Cold Victory

“Can you help me?” she asked.

“Yes,” Anna answered. “The Head Nurse from the Hospital am Urban says that in the aftermath of the Soviet rapes, many German doctors recognised that exceptional circumstances required exceptional action and agreed to perform abortions. A number of them are still willing to do so, provided they are convinced of the need. As you know, the legal situation is less clear, so no one likes to advertise or talk too loudly about these services. Nevertheless, Frau Liebherr knows of two reputable clinics that will perform an abortion, if that is what you decide.”

Silvie brightened visibly, but then bit her lip and asked anxiously, “Do you know what they charge?”

“You don’t need to worry about the cost, Silvie,” Georgina told her. “We’ll take care of that if necessary, but—”

Silvie was so relieved that she didn’t let Georgina finish, interrupting to ask, “How soon can I get it over with?”

“Silvie, wait. We want you to think about an alternative,” Georgina urged.

Silvie’s look turned resentful as she shook her head firmly and complained, “I already told you my mother will kill me if she finds out! It’s going to start showing soon, and then the GIs won’t want me either. Then I’ll have nothing! How can I look after a baby? I don’t want a baby!”

“Wait, Silvie. Slow down. What if I told you someone else wanted your baby so much that they were willing to look after you until you give birth?”

“But I don’t want to give birth! I just want it out of me!” A whine had crept into her raised voice, reminding Georgina that she was still half-child at 15.

Georgina glanced at Anna, and the nurse took over. “Silvie, an abortion isn’t as simple as you seem to think. It is surgery, and even good doctors in good clinics can’t guarantee that all will go well. Given the current conditions in Berlin, the risks are greater than normal. I know you said you don’t want to have to give birth, but please hear me out.” Silvie held her tongue but her look was sullen.

Anna continued, “Before I came out to Berlin, I spent time with my cousin, my Aunt Flora’s daughter. She’s sharp as a nail and went to secretarial college, where she did so well that she got hired by the Department of State, our Foreign Ministry. Her job is amazing. She types up very sensitive documents and she has a chance to meet foreign dignitaries, members of Congress and even cabinet ministers.” Anna’s tone betrayed just how impressed she was, but then she paused, and her voice became more sober, “but her Daddy was a cruel, worthless, drunk, who raped my aunt when she was just 13.”

Silvie gasped; Anna continued. “My Aunt was just like you, Silvie. She was too young to raise a child, and she didn’t have a husband or anyone to look after her and the baby. But there was a couple who couldn’t have children of their own and they desperately wanted my aunt’s little girl. They adopted her and they raised her like she was their own, and they helped her to become the fine, successful young woman that I met. You see what I’m saying, don’t you? That the child you’re carrying might be a wonderful person one day.”

“Yes, but I don’t know anyone who wants it!” Silvie replied. “Berlin is full of unwanted children! There are thousands of war orphans and thousands of babies born of rape that no one wants!”

Georgina reached out a hand to soothe her. “We know, Silvie, but there is a couple in England that desperately want a child, and my parents would be happy to have you come and live with them until after the birth and the adoption.”

Silvie looked from Anna to Georgina stunned and asked rhetorically, “In England? What good is that? I can’t leave Berlin. There’s a blockade!”

“RAF Dakotas fly people out every day, and I can get your name on the passenger list. Once you reach Hanover, you cross to the civil airport and board a commercial flight to London. There my father will meet the plane and take you by train to our home.”

“In England?” Silvie asked again, still unable to grasp what was being offered.

“My father is a vicar in Yorkshire, and he knows a wonderful couple who are desperate to adopt a child. He and my mother have offered to look after you until the birth in their own house, the house where I grew up, and where my own little girl is — “

“You have a child?” Silvie interrupted to ask.

“Yes, I have a ten-month-old daughter that my husband and I did not feel should be brought to Berlin the way things are here at the moment,” Georgina explained. Silvie’s eyes widened, and Georgina continued. “You would be with my parents until your time, and they would see that you get into a good hospital for the birth. They would handle the paperwork for putting the baby up for adoption.”

“Why? Why would they do that?” Silvie gasped.

“Because I told them about you,” Georgina explained softly.

Silvie frowned. “Did you tell them I was a whore?”

“No,” Georgina answered steadily, “I told them you were being forced to have sex with strange men by a mother who needs the income. They would like you to get out of that situation — at least until your child is born.”

“In England… Won’t I be — be the enemy?”

“Silvie, I can’t promise that no one will look at you that way, but I can guarantee that my parents won’t.”

“But how is it possible for me to go?’

“Officially, you would go as a ‘nanny’ to help my parents look after my little girl. That way you can get a ‘nanny visa,’ which is valid only as long as you remain with my parents. In exchange for looking after my daughter, you receive bed and board, but no salary. After your baby has been adopted, you would have the option to continue as my little girl’s nanny or return to Berlin.”

Silvie shook her head, and admitted in a dazed voice, “I just can’t believe this is real.”

Georgina reached out and pulled Silvie into her arms. “Yes, Silvie, it’s real,” she assured her as the teenager broke down in sobs.