The Black Rose

"Irma, you sing like an angel."
"Thank you, Hans, I have had the time of my life here at 'Der Blaue Affe'."
"I told you it was the best place in Berlin, Irma - the only Nachtlokal worth being seen in. And now, now that you are complicit with my party the German people will accept you."
"Even though I am a jewess, Hans."
"Well, there is something that you must do to prove to them you are one of us."
"What is that ?"
"Give away some jews, jews that mean nothing to anybody. I am sure you can come up with names, addresses in your past that can be given to men in authority.They can then despatch those of no importance to Auschwitz, and you will be one of us, Irma."

Berlin was a city like a zeppelin factory, whose black floors were stained with oily rainbows. It could be exciting and yet deadly. Irma Lenz had a lot to think about. She had loved Hans the moment she set eyes on him. His blond hair, blue eyes and strong masculine body had attracted her immediately. He was so confident, so full of power. She wanted to possess him violently, experience all of him while she was young and beautiful too. Her background had always been a problem, but luckily her vocal talent marked her out as different. She was acceptable to them, but on certain conditions. She didn't know who to give away; she would have to choose some family no one had liked. She scoured her memory, and at long last decided on the Finzis. Their family had a bank in Bremen, they had moved away from Berlin years ago. The nazis were keen on knowing the whereabouts of such notable and affluent families. She'd heard from a schoolfriend some time ago they had gone to the Black Forest where it was much quieter, some small village just outside Freiburg. Tomorrow night she would return to 'Der Blaue Affe' and tell Hans all she knew. It would seal her fate.

"I'm glad you are back again, Irma. You must sing another song, a song of the fatherland, 'Heimat'."
Irma Lenz got up to sing her song. She sang like a canary. She had much beauty - a lot of the men there were thrilled by her presence. They wanted her as one of them. Her dark black hair fell in long tresses down her back, offset against a striking red dress. She was the black rose of Berlin. Hans clapped enthusiastically when she had finished. "And now, Irma, we must get down to business. What can you tell me ?" Irma gave Hans all the details of the Finzi family. She had given away good people.

On her way back home from the nightclub Irma was regretful. What had she done? She thought she loved Hans, but she had sold herself like a prostitute. She didn't want to do this again, but at the same time she knew it was things like this that protected her. She was a collaborator. Now she was on Oranienstrasse; the tenement blocks she passed were like the pages of a stamp album, the colours of curtains matching each foreign stamp. Her own tenement curtains were of black crushed velvet, specially made for the bombing blackouts. She imagined she was the very rare English stamp, the Penny Black. It amused her.

"There is a call for you, Irma."
Her mother had just cleared away the breakfast things.
"Hello, Irma Lenz speaking."
"It's Ilse, Irma; I have bad news. Our schoolfriend Alice has been killed. She was staying with the Finzis, do you remember them? They are in Freiburg now, or were. They have taken them to a camp."
"Alice is dead ?"
"Yes. She resisted them apparently and they shot her."
Alice had been a special friend of Irma's at school. She had had no idea she had resorted to the friendship of the Finzis just to get away from Berlin.
"But it was Alice that saved my life, Ilse, don't you remember. We were at a railway crossing and a train came at us, but Alice got me to safety."
"Did she, Irma? You mustn't be too upset. There is nothing you could do. The nazis are tightening their grip, even looking for old Berlin families in the country."

Irma's nerve broke. A deep well of anxiety seemed to emanate from deep within her. For so long she had been suppressing all feeling, all emotion. In a way she had loved Alice - she had been a true friend. Hans expected to see his black rose at 'Der Blaue Affe' tonight. She still loved him, but she was torn in two, destroyed mentally. She couldn't weaken, it would be wrong, but inside she had made her decision; she just wasn't facing the truth.

The night was cold, bitter. The clouds were like faltering ghosts turned away at a seance, but Irma wanted to see Hans, feel his strength, his attraction even now. What would Ilse think of her if she knew what she had done, or even her mother and father ? They might turn on her. Would she be left in a blind alley with no one to turn to in a crisis?
"Hans, hello."
"I am too busy, Irma. Some of your friends are over there," he said, pointing to a group of other collaborators. Hans could not sully himself any longer. His Aryan eyes were no longer on the black rose. He must concentrate on the club, 'The Blue Monkey', that was the important thing. Hans must do his duty to the fatherland.

"It's time to get up, Irma."
Irma lay motionless in bed; beside her, empty pill bottles, a jug of whiskey.
She thought she was being strong, but in a land where it is every man for himself she had made a mistake. She only thought, she didn't look jewish at all.