Paris 1937

We have here an excerpt from my historical novel, Smoke, an excerpt from chapter 15. The year is 1937. Philip, a young American, is talking to Lili, who has just e fled Nazi Germany. They are standing on a Bridge that overlooks the Seine River and an international exposition. “Paris is closer than you think, to Berlin.” said Lili. Philip considered this. Then he pointed to the west, and said, “Over there, between us and where the sun will set, is Versailles, where the treaty was agreed to and signed after the war. The treaty should ensure peace and security, n’est que ce pas?” “That doesn’t mean a thing to Adolph Hitler.” Her eyes, stern with the memory of where they had just come from, were cast down upon the Seine. “Germans know. That treaty means nothing to the Nazis.” “Do they? Do Germans know?” “Some of them do, though they will not say it. There is a lot they will not say. We have neighbors in Munich who will not say that they have done business with my father for many years. Instead, they pretend to not know us. These last few months when we were at home, near the shop, when I would walk on the streets, I felt at times that I must have some horrible sign on my head, something like a mark of shame, a big. . .yellow patch of verboten, or something. Even people my own age would act as if they had never known me. What akes people so such thing? What compels them to change their attitude toward others whom they have known all their lives, people they grew up with?” “They must be scared as hell of the Nazis,” said Philip. https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B002YNZQ5U?ccs_id=8bd6c7a9-3c3d-4e80-a530-5cbae2add5ca