and "Jutta...Jutta Bentz," Jutta replies. Jutta had had no idea the proprietor of Diamant's is Jewish, though she supposes it makes sense, she's been taught they have a good head for making money. (Jutta's worldview...not mine.) She mentions the watch, and Diamant confirms that, in addition to jewelry work, he can make and fix various items involving small clockworks. He offers to repair whatever other such items the Bentzes might have for sale, in exchange for a small cut of the final price. Jutta is just as much a businessperson as he is, so she feels a smile creeping up her face; "I'll need to speak with my husband first, but that sounds reasonable." She's surprised to learn that Diamant works alone--he does all the work of tumbling and cutting the jewels (if they aren't already), shaping the metal, setting the stones, polishing and perfecting everything for display, handling sales and records, as well as upkeep of the shop itself--"There is no Frau Diamant to help you out?"--and Diamant just smiles and says no, it's just him. He notices the old brooch Jutta is wearing to clasp her scarf shut and says he can smooth out a few nicks and polish it up for her for free, as a show of good will; Jutta undoes it and hands it to him, promising to return the next day with word from her husband. The two part ways amicably, Jutta in quite a good mood about the business prospects. Lorentz, of course, is more cautious. When Jutta shows up all chatty and excited, filling him in on everything she's learned, he gently urges her to calm down--"Liebe, you hardly know this man, how can you be sure he's trustworthy?" Jutta pooh-poohs his caution, says he's going to fix up her brooch for free to prove he's reliable--"You gave him your pin?--just gave it?" Lorentz says, furrowing his brow, "Why did you not ask for collateral?" Jutta blinks and blushes--what an oversight that was, she won't do that again--yet, "Oh, you worry too much, Liebling!--you should have come over with me, you'd have seen, he looks like someone to be trusted, I believe him." Lorentz objects--"I, the one who worries too much!--that's rich, Liebe!"--yet grudgingly gives his consent for the partnership Diamant proposed. He decides on a wait and see approach. Jutta returns to Diamant's the next day, again late in the day; he greets her as politely as previously, so she feels a bit awkward reminding him of the brooch; truth is, after a night to sleep on it she's grown anxious about her actions of the day before, she tends to second guess herself a lot. Diamant brings out a cloth and carefully unfolds it to reveal Jutta's brooch; she takes a breath and scoops it up, marveling at how bright and shiny and almost-new it looks now. Certain she made the right choice, she tells him her husband's tentatively agreed to their business arrangement, Diamant says he looks forward to working with them, and they shake hands on it. She heads home with a bounce in her step, shows Lorentz the brooch--"Are you sure this is the same pin?" he asks, frowning, at which she says, "Oh Liebling, of course it is!--see the tiny dent there he couldn't get out?--that's always been there, he didn't switch anything"--and he has to admit Diamant does decent work. That doesn't stop him from dropping by the jewelry shop while Jutta's out, to meet Diamant for himself. He brings along an ornate clock that many customers have been interested in, yet none have bought as it doesn't keep time: "I know it's somewhat bigger than a watch," he says, but Diamant looks it over, says he'll give it a shot, although he'll need to do so in his off hours as he has other jobs already waiting. He says to come back in a few days. By that time, the clock is again in working order, and Lorentz is won over. A beaming Jutta makes sure to bring Diamant his share of the sale price when they finally get the clock off their hands. The arrangement goes on like this even as the situation in the city grows stranger and more tense. Swastika banners start adorning the building fronts. Men in menacing uniforms make the rounds. The Bentzes aren't very social sorts, they prefer to spend their time together, so they don't have any real social circle; but Jutta catches wind of every odd rumor, and she learns that most of the city's poorer Jews have been rounded up into a ghetto sectioned off especially for them, while many of the better-off ones are moving away. The Jewish-owned businesses are quickly shutting down and their owners departing the country entirely. When Jutta inquires why, someone mentions that more and more professions are being declared illegal for Jews to hold. "But...why?" she asks, confused; her source shrugs, exasperated, replying, "Who cares! The way they screwed us over in the war, and in business, I say good riddance!" This comment REALLY perplexes Jutta; she knows for a fact that, based on their particular specialties, she and Lorentz, and Diamant, don't charge much more or less than the other. Diamant might be a bit sharky about making sales but so is she, and he's always been fair. She's never heard anyone complain about his prices or his services. She asks Lorentz about what, exactly, the Jews did to screw them over during the war; "Nothing!" he exclaims, "What are you even talking about--? I fought alongside a few and they were every bit honorable men. Loved the Fatherland just as much as anyone. Stop hanging about anyone who feeds you such