Maria Schweitzer paid the bus fare and looked for a seat. Finding one close to the front, she sat down and placed her books on her lap. Presently the bus, its brakes letting out a brief hiss, pulled out into the busy afternoon traffic.

Maria was nineteen, wealthy and beautiful. And everyone knew it. She had shoulder-length naturally red hair, complemented by her fair skin and deep green eyes. At average height, her graceful body was the envy of women and the daydream of men. As of late, she had even come to be referred to as �die Rosa von Berlin.�

Maria, however, was not as enthusiastic about her appearance as her peers. She felt glad to be beautiful, certainly, but she often found that it created obstacles for her. These obstacles had proved even more frustrating than usual in the past year.

As was custom in the upper classes, Maria had had her �coming out� when she turned 18. Now that she had entered society as a woman, her family had no doubt that she would find a husband by the end of the season. Imagine the shock of Herr and Frau Schweitzer when Maria was still unmarried as the season ended and announced that she wanted to go to college!

The arguing began. Maria was not attracted to any of the men she had met, she claimed.

�I want to do something meaningful in my life,� she explained, �I want to learn more, to do something intelligent.�

Herr Schweitzer remarked that the intelligent thing to do would be to find a husband before it was too late.

�You�ll be so busy with your nose in a book, you�ll miss your chance to marry and end up a lonely spinster!� he prophesized, to which his daughter slammed her bedroom door shut so hard the wall rattled.

Stubbornly staying her ground, and amidst much lamenting from her mother, Maria finally was allowed to continue her education at a women�s college. She still attended all the society functions, hearing several inane comments such as �but you�re such a lovely girl!� and �you�ll meet a nice young man and forget all about it.� At least they seemed to understand her interest in young children�s education. Maternal tendencies, they said. A good quality in a woman.

Dusk was approaching as Maria stepped off the bus at her stop. The streetlights flickered on and a chilly evening breeze sent hands burrowing into coat pockets. Maria held her books closer to her body and quickened her pace. She was anxious to get inside a warm house and sit down to dinner.

She hopped up the front steps and turned her key in the lock, humming softly.

�Mutti,� Maria called as she entered the front hall and shut the door behind her, �Papa? I�m home.� Sounds of acknowledgement emanated from the other end of the house. A slight, dark-haired woman came into the hall, smiling.

�I�ll put your things away for you, Fraulein Maria,� she offered, picking up the purse and books from the table they had been piled upon.

�Thank you, Janina,� replied Maria. She squeezed the woman�s free hand before heading for the dining room.

Janina sighed happily as she climbed the stairs with Maria�s things. For in her hand, folded into a tiny square, was now a 20-mark bill.

The country had gone mad.

At least, it seemed so to Maria. She had been born after the Great War and thus did not have many clear memories of the hard, post-war years. Yet she knew, she felt, that over the last decade, her world had dramatically changed. And the change was because of the Fuhrer.

Hitler. Could people talk of no one else? To the wealthy class Maria had been raised in, he seemed more of a god than a chancellor. Among the middle and lower classes, she discovered, opinion was much the same. Everywhere his praises were being sung. His new national flag stained the city streets red and black. And the absolute hysteria whenever his party held a rally never failed to make Maria�s knees shake.

That feeling of intimidation was twinned with fear as she began to learn Hitler�s plans for Germany. Along with righting the wrongs of the Treaty of Versailles and reviving the economy, the Fuhrer spoke with great fury about solving what he called �the Jewish Problem.�

According to Hitler, Jews were not only responsible for a variety of evils, but were also an inferior race. This prejudice was already shared by many of Hitler�s followers, and with his encouragement began to grow into hatred.

Maria was at first confused by this hate. The only Jewish people she knew were the Schweitzers� housekeeper Janina and a few shop owners. She had tried to think of how they might be wronging the community, but she could never come up with anything convincing. They were just people living their lives. The more she heard, the more Maria realised that her country was under the control of a strange new darkness.

