Secrets Revealed Read online

  Secrets Revealed

  Copyright © 2016 by Roberta Kagan

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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  DISCLAIMER

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events are purely coincidental.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FOURTY

  CHAPTER FOURTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FOURTY-TWO

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  PROLOGUE

  Warsaw, Poland, 1946

  Poland suffered greatly when it was taken over by Hitler. The Polish people found themselves living in terror under the thumb of the Third Reich. Many of the citizens of Poland refused to accept the Nazi rule and so they formed a resistance group called the Home Army. In October of 1944, there was an uprising of the Home Army against the Nazis in Warsaw. Joseph Stalin promised to send Russian troops to assist the Polish in their rebellion. He kept that promise, and a war in the streets ensued between the Nazis and the Polish, with the assistance of Russia. The Home Army put up a valiant effort but, in the end, suffered great losses and were defeated.

  Meanwhile, Hitler’s army was taking a brutal beating from the Allies. In addition, Hitler never calculated for the weather or the vast terrain his soldiers would face during a winter on the Eastern front. By 1945, the Nazis surrendered. The Americans and British marched through the previously Nazi-occupied territory from the west, while the Soviets came coursing through from the east. Although Stalin had proclaimed friendship to Poland during its Nazi occupation, Russia now became Poland’s conqueror. And so the Nazi flags with the black swastikas that had been hung throughout Poland, striking fear in the hearts of the Polish people, were torn down. But in their place there rose another flag, not the Polish flag, but one that bore the image of a hammer and a sickle. Poland still was not free; she now belonged to Russia. When Stalin spoke he promised a better life under communist rule. However, his words were meaningless, evaporating as if they were never spoken, like drops of moisture on leaves the morning after a rainstorm. The blatant truth was that, although Hitler and his terrible Third Reich were gone, the Polish were not free. They were now under communist occupation.

  CHAPTER ONE

  1956 Warsaw, Poland, ten years later.

  Helen walked into her small but tidy apartment. In her hand she carried a cloth bag. Inside were a few potatoes and carrots, two meat bones to make a soup, and a loaf of bread. She set the bag down on the table. Lately, she had taken to going to the bakery and buying bread rather than baking it. Since she and the baker’s wife had become friendly, Helen was getting a nice discount on day-old bread. This almost made buying it more cost-effective than baking, and it certainly was easier. Helen slipped off her coat and hung it on a hook by the door and began unloading her bag. Ela would be home from her classes in an hour and, as always, Helen liked to clean the vegetables and have the soup in a kettle simmering when Ela arrived. If everything was done, Helen would have some time before dinner to sew with her daughter or just enjoy a cup of tea and talk about the events of their day.

  Peel a carrot, chop a potato; Helen glanced out the window. The neighborhood children, just home from school, were gathering in the courtyard. Helen remembered when Ela was just a child. She missed those days terribly. Ela was going to be seventeen. How the time flies; she is already a woman.

  There was a soft, almost timid knock at the door. Helen thought nothing of it. The neighbors who lived in the building came to visit her quite often. Sometimes they needed to borrow an onion, other times they were just lonely and in need of a few minutes of human companionship. She dried her hands on a dishtowel and opened the door. Her smile dropped as her hand went to her throat. In her doorway stood a man, an old friend, someone from a life she’d lived long ago. A man whom she hadn’t seen in over ten years. Time and war had weathered him, but he was alive.

  “Artur? Artur Labecki?” Helen said, her voice cracking. “How are you? Come in, come in…” She opened the door wide and motioned him in with her hand.

  He entered. His coat sleeves were frayed, and the skin on his face had gone floppy, falling into deep lines that made him look older than his forty-five years.

  “I am all right.” Artur smiled. “I am glad to see you, Helen. You look well.”

  “Sit down, please. Can I get you a cup of tea or coffee?”

  “No, no thank you. I have wanted to come and see you for some time. But, I couldn’t. Maci would never have accepted me coming here to see you.”

  “How is Maci?”

  “She passed away this last winter.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Yes, I was too. She was a good woman. Not always a good wife to me. But, certainly a strong woman. Perhaps she was too strong for me. I’ve often wondered about that. Did you know that she fought right alongside the men in the home army during the Warsaw uprising?”

  “I didn’t know. But I do remember how beautiful she was.”

  “She was, wasn’t she? She was a terrible flirt. That’s probably why she didn’t want me coming to see you. Maci always had problems staying faithful and so she always assumed I did too. Maci constantly accused me of having a little crush on you.”