nonsense, that's all it is." Jutta goes to see Diamant, as his is one of the few such businesses remaining; she asks him if he's noticed what's happening (well, of course he has), and if he too has any plans to leave. She's a bit surprised when he replies that he has no such intention, and plans to keep his shop open as long as possible. She expresses worry for him doing so, but he dismisses her concerns--adding that the current regime is making it near impossible for Jews to leave the country without complicated ID papers, anyway--and she heads home with the distinct impression that he's not taking things seriously enough. There isn't really anything she can do about it, though. One day while she and Lorentz are minding the shop, Lorentz busy in the back, Jutta happens to look up in time to see several large military trucks pass by out front, tires squealing. A moment later, several citizens go running down the street in the opposite direction, exclaiming and glancing over their shoulders; one woman actually trips and falls before her companion helps her up and they hurry off. "Lorentz...?" Jutta murmurs pensively, wondering if he'd have any idea what's going on, are they clearing the square for some sort of rally?--when she hears the distinct sound of glass shattering and a few screams. She gasps and flinches back before making herself go to the front of the shop and peer out the window; the front window of one of the shuttered shops left vacant by its departing owners has been broken, and as Jutta watches, she sees several more people, not all of them in uniform, hurl rocks and bricks to knock out the rest of the glass--they climb inside and start ransacking the place. Similar activity is occurring at other closed shops along the street. Jutta flinches as another big truck slows to a stop--she's certain it's stopping at her place, yet it stops in front of Diamant's. A handful of men, some in military-style uniforms, the others in black--climb out, one picking up a piece of brick and hurling it; Jutta gasps when it shatters a section of Diamant's display window. One of the men in black gestures at the others, apparently telling them not to continue doing that, then they head inside the jewelry shop. Jutta stands petrified as the tumult along the street starts to die down, destructive but not long lived; the shops are already empty, there isn't much to do with them. Rather, she's agonizing over WTF's happening in Diamant's shop; she can't hear anything, and is too afraid to go check. She recognizes the Allgemeine-SS by their dark uniforms, and wherever they are, it can't be good. She tries peering out the shop's side door overlooking the narrow alley that separates her shop from Diamant's, and thinks that she hears muffled noises within, but still can't tell what's happening. "Lorentz--?" she calls, louder; all he says is, "Ja, Jutta?--a bit busy right now!" so she knows he hasn't noticed anything yet from the back of the shop. She returns to the shop front, and something in the back of her head tells her to pull shut the drapes that conceal the interior of the shop from view after hours; she does so, though continues peeking through a slit in the fabric. For a long while nothing else happens, and she starts to fidget, wondering if her imagination is getting away from her...when the front door of Diamant's shop slams open and the uniformed men come back out, two of them half-supporting, half-dragging Diamant with them. Jutta gasps and nearly lets the drapes fall shut--she can't believe the state Diamant's in, his eye dark and swollen almost shut, his shirt torn and stained red, his chest and arms gashed and bleeding in numerous locations--she touches the glass, expects him to glance toward her shop looking for help, yet he doesn't look up. The men pulling him along open up the back of the truck and toss him roughly inside, close it, then get in and pull away. The remaining men file out of the shop--some with their arms full of jewelry or papers, sales records, Jutta assumes--then the ones who are emptyhanded pick up whatever loose objects they can find and hurl them at the windows, smashing them further. Jutta covers her mouth when one lights up a Molotov cocktail and tosses it within the shop; flames light up the men's faces as the insides catch on fire. One retrieves a can of paint and a brush from another truck and hurriedly sets to work on the remaining section of window with the name of Diamant's business still visible on it; by the time he's done, smoke is pouring out the front, and the men clamber back in their trucks and pull away. Jutta hurries into the back of the shop--"Lorentz! Lorentz!"--he jumps up from his work, blinking in alarm--"Jutta! What is it--?" She breathlessly exclaims how the SS raided Diamant's shop and dragged him away, and now the store is on fire--"Lorentz! What if ours catches afire too?" He tries calling for a fire truck, but as soon as he gives the business name, he gets an odd look on his face, then hangs up. "They...they say we're on our own, they won't send anyone here," he says uneasily. "What do you mean?