Prologue Posted on Saturday, 1 April 2000
Author's note: This story is loosely based on the movie, "Swing Kids" (if you haven't already guessed). The first part of the prologue in italics is the disclaimer from the beginning of the movie explain what the "swing kids" were.
Thank you to TabbiW and Coleen V. and Jennifer for helping me with German names.
Oh, and a warning. Although the swing kids were violently opposed to joining the H.J., they tended to be indifferent or just as prejudiced against the Jews. Just to warn anybody who is sensitive to this topic...I promise that all the "good guys" will learn...and maybe even the "bad guy" if I'm in a good mood when I write those parts... In the late 1930's there was a new movement on the rise among the teenagers of Hamburg, Germany. Its followers refused to join the Nazi youth organization, the Hitler Jugend known as the H.J. They wore their hair long and were obsessed by American movies, British fashion, and Swing music.
They called themselves Swing Kids.
This is the story of seven such teenagers; a group of friends challenged by the changing times and their changing beliefs. Some will survive, and some won't. But one thing was certain: they would never be the same.
Chapter 1 Posted on Saturday, 1 April 2000
September, 1939
"Lisi!" Alexandra Zimmermann ran through her twin sister's bedroom door where 17 year old Elisabeth sat on her bed reading and listening to a Benny Goodman record. At the sound of her beloved sister's voice, Elisabeth looked up from her book.
"And where have you been, Alex? I waited for you after classes, but you didn't show up!" Although Elisabeth's face looked stern, she never could be angry at her twin. She knew that Alexandra always had a good reason for everything.
"I'm sorry, Lisi, but I met the most perfect guy today at school!"
"You left me because of a boy?"
"Not just any boy, Lisi! Karl Berger!"
"The Karl Berger? The second most popular boy in school? Did you meet the other popular three?"
"No, just Karl. And Lisi, he was so sweet and kind and funny, and..." Alexandra collapsed on Elisabeth's bed, still rambling on about Karl. While she lay there dreaming about what looked like would be her next boyfriend, Elisabeth got up and made her way to the kitchen to get herself something to eat and drink.
As she was making herself a sandwich, her twin came and sat down at the table. "You're not listening to me!"
"Sure I am! I knew it was going to be a while so I figured I might as well make myself something to eat to last me through your talking."
Alexandra giggled at her sister's teasing remark. "He, Wilhelm, Viktor, and Georg will be coming to the Bismarck tonight, and Karl asked if we could sit with them."
"Ooo! So we actually get to talk with them instead of admiring them from afar."
"I know! Isn't it great?" Lisi just grinned and threw a piece of lettuce at Alex's dreamy smile. "Hey! What was that for?"
"To stop your swooning. Now come on, we should go tell Mother and Father that we'll be going out tonight."
"Karl! Where have you been?" Wilhelm Wintermute shouted to his friend from where he stood near the Elbe River. At eighteen years of age, Wilhelm looked more like he was twenty-eight. With his tall, athletic frame, combined with his dark, curly hair which was always slicked back, his dark eyes, and his serious demeanor, it was easy to see why he was the most popular guy at school. Not to mention his rich family and his intelligence.
"I was walking the most beautiful angel home." Even Wilhelm had to smile at his friend's facial expression. No two best friends could be as different as these two were. Six months younger than his friend, Karl still looked his age. His average height, coupled with a broad frame, his laughing blue eyes, and his straight, sandy blonde hair, which almost always a few strands escaped from his slicked-back do to frame his face, gave his face a handsomely boyish look. Karl was mostly friendly and open, and even the war could barely ever get him down as long as he could forget his troubles while dancing to swing music.
"Karl, you think every girl is the most beautiful angel." Viktor von Bischoff, the youngest son of an aristocratic family and cousin to Wilhelm was also extremely popular. Being extremely close in looks to his cousin, except he was a little shorter, his hair was straight, and his eyes displayed his jovial personality in contrast to his cousin's reserve, he could barely keep the girls away from him.
Georg Weiken, the fourth friend of their group, merely laughed at his friends' comments. Although standing at a height between those of Karl and Viktor, and thinner than all his friends, he still was popular among the girls at his school. His friendly face, with his green eyes, and light blonde hair often made girls fall in love with him at first sight. Though it was known that Georg often times took advantage of this, it was also known that he was fiercely loyal to his friends.
"But she's more beautiful and angelic than any girl I ever met. She, her sister, and maybe another friend will be at the Bismarck tonight. I told Alexandra that we'll sit with them."
"You may, but I don't see why I have to," Wilhelm said in an annoyed tone.