  Helen gave a nervous laugh.

  “I suppose maybe I did have at least a little attraction to you. Why not? You’re a beautiful woman. But, at the time, you were married to Nik and he was my best friend. I would never have done that to him.”

  “Yes, poor Nik. I do miss him.” She whispered, “I don’t know how it happened, but things went so wrong between Nik and me.”

  “Yes, I know. He told me often that you two were having problems. And besides, I had a good idea that things were awry when Eryk was arrested and you came to me wanting to see him. Still, Nik was a good friend. We all lost so many of our friends during the Nazi takeover, didn’t we?”

  “Oh yes. The Nazis. They took so much from all of us. It was a merciless time. Did you know that I lost my son Lars, too? The food was so scarce that when Lars and Nik got sick, they were both so thin that their bodies didn’t have the strength to fight the disease.

  “Terribly sad what happened to everyone we knew. You know Nik never trusted the Russians. He always said he didn’t like Stalin’s face,” Artur said, then he shrugged his shoulders. “I was a fool. I trusted Stalin when he promised to help the Home Army.”

  “You weren’t alone. Plenty of people believed Russia would help free us from the Germans.”

  “Yes, well, Stalin has been dead for three years and Russia still holds our beloved Poland in her grip.” Artur shook his head. He continued, “But, quite frankly, I didn’t come here to talk to you about Nik. That is not why I have come to see you, Helen. I’m here because of Eryk.”

  “Eryk?”

  Her voice trembled. Just the mention of his name, even though he’d been dead for many years, still made her heart flutter. Helen knew that Eryk was undoubtedly the one true love of her life.

  “Before the Nazis hung Eryk he put this necklace in my hand and made me promise I would somehow make sure that it got to you. He said to tell you that you must give it to Ela when she was
old enough to understand.” Artur took a small gold star of David that hung on a chain out of the breast pocket of his coat. “I don’t know anymore. That was all he said. He never explained why you would want this for Ela. In fact, I have no idea where he got it from. However, I made a vow to him that I would bring it to you if I survived the war. So, here.” Artur handed Helen the necklace. Helen felt an icy finger tickle her spine as the chain touched her fingers. The bright gold metal felt cold in her hand. She wasn’t completely certain where Eryk had gotten this piece of jewelry but she had to believe that it had belonged to Zofia. Eryk was the only living person other than herself that knew the truth about Ela. Not even Ela knew. But Helen had shared her deepest secrets with Eryk. And one night she told him the truth … that she was not Ela’s mother. In fact, Ela’s birth mother was a Jew in the Warsaw ghetto and her name was Zofia Weiss.

  Perhaps somehow in Eryk’s work with the underground, he’d met Zofia and she’d given him the necklace. Helen knew that Eryk was working with the underground helping Jews to escape.

  But now how am I ever going to explain all of this to Ela? She has grown up believing that I am her mother. What will she think if she learns the truth? How will she feel about me? About Zofia? About herself? She’s so involved in the Catholic church. That’s my fault. I raised her to be my child, not Zofia’s. Have I done her a disservice? Dear God, I would never want to hurt Ela. I could hide this necklace away in a drawer and never say another word about It … I could … couldn’t I?

  “Thank you. Eryk said nothing about how he got this or why he wanted me to give it to Ela?”

  “No, I am sorry, Helen. I don’t have any more information for you. There wasn’t time for him to talk to me about it. He slipped it into my hand on the morning of his execution. You see, I bribed a guard to let me say goodbye to him. Eryk and I had less than a minute together before they took him out to hang him. Then, as you know, he died in the square.”

  “I remember.”

  “You were there. Right in front. I saw you there.”

  “Yes, I was there. I went because I thought he needed me. I wanted him to see me, to look into my eyes one last time. I hoped it would give him some comfort.”

  “The two of you were lovers, weren’t you?” Artur asked.

  Helen nodded. She cast her eyes to the ground, ashamed of having had an affair while she was married and of breaking one of God’s commandments. But, there was no point in keeping it a secret anymore. Eryk and Nik were both dead. And she hated herself for it, but she’d sinned far worse than having a love affair with Eryk.

  “I thought so,” Artur whispered. “A lot of things happened during that time period that we probably would never have done otherwise. But it’s all in the past now.”

  “Yes, it is,” Helen said, and she thought of Rolf the Nazi bastard who had taken her body and soul. The time she’d spent with him was the worst sin of all. She hated him and knew that she should have refused him. But she dared not. He had known about Ela and he could easily have taken the little girl and sent her to a concentration camp or worse. So she’d let him do as he pleased with her. That was what drove Eryk to kill him. And then Eryk had paid for the crime with his life.

