“Now that the war is over and mail may go through again, we must write to Norio Kato and tell him we made it,” said Max. “Thank him.”
“Yes,” said Leo, feeling a tug on his heart. “We must.” Emi, the Katos, had kept his family from perishing in Europe, and Emi with her unwavering youthful love had saved Leo from the hell that was 1938. He prayed that she had survived the war, that her whole family had, and that she would understand what his life had become.
His mother’s joyous expression changed to wistfulness as Max mentioned the Katos, and Leo felt the pain of a missed opportunity. What if the war hadn’t pushed them around the world? Could things have ended differently? He looked at Agatha’s stomach and knew it wasn’t fair for him to wonder.
Agatha and Leo decided to marry in a civil ceremony attended only by his parents, Liwei and Jin. After the wedding, they watched as Chiang Kai-shek’s army marched like toy soldiers through the newly unrestricted streets and avenues.
“The Americans should be marching, too,” said Max, watching the precise movements of the Chinese.
“I think they’re more interested in wandering about the city,” said Agatha. “They’ll probably all end up at Liwei’s.”
“The ones who I spoke to have been on boats for four years, constantly at sea,” said Max.
“There is a lot of talk of boats in Hongkew,” said Leo, not turning his head away from the parade, his hand firmly in Agatha’s. “Not the American ships, but boats that will take the Jews to America. To Israel,” said Leo.
As soon as the Japanese military had fled the city, the talk among the Jewish community had centered on leaving. Where would they go and how would they get there? Many wanted to go to Israel, though most knew they would end up in the United States. The old Jewish community in Shanghai wanted to stay, as their lives had roots there, but there was already talk that the foreign concessions would be abandoned and the Jews would no longer be able to stay, even those who had been there for more than a generation.
“Let’s not be hopeful yet,” said Max. “They say it could take years to leave Shanghai. For the boats to start making the trip to Israel or America. Right now, the Americans have brought food and the invisible walls around Hongkew have been knocked down. The war is over. You two are married and in two months, there will be a baby. We don’t need to think about the next step.”
“America is the next step,” said Hani. “Even if it does take years. Have you written to your family in Germany yet, Agatha?” said Hani, taking her hand from Leo. “Your extended family?”
“I will now,” said Agatha. “Now that the war is over, maybe the mail will travel with regularity again.”
From a room above them, they heard a record turning on a phonograph, and Leo wondered who had found such a luxury in Hongkew. They looked up, but all they could see was the open window, a white curtain fluttering out of it like a flag of surrender.
Agatha took a step forward to see more of the parade and Leo leaned over to his father. “You’ll have to write to Emi for me. Tell her about Agatha, the baby, the wedding,” he said softly. “I won’t be able to write the words.”
CHAPTER 35
EMI KATO
MAY 1945
Hitler is dead!” screamed Claire Ohkawa, rushing into the Moris’ house, not bothering to even knock on the door. “Dead!” she screamed again, hysterical.
“What?” said Emi running out of the kitchen. “How do you know? Are you sure?”
“I just saw Philippe Bussinger of the Swiss delegation in the hotel. He was rejoicing,” said Claire, motioning with her hands. “He confirmed it. Hitler shot himself in the head at the end of April but they found him yesterday. Dead! It’s not in the papers or on the radio here yet, but it will be soon,” she said, rushing to Emi and throwing her arms around her. “Can you believe it?”
“I can because you’re saying it,” said Emi, hugging Claire back. “And the Swiss delegation knows everything first.”
“Yes, we’re lucky to live in Karuizawa,” said Claire. “Citizens of the world at our doorsteps. At least we aren’t kept totally in the dark like the others.” She looked at Yuka Mori, who was standing stunned, and said, “Quick! Mrs. Mori. Turn on the radio!”
As Claire had said, there was still nothing on the radio about Hitler’s death, so Emi and Claire biked into town. The last two months had been terrible for Japan. In early March, the Americans had firebombed Tokyo, far worse than they had before, decimating the city in two days and killing thousands, more than a hundred thousand perhaps, her father had written to say. There were charred bodies all over the city, and most of the people he saw alive were homeless, living under tarpaulins, shacks made of burned wood, pieces of corrugated metal—anything that could serve as a roof. The malnutrition had been bad before the bombing, he stressed, but now the majority of the capital’s citizens were on the brink of starvation. He and her mother had hidden in a bomb shelter in the ministry, he’d assured her, as safe as the emperor, he’d said, but their house had been flattened, all of their possessions turned to ash.
Her father stressed that he’d repeatedly begged Emi’s mother to join her in Karuizawa, but she would not go. A stubborn woman from the old generation, he’d called her.
She was wrong, thought Emi, as she looked out at the town after she and Claire had arrived on the ginza. Her mother, she was sure, would have loved to see what was in front of her.
The street was full of people, gaijin and Japanese, as word about Hitler had traveled from both the Swiss and Swedish embassies. There was diplomatic staff everywhere—Russians, Swiss, Swedes, and Turks—and no Germans at all. No citizens or soldiers.
“Germany will have to surrender now,” said Ayumi, when she saw Emi. She was near tears herself. “And after Germany surrenders, what choice will Japan have? We will surrender. Then the war will be over. Finally,” she said, one of her daughters behind her, holding the waist of her pants. “We will have peace again.”
A man from the Swiss delegation whom Evgeni was friendly with was behind them as well. He came around and smiled at them, his elation apparent. “Germany will surrender this week,” he said. “I’m sure of it.”
Emi looked around at the ginza and thought about the day she spent with Leo in the Heldenplatz in Vienna. The Austrians were crying tears of joy to see Hitler, and now the foreigners in Japan, and even some Japanese, were crying tears of joy because he was dead. Leo must know, she thought to herself. He had to.