Chapter 20 Chapter Nineteen

A Jew's Journey (from Ellen Jastrow's manuscript) April 23, 1942. American bombers attacked Tokyo! My pulse quickened like it did back then as an expatriate in love with all things American, caught up in softball fever, and watched Baby Ruth hit a "home run."To me, America is my baby Roon.I am not afraid of being laughed at when I say this.It turned out that baby Ruth finally got rid of the sluggish state, "slapped the ball and hit the stands"! Oddly enough, bombs from Allied planes kept dropping on churches, schools, and hospitals; what a military feat to be so inaccurate!If Berlin Radio is telling the truth—why do the Germans lie? —Then the RAF has now leveled almost all religious institutions, schools, and hospitals in Germany, while other targets just missed!It is now said that Tokyo suffered no damage in this air raid, except that many schools, hospitals, and temples were destroyed by the brutal Americans.It's so bizarre.

My niece called this "Dolittle Raid" (a valiant Army Air Corps lieutenant colonel who commanded it) a gimmick, a symbolic bombing.According to her, it doesn't help the war.When the BBC broadcast the news, she actually entrusted the doll to the cook, rushed to the fancy restaurant where our fellow journalists lived, and got drunk with them.The gang is pretty much always drunk, but I haven't seen Natalie drunk in years, probably when one of the main local admirers - a pedantic Associated Press reporter - escorted her back , even though she almost couldn't even walk, she was full of jokes.

She was in such a good mood that I could not help giving away on the spot the great secret which I had been keeping for a fortnight, a secret which I would not lightly disclose even in this article.But I finally held back.She has suffered enough for my sake.Before the fuse burned to the point of danger, there would be an opportunity to reveal the surprise.It's also possible that the fuse never blows. The departure date for the Americans detained in Siena was set for the first week of May.We will leave for Naples or Lisbon, board a luxury cruise ship from Sweden, and drive back to our motherland.On April 1st (I remember realizing that it was April Fools' Day!), my old friend, the police chief of Siena, came to visit me.As soon as he got into the Tuscan style, he sighed again and again, shrugged his shoulders frequently, talked in many circles, and showed his tone that we still had difficulties.He refused to elaborate on the specific circumstances.

In a few days the details will be revealed in a letter from our embassy in Rome.The main situation turned out to be as follows: the Nazis claimed that three Italian journalists were detained in Rio de Janeiro, awaiting interrogation. They were said to be German spies in disguise, but in fact they were real journalists. Now, under the instigation of the Allies, they were brutally detained by the Brazilian authorities.Because the Germans could not do anything to the Brazilians, in order to retaliate, they asked the Italians to detain three Americans in order to blackmail our State Department to persuade Brazil to release them.It was, of course, quite crudely Germanic, a ploy to rescue their bumbling and entrapped spies.Unfortunately, if it got to this point, the three hostages would probably be myself, my niece, and her doll, because, among other things, even our own "journalist" ID cards are barely adequate.In fact, this international deal is already underway, and we are among those scheduled for possible seizure.This is what the embassy revealed.

But that may not actually happen.Brazil will probably accept the good offices of our State Department.Besides, our friend and savior Werner.Dr. Baker is doing everything in his power to save us, and if something really happens, no matter what, he will designate three other Americans from the list for revenge.I'm afraid I should dissuade him from doing it, but I've learned to be cruel in wartime, too.Fashionable fashion tells its own destiny. I kept the news from Natalie.She feared both the Germans and what they might do to her children, and this fear was almost insane.As for me, I'm not in a hurry.I am willing to work here till I die, and if disaster comes, however it may come, let my ashes be scattered in this garden.In any case, the day of my ashes is not far away.How I know this I cannot say.My health is not bad.Yet I do know this.This neither frightens me nor worries me to death.This only strengthened my resolve to work to the fullest in the few days left to finish my Life of Luther.

But, for Natalie's sake, I must do everything in my power to make sure we get together.As soon as I finish my morning work, I'm going to talk to the Archbishop.He is not without influence on the Italian foreign ministry.It's time to use all avenues and do everything possible.