--it's their job to put out fires, isn't it?" asks Jutta, to which Lorentz replies, "Not this one...not at any place owned by a Jew." He determines that their own shop is protected from harm by the alley, and they go to the shop front to peer out the curtains. "All these other shops were hit, too...?" Lorentz asks, and when Jutta confirms it, he murmurs, "This was a coordinated effort, then." They remain inside the rest of the evening. After nightfall, it starts to rain, snuffing out the remaining smolders; the Bentzes exit and furtively walk over to the jewelry shop. Lorentz shines a torch up at the half-broken window, illuminating the blood-red paint that dripped down the glass; the shop sign no longer reads "J. DIAMANT, DER JUWELIER," but "J. DIAMANT, DER JUDE." A six-point star has been sloppily painted alongside. "Mein Gott," Lorentz whispers. They enter the shop, stepping gingerly; the insides are gutted from the fire, though the infrastructure remains intact. The glass display cases are all smashed, and no gold or jewelry remains; Lorentz checks the back rooms, then somberly reports that everything was opened and torn apart, the file cabinets thoroughly emptied of their contents, all of Diamant's sales and client records. "Why would they be interested in such things...?" Jutta wonders. They don't get to ponder this long, as she steps on something sharp and yelps, jumping; when Lorentz shines his torch at the floor, they find jeweler's tools scattered all over. Jutta puts a hand to her mouth and her eyes go glassy when she sees the bloody jeweler's files; Lorentz's mouth sets in a stern line when he spots a jeweler's torch. They don't have to say anything to each other to know. Diamant's own tools were obviously used to torture him. A bright light suddenly shines in, dazzling them, and a harsh voice barks, "You! Who are you? What are you doing in here? Papers! Now!" Jutta briefly panics, but Lorentz planned ahead as usual; "Papers, of course, of course," he says in as placating a voice as he can muster, digging in his pocket, and produces both his and Jutta's identification. The policeman takes the papers and looks them over; "This isn't your shop. What are you doing in here?" he demands again, to which Lorentz explains that they saw the fire the previous day, and were concerned that it might spread to their shop, so were making sure it was exterminated. The policeman seems skeptical; "You knew this man?--this Diamant, you were friends with him?" Jutta finds herself hastily denying--oh, they knew each other, he did a little work for them, yet that was the extent of it, they weren't friends, oh no, barely even knew each other. And the lies come so effortlessly and so convincingly that she shocks herself, that she can even say such things; even Lorentz, who never wants to get involved in others' affairs, peers at her. The policeman finally seems appeased, however; "The two of you are trespassing," he warns, "the man who owned this shop was a Jew and a criminal, and you don't want to be associated with him." Jutta can't help herself--"Criminal?" she echoes before Lorentz can nudge her to be quiet. "Ja, criminal!" the policeman says, "For operating a business illegally, and forging IDs for other criminal Jews! The three of you did business together, you may want to look at your own records in case he ripped you off, and the SS might stop by to ask you some questions, too. To make sure you aren't involved. Like I said, this place is off limits, go back to your own shop and wait for authorities to get in touch with you." The Bentzes do as they're ordered, good compliant citizens. In the privacy of their own place again, though--their living quarters are located above the shop--Jutta says with furrowed brow, "Forging IDs! Who heard of such a thing? Herr Diamant is a jeweler, not a forger! Where do they even get that?" "Perhaps that's why they took all his records," Lorentz muses, "rather than destroy them. Maybe they think he has two different types of clients. He must have known they'd look, probably destroyed such records himself, or never kept any in the first place." "Why do you think that?" Jutta asks; Lorentz replies, "Because they tortured him...they must've been looking for something which they never found." Jutta puts her hands to her face in sudden realization--this is why Diamant stayed while his fellow Jewish shopkeepers left, why he remained behind until it was too late--he was working to help them escape, first. As expected, SS officers arrive at the Bentzes' shop the next day to question them about Diamant. It's obvious they've been questioning everyone who lives or works in the vicinity of his shop, yet on learning of their business association with him, they seem a bit displeased, and their questions become a little more aggressive. Still, the couple hold their own, and Lorentz even offers to let them see their client records and search their building top to bottom--"We have nothing to hide." The officers decline to look at the records or do a thorough search, though one does take a cursory look around the shop, their living quarters, and the tiny, cramped attic. They part ways with a vague warning against associating themselves with Diamant or anyone else who was involved with him. The Bentzes are basically cleared of any involvement in Diamant's crimes, and that's that. Time goes on. Every time Jutta has to go out shopping, she casts a glance at the gutted jewelry shop and pulls her headscarf a bit tighter, clutching her brooch. She feels a dreadful guilt over denying that Diamant was her friend; while it's true she never really knew him well, and they didn't associate outside of their work arrangement, still, he seemed like a decent man, and certainly didn't deserve what happened to him. Hesitant questioning proves that Lorentz feels the same, yet he urges her to let the matter go, and stop mentally beating herself: "What more could we have done? We're just two, the SS is many. We have to think of ourselves because no one else will. He should have run when he had the chance, but he chose to stay and help others. That's not on us. We didn't tell on him." Jutta finds herself wondering...who DID tell on him, then?