Dazzle The Complete Unabridged Trilogy (96 page)

'But you were successful in raising money and support while
you were here?'

'Some, but hardly as much as we need. Everyone seems to like the idea of our creating a Jewish nation, but they do not wish to face the means needed to accomplish this. It all boils
down to political pressure, money, and arms.' He added wearily, 'No nation was ever created without violence.'

Tamara smiled, 'Then you really are the swashbuckler the
papers make you out to be!'

He laughed. 'Like in your movies?'

'Well, something like that.'

He sighed. 'If only it was as simple as a movie. I hate viol
ence, but only through guns and bullets can we survive. I do
not mean we should go out and shoot Arabs. What I am saying
is that when we are attacked, we must fight back. Even retaliate. In 1929, there was a massacre of Jews. We cannot let that
happen again.'

'But what about this fugitive business?' she asked. 'Why
should the British want you so badly? You're not doing any
thing wrong. Are you?'

'According to the existing British laws, yes, I am,' Schmarya
said. He smiled. 'Morally, however, I believe I am doing the
right thing.' Seeing her startled expression, he said soothingly,
'Believe me, I much prefer to live with my conscience, even
if it means having a price on my head.'

Tamara was shocked. 'Do you? Have a price on your head?'

He laughed. 'Not yet, but very soon I may well have.'

There was a momentary silence around the table, which
Louis broke. 'But you believe Palestine has a real chance of
becoming a Jewish nation?' he asked in a hushed tone. 'You think it's more than just a pipe dream? That it will really
happen?'

'It has to,' Schmarya replied grimly. 'Without it, the Jews
of the world are doomed. With the situation in Europe being
what it is, I cannot tell you how urgent it is that it happens
very soon.' He paused heavily and added softly, 'Before it is
too late.'

'But why?' Inge asked. 'What makes things now so much
worse than they were at any other time? I thought there were
always troubles for Jews.'

Schmarya glanced around the table, holding each of their
gazes for a full ten seconds. 'You have all heard of Adolf
Hitler, I presume?'

'Charlie Chaplin,' Inge laughed.
'The Little Tramp!
He
looks just like Chaplin.'

Louis and Tamara laughed along with her.

'Do not laugh.' Schmarya's face was grave. 'There is nothing
at all comic about the German Führer. No matter how ridicu
lous he may seem to you, the peoples of the world would be
well advised to take him seriously. Do you not realize that the
man is probably the greatest danger the twentieth century will
have to face?'

'That clown!' Inge scoffed. 'You cannot be serious!' She
stared at Schmarya.

He nodded. 'I am serious. If you know what is good for you,
then you and the rest of the world had best begin to change
your views of him before it is too late. Soon he will be invin
cible. Since he took office in January of last year, he has been
given dictatorial power. Do you have any idea what that
means? He now controls everything in Germany.' His cheeks
tightened and his eyes flashed.
'Everything.
And he has lost
no time in consolidating that power. He has outlawed and
disbanded all opposing political parties. Strikes have been
banned. Everything, including culture and religion, has been
brought under the aegis of the government.' His voice
dropped. 'And Jews are disappearing everyday. We must find
out what is happening to them. If he is not stopped, more and
more Jews will simply disappear.'

A thin shiver, like a blade of fine steel, traced its way down
Tamara's spine. Her voice trembled. 'He must be mad!' she
whispered.

'Don't you think you're blowing Hitler slightly out of proportion?' Louis asked. 'Surely you're giving a megalomaniac
more credit than he's due.'

'No,' Schmarya said definitely. 'If anything, even I am not taking his threats seriously enough. At first I did not want to
believe what I was hearing either, but the stories I heard from
the immigrants from Germany were all the same. Throughout
Germany, entire Jewish families are rounded up and dis
appear.'

Louis was silent.

'You have only to read
Mein Kampf,
Hitler's book, in which
he outlined all his twisted beliefs and grievances,' Schmarya
said.
'
If it is up to him—and now that he is dictator, it may
very well be—then there will not be a single Jew left alive on
this planet. That is one reason—the most important reason—
for the creation of a Jewish nation. Our people will be in desperate need of sanctuary. Germany is no longer safe for
them. It will be worse than Russia ever was. There will be war
as Hitler seeks to expand Germany, and everywhere the Nazis
go, the Jews will disappear.'

