Chapter 24

24

As Jana approached the back entrance to the castle, she saw the gardener raking over the earth in the flowerbeds, careful not to disturb the red tulips and bright daffodils. He was young, his strong forearms already tanned from the spring sunshine. With the change of the season, she saw him working around the castle grounds often. He had an easy smile that sported a gap between his front teeth.

As always, he greeted her, but today, he asked her name. She told him, and thought it only polite to ask in return. He told her it was Janek.

‘Have a nice day, Jana,' he called out cheerfully as she made for the entrance. The surly guard checked her bag, and a female official with sharp fingers patted her down. She went to the cloakroom where her uniform hung on a peg and got changed.

Heydrich rolled up into the front courtyard, his convertible toady driven by his chauffer. An escort car followed. Jana made a mental note of the details and continued her duties.

Half an hour later, when she was polishing a silver table lamp in one of the back offices overlooking the neat lawn, she heard a commotion. Men's shouts. She moved to the window, turning rigid at what she saw. The young gardener, Janek, was held by two SS men and Heydrich was screaming at him. Jana couldn't make out the words but she heard the viciousness in his tone. What could the young gardener possibly have done to anger Heydrich to such an extent? Janek just tended the flower beds; smiled at the staff as they came to work in the morning.

But now his face was full of hate and defiance as he glared back at Heydrich, who then turned silent, his body still as stone. The Protektor and the gardener stared at each other. The seconds stretched; Jana held her breath. Then, Heydrich nodded at the SS officers who hitched Janek under his arms as if to march him away. Janek raised his head and spat out a few words at Heydrich.

Heydrich's arm flung to his side, whipping out his pistol; his legs stood firm, his right arm extended, his face a mask of fury.

‘No,' gasped Jana.

A gunshot pierced the air. Janek's body jerked backwards, convulsing.

She just had time to take in the SS men's surprised faces covered in Janek's blood before she screamed and collapsed to the floor. Not even an hour ago, Janek had greeted her with a smile on his young, cheerful face, and now… Bile filled her mouth. What she had just witnessed was the most horrific thing she had ever seen. Her stomach spasmed and she crawled over to the cleaning bucket and vomited till she was hollowed out.

When she had finished being sick, she lay rolled up in the corner of the room, shivering. Poor Janek. What had he done to rile that monster? Revulsion and fear coiled in her stomach. He had been working for the resistance, no doubt. And so was she.

‘Had a shock, have we?' Brandt's snide voice came from the doorway. She was too weak to raise her head from the floor. The thump of his footsteps came towards her and she soon saw his black, shiny boots in front of her face.

‘No one messes with our Blond Beast.' He used the term with fondness and pride.

Hating to be at his feet, Jana lifted herself to sitting. Her voice thin, she said, ‘He shot him in cold blood.'

Brandt let out a cruel laugh. ‘That's nothing. When we were out east, I saw him shoot a small girl. At point-blank range.' He paused for effect before he said, ‘But she was a Jewess.' He shrugged.

So the rumour she'd heard was true.

Images of Lillian's daughters sprung into her mind, goosebumps crawling over her skin.

‘You'd better pull yourself together, Fr?ulein .' He shoved her knee with his boot. ‘And get on with your work.'

With that, he stomped out the room.

Jana stayed where she was for a long time, her body and mind gripped with inertia as she tried to process what she had just seen. Eventually, she forced herself to her feet. How she detested Heydrich. That vile, evil monster. Anger and hate surged through her. The man wasn't human. He didn't deserve to walk on this earth. She wished with all her heart that he was dead.

In bed that night, Jana relived the invasion of Prague by the Germans.

It happened on the morning of 15 March 1939. She had woken in the middle of the night to low voices coming from the living room and had switched on her bedside light, squinting at her alarm clock. It was 4.35a.m. Dread settling in her stomach, she climbed out of bed and padded in woollen socks from her bedroom. Mama and Papa were huddled around the radio, listening to their president addressing the nation in solemn tones.

‘What's going on?' Jana had asked.

‘The Germans are coming,' said Papa, his voice hollow. ‘Hitler has declared that if we don't surrender, he will wreak devastation across the land.'

Mama, her face pallid, reached out an arm to Jana and draped it around her shoulders. ‘The Wehrmacht will cross our border at six o'clock this morning.'

‘There's a snow storm blowing in. Let's hope that stops them in their tracks,' Papa said, adjusting the dial as the radio crackled. Jana stared at the radio in shock. Although the Czechs had been living with this threat for some time now, everyone had hoped the government could come to some agreement with Hitler. But the disaster they'd all feared had become reality.

The sky had been hazy, the clouds grey and low, as a light snow drifted across the city. And Jana and her parents had joined the Czech citizens lining Wenceslas Square.

They stood next to an anxious-faced woman, a shawl draped over her head. Beside her, a workman in shabby clothes shouted defiantly to those surrounding him, his words met by cheers.

It was just past ten thirty when the ground vibrated beneath their feet and silence fell on the crowd.

A roar of motor cycles, a rumble of tanks. And the thump, thump of heavy boots.

The Wehrmacht arrived, soldiers in grey-green uniforms marching five abreast, their rifles high on their shoulders. Tanks rolled in, leaving their tracks in the snow. Some people hissed and jeered at the Germans; others looked on in horrified silence. A lone male voice began to sing the Czech national anthem and was quickly joined in an uprising of emotional singing. Then trucks arrived bearing loudspeakers warning that any resistance would be met by brutal repercussions. The crowds quietened as the Germans set up machine guns pointing at the gathered citizens and planes flew low over the city. The hopelessness and despair that Jana felt was reflected on her parents' faces.

They stood in the frigid air watching events unfold. Mama coughed into her scarf and Jana worried she was developing yet another chest cold. Ever since she had contracted tuberculosis in her nursing days during the Great War, she had been prone to illness.

‘Come, Mama, let's go home and have some hot soup,' she said coaxingly.

But Mama shook her head, saying she needed to witness what was happening to believe it.

Within hours, the city was splashed in blood-red swastika flags, adorning buildings, statues and historic monuments.

And early evening, Hitler himself stood at the open window on the first floor of Prague Castle, looking down in triumph.

A few days later, Himmler paraded around the city with a tall, imposing figure, rumoured to be his new protégé; that was when Prague's citizens first laid eyes on Reinhard Heydrich.

At home, Mama developed a high fever. She was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with pneumonia. One week after the Nazis had entered Prague, Jana's mother passed away.