--is it someone she gossips with, perhaps? If they were spying on Diamant...could they be spying on Lorentz and her, too? "Liebe, you'll drive yourself crazy with these thoughts," Lorentz says; then, in a whisper, "And that's exactly what they want, for us to doubt and suspect everything, even our own eyes! Don't fall for it, Liebe, else you'll never pull yourself out of that hole, and I don't know what I'll do if I lose you." Jutta does her best to set these feelings aside, though it hurts, and returns her focus to her job and her husband. Really...what else can she do? About half a year goes by, seasons shifting, times growing harder though the Bentzes have always lived frugally and make do during the increasing rationing and scarcity of certain goods. Not as many people need their business at the moment, and there are large gaps left behind in the citizenry due to all the departures (and disappearances), yet they push on. Jutta wonders from time to time exactly what became of Diamant and the others who were arrested--Lorentz solemnly says they were likely taken to the rather new labor camp near the outskirts of the city--yet when she asks what happens there, he falls quiet before saying, "Probably best we don't know, Liebe. Things don't go well for those who ask too much." She does manage to make her way toward the camp one day, but can't get too close, and all she can see are walls, barbed wire, and electric fences, a watchtower and a smoking chimney barely visible from her vantage point, peeking above it all; the wrought-iron gate has letters atop it, words, spelling out ARBEIT MACHT FREI. She wonders if this means Diamant will eventually be freed once he serves his sentence. She doesn't get to think about it much before a guard comes to her and asks if she has business there--"Are you eine Helferin?--secretary, assistant?"--"Goodness me, nein"--then tells her to go on her way, nothing for her here. She hastily departs, coughing at the acrid scent of the smoke, and never tells Lorentz about it. That area of the city is usually cloaked in the dismal chimney smoke, which makes the neighboring citizens grumble, yet nobody dares speak up against the SS; everyone knows they keep files on almost all citizens of the Reich, so nobody wants something unsavory to end up in their record. She nearly jumps out of her skin one day when a low wail begins in the distance, growing louder and louder until it makes her ears throb--"Lorentz!!" she cries, and he comes hurrying out of the back, eyes wide, looking around in confusion. "What is that?--is it an air attack?" she exclaims; they stand a moment listening before Lorentz shakes his head--"Nein, the pitch is off...I don't know what this is. Never heard it before." They head outside to find other citizens milling around in confusion; Lorentz fails to attract the attention of a policeman jogging past, but when Jutta asks another shopkeeper what's going on, they reply that the sound is the alarm of the labor camp. No wonder they haven't heard it before. "What does this mean?" Jutta asks; "Prisoner escape," the shopkeeper says, "something about the commandant, they think he was shot in the attempt." "Frau Bentz, Herr Bentz!" another neighbor exclaims, clutching Jutta's arm. "It's terrible, horrible! They're saying a bunch of Jews and criminals escaped! You need to stay safe, if these vermin are willing to shoot Herr Kommandant, they're willing to do anything! Secure your shop, make sure no one can get in, they'll rob you blind and kill you in your sleep!" Jutta's anxiety shoots through the roof but Lorentz leads her back inside, muttering; "I'll check the doors and windows, you lock up anything important," he says; "but stop fretting, Liebe, I doubt anyone'll try to rob or kill us. If it's prisoners, they're probably far more interested in just getting away; why waste time breaking in here to steal stuff they don't even need?" Jutta tries to calm down; of course Lorentz makes sense, why would an escaping prisoner stop to kill her for a clock? The two of them secure their shop the best they can as the siren continues blaring; eventually it dies down and stops, though the citizens are still hushed and on edge. Authorities finally issue an alert on the radio: Roughly a dozen prisoners escaped the camp, killing the commandant and taking his stepdaughter hostage in the process. Citizens are warned to be on the lookout for them, and to report any suspected sightings to the police or SS; posters with their photographs will be displayed in public places soon. Jutta nearly breaks down crying from sheer terror even as Lorentz tries to calm her; she can't stop fretting about them kidnapping an innocent young woman. "If they did that, they surely can do anything!" "They didn't kill her, Liebe, keep your mind on that," Lorentz coaxes, "you'll drive yourself mad otherwise! Now come...business looks kaputt for today, let's lock up and I'll make you some tea to settle your nerves. What's done is done, not worth worrying about...maybe they'll shut that place down now that it has no commandant." The SS starts a sweep through the city soon after. Jutta and Lorentz stand back as their shop and home are searched; of course nothing is found, and the officers depart without causing them trouble. Jutta is perplexed to see them systematically search the remains of Diamant's, though--"What!