"Willi," Karl laughed at Wilhelm's grimace at the use of his childhood nickname. "Why do you have to be so bent on not meeting anybody else?"
"Because Alexandra may be an angel, but what are the chances that the other two have class and intelligence?"
"Elisabeth's her twin!"
"Even twins are known to have opposite personalities."
"I don't know about you, Willi," Georg interrupted with a mischievous smile, "but I think we might as well sit with them and make the most of it."
"Come on, Cousin!" Being an onlooker, Viktor decided to say his mind. "Even if they don't meet up to your high expectations, we can at least have a fun night dancing."
Wilhelm realized he lost this fight and threw his arms up in the air. "All right! You win. I imagine nothing can be as bad as one of those boys," Wilhelm scowled and gestured with his chin across the street where a brownshirt, or a member of the Hitler Jugend, was walking, "doesn't show up." The four friends solemnly nodded in agreement. "Come on, we better get going or we won't be able to sit with Karl's angel and her friends."
"Bye Mamma. I'm going now." Wilhelm walked over to his mother where she sat reading in an armchair and kissed her cheek.
"Oh, Wili! I wish you didn't go. I worry about you when you go to that swing club." Anna Wintermute's normally beautiful face was creased with worry for her only son. Frau Wintermute was a tall, aristocratic looking woman. At age 40, her smooth complexion and dark blonde hair untouched by gray, made her look in her lower 30's.
"I'll be fine. There are guards at every door, and Pappa says that as long as I'm careful, he doesn't object to the club. Now, I have to go now; I told Karl I would meet him on the street."
"Bye, Wili. Be careful." Frau Wintermute stood up from her chair and stood on her tiptoes to kiss her son on the cheek. Even with her tall frame, her husband and her son still stood a head taller than her."
"Bye, mamma."
Wilhelm was about ready to go out the door when he heard his twelve-year-old sister running out to the entrance. "Wili! Can I go, too?"
"No, Juliana. You're still not old enough," Wili laughed. "Maybe in a year or two."
The adoring younger sister just took her elder brother's word for it and smiled. Juliana ran over to her brother and threw her arms around him. "Bye, Wili."
"Bye bye, Juliana," Wili said as he kissed her on top of the head. "Be good for Mamma."
"I will. Bye!"
Wilhelm looked back at his sister and smiled at her before he closed the door behind him. When Wilhelm walked out on the street, he was greeted by the sight of Karl and his younger sister, Carolin.
"Yoo hoo! Wilhelm!" Carolyn's piercing voice caused a grimace to come to Wilhelm's face.
"It's going to be a long night," Wilhelm muttered under his breath as he forced a smile and met his friend and his sister.
Chapter 2 Posted on Friday, 7 April 2000
Karl and Wilhelm, with Carolyn attached to his arm, met Viktor and Georg at their meeting place near the river. From there, the five of them proceeded to the Bismarck.
As they walked along the street, many people stopped and stared at the elegant teenagers. The boys were elegantly dressed in suits, along with a long overcoat, hat, and an umbrella. Even Carolyn looked fashionably dressed, and no matter how annoying and snobbish her attitude was, no one could deny that she was beautiful with her long, jet-black hair, fair skin, and blue eyes.
After around five minutes of walking, the group reached the club. The Bismarck looked like any normal German club, but inside, there was a whole other atmosphere. Instead of the band playing typical German music, such as the Polka, the air was alive with the rhythm of Swing music.
When the boys and Carolyn walked through the doors, the club was already crowded with young people and the dance floor was already filled with couples dancing to the music the band was playing.
Karl immediately started looking around the huge café for Alexandra, but seeing her no where, he addressed the others, "Why don't you all go and find a table somewhere, and I'll stay here and wait for Alexandra. We'll catch up to you later."
"Ok, Karl," Georg agreed as he led the group to a table set near the band. "So who knows anything about Karl's new angel?"
"I once was in a class with her," Wilhelm responded. "She's a very pretty girl, but rather quiet. I never saw her talk much unless it was to her friend...Lisi, I believe her name was."
"Yes, Alexandra Zimmermann is a quiet girl," Carolyn quickly concurred, "but she is also very sweet. Although, I could tell her clothes weren't very fashionably made."
Viktor smirked at her comment. "What does how fashionable the clothes are have to do with how sweet a girl is?"
Before Carolyn could defend her view on the importance of clothes, George quieted her. "There they are now, it looks like; with Karl." All four heads turned to the front where Karl stood talking with two girls.