With the same stubbornness that got her into college, Maria began a series of secret rebellions. Some nights, when she was sure everyone in the house was asleep, she would quietly sneak out the back door with any leftover food she thought no one would really miss. In a winter coat and a scarf worn like a hijab, Maria would find her way to the Jewish neighbourhoods and give her gifts to the needy people there. After a few visits, she no longer had to leave the food on doorsteps, for there would be someone waiting in the shadows for her who would distribute her gifts among the people.

Maria knew that what she was doing was extremely dangerous. The consequences of being caught would be those of a traitor. But something told her to continue. She just couldn�t bring herself to turn yet another back on the persecution.

Because of the incredible danger of her actions, Maria tried to avoid recognition. She hid her actions even from Janina, for she, being Jewish, would suffer far worse punishment than a gentile if discovered to be a conspirator. All Janina knew about were Maria�s secret gifts of money to her. As for the people in the Jewish neighbourhoods, those who waited in the dark to receive the food gifts told only of a young gentile woman who was risking her life to help them. Maria was always careful to keep her hair tied back and to keep her eyes downcast. However, just in case, she always swore along with the recipient that neither would identify the other, even if caught. It was sometimes the only thing on which Maria felt she could rely.

* * * *

�...And then the next week you go to Warsaw.�

Rudi shook his head and finished chewing. �No, first we go to the conference in Munich. Then Warsaw.�

�Well, I hope you�ll get back in time for Christmas.�

�Of course.�

The Schweitzers were in the dining room, eating dinner and discussing schedules. Rudi was explaining his winter agenda so that Christmas celebrations could be organised for times the family would all be in one place.

Maria feigned interest in her brother�s military duties. She wondered in amusement how long he would focus on his work before his hair became the main priority again. Rudi had also been blessed with the family�s good looks, but was a great deal more proud of it than his little sister. She assumed his easy entry into the SS hadn�t done much to humble him. After all, he was the blond Aryan ideal.

Maria was immersed in her thoughts and in impaling a pea on each prong of her fork when she was awakened by her mother�s voice.

�Speaking of celebrations,� Frau Schweitzer began, �we�re going to be having some rather interesting guests on Saturday.� She had been planning a large dinner party for several weeks.

�What sort of interesting guests?� Maria wondered what her mother was up to.

�A very respectable Bavarian family. They�ve just moved here.� She paused for effect. �They wanted to live closer to their son. He�s just finished his medical degree at the university.�

Oh.

�Their name is von Reichter.�

Late Saturday afternoon, Maria was busy in her room, preparing for the dinner party. She leaned in closer to the mirror on her vanity and carefully applied a wine-red lipstick. She wore a cream-coloured dress, falling just below her knees, as was the latest style. Its off-the-shoulder sleeves made it clear that this was exclusively evening wear. Maria did not dress quite so daringly most of the time, but she felt she might as well at a party. Besides, it helped to calm talk about her �wallflower� leanings.

Fluffing her hair one last time, Maria closed her bedroom door behind her and walked downstairs to the parlour. Rudi was already there, flipping through a magazine. He was for once dressed in clothes other than his uniform, which relieved Maria, who was frankly annoyed at the way he usually strutted around in it from dawn to dusk. He noticed her enter the room but didn�t look up from his reading.

�Mutti�s been planning this dinner for weeks,� he said to the magazine.

�I know.�

�So don�t embarrass us.� He leaned away from the pillow flying at him from Maria�s direction. �Like that.�

�Arschloch,� Maria huffed to herself as the doorbell rang. Her mother appeared from somewhere at the other end of the house and pattered through the front hall to answer the door. Instinctively, Maria and Rudi dropped their feuding and, in the way they had done since childhood, prepared to greet and socialise.

Soon, the parlour was full of guests, laughing and talking. So many people arrived, in fact, that Maria eventually lost track of several. Once the doorbell seemed to have stopped ringing, she took a glass of wine from the table and sat in the corner of the couch. She was already beginning to feel bored.

�So, you are the rebellious scholar.�

Maria looked up, startled, in the direction the smooth voice had come from. Standing there, smiling coolly, was a man whose appearance Maria could only describe as aristocratic. He was about the same height as she, and a little thin. He had black hair and dark eyes, focused on her from behind a pair of glasses. His nose was rather long, but somehow it suited him. He sensed Maria�s curiosity and extended a hand.

