The Forbidden Six

February 28th, 1942

Ever since America had joined the war, the German citizens' food rations had decreased whereas there had been an increase in air raid drills. Although there was no curfew for German citizens, nobody wanted to stay out past nightfall. During the night, the Kassel streets were ominously empty. Everyone had been dissuaded from coming out since there had been a minor bombing the year prior. In September, there was a small bombing. Only two factory buildings were damaged and nobody had died. As far as Liese knew, everyone was safe in their bunkers.

That morning, Liese headed to the bookstore where she worked. She wore a white skirt and a matching shirt. Her black heels clipped along the sidewalk as she made sure that the collar on her shirt was folded over properly.

She pushed open the door to the quaint bookstore. Tall, dark bookshelves lined the walls with fluffy chairs scattered throughout the small store. Music floated through the air from a radio tucked into the corner. The air smelled of old books. The door opened with the jingle of a bell and the employees looked up, wondering who had come in. They bid her a good morning and went back to talking. Elisa – who worked there as well – waved to Liese and leaned over the counter.

"Liese," she said, a twinkle in her pretty brown eyes hidden behind her glasses. "Guess who's here."

She gave her friend a wary look, frowning as she put on a name tag and started to stall. She dropped it on purpose and picked it up. It only bought her a few seconds.

"Who is it?" she finally answered after fiddling with the name tag.

"You already know." Liese blankly stared at her. "I'll tell you anyway. It's Frederick," she gleefully informed her friend.

"Elisa, why? Why must I know this?"

She grinned. "Because he's in love with you!"

"Why isn't he in the war? What is wrong with him that he isn't fighting for our country? I'll tell you. He's dumb, that's what. I don't think he even has a brain. I bet if I knocked on his head, it'd echo."

Elisabeth laughed as the bell rang, signaling that someone had come into the shop. She sighed and went out into the actual store with Liese behind her.

Frederick came into view. Liese rolled her eyes as he winked. "Hey sugar, are you rationed?" Elisa resisted the urge to chuckle. Liese outrightly laughed at his statement. She began to walk away. He followed. "How are you, Anne? That was funny, right? The rationed thing, I mean."

Liese paled and her steps faltered. After she regained her composure, she gave him a hard look over her shoulder. "Don't call me that."

"Why?" he chortled.

"I don't like it."

"Why?" he repeated. Elisa watched, both curious and nervous to hear how Liese would react.

"It's stupid." She swiveled to face him. "You're stupid! You are so full of stupidity. Do you know that? No. You know why? Because you're too dumb to understand that. Why aren't you even fighting? Is it because you're too short and not strong enough?"

"I'm taller than you," Frederick blurted, taken aback by her angry tirade.

"That doesn't matter. You're just not good enough, I guess."

He blinked and she turned on her heel, grabbing a pile of books to shelve. Elisa followed her, worriedly glancing back at Frederick who was still standing in the middle of the aisle.

A new order of Mein Kampf had come in that morning. They were flying off the shelves even though it had been written in 1925. As Liese put them in the bookshelf, she leaned her forehead on the bookshelf and shut her eyes. She heard footsteps coming down the aisle and she quickly gathered herself.