A half hour earlier, Zimmermann Household
"Alex!" Elisabeth entered her sister's room where Alexandra stood in front of the mirror, checking herself over. "Come on! We're going to be late!"
"I'll just be a second! I'm just making sure I look all right."
"You look perfect!" Elisabeth responded, throwing Alexandra her coat. "Now come on. Carlotta is probably already waiting for us."
The twins hurriedly put on their coats, yelled good-bye into the parlor where their parents and three younger sisters were sitting, and ran down the front steps where Carlotta stood patiently waiting.
"Sorry we took so long," Elisabeth apologized. "Alex was perfecting herself as to not disappoint Karl Berger."
"Alex, you met him? What is he like?"
"Yes, I did," Alexandra smiled at the chance of talking about Karl. "He's very friendly and funny. I think you both will like him."
"Apparently he's going to be at the Bismarck with the rest of his group," Elisabeth told her friend. "They all seem rather friendly, except that Wilhelm. You know, the most popular of the group."
"Have you met him?" Carlotta questioned.
"No, not exactly. I remember he was in a class with Alex and me a year ago. He seemed very stiff and would only talk with his friends, or the people he thought were good enough. When he wasn't talking, he was staring."
"No, Lisi, be fair! He may not be as bad as you make him out to be," Alexandra reprimanded.
"Alex! Through the whole school year, I never saw him change. I wonder why he would even go to a swing club. I can't even imagine him dancing." Elisabeth's face scrunched up in disgust while her two companions just laughed and shook their heads as they continued walking towards the club.
As soon as the girls set foot through the Bismarck's doors, they were greeted by Karl. As soon as he saw Alexandra, his face broke into a smile, which was returned likewise by the object of his affection.
When neither Elisabeth, nor Carlotta were getting introduced to their new acquaintance, Elisabeth cleared her throat to get her sister's attention.
"Oh! I'm sorry. Karl, this is my sister, Elisabeth, and our friend, Carlotta."
Once all the polite greetings were made, Karl said, "My friends and my sister are already sitting at a table. Come, let me take you to them." But just as they were starting off, a boy from one of Elisabeth's classes came over and asked her to dance.
As Elisabeth was being dragged off, she gave a look of apology to the three and called out, "I'll find you after this dance!" And then she was lost in the crowd of dancers.
The remaining three found their way to the table where Viktor, George, Wilhelm, and Carolyn sat waiting to be introduced, which Karl wasted no time in doing.
"Guys, this is Alexandra and her friend, Carlotta. Alexandra and Carlotta, this is Viktor, George, Wilhelm, and my sister, Carolyn." Everybody nodded to their new acquaintances and secretly observed each other.
Wilhelm noticed that indeed Alexandra was a pretty girl with light blond, shoulder length hair and light blue eyes. Her companion, he noticed, wasn't as pretty as Alexandra, but pretty in her own right. Carlotta's straight, light brown hair reached just below her shoulders. When Wilhelm looked over at his cousin, he noticed that Viktor was quite taken with Carlotta Lukas.
Wilhelm, however, was wondering where Alexandra's twin sister was, and was about to ask about her, when Alexandra unknowingly answered his question. "My sister, Elisabeth is dancing right now. She got dragged off just as we came here to meet you."
Karl, who was impatiently tapping his feet to the beat, took the chance and asked Alexandra, "What do you say about dancing ourselves?" Before Alex had a chance to respond, Karl was dragging her out to the dance floor where another song was just beginning. Viktor, also took the chance and asked Carlotta to dance, leaving Georg, Wilhelm, and Carolyn sitting at the table.
Carolyn decided to try her luck and ask Wilhelm if he wanted to dance, but he shortly replied, "I'm not inclined to dance this evening."
Through the song, Carolyn kept chattering to Wilhelm, trying to get him to talk. But Wilhelm was never comfortable with his friend's younger sister, and sat silently and dull, only opening his mouth to shortly reply to any of Carolyn's ridiculous questions. Georg sat across the table, silently laughing at the sight of his friend trying to ignore Carolyn. Usually, Wilhelm was lively and was dancing just as much as anybody else, but whenever Carolyn came along, Wilhelm would climb back into his shell and wouldn't come out until he was just with the guys, often giving the appearance of being a snob.
When the five who were dancing returned to the table, they encountered what seemed a humorous sight. Wilhelm was looking around the café indifferently, Carolyn was hanging on his arm, talking, and Georg was laughing.