�Perhaps I should introduce myself. Maximillien von Reichter, Ph.D.� They shook hands and he sat down next to her. �You are Maria, is that right?�

Maria nodded. She was used to men striking up conversations with her, and had learned to tolerate it as best she could.

�My mother tells me you�ve just graduated, Herr Doktor.� They loved to try to impress her with titles. And then...

�Please, call me Max.� They would suddenly become modest. She smiled and he continued. Yes, I now have my doctorate in biology. What is it that you�ve been studying?�

Maria was astonished. She didn�t quite know what to say. Had he really asked her?

Max laughed as she stared at him, her eyes the size of dinner plates.

�Didn�t expect me to ask you that, did you?� he grinned. �Not something many men have discussed with you, I take it.�

�No - no, hardly ever,� Maria stammered, turning a little pink. Without thinking she added, �and if they do ask, I don�t think they really care.� She put a hand to her mouth. �Oh! I�m sorry, I didn�t mean -�

�It�s perfectly all right, don�t apologise,� he said, taking a sip of his wine. He had a very small mouth. �I would like to learn what you think about many more things.�

Maria, by now completely bewildered, was about to respond when dinner was announced. She and Max rose, and he wordlessly offered her his arm to escort her to the dining room. Shyly, she took it, hoping no one would be able to tell how nervous she was.

The conversation at dinner was the same as usual. Politics, the military, other people�s lives - Maria followed them easily and tried to immerse herself in what was going on so that she could push her nervousness deep down inside, where no one would detect it. It was difficult. Max was sitting on the opposite side of the table and kept looking at her. She found herself doing the same.

Frau Schweitzer, not able to stand it anymore, took advantage of a brief lapse in the conversation and turned the table�s attention to the doctor sitting across from her daughter.

�Doctor, your mother tells me you�re quite brilliant,� she gave him a smile.

He gave her one back and responded cleverly, �well, she is my mother.� There was a good-natured chuckle from the other diners.

�Yes, but she says you received your degree much earlier than most.� Intelligent and charming. Frau Schweitzer was liking the young man more and more.

�That�s true. I did.�

�Well, I�ll be interested in watching the career of such a man as yourself take off. Won�t you, Maria?�

All eyes fixed on Maria in fascination as she turned pink again and silently wished she could sink into the floor. How embarrassing!

�Uh, yes - I - yes, I would.� She didn�t know where to look and ended up staring right at Max, which only made her blush more.

After what seemed like several years, the evening finally came to an end. The Schweitzers thanked their guests and waved at the cars pulling out into the dark street. Maria was waving when she felt a hand on her arm. She turned to see that the hand belonged to Max, who was taking her aside.

�It was wonderful to finally meet you,� he said quietly. �I�ve never met any woman like you before. You�re one of a kind.�

Maria felt reluctant to accept his compliment. �Max, I...�

�I hope you won�t think me too forward,� he cut in, �but I wonder if you�d like to go with me to the opening night of Tristan and Isolde?�

Maria�s eyes lit up. She had been hoping to see it for weeks.

I�d love to,� she beamed, hardly believing what she was hearing herself say.

He took her hand in his, dark eyes piercing, even through his glasses.

�Until then,� he purred. And with a polite bow to his hosts, the doctor strolled into the night air.

Maria felt eyes boring into the back of her head as she stood at the window by the door. She turned and rubbed at her eye. �I think I�ll go get ready for bed now.� She kissed each parent on the cheek. �Good night.�

Her father had an amused look on his face, shared by his wife and son. �What did you think of that Dr. von Reichter?� he called after her.

Maria laughed as she climbed the staircase. �I honestly don�t know,� she confessed.

Throughout the following week, Maria was frequently disgusted to find herself daydreaming about her upcoming date with Max. She still couldn�t believe how she had acted at the dinner party. He was just a man after all, she told herself - just another rich, self- assured man who wanted nothing more than to sleep with her and brag about it to his friends. But no, a part of her had begun to argue, not this one. He was different. He wanted to know her mind - hadn�t he said it himself? She couldn�t decide what she believed, and it bothered her.

