After Kristallnacht, Emi was forbidden to set foot in Leo’s house.
“It’s too dangerous,” her father had explained after he’d spoken to Max Hartmann. The two men had met several times before when the Katos, realizing that Emi’s best friend in Vienna was an Austrian boy, had invited the Hartmanns to dinner to make sure there was nothing untoward going on between them. The Hartmanns had returned the gesture, inviting the Katos not just to dinner, but to several of their musical soirées. To no one’s surprise, everyone got along very well, as anti-Semitism had not gripped Japan and certainly held no sway over the Katos. As for the Hartmanns, they were already taken with Emi and pleased to be able to host a prominent diplomatic family. The Katos figured out quickly that Emi had a romantic relationship with Leo, but they were relieved to find in him a boy who was thoroughly respectful of their young daughter, even in awe of her.
“It wasn’t my doing, Emiko. Leo’s parents don’t want you in danger. They’ve forbidden you to visit them at home, for your own safety,” Norio told his daughter, who had spent the three days after Kristallnacht alternating between stunned silence and tears, though she had tried not to break down too often in front of her parents. “You’ll have to practice the piano at school or here, never at the Hartmanns’. And you’re not to walk in the city alone anymore. You will always have to be with your amah when you’re not at school.”
“But then I’ll never see Leo,” Emi said, her brow creased with worry. “His parents have taken him out of school. When will I see him if he’s not at school and I can’t visit them?”
“Your seeing him is not the Hartmanns’ concern right now,” said Norio. “Don’t be so selfish. They need to figure out if they can save their family’s business and how they will manage without Mr. Hartmann’s salary, as his employment at the bank has been terminated. Their house could be seized, their assets frozen, their possessions stolen. Mostly, they need to determine how they can leave Austria. The situation for the Jews in this country has become dire, Emiko,” Norio went on. “Their companies are being liquidated, they are being banned from public places and worse. They are simply disappearing. It’s no longer about mistreatment, it’s a matter of life and death. I hate to speak so somberly, but you should be aware of the horrors that are occurring around us.”
“I am aware!” said Emi, getting more upset. “I saw what they did during Kristallnacht.”
“Then please, let the Hartmanns take care of their affairs without having to worry about you running around their house crying,” he said firmly. “When they have things in order and are leaving Vienna, we will find a way for you to say goodbye to Leo. Maybe at the consulate, where we can have some measure of protection for them. And you.”
“I need to see him again,” she said, trying to keep herself together. “Please help me. You can arrange it, can’t you?”
“I just said I would! Things are going to get so much worse, Emiko. This part of the world, it’s starting to scare me. You’ve seen the lines of Jews desperately begging for exit visas in front of the police stations, the foreign consulates. Not all of them will be able to leave. Nazis have even blockaded the University of Vienna. The Jews are all over the streets, being forced to do the most terrible things. And what can I do? Yesterday, I spoke to Ambassador Togo in Berlin about the situation here and there. In October he was replaced as ambassador to Germany by Hiroshi Oshima, who is very pro-Nazi.”
“Replaced? But what will happen to Ambassador Togo and Edita?” asked Emi, anxiously.
“He’s been reassigned to Moscow,” said Norio. “Which is fine. Not a demotion. But Oshima, he is an army general. A hawk. He’s been in Berlin since 1934, serving as the military attaché when we were there, and he met with Hitler personally the following year. I remember the pride he took in his tête-à-tête, speaking about it for months afterward. He will be no friend to the Jews.”
“Why would anyone replace Togo with a man like that?”
“I know Oshima has been maneuvering for the position for years, but perhaps Shigenori and Edita wanted to leave,” said her father solemnly. “I would not want to keep my Jewish wife in Berlin at such a time.”
“Vienna will become just as bad as Berlin,” said Emi. “I can feel it.”
“Which is why you must leave the Hartmanns alone,” said her father sternly. “Let them focus on how to escape Vienna safely. I mean it, Emiko.”
Emi nodded respectfully and turned to leave the room. She was definitely not going to heed her father’s order.
When she returned to school after Kristallnacht, Emi expected other students to be as shaken as she was, but life went on as usual. If anything, many seemed more animated, displaying an enthusiasm that matched the chaos roiling the city. Emi was alone in her solemnity and fear.
On the first Friday after the terror in Vienna, Emi made her way slowly to the school’s music room after classes were over, dragging her hand along the wall, imagining Leo’s hand at the end of it reaching out for hers. Instead, she heard footsteps behind her and turned to see one of her classmates trying to catch up with her. A tall, heavyset girl with fine blond hair always parted straight down the center, Kersten had once seemed eager to be friends with Emi, but this afternoon she had a grimace on her face. As she approached her, she cut in front of her so that Emi almost tripped trying not to crash into her.
“Watch where you’re going!” said Kersten, laughing.
Emi looked at her, and immediately saw the pins on her shirt. Kersten was part of the Hitlerjugend. Before the Anschluss, there were members of the Jugend at her school, but it was mostly an underground operation. Now it was the only youth group that the government allowed and Kersten, it seemed, had jumped into service immediately.
Emi had never felt a pull toward Kersten, even when Kersten had been very friendly to Emi when she first arrived. Her father, she knew, was one of the city’s most prominent doctors, but he had also been active in the Christian Social Party, one of Austria’s most right-wing political factions. Kersten was often repeating his rhetoric, especially the criticism of the heavily Jewish Social Democrat Party, which Emi knew Leo’s father had been a member of.
Emi wasn’t surprised at all that Kersten was one of the first girls at school to wear the Hitlerjugend insignia on her uniform.
“You better apologize to me,” said Kersten, her hand on her shoulder, feigning pain. Her hair was in two braids, one on each side with the bottoms rolled intricately together. Other than her too-thick build and her scowl, she looked like the perfect image of Aryan youth.
Emi righted herself and said, “I’m trying to go practice in the music room. Can you move, please?”
“And my apology?” said Kersten, her foot in front of Emi.