--they seriously think a bunch of criminals would hide in there? Why so much attention?" Apparently it's going to take some coordinating to obtain and print copies of photos of the escapees, so the first and lone poster to appear is that of the commandant's stepdaughter, Margarethe Dannecker; Jutta wipes tears from her eyes as she gazes at the blank-faced, braided girl staring back at her from the MISSING poster, and prays that she's all right. In the following days, more posters and prisoner names go up, but Jutta stops paying attention lest she see a criminal peeking around every corner, and tries to focus on her work. According to gossip, there aren't any new important leads anyway; amazingly, it looks like the escape might be successful. The camp doesn't shut down, however, as a new commandant takes over; "Eh," Lorentz mutters, "should've known they have these fellows lined up to take command. Would've been nice to be rid of that nasty smoke, though." Late at night not long after, while having trouble falling asleep, Jutta hears it--a very soft, hesitant tap-tap-tap. Her eyes pop open and she lies still and stiff as a board, holding her breath, and after a moment the noise repeats itself, tap-tap-tap. "Lorentz," she whispers, but he just snores a little, he's always been a sound sleeper. When the sound comes a third time, a bit more insistent, Jutta pops upright, hesitates, then climbs from bed; "Lorentz!" she whispers, louder, gets just a snort, so leaves the bedroom and creeps downstairs to the shop. The sound is coming from the alley door. She picks up a knitting needle, grasps it like a knife--she'll stab out an eye if she has to, she tells herself--and very, very slowly lifts the curtain from the window. Then flinches back and barely stifles a scream at the sight of the corpse staring back at her. A split second later she realizes it's not a corpse--it's alive, as its eyes blink and focus on hers--and not only that, but she recognizes them. "Ah mein Gott!" Jutta gasps, and hurries to unlock the door. She grasps Josef Diamant's arm--she knows it's him, though this doesn't look like him, he's positively skeletal, his glassy eyes huge and sunken in their sockets, his cheekbones and clavicles and wristbones and everything jutting from under skin pulled tight and thin as parchment, his head shaved--he's wearing odd striped, bloodstained clothing with a yellow-and-green star on his breast, and a coat atop this, but the clothes just hang on him like on a coat rack, like there's nothing under them to fill them out. She thinks maybe she's having a nightmare, yet he whispers, "Frau Bentz" in a voice like sandpaper, and finally she's sure this is real and it's him. She takes his elbow--so thin, she can feel his joints--and pulls him toward her--"Come in, come in, hurry"--before noticing that there are others with him, other glassy eyes in gaunt faces. She gasps, flinches in fear--criminals, Jews, murderers! the voices clamor in her head--yet opens the door further, waving--"Hurry, hurry!"--and they scurry in after Diamant--two men in striped clothes like his, a child in a long coat. "How many of you--?" Jutta asks; "Just us four," Diamant whispers; "Were you followed?", "Nein, bitte--" but she doesn't need him to finish his entreaty, just urges them inside the shop, locking the door behind them and taking them to the back, away from the windows. She gets a better look at them here--another skeletal man wearing a black triangle, a not-as-thin, bespectacled man wearing a yellow star, and the child isn't a child after all but a young woman--Jutta takes in a breath on recognizing Margarethe Dannecker from her MISSING poster. She's overwhelmed, having no idea what she's doing, when Margarethe speaks up, saying, "Bitte--water?" "Of course, of course," Jutta says, and hurries to fill a pitcher of water. She brings it to Margarethe, but Margarethe doesn't drink, handing it to Diamant: "Here, Herr Josef, you have to drink." She has to help him hold the pitcher up to his mouth and he swallows so hard he chokes; he passes it to the bespectacled man next, then the third man drinks, then Gret. Jutta is burning with questions, but decides it's best not knowing too much; "You're sure no one saw you?" she asks instead; Diamant says he's pretty sure, else they'd be headed back to the camp this moment. "Your house," he whispers, and she realizes he's too weak to talk, "is it being watched?" "They already searched us," says Jutta, "your shop's the one they were interested in. Ah, mein Gott, Herr Diamant, what can I do, what can I do?" "I hate asking you," he says, "but we need a place to hide. Just for a day or two. To rest and then we'll go, you won't see us again." Jutta agonizes over how to respond when she hears Lorentz calling, "Jutta--? Why are you up? Who are you talking to--?" Lorentz appears, brow furrowed, then sees the strange group Jutta's talking to and his eyes go wide; his reaction is the same as hers: "Mein Gott!" She hastens to explain the situation--"They need a place to hide, Lorentz, just a day or so"--happy to dump the decision on him instead. Lorentz starts to protest--"Here??