It wasn�t completely Maria�s fault she was so confused. She had been treated as some sort of commodity even as a twelve-year-old girl in braids and a school uniform. Men had acted the same way around her for so long that to encounter one who did not left her without any idea of how to respond. Could it be that she, the woman who so hated the prejudice around her, was herself deeply prejudiced?

Needless to say, it was a week without much sleep.

When the anticipated day arrived, Maria hurried her way home as best she could through the busy Friday traffic. She headed straight up the stairs into her room, not wanting to waste a minute of preparation time, cosmetic or mental.

Maria studied the inside of her closet confusedly. She had never had a date with a man who was interested in anything more than her body. How should she dress? What would he think if she wore something revealing? Something modest?

She realised what she was thinking and almost laughed out loud. The whole reason she was going on this date, after all, was because Max liked her mind. He probably couldn�t care less what she wore! With this new realisation, Maria cheerfully put on her favourite formal outfit and was ready to go in only a few minutes.

When the doorbell rang, Maria hopped down the stairs, hoping to get to the door before her mother could. Luckily she made it. Opening the door, she was greeted by the impeccably dressed Max and a dozen white roses.

�Oh, thank you, Max! They�re my favourite!� She inhaled the almost sugary aroma. �Mmm - oh! I�m sorry, won�t you come in?� She remembered her manners.

�Thank you.� He stepped in and took off his hat. �And good evening to you, madam.�

Maria followed his gaze. Her mother had appeared. Please, please don�t embarrass me, she prayed.

Fate smiled upon Maria and her mother responded without saying anything uncomfortable. Max helped her with her coat and they were presently on their way.

Having grown up surrounded by wealth, Maria was not surprised to see that Max�s car was a highly-polished Mercedes. Still, she wasn�t too jaded to enjoy the feel and smell of the leather interior. Max, in classic German fashion, drove exceedingly well, if rather fast, and soon they arrived at their first destination - a very posh and exclusive restaurant.

�You certainly know how to impress a date,� teased Maria as she sat across the table from Max. �Who told you I like white roses?�

�I have my ways of finding these things out,� he replied in a mischievous tone.

�And what else did my mother tell you about me?�

Max laughed. �Consistent, is she?� Maria rolled her eyes in confirmation. �Well,� he continued, she told me that you�re studying Early Childhood Education.�

�Yes, but I�ll hazard a guess that she didn�t sound too happy about it,� grumbled Maria.

�Does she disapprove of your field of interest?�

She sighed. �Mutti disapproves of my interest.� Realising that at last she had the attention of someone who might actually care, Maria then launched into a lengthy explanation of family problems which lasted through a large part of dinner.

�My goodness!� Max commented when she seemed to have finished, �how long have you been holding that in?�

She gave him a sad smile. �I�m sorry, I shouldn�t have rambled on so long. You must be falling asleep.�

�On the contrary, I found it very informative.�

An awful thought suddenly struck her. �You won�t tell them what I said, will you? Oh, please don�t!� begged Maria. �If they ever found out...�

�I won�t repeat a thing,� he assured her as a waiter came by with the bill. �You have my word.�

He sounded sincere and Maria felt comfortable enough to believe his promise. He paid the bill and tip, and they headed to the opera.

The theatre was busy with people as Max and Maria entered. Maria remembered how relieved she had been by an article in the newspaper that morning. Because he was away touring the utterly defeated Poland, it had mentioned, the Fuhrer would not be attending the opening night of the opera as he usually did. This information had lifted a significant weight from her shoulders, for as much as she might hate and disrespect him, Maria could not deny that Hitler absolutely terrified her.

The rest of the evening passed very pleasantly. The opera was well performed and, though the ending was sad, Maria was left happy because it had been so moving. Despite his detestable anti-Semitism, Wagner did have some idea, she reasoned, of what love was. Which was more than some people were capable of comprehending.