'You're frightening me,' Tamara whispered.

'And well you should be frightened. Really. I am not exaggerating. Hitler intends to take over the world and kill off
everyone who is not Nordic and blue-eyed and blond-haired.
Aryan, at least.'

'But that's . . . preposterous!' Tamara sputtered. 'No one
can do that!'

'I
f anyone can, it will be Hitler. And believe me, he will
try.'

Abruptly Tamara pushed back her chair and rose to her
feet.
'I
t seems to have gotten chilly suddenly,' she said, rub
bing her forearms briskly. 'I suggest we have our after-dinner
drinks indoors.'

'If you do not mind, I will say good night and prepare for bed,' Inge said, glancing at her wristwatch. 'For me, it is far
past my bedtime.' She smiled at Schmarya and took his hands.
'I am glad you have come,' she said, looking directly up into
his eyes. 'You are a nice, brave man. Senda loved you, you
know. Everything she did, she did because of that. I think now, if she were alive, she would be very proud of you.'

'I should be going soon also,' Schmarya said after Inge had
left. 'Tomorrow we take the train back to New York, and I still have to pack.' He saw the protest in Tamara's eyes and smiled. 'Well, perhaps I can stay a little longer, but I do not
wish to impose.'

'I know that.' She grinned and squeezed Schmarya's arm.
She took a deep breath. 'You know, Inge was right.'

He looked puzzled. 'About what?'

'You
are
a very nice man. And I'm proud of you also.'

He looked suddenly embarrassed, and then Louis asked,
'Demitasse or brandy?'

'Brandy,' Schmarya said quickly. 'It is rare where I come
from, and I might as well take advantage of civilization.'

Louis splashed some Napoleon brandy into giant snifters
and they sipped them on the soft white leather chairs grouped
around the circular fireplace with its copper hood and flue
rising two storeys to the glass-domed roof.

'Now tell me about Palestine,' Tamara said, sitting up
straight. 'I want to know what it is about it that you love so
much, that keeps you going and makes all the battles and
hiding out, the struggles to survive . . .
everything,
so
worthwhile.'

'Palestine,' Schmarya said softly, a faraway look in his eyes,
'yes, I will tell you about the Promised Land. It is everything
God promised it would be, and more.'

Chapter 17

Tamara was entranced, and even Louis had fallen under the spell. While Schmarya had spoken, they sat as though hypno
tized, forgetting where they were. Through the sheer power of words, he had transported them thousands of miles east
ward and into the past, centuries from the luxurious estate in
Los Angeles to the ancient land of Deborah and Solomon and
Jezebel and Elijah.

'I had no idea all that still existed!' Tamara cried when he stopped. 'I always thought it was something in history books
and the Bible. But you make it sound so real!'

'Ah, then you begin to understand,' Schmarya said, nodding
with satisfaction before continuing to sing the praises of his
adopted land.

The hours had slipped slyly by, and all too soon the time
came for him to leave. It was well past midnight.

'I fear I really must leave now,' Schmarya said, getting to
his feet. 'Let me call for a taxi.'

'No,' Tamara said adamantly. 'Louis and I will drive you
back to your hotel.'

'But you must be tired. Surely you get up early.'

'He's right, you know,' Louis said. 'You've got a makeup
call at six-thirty, which means you won't get more than four
and a half hours' sleep. You know how the camera picks up
the slightest puffiness from lack of sleep. I don't have to be on
the set until eight. You go on up to bed and I'll drive Schmarya
downtown.'

Tamara hesitated.

'Please,' Schmarya said. He smiled slightly. 'It would make
me feel better.'

After a moment she nodded. 'In that case, how can I
refuse?'

'Good.' Schmarya smiled, and it occurred to Tamara that
this was the first time in her memory that she'd had an oppor
tunity to obey her father.

'I'll go get the car,' Louis said, heading toward the foyer.
'When I honk, meet me up front.'

They watched him leave, and once he was gone, Tamara turned to her father. 'I'm glad we found each other after all
these years,' she said warmly. She stared into his eyes. 'My
only regret is that we didn't have more time together.'