Kaiserreich - Prelude to the Second Weltkrieg - Part 1: Germany

5

Karl had left home a year and a half earlier. Karl's father had left a few months later. Karl had left to build a future. Karl's father had left to salvage one.

Black Monday was the greatest financial collapse in the history of the world. Half the world's publicly traded stocks were listed on the Berlin stock exchange, and by the end of the day, half their value was wiped out. By the Friday, that had been cut in half yet again. By the end of the Black Week, as it came to be known, half of Germany's banks were facing collapse, over a million people had been laid off, and Germany – and by extension, the free market world – was teetering on complete economic disaster. And it had all started exactly one year earlier, on February 3, 1936.

Hans Schreiber – Karl's father – had been many things in his forty eight years, but by training and experience he was mostly known as an economist. So when the Kaiser put together an economic advisory group to help decide what should be done to address this disaster, Hans was not only willing to drop his work at nearby Jena University, he was proud to be offered the chance to make a difference.

Unlike Karl, Hans had returned to Weimar several times since his abrupt departure. But this was the first day he returned to find a nearly full house waiting for him. To find Karl waiting for him.

Karl didn't know precisely what he was hoping would happen when his father walked in through the front door. Part of him wanted his father's arrival to simply fix everything: his mother's and sister's unhappiness, his own disorientation, the homeless men outside the school, and the too-small train station. He knew this hope was silly and childish, but as he and Julia sat in the living room and waited for their father's return, he felt it only grow and grow in him, filling his belly and lungs with a sense of expectation at the same time he was aware it would never be met. The more rational part of his mind wanted something just as emotional: he wanted to hear his father's voice again. He wanted to know that the defeat and exhaustion was not all that was left of his father.

Their mother had prepared dinner for seven o'clock, but Hans did not arrive until seven thirty. The children were just helping their mother cover the food again when he opened the door quietly and entered. Karl froze and looked to him. The rain had started again outside and Hans entered under a wet cap and heavy coat. He took both off before turning to face the family.

Karl's initial reaction was defeat. His father looked every bit as exhausted and pained as his voice had sounded. Normally straight-backed and strong looking, he appeared almost gaunt, a beard far greyer than Karl remembered, cheeks sunken and eyes with deep, blue circles hollowed underneath. He sighed deeply as he took off his hat and Karl could only hold his breath, hoping for a miraculous recovery.

Then Hans exploded into a wide smile that wiped away all possible concern. His calm, always assured voice resonated within the family walls, familiar and free.

"Well hello there. It's good to be home."

Dinner was the warm, friendly, jovial table full of conversation Karl remembered. He learned that Julia actually had a boyfriend, though she quieted both her parents before Karl could learn the man's name. Karl's own experiences were of serious interest and he finished his meal last because he inevitably had to answer one follow up question or another. His mother was smiling wide the whole time, Karl's compliments on her cooking only amplifying the genuine sense of joy she gave off.

Karl's father, however, was cagey whenever a question came his way, and always redirected towards his children, jokingly teasing Karl for his stepping out of the family business or kindly teasing Julia about her poetry addiction.

Nobody mentioned Hans' father, Karl's Opa. They all tacitly agreed – from Hans' warm greeting – that the time for that would come. First though, there was a family reunion to be celebrated. At least, most of one.