Behind the Bedroom Wall Read Online Free

“Twenty until six.”

    â€œOh no!” Korinna exclaimed, heading toward the door.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?”
    Korinna dashed down the stairs, her kitten still clutched in her arms. “The Führer’s speaking on the radio!”

    As her mother followed her down, Korinna turned on the old radio to the official station. Already Adolf Hitler’s voice was traveling over the radio waves with a special message for his people. The Jungmädel leaders had urged all the members to listen to their Führer tonight. Korinna always looked forward to hearing his radio broadcasts. She only wished she could see him speak in person.
    For the rest of the half hour, Korinna sat in front of the radio listening to the Führer’s voice. At first the speech was quiet yet forceful, but soon the voice took on a moving ring. By the end of the speech, Adolf Hitler spoke at the top of his voice, over the cheers of his followers. What he said was always the same: Destroy the enemy, the Jews and the radical intellectuals, and out of the misery they were now in, a stronger more unified Germany would ascend. A Germany without poverty, without unemployment. The Third Reich that would last for one thousand years!
    At the end of the speech, Korinna dropped her kitten on the sofa and stood up as it scurried out of the room. She lifted her right arm in a smart salute. “Heil Hitler!” She looked expectantly at her mother.
    Frau Rehme, sitting on the sofa and darning one of her husband’s socks, looked up at her daughter. “ Heil Hitler,” she murmured, then she went back to her sewing.
    Korinna smiled and sat down next to her mother. “Isn’t the Führer wonderful?”
    â€œMmmmm,” Frau Rehme agreed.

    â€œMother! Weren’t you paying attention to him? His speech was wonderful!”
    Frau Rehme shrugged slightly, but Korinna caught the subtle movement and she frowned.
    Frau Rehme said, “His speeches are all beginning to sound the same.”
    â€œHe repeats himself only because he wants us to remember the important things.”
    â€œWhat important things?”
    â€œWho our enemies are, of course, and what we can look forward to when Germany wins the war and becomes the power it once was,” Korinna said, repeating the very words her Jungmädel leader had said the day before.
    â€œAnd our Führer is going to do all this?”
    â€œOf course.”
    Frau Rehme put down her sewing. “At whose expense? At what cost?”
    Korinna stood up. “Mother, I can’t believe you’re talking like this!”
    Frau Rehme gently reached up and took her daughter’s hand. “Sit down, Korinna. I love the Fatherland as much as you, if not more because I’ve been alive longer. But you mustn’t follow blindly behind great promises.”
    Korinna allowed her mother to pull her down beside her. “Mother, how can you question the Führer? Someone might report you.”
    â€œIs that the only reason it’s wrong to question what one man is saying? Fear?”

    â€œIt’s not fear, Mother,” Korinna said impatiently. “It’s love and respect. I have nothing to fear from anyone, because I’m a loyal German, just like you, Mother. And you should never question the Führer, because he’s only doing what’s best for us.”
    Korinna’s mother didn’t say anything. She picked up her darning and once again began to sew.
    Korinna sat silently, watching her mother for a few moments. Finally she said, “Rita is going to tell our leaders about her cousin, Elsa Demmer.”
    â€œHer own cousin,” Frau Rehme said with a sigh, shaking her head.
    â€œElsa said she felt sorry for our enemies.”
    â€œWho? The English? The French?”
    Korinna picked impatiently at a loose thread on the couch. “No, the Jews.”
    Suddenly, they heard a muffled crash upstairs. “What was that?”