--how?--we don't have anywhere to hide a bunch of people, this is madness, Jutta!"--yet now, surprisingly, Jutta finds herself decided: "We have the attic, Liebe! Just a day or two! What else are we to do, just throw them out?--they'll be killed if we do!" Lorentz is obviously unhappy but Jutta ushers the four upstairs, then toward the attic; she pulls out a few items, blushing as she murmurs, "It's--it's quite cramped, sorry, but you should be able to fit"--and takes Diamant's arm again to help him. Gret crawls up first and reaches down to take his other arm; he enters after her, then the other two, both of them murmuring, "Danke," as they go. There's barely enough room for them to huddle two to both sides of the entry, yet they do so without complaint. Gret catches Jutta's attention--she seems to have made herself spokesperson of the group, as she's in the best shape--and says, "Bitte, a little food...? Nothing much," to which Jutta says, "Of course--of course. Let me prepare something quick. I'll be right back." She hurries down to the tiny kitchen, hastily washes and chops a few potatoes, cooks up a quick soup, as Lorentz watches disapprovingly. She grabs some bread, fills the pitcher with milk, brings it all back up. "Here," she says as she hands up the tray, Gret and the man with the triangle receiving it. "There's more if you need it," she says, and, "I'm...I'm sorry I don't know what's kosher." "It's all right," Diamant murmurs, "danke." The two men start dividing up the food and eating; again Gret doesn't take anything herself, instead saying, "You have to eat, Herr Josef, to get your strength back." Diamant admits that he's not even hungry--wild for Jutta to believe, when he's all skin and bones. "Just a little soup, then," Gret persists, "you'll never get back on your feet if you don't eat," so he finally accepts the soup, taking small sips. Lorentz, seeing he's lost this argument, lays down the rules: They can't stay more than a week, just long enough, with hope, to rest up and recover a little. They can come downstairs one at a time only to use the toilet when needed, and once after nightfall to stretch their legs a bit and wash up. He or Jutta will knock twice on a pipe running up through the house to alert them to danger--"What you choose to do then is up to you, Jutta and I may not be able to help you"--and three times to let them know things are safe and one of them is coming up. "That's all we have to offer," he says, "we need to look out for ourselves first." Diamant agrees without fussing, though by now he can hardly keep his eyes open; by the time Jutta brings up a blanket for them to share, he's fallen fast asleep, and the other two men are nodding off. Gret accepts the blanket and tucks it around them. "You...you are the commandant's stepdaughter," Jutta says; "they put up your picture. They said you're a hostage." "Herr Josef saved me," Gret says simply, and Jutta doesn't press further; she closes the attic door and retreats. The Bentzes go about their daily life, with their four guests remaining hidden in the attic; they put on their everyday faces, act as normal, though inside they're absolutely petrified at the prospect of being caught. It's everything they can take to stay calm when an SS officer stops by to again ask questions; Lorentz surreptitiously knocks twice on the pipe as Jutta talks with him, then he asks to search the house a second time. Jutta swallows her panic, lets him search the shop, the upstairs; when he reaches for the attic door she blurts out, "You--you might want to be careful, we have...rats, I think. Noisy ones. Or maybe some kind of very large insects in the wall...what sort of insect gets in walls and makes loud noises, do you think? Or maybe it's just rats?" "Rats...?" the officer echoes, reluctantly withdrawing his hand; he looks at the door, then steps away. "We already searched your attic once," he reasons, "can't think why we should again. You should see about calling a rat catcher, though." Jutta agrees, sees him out, then Lorentz has to help calm her as she nearly breaks down from terror. "You lie so easily now," he marvels. He waits until they're sure the officer isn't coming back, then knocks three times on the pipe, and they peek into the attic. Their four guests peer out warily; they hadn't even noticed before now that Diamant has a revolver, and the man with the triangle has a shiv. Jutta hastily assures them everything is all right, and Gret turns her hand palm up--concealed in her fist is a brooch with the sharp pin sticking between her fingers. She affixes it back to her dress--and Jutta sees she has an SS dress sword under her coat. "What do they need us for," Jutta muses to her husband as they head toward their living quarters. The incident rattles them, though; Lorentz thinks it's best if they go, especially considering all the interest in Diamant's shop. Jutta agrees, but feels ashamed to ask them to leave. Expecting a protest, she offers profuse apologies after stumblingly making their case; it isn't Diamant who responds, however, it's the man with the black triangle--he criticizes her for feeling bad and wanting to help only when it was too late to do so. Then--"Lukas! Hush," Diamant snaps, and to