Lilac Girls

Chapter 2 begins in 1939 Lublin, Poland. Kasia and her two best friends, Nadia Watroba and Pietrik Bakoski, sneak out to see the refugees from Warsaw. Kasia worries about the future of Lublin, but she is more concerned that Nadia purchased Pietrik’s collection of dance passes at the Girl Guides charity ball. Kasia loves Pietrik and fears that her two best friends have fallen for each other instead. Nadia is Jewish and has been pelted with rocks by neighborhood children; Pietrik and Kasia do their best to protect her.

German biplanes appear and begin spraying bullets upon the fields of Lublin. The three children run away and see the violence and bloodshed that left in the attack’s wake. When they are close to Kasia’s home, Pietrik escorts Nadia back to her mother’s apartment. At home, Kasia discovers that her family has been looking for her: Kasia’s mother, Halina, whom she calls “Matka”; Zuzanna, Kasia’s older sister and a doctor in training; and Psina, her pet chicken, are all unhurt. Kasia’s father, Ade, whom she calls “Papa,” is still missing; he went to search for her and Zuzanna blames Kasia for his absence. Zuzanna leaves to find him.

Papa returns that night with no sign of Zuzanna. After he searched for Kasia, he went to the postal office, where he works, to burn important information the Germans want. Halina is part German and believes that since they have done nothing wrong that they need not worry; she believes the British or the French will come to help them. Ade begins instructing the family to gather their valuables; they find and store everything in tin cans before burying it in the backyard. The things they hid include “Matka’s nursing certificate, their marriage license, a small ruby ring from Matka’s family and an envelope of family pictures” (32). They also bury food, a gun, Kasia’s Girl Guides uniform, and Matka’s paintbrushes. Matka keeps her engagement ring on.

The next day, SS guards arrive to take Ade away for questioning. One of the guards spots something in the yard; Matka tries to distract him, but he propositions her and she rejects his advances. The chapter ends with the man lifting the shovel into the air.

Chapter 3 introduces the readers to Herta Oberheuser, a 25-year-old German Aryan woman and medical student who ardently supports Hitler and his agenda. Her Father, Anton, had grown extremely ill and she accompanied him on his visit to see Katz, “his favorite old Jewish treater of the sick” (39). Herta admits that she only knows what her textbooks have told her about Jewish people; she is surprised by Katz’s kindness and his kindness towards her father. Herta’s continues to find fault with everything Katz does. However, when Katz discovers that Herta wishes to become a surgeon—which is forbidden, as she is a woman—he loans her a book entitled Atlas of General Surgery (40). Herta does not thank Katz and simply takes the book. When she returns to Katz to swap the finished book for another, she finds his home ransacked.

Herta works at her uncle’s meat market; there, people often sell objects stolen from dead Jewish people. German women were shamed for shopping at Jewish-owned stores and often shunned. Herta and her mother, whom she calls “Mutti,” often go “shopping” for things that were stolen from imprisoned Jewish people. Herta’s father disapproves of his wife and daughter doing so. Mutti often calls Herta “Kleine Kuh” or “little heifer” (45). Herta despises the nickname, but Mutti finds it amusing that her daughter reminds her of a brown cow that she had as a child. Anton supports Herta, but he is dismayed by her support for Hitler and the Reich; he wonders why she has become so heartless. They have an argument about Hitler and the future of Germany on the street. Although Herta admits that with Hitler in power, she will never become a surgeon, she believes it is a worthy sacrifice for a better Germany. Herta worries that her father will be denounced and punished for his disloyalty and disdain for the Party. Mutti, on the other hand, is extremely proud of her Aryan blood and the Reich.

Herta helps chaperone the League of German Girls at Camp Blossom, a branch of the Nazi Party youth organization. There, Herta meets with her friend Pippi, who wants to be impregnated by an Aryan man. The Party encourages Aryan couples to pair off, especially if it resulted in a pregnancy. According to Herta, the impregnated girls are sent to a luxurious spa clinic. Fearing an encounter with the boys from the camp over, she hides a pair of scissors in her pocket. The boys chase them and Pippi lets herself be caught. The boys soon force themselves on Pippi in a nearby cabin. Herta rescues Pippi and threatens the boys with the scissors; when the boys leave, Herta cuts her hair short. Herta’s short hair dissuades some of the boys, while most of the other girls leave camp hoping they are pregnant.

