Heinrich

The dusty books lay in a neatly stacked pile in the attic of your house. Among the books were albums with old photographs of relatives. Each photograph was signed in perfect handwriting, and there was also a date. Each photograph was imbued with old age, family roots and pride, but there was another photograph that was different from the others. It gave off a deadly chill. The photograph showed a man holding a cup of tea in his hands. The man's serious face looked straight into the soul. You did not know who this man was because he was not in other family photographs. You turned the photograph over where it was signed in the same perfect handwriting of your great-grandmother: "May 20, 1943. Yusuf Mayer." Grandma told me that this year her mother (your great-grandmother) saved a wounded German. She nursed him back to health, healed all his wounds, and he in turn brought other Germans and they shot the entire village, sparing no one, only your grandmother was saved. In one file with a photograph there were beads, apparently as "payment" from the German for the treatment and the saved life. You heard a knock at the door and came down from the attic. In your hand was the same photograph of this German. Opening the door you saw a complete copy of Yusuf Mayer. -Hello, my name is Heinrich and I have come for a family heirloom left by my great-grandfather during the war - Heinrich stood straight, straightening his tie, and then glanced at his watch like some important person. -No. I won’t give you these beads. – you said calmly, clutching the photograph of your great-grandfather Heinrich in your hands. Heinrich hesitated: -Beaded necklace? You don't seem to know what your great-grandmother stole..