She felt the effects of the wine and the late evening beginning to set in as Max drove her home. By the time they pulled up in front of the stately house, Maria felt her eyelids getting heavy.

In the dim glow of the porch light, she thanked Max for the wonderful evening - really, the only date she had ever truly enjoyed. They said goodnight, and a moment of awkward silence followed.

Suddenly, Maria felt Max�s hands gently closing around her own. She tensed as a strange sensation made her heart beat faster.

�Max��

�Maria.� He said her name as if giving the answer to a question. His hands moved to her face. She sighed despite herself and felt a sense of well being overcoming her fear.

Finally giving in to her strong, unfamiliar emotions, Maria closed her eyes and experienced her first kiss.

Hauptmann Schweitzer adjusted his hat and surveyed the street from the shelter of an overhang. Nothing much going on. In half an hour he could get out of the cold and head back to Berlin for Christmas. He would be glad to go. Warsaw was a miserable place to be in the winter.

�Hauptmann!�

He turned to see another officer crossing the street towards him. As the man approached, Schweitzer recognised him as fellow Hauptmann Reinhart Bergen. They saluted.

�Bergen, you old son of a bitch, I didn�t know you were stationed here too!�

His friend grinned. �And I�m getting out as soon as I can. Horrible weather!� Schweitzer and Bergen began to head back toward City Hall.

They passed a young woman and a thought occurred to Bergen.

�So Rudi, what�s all this I keep hearing about your sister seeing a man?� he asked teasingly.

Schweitzer raised a tawny eyebrow. �Surprised?�

�Well, quite frankly, yes! Who is this superman who walks on water and wins the fair lady�s hand?�

�His name is Maximillien von Reichter. He�s a skinny little doctor from Bavaria.�

�You�re kidding.�

�I kid you not.�

�Well for God�s sake, if we�d have known that�s what she wanted, every man in Berlin would have changed addresses and gone to medical school!� laughed Bergen.

�Ah, but you know that wouldn�t work.�

�Wouldn�t it?� he mocked.

�Of course not - she�d still be able to tell you were a load of horny bastards!� They both burst into laughter.

Maria laughed as the little dachshund puppy struggled to pick up a ball nearly the same size as itself. Another puppy noticed Maria and pressed its tiny paws against the window, yapping excitedly.

�They�re so adorable! I just want to take them all home with me!� she gushed.

Max made a noise of polite agreement, although he didn�t really share Maria�s enthusiasm for fuzzy little animals. They had run into each other while Christmas shopping and now, walking home, Maria had stopped outside a pet shop window to exalt over a litter of wiggling puppies.

�My family had a dachshund when I was a little girl,� she explained as she straightened up. �I love them.� Max recalled his father�s Alsatians as they continued on their way.

Despite the war with England and her allies, Christmas 1939 was relatively normal for the Schweitzers and their friends. Presents collected underneath the glimmering Christmas tree, and the house was filled with the nostalgic smelled of pine and Yuletide baking. Sibling rivalry waned (as way always attempted at this festive time of year), and Maria even tried her best to tolerate her brother�s hopelessly dim-witted girlfriend.

On Christmas Eve, when presents were to be opened, there was knock at the door. It was Max, with Maria�s gift, which he had explained on the telephone had to be brought in person that evening.

There was a very strange sound coming from the whatever-it-was as the family and Max settled in the parlour. Maria very carefully lifted the top of the gift box, not quite sure what to expect.

Her eyes grew wide as a velvety brown head and two scrabbling paws emerged, wiggling excitedly. Maria squealed with joy as she lifted the dachshund puppy out of the box.

�I can�t believe it! Oh, thank you thank you thank you!� Maria wrapped her arms around Max and, catching the rest of her family quite off guard, kissed him boldly.

Her parents and brother smiled at each other proudly. It looked as if Maria might become a bride after all.

This observation was more than just wishful thinking. Anyone who had seen Maria that winter would have agreed with the Schweitzers. She and Max were constant companions. They went to movies, took walks with Lilli the pup, and beat each other at chess. They worked on Maria�s homework and even had the first dance of 1940.