  “I won’t ask you to try to explain anything. I don’t need to know. But we are old friends, Helen. I am a lonely man now that Maci has passed on. She was my best friend. I know everyone thought she was a little bit loose, but I understood her. It was just her nature to be that way with men. She was unfaithful, but I forgave her. I loved her, Helen. I am lost now. And, I know this may sound very bold and even coarse, if it does I am sorry. But I was thinking that maybe, if you are not too busy, we could have dinner one night …”

  She studied him. He was wringing his hands. Poor Artur. It seemed she’d known him forever. They had all been such good friends before the war, she and Nik, Artur and Maci. Helen had always secretly envied Maci, who was a beautiful, glamorous girl. Even so, until the Labeckis invited the Dobinskis to a meeting of the Home Army, the couples had been great friends. But then once Artur had made it clear that he was a part of the resistance, Nik began to distance himself from the Labeckis. Nik wanted no part of the Home Army. And so, for a while, the Dobinskis and the Labeckis didn’t spend much time together. But Helen remembered Artur’s involvement with the resistance. So when the Nazis were about to hang Eryk, in desperation, not knowing where else to turn, Helen went to see Artur. She was hoping he would be able to find a way for her to see Eryk one last time. He had been unable to help.

  “Dinner?” she said sighing. “I don’t know Artur. I am not sure how I feel about all of this. I don’t go out with men. I stay at home at night with Ela. I’ve given up on romance. That sort of thing is for the young.”

  “You’re still young, Helen.”

  “Maybe in age, but certainly not in my heart or soul. I don’t want to feel that way towards anyone again.”

  “Helen,” he said looking her square in the eye. “I can keep a secret. That much you know about me from our past. If you don’t want Ela to know about the necklace, you don’t have to worry. She will never hear about it from me.”

  How did he know I was worried about him telling Ela about the necklace? Or him mentioning Eryk in front of Ela? He knew that I wanted him to walk back out that door and get out of my life because if he said the wrong thing it could open a Pandora’s box and then Ela would ask a million uncomfortable questions. Questions that could change her life, our lives. But…Artur is telling the truth when he says that he can keep a secret. Artur never told Nik about me coming to see him concerning Eryk. He could have told him. But he never did. He kept my secret then and if he says he will keep it now I have to believe him. And, oddly enough, it does feel good to see an old familiar face. The memories Artur and I share are long and deep. It would be nice to have someone to talk to, someone who understands my past because he too has lived through the Nazi occupation. Looking into Artur’s eyes helps me to feel less alone in the sadness of all of my secrets.

  “I am not proposing marriage. Come on Helen, It’s just a meal between old friends,” he said, his eyes twinkling with hope. “I need a friend, Helen. An old friend…a friend who still remembers what life was like before the Nazis.”

  She hesitated for a moment. “Dinner? I’m sorry Artur. I can’t.”

  “I won’t give up on you, Helen.”

  “You must. I can’t, Artur.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  At seventeen, Ela was a beautiful young woman. Petite and slender with golden curls that she wore pulled away from her face in a ponytail. But unlike most girls her age, Ela cared very little for her physical appearance. She was dedicated to her life’s mission. Ela felt in her heart that she had heard a calling. Several nights she’d awakened, sure she had heard the voice of God beckoning to her to come to him, to join the convent. Since she was a young child she’d admired the nuns. They were filled with conviction and true devotion. Ela had always felt confused about what she was meant to do with her life and it was their sureness that had always appealed to her. Sometimes they were harsh towards her, but she didn’t mind. They knew things she did not. She was convinced of it and she often wondered how they knew they were meant to become nuns.

  Then it happened.

  She began to have the dreams. And once she heard the voices, everything she was meant to do with her life became clear to her. Ela had not yet told her mother of her plans to join the convent. But she was sure that Helen would approve of her choice. Helen had taken her to church since she was a small child even though it had been dangerous to do so when the Nazis were in power. It was because of Helen’s determination to familiarize her with Catholicism that Ela believed Helen would be overjoyed that Ela had heard the calling. Tonight, when they were eating dinner, Ela planned to surprise her mother with the good news.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “You want to become a nun?” Helen said. Perhaps this was God’s way of letting her know that she had done the right thing by taking her into the church.

  He is forgiving my sins. At least I hope that is what this is about. Still there is that unfinished business of lying to Ela about her Jewish heritage.