the chastened Jutta, "Frau Bentz...you owe me no apology. I know you were only trying to keep yourself and your husband safe, what more could you have done...?" He and Lukas get into a brief back-and-forth, with Lukas claiming that citizens like the Bentzes are just part of the problem, never taking action until something affects their own, and Diamant countering that the way they divide themselves up into separate groups is the true problem--"Maybe if we worked together instead of passing blame, this wouldn't happen--and that means them and Fräulein Gret, and Herr Arno and me, and you, too." He cuts the argument short by saying it doesn't matter now, what's done is done, and all they can do is move on and leave the Bentzes in peace: "You've already helped us, you owe me nothing," he tells Jutta when she frets; "Just give us until tomorrow night, and we'll go on our way after night falls." Jutta tells Lorentz of the request, and he agrees. The next night, Diamant and the others--Gret, Lukas, and Arno--exit the attic and file down into the shop. Diamant is still horribly thin, but has regained enough strength to walk on his own; Jutta asks where they plan to go next, and is downcast to learn they have no plan. Diamant reassures her that they'll figure it out. "Will we ever see you again...?" Jutta asks; "I don't know," he admits; she promises to help him if he ever needs it again, though she isn't sure what she can do. He says he'll do his best to never have to ask for her help; but it's good to know that he can trust her and Lorentz. As if on cue, Lorentz enters, arms full--he passes to the four as much food, clothing, and various supplies as they can carry with them. "Here, all we can give you," he says gruffly, "it's not much but it's what we have." "Danke," Diamant says quietly, his eyes glassy, and Jutta and Lorentz see them off, making sure nobody is lurking about as the four furtively make their way down the alley and disappear. More time goes by. Jutta notices when the MISSING posters of Gret are quietly replaced with WANTED posters; she covers her mouth to see the directive to shoot her on sight. When the other posters go up, Diamant's lacks a photo, but also includes the notice that executing him is acceptable. "These poor people," Jutta despairs to Lorentz in private, "to be treated so! They want him dead, Herr Diamant would never even hurt a fly!" "Well," Lorentz replies, "if the rumor is to be believed, he DID kill the commandant." Jutta wishes, more than once, that they could have done more, SHOULD have done more, yet Lorentz always reminds her that it's most important for them to look out for their own welfare first; what, really, are they expected to do against the might of the Third Reich? "We can do small things," Jutta insists; "We did, Liebe," Lorentz says, "so why do you act as if it was nothing? If there's something we can do...maybe we can do it...but it's most important for us to look after ourselves. If we end up caught, what good is it for...?" The SS visits their shop now and then to perform perfunctory searches; Jutta says the "rat problem" was resolved, and they search the attic, finding nothing. She's terribly nervous about these visits at first, until neighbors inform her that they're dealing with the same thing, apparently it's become routine. Diamant's is left standing in its dilapidated state as a warning to anyone who might choose to betray the Reich. Life goes on. It takes a while for the Bentzes to notice, small incidents occasionally interrupting daily life, gossiped about and then forgotten in all the more overwhelming news about the war; Jutta first experiences it for herself when the train she's supposed to take to visit a family member is late to arrive. Someone set off an explosive device on the tracks. No one was hurt, but it took a while to reroute the train and to fix the damage. Posters go up in the square decrying the acts of violence and sabotage, naming a "terrorist group," the Diamond Network, as the culprits, and offering rewards for information. Seeing the name of the group, and remembering her neighbor's skills with clockwork devices, Jutta has an odd feeling; she figures she's just seeing connections that aren't there, until the SS pays another visit to her shop. It's rather late in the evening, and Jutta is preparing to close up shop, when there's a soft knock at the door. She nearly tells the visitor to go, they're closed, when she glances up and sees a tall man in a black uniform and greatcoat; she stifles a gasp and hastens to unlock the door and let him in. "Sorry--sorry!" she exclaims, ushering him in and closing the door behind him, "we're about to close for the night--but I can spare a few moments for you to look around. Do you need to do a search?--or is there any service you need?--my husband's retired early, yet if I can do anything to help you..." "You've already helped me more than you know," the SS officer says, and Jutta goes stiff at the sound of his voice--she recognizes it, though it makes no sense. She looks at him and he lifts his visor a bit to better show his face. Jutta sucks in a breath--it's Diamant wearing the uniform. He's still leaner than he was when he worked in his shop, but his hair has grown back, and the clothes don't hang on him like before, and when he reaches out his hand and she takes it without thinking, his grasp is firm and strong again. He smiles at her slightly and those are the old eyes she remembers. "Herr--Herr Diamant!" she exclaims, "What--why--?"