For Maria, her time spent with Max was a bright spot in an increasingly dark world. The persecution of Jews continued without mercy and countries fell to the Reich at a frightening pace, but with Max�s arm around her, Maria felt a little more hopeful. Maybe, she concluded, maybe this feeling was love.

One night early in the year, when the ground was just beginning to thaw, Maria crept out of the house on another of her secret missions. This time, however, she wasn�t going out to give food. She was going out to get information.

She had walked into the kitchen that morning to discover a new housekeeper. A very obviously Nordic one. When she asked where Janina was, her father answered that she had been �called away,� in a matter-of-fact voice Maria knew meant �no more questions.� It bothered her intuition all day, and by evening she was determined to find out whether or not her suspicions were right.

As she made her way into the Jewish neighbourhoods, Maria saw that she had been right to worry. It was bizarre. Everything was as still as death. The only light came from a few street lamps, dimly illuminating block after block of empty yards and dark, locked up houses. It was utterly deserted. Either deserted, Maria concluded with a sinking feeling, or emptied out.

�Stop! Who�s there?�

Maria felt her blood turn to ice. She whirled around to face the piercing beam of a flashlight. A flashlight held in the hand of a trenchcoated officer.

This is it, thought Maria. I�m dead. They would interrogate her. Take her to court and find her guilty of treason. And then she would hang. They would hang her publicly in the square where she would slowly twist in the wind, eyes bulging out of her blue face -

�What are you doing here?� The officer demanded, having regained his composure after the shock of finding a pretty redhead in his flashlight beam.

Maria hesitated for what felt to her like several hours, frantically thinking of what to say. An idea struck her. It was revolting, but she had no other plan, and not much time either.

She sighed in relief and put a hand to her chest. �Oh, thank goodness! I was so afraid you were a thief or some maniac about to kill me!� she giggled.

The officer�s expression faintly softened. �What are you doing here, Fraulein?� he repeated. She approached him with a sexy swing in her step.

�My little puppy ran away. I was looking all over for her and before I knew it I got lost,� she explained with a little pout.

The man smiled. She was only a harmless girl. And not a bad-looking one at that. He sneaked a quick look at her chest.

�Come on,� he gave her his arm. �I�ll take you back home.� Maria grinned and took it.

She told him her address and they set out off through the dark streets. The conversation was light and the officer said he was sure the puppy would turn up somewhere. He was not particularly intelligent, Maria could tell, and easily distracted by the attention of women. To her additional relief, he was middle class and therefore not likely to have heard of her. She was free to playact without much suspicion. Arriving at Maria�s house, the officer was about to bring her to the front door when she tugged on him to stop. He looked down at her in confusion.

�Oh no, please don�t wake up my parents,� she begged. �They�ll never let me out of the house again! Let me go in through the back door?�

The officer looked stern. �I�m sorry Fraulein, but it�s my duty. Besides, it�s too dangerous for a woman to be out by herself at night.�

Maria moved closer to him, so that her breasts were pressed against his uniform.

�Please? I promise I won�t do it again,� she said in a sugary voice. The man�s eyes were wide.

�Uh, well...�

She let her leg brush against his. �Just this once?� she breathed. Now he had broken into a sweat. Maria fingered his hair.

�Oh - all right,� he gave in, stammering a little. Maria giggled and strutted over to the garden gate. She turned to give him a little wave before disappearing around the side of the house.

The officer returned the wave in a daze. �Just -� he began to call as she turned the corner, �- um...don�t...do it again,� he finished to himself.

Inside, Maria breathed a sigh of relief as she locked the door behind her. Entering the hall, she met up with Lilli, who whined and licked her owner�s hand. Maria told her to stay quiet and carried her up the stairs.

It was only as she pulled the bedcovers over herself and Lilli that Maria began to cry. She tried to silence it under her pillow but the tears just wouldn�t stop. She cried in fear for the missing Jews. She cried in disgust at what she had done to save herself. But she cried the most in realising there were no choices left. The days of rebellion were over. It was imperative now, to save her life, that Maria Schweitzer fit in. And a crucial part of her fitting in, she knew, was marriage.