Caroline’s work at the consulate picks up considerably after Hitler’s invasion of Poland. Despite this, her society friends, especially one Betty Merchant, continue to attempt to take Caroline out to lunch. Betty does not understand why Caroline works such long hours, considering that she is merely a volunteer. Caroline, however, is busy assembling comfort boxes. Betty informs Caroline that there has been gossip about her and Paul Rodierre. It is also revealed that Caroline previously dated Betty’s brother, David, before he decided to marry Sally.

Paul arrives to speak with Roger about getting a visa for Rena. Caroline lingers in the meeting, trying to provide Paul with the necessary support. She offers to be Rena’s second visa sponsor. Roger is unconvinced that he will manage to sway the state department for a visa but promises Paul that he will try his best. Roger speaks to Caroline in private; he worries that she has feelings for Paul and is only helping him so that he will stay in the United States.

Caroline’s mother organizes a dansant, “a casual afternoon gathering at which light sandwiches are served and dancing is encouraged” (58), to benefit exiled Russian aristocrats. Serge, the family chef, makes the food for the event. However, the event has an extremely low turnout due to America’s increasingly isolationist stance. Paul sees Caroline and is introduced to her mother; he leaves and returns with the cast and crew of his entire show. Caroline’s mother warms up to Paul. Between exploring Manhattan, eating lunches on the roof, and the kindness he’d just shown to her mother, Caroline realizes that Paul is her best friend.

Kasia’s chapter picks up right where Chapter 2 ends. The SS man brings down the shovel on Kasia’s pet chicken, Psina. He kills her immediately and takes her as his due. The SS man tells Matka “withholding food from the Reich is a serious offense” (64). Zuzanna returns the next day with news that most Polish hospital employees were deemed unfit to work in important positions by the Germans. Zuzanna is assigned to the Lublin Ambulance Corps after Nazis moved into Lublin on a more permanent basis. Many of the family’s Polish friends and neighbors disappear in the night. Everything in Lublin comes to a standstill for Kasia and her family; they are mostly forced to stay at home.

Pietrik visits one day and Kasia is delighted to see him. They talk about Nadia and Pietrik begs Kasia for her help. Pietrik is a part of the underground resistance, the Home Army, and has been trying to get Nadia and her mother to a safe house. Pietrik asks Kasia to help rescue Nadia’s dog, Felka, from their old house. Pietrik tells Kasia that she is precious to him and to be careful, to enter the house through the back door and take the yellow envelope inside the phone book. Kasia is instructed to take the envelope to 12 Lipowa Street and tell them her code name: “Iwona” (67), which means yew tree. The next day, Kasia gets the envelope filled with money and helps Felka into her wagon. After being questioned by an SS man, Kasia goes to safe house and is let in by Janina Grabowski, codename “Wiola.” Janina tells Kasia that Nadia and her mother are safe. Kasia leaves after delivering the money and returns home with Felka.

Herta’s chapter takes place between 1939 and 1940. Herta wears her BDM uniform with pride and allows a young German child to touch her many badges and pins. Such awards are rarely given to women, and Herta is unbelievably proud of her own: “While the all-male Hitler Youth had patches and pins for every activity, down to potting plants, BDM achievement badges were limited in number and hard-won” (73). Despite Herta’s many accomplishments and accolades from the Party, she is unable to find a job as a doctor. Eventually, Herta finds a part-time position at a skin clinic in Düsseldorf.

Herta’s earnings are low, however, especially to sustain her entire family, including her ill father. Herta thus continues to work at her uncle’s butcher shop. Every Sunday, however, Herta is forced to make a contraceptive out of sheep intestine before her uncle Heinz sexually assaults her. Herta believes this is the price she has to pay for her education; her aunt would never have paid for her schooling had she known about this. That day, however, her aunt, Ilsa, walks in on Heinz having sex with Herta. Ilsa says and does nothing and simply walks away. Herta finds an ad for a doctor at a reeducation camp for women outside of Berlin near Lake Schwedt. The camp is called Ravensbrück.