--and she looks him up and down. "It's the disguise that invites the least questioning," Diamant says--a stolen SS uniform, it turns out, can open lots of doors. Jutta mentions that they've put up posters of the escapees, though his has no image: "I don't think they know what you look like." Diamant replies that he's aware, and has been using this to his advantage: Indeed, the "Diamond Network"--not his choice for a name--is his idea, which started out with just the original four who stuck together after the rest of the escapees dispersed; it spread and expanded almost overnight, organically, and by now, there are operatives in all major cities, engaging in acts of sabotage against the Reich, as well as gathering information and helping shuttle victims of the Nazi regime to safety. Basically, it's a massive expansion of Diamant's initial efforts forging IDs for his fellow Jews. Jutta is awed and overwhelmed at just how much reach he has now; she feels quite small, and is rather ashamed to admit that, if he's seeking her aid, she doesn't think she has much to offer him that would matter. Diamant quickly reassures her he's not there to ask for anything; he's heard of the continued SS visits to the shop, and just wants to make sure he hasn't caused the Bentzes undue hardship. Jutta insists he hasn't, she and Lorentz can handle it. He adds that she needn't feel ashamed of helping him too little; "As I said, you and Herr Bentz have already helped us far more than you know." Although he would appreciate whatever other small things they could do to assist--anything at all helps, even keeping their eyes and ears open for information--he says they don't owe him anything, and they don't need to offer him anything else. He ends his visit by giving her a playing card--the jack of diamonds--and says it may help her in the future if she needs his aid, and to keep it hidden from the Party. Jutta tucks the card away, then--unexpected both to him and to her--gives him a quick, hard hug. She blushes afterward, wishing him good luck and be careful; he wishes her the same, pulls his cap back down, and departs. "Jutta...? Do we have a customer?" Lorentz calls from the back; she considers not mentioning the details of the visit to him, knowing he'll fuss, but steels herself and goes back to tell him anyway; husband and wife are supposed to share with each other, after all, and aside from not mentioning her camp visit, she's never deceived him before. She's already resolved to try to help out Diamant in what small ways she can, however, because at least it's something. Jutta and Lorentz are mostly background characters who don't appear often, and whenever they do, they put on a show of being loyal to the Reich; Jutta's mask slips a bit when Wehrmacht sergeant Stephen Gerhardt looks over Diamant's gutted shop and she briefly explains what happened, admitting she witnessed the incident. When Gerhardt shows a bit too much interest, and SS officer Gunter Hesse arrives, she clams up and returns to minding her own business. Later, when Gerhardt--who is actually a Jewish American spy--sneaks into the Bentzes' shop seeking info, Lorentz confronts him, with a rifle balanced against the stump of his arm, and makes it pretty clear he's not welcome there. Over time he learns that the two are sympathetic to the Diamond Network, though they aren't members and don't engage in Network-style activities; once Diamant vouches for Gerhardt, the Bentzes reluctantly start to trust him, while maintaining a safe distance; although they despise the Nazi Party and wish to be of aid, they still need to look out for themselves first. I think I wanted a representative of citizens who might not have agreed with what the regime was doing, yet weren't able, for reasons of self-preservation, to actively fight against it; I imagine regular people like that, with very legitimate worry, outnumbered people who like my fictional Diamond Network took active steps against the Reich. (I won't bother hypothesizing about this number of such citizens vs. those who did agree with the regime or didn't care. I know the belief that most German civilians were completely unaware of what was happening, at least, is a myth. The Bentzes in my story start out ignorant of the truth yet soon catch on, though Jutta does maintain some willful ignorance until Lukas Mettbach sets her straight.) I can't say with honesty that I'd be brave enough to do anything that would make a difference were I in such a situation, and I don't want to oversimplify things by having everyone be a hero or a villain. Most people are just ambiguous. (Frankly, IMO Sophie Sommer fits in this more neutral group--she consorts with Nazis, yes, and Hesse is her lover, though she never espouses any agreement or disagreement with the Reich, in fact, she warns Hesse that the SS might not agree to their marriage, partly due to her hazy genealogical background, but also partly due to her having no loyalty to the Party or its views; she's not good or bad, just looking out for herself first off. Doesn't stop her from being labeled NAZI HURE by Unnamed Busboy, though...) Anyway...that's all I have to type on that, please see LORENTZ'S ENTRY too. [Jutta Bentz 2024 [Friday, July 26, 2024, 12:00:11 AM]] [Jutta Bentz 2024 2 [Friday, July 26, 2024, 12:00:22 AM]] |