Sirius Read Free Page B

he does frequently, it makes the balding Liliencron feel anxious.
    The fact that Rahel seems transformed in Benno’s presence doesn’t make matters any easier. She starts to flirt like a young girl. All Benno has to do is make some witty remark, and Rahel just melts.
    But the biggest issue is this: Benno has joined the Nazi party.
    Involuntarily, he assures them. That’s how things are in the movie business, he says: no Party membership, no work. But then there’s the fact that he recently had an article published in the Volkischer Beobachter, the NSDAP newspaper, entitled “The Aryan Art of Acting”. Did he really need to do that?
    Carl expressed great doubt as to whether Fritsche should even be invited to the celebration.
    “He’s Georg’s godfather!” said Rahel sternly. “Carl, don’t be so jealous.”
    “He’s a Nazi!” Carl retorted.
    To which Rahel replied: “He’s not a Nazi. He’s an actor. He’s playing the role of a Nazi so that he can continue being an actor. All of us are wearing masks nowadays. Even Sirius.”
    Liliencron reluctantly gave in.
    So there he sits at the table, Uncle Benno.
    Father Liliencron lifts his glass. “My dear Georg Israel,” he says, beginning his speech.
    Not a great start, thinks Rahel, flinching a little. But it’s correct; this is now her son’s official name, according to the guidelines of the Reich Minister for Internal Affairs. Jewish men have to add the forename Israel, and Jewish women the name Sara. But was this really the time and the place to use it?
    Uncle Benno doesn’t bat an eyelash.
    Carl goes on to give a witty speech, which pays tribute to Georg’s life so far, singling out defining moments and poignant anecdotes, and of course he is unable to resist making a sweeping diversion to the subject of plankton.
    Carl turns to Rahel and recounts their wonderful love story once more. He pays tribute to Else. He recalls how the lovely Putti came into their lives, as a souvenir from their winter holiday in Arosa, where she made a lasting impression as the waitress in Hotel Kulm.
    Tears of emotion stream down their faces, which moves the orator to include even Uncle Benno and commemorate their childhood friendship.
    Benno uses both hands to sweep his quiff from his forehead. Then the speech draws to an end.
    “And now to you, little Sirius!”
    The dog is sitting on Else’s lap, and has been listening attentively the whole time.
    “Sirius?” whispers Benno, shooting Else a questioning glance. The re-naming has so far escaped him.
    “Yes, Sirius,” says Liliencron. “That’s his name now. We all have new names, so the dog does too. Everyone has a mask in these macabre times.”
    Rahel smiles back meaningfully.
    Liliencron had actually been planning to close with an observation that would serve as an emotive proclamation for the principles of Humanism. He wanted to glance at Sirius and say: We are not animals to be divided into races, we are people. What gives you so-called Aryans the right to take the lives of us Jews? We are Germans. Just like you.
    But suddenly, he can’t find the words. He simply looks at Sirius and says:
    “You are a big dog .”
    Else is in love. Her crush is called Andreas Cohn, and he is one of her fellow students at the Hollaender Jewish Private School of Music. She plays the piano, he the violin.
    They used to be in the same class at the Stern Conservatory, which three years ago was renamed and Aryanised as the Conservatory of the Reich Capital of Berlin . Numerous Jewish professors had to leave the school. After that, Kurt Hollaender founded his private music academy on Sybelstrasse.
    Else and Andreas became closer while they were rehearsing Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s Violin Concerto, Opus 64, arranged for violin and piano.
    Erich Oppenheimer, the piano teacher, said: “Fräulein Else, you have to play the first movement as though your heart has just caught fire. The second movement is when the heart hesitantly