David John: Flight from Berlin

As they were changing for dinner in their cabins the sun finally broke through, and by the time the six of them climbed the stairs to A deck and entered the hundred-foot-long promenade in time to join the other passengers for cocktails, the setting sun shone horizontally through the windows, burnishing the lounge with a reddish golden light.

The single gown Eleanor had packed was of green satin organza with a low, square neckline, set off by her pearl necklace. Hannah had borrowed earrings from Ilse and wore her fine hair swirled and piled up. The men wore the dinner jackets Eckener had placed in their cabins.

Once they’d been served martinis they gathered along the window. The ocean had calmed, and its dark surface sparkled with gold. A cargo ship whose wake they’d followed for miles sounded its horn and its crew waved from the deck as the leviathan droned overhead.

Jakob was in good spirits. Probably never in his life had he been beholden to the mercies of strangers, Eleanor thought, as he raised his glass.

They raised theirs in return.

The old man was about to speak. But then his smile wavered and began to fade, first in his eyes, and then around his jowls and lips.

He was staring into the gathering of passengers.

‘What’s the matter Jaku, dear?’ said Ilse.

They turned to look at what Jakob was seeing. Several knots of people chatting with drinks. But among them were two men together, in black tie, glaring at them. One with a white moustache twisted into two pins, a pince-nez, and hair swept back like a professor’s; the other tall and potbellied, with fleshy lips and a mane of thick, grey hair. He wore a Party pin in his lapel. His eyes landed on Eleanor: they were the grey-beige colour of dishwater. And that’s when she recognised him.

‘Father,’ Hannah said, ‘aren’t those the men…’

‘Yes,’ said Jakob.

‘The men who were leaving the morning we visited your home…,’ said Eleanor. ‘The ones who took your art collection.’

The tall man turned away from them, a look of repugnance on his face, as though he’d dressed for a society wedding only to find that the street drinkers had been invited. He leaned down to whisper to his colleague. Then they both turned and walked quickly out of the promenade deck.

‘They’re probably going to complain to Pruss,’ said Jakob. ‘Ah well. I take comfort from knowing that I’ve spoilt their dinner as much as they’ve spoilt mine.’ He gave a mirthless smile. ‘If our collection turns up for sale in New York they know I can kick up a stink… which raises an intriguing possibility…’

Jakob met his wife’s eyes, and they seemed to be reading each other’s minds.

The hors d’oeuvre was an Indian swallow nest soup served with a superb Piesporter ’34. When the sun fell behind the horizon trailing ragged scraps of glory, the dining room’s lights came on.

Lehmann approached their table and leaned over to whisper into Jakob’s ear. He left without greeting the others.

‘Our friend tells me those men are in the radio room talking to Berlin…’

Denham said, ‘We should move the dossier from the cabin and hide it elsewhere in the ship.’

After coffee, Denham and Jakob went down to the smoking room on B deck, which was deserted but for the barman.

Jakob ordered two glasses of Delamain cognac and two cigars.

‘San Cristobal de la Habana,’ Denham said with appreciation, running his nose along the leaf.

The old man leaned back, and for a few minutes they savoured the taste of the cigars, at peace with the world. The hum of the engines was quieter in this aft section of the ship.

The door from the pressurised air lock into the smoking room opened with a sharp suck, and the art dealer and his Nazi colleague entered. Without waiting for an invitation they seated themselves opposite Denham and Jakob. The barman came to attend to them, but the tall man with the dishwater eyes waved him away.

‘We want to talk,’ he said.

‘Yes, I thought you might,’ Jakob said. ‘Two more, please, barman.’

‘We don’t want a drink.’

‘They’re not for you,’ Jakob said with a chuckle.

‘And you can show some courtesy here,’ Denham said. ‘You’re not in a Bierkeller now.’

The man turned to Denham for the first time, and exposed a set of khaki-coloured teeth.

‘Your face is familiar,’ he said.

‘My name’s Denham, I’m a reporter. Who are you?’

The man pulled an impatient face. ‘I am Lothar Koch,’ he said with emphasis. ‘I am the Director of the Reich Chamber of the Visual Arts.’

‘Permit me…,’ said the other man, the art dealer with the twirled white moustache, in a manner more civil than his colleague’s. He was offering his card. Denham remembered seeing it on the table that morning they visited the Liebermanns.

‘Ah yes. “Gallerie Haberstock- German Dealership.”’

‘I am Karl Haberstock…,’ he said, ‘and our business is with Herr Liebermann.’ He gave a small, sour smile. His sagging cheeks drew up to the corners of his mouth like old theatre curtains.

‘I know the collection is on board,’ Jakob said. ‘And I have to tell you that I’m claiming it back in New York.’

‘That might be difficult,’ said Haberstock without blinking. ‘There’s the matter of the assignment of title to us, which you willingly entered into.’

Jakob said, ‘The assignment is a contract I was compelled to make with the National Socialist government. I’m certain any New York district judge would consider it void.’

Koch uncrossed his legs suddenly so that his potbelly rolled over his belt. ‘Listen to me, you kike, you can have your hideous collection-’

‘Ah, what Reichsleiter Koch wishes to say, Herr Liebermann,’ said Haberstock placing his hand on Koch’s shoulder, ‘is that there may be an arrangement we could make that would resolve the situation to everyone’s satisfaction.’

‘Really,’ said Jakob.

Denham folded his arms. Here it comes.

‘You have in your possession something which is of no value outside Germany. We’ve been authorised by Berlin to offer you a simple swap… If you give it to us, your art collection will be restored to you forthwith without the inconvenience of lawyers and proceedings. I hope you’ll agree that’s a fair offer.’

Jakob knocked back his second glass of cognac and stood up. ‘Gentlemen. Thank you for your proposal. I assure you I’ll give it my fullest consideration.’

‘We need an answer right now,’ said Koch.

‘I’m not given to making snap decisions in business. You may have my answer over breakfast. Good night,’ he said, smiling at them both, and left the smoking room.

Koch’s neck and face began to blotch with shades of mushroom and puce.

‘I’m curious,’ Denham said to them. ‘Did Berlin tell you anything of the nature of this item we have in our possession? I mean, its content…?’

H annah explained again to Captain Lehmann why they didn’t trust those two men. She told him she believed they would use force to recover some valuables from her, which they insisted should have remained in Germany.

‘Do you mean they’ll break into your cabin?’ Lehmann said, taken aback.

‘If they’ve got orders from Berlin, yes,’ said Eleanor.

He nodded, his lips pursed.

‘Does it need to be hidden now?’ he asked. He looked weary after a long day on the bridge.

‘I’m so sorry,’ said Hannah, gently taking his elbow, ‘would you mind very much?’

The captain blushed slightly.

‘Very well,’ he said to them. ‘I know the perfect place. But you’ll need warm coats.’

The air was biting cold in the long keel corridor that led to the cargo area.