When Carolyn noticed the group coming, she suddenly stopped talking, catching Wilhelm's attention. Watching the group come towards the table, Wilhelm was trying to find Alex's twin. However, when Elisabeth came forward from behind the group and was introduced, Wilhelm was surprised to find who he thought was Alexandra's dark-haired friend from class. Instead of seeing an identical twin, he saw the opposite of Alex in looks. Where Alexandra had straight, blonde hair, Elisabeth had curly, dark brown, shoulder length hair. Instead of having light blue eyes like her twin, Elisabeth had brown eyes that seemed to be laughing at him.
"Laughing at me, why should she be laughing at me?" thought Wilhelm. "I must be imagining it, unless her eyes always sparkle like that."
Indeed, Elisabeth's eyes did always sparkle, but she also was laughing at Wilhelm. She was amused at Wilhelm's irritated expression as Carolyn hung on his arm, and it brought back the memory of Carolyn doing the same in the halls of their school.
The group of teenagers sat for a while, making small talk, until another song ended and the next one began. Karl and Alex, and Viktor and Carlotta once again returned to the floor, this time leaving Elisabeth to liven up the conversation at the table.
George, however, was the first to speak. "Do you come here often?" he asked Elisabeth.
"Yes, Alex, Carlotta, and I like to dance. What about you?"
Carolyn interrupted before Georg could reply. "I don't, if I can help it. The music's too noisy and there are much too many people."
Wilhelm, who was staring at Elisabeth since she was introduced, turn his head to Carolyn and asked in a clipped tone, "Then why do you come in the first place? And if the music is too loud, why did you want to dance before?"
"I come to keep you company and so you could dance with me instead of some nameless nobody who can't even dance."
As Wilhelm turned his face away in annoyance, he saw Elisabeth cover her smile with her hand and turn to Georg with a laughing expression in her eyes. Wilhelm began to see the humor in his situation and soon he was smiling, too. Carolyn, though, couldn't figure out what everyone was smiling out and slouched down in her chair, pouting. The two boys and Elisabeth were able to keep their laughter down to a smile until Elisabeth made eye contact with Wilhelm and she wasn't able to keep her laughter in check. Soon, the three were laughing out loud, with Carolyn demanding to know what the joke was. After a few moments, Georg, Wilhelm, and Elisabeth were able to quiet down.
The group was silent for a while, just listening to the music and watching the couples dance. Georg, noticing Elisabeth's foot tapping along with the beat, and Wilhelm's continuous gaze at Elisabeth, got an idea.
"It appears you long to dance, Elisabeth. Wili," Georg laughed at Wilhelm's reaction to his nickname, "Why don't you and Elisabeth go dance?"
Wilhelm was about to agree until Carolyn interrupted his reply. "Wilhelm told me he didn't mean to dance this evening."
Wilhelm longed to disagree, but he remembered his comment to Carolyn, and always keeping his word, he was forced to decline to dance with Elisabeth.
"Well then, Wili, if you don't mean to dance, then," Georg turned to Elisabeth, "will you please dance with me?"
"It would be my pleasure," Elisabeth agreed.
Elisabeth was about to turn off the light in her room when there was a knock at her bedroom door. Gaining permission to enter the room, Alex walked in and sat down on her sister's bed.
Elisabeth smiled at Alex's dreamy expression and asked, "Well?"
"Well what, Lisi?"
"Is Karl still the boy of your dreams after tonight?"
Alex's smile widened, "Yes, he is. He's still friendly and funny, and he's not that bad of a dancer." Alex paused and then continued, "What did you think of the others?"
Elisabeth's face turned serious while she pondered her sister's question. The look only lasted for a couple of seconds, and soon Elisabeth was smiling again. "Well, Karl seemed to like you very much, so he has earned my approval. And Viktor, too, since he showed such an interest in Carlotta. Georg was very friendly and was a good dancer. But I didn't like Carolyn. She acted as if she was better than us and anybody else at the club. It was funny, though, how she hung onto Wilhelm and never ceased talking to him."
"But what about him, Lisi?"
"Who? Wilhelm? I don't know what to think about him. At first he looked annoyed and he wouldn't dance. Though, I think that may be because Carolyn was there. While dancing, Georg mentioned that Wilhelm usually always dances and is fun to be around with, as long as Karl's younger sister wasn't there. He also was laughing along with us after Carolyn said something ridiculous."
"Really? What did she say?"
Elisabeth told her sister what Carolyn said to make the three laugh, and even Alex had to smile at Carolyn's only reason of going to the swing club.
Lying in bed, Wilhelm couldn't stop thinking about Elisabeth. He certainly thought her very pretty, especially her eyes and her smile. Wilhelm wanted to know more of her; he could see she had a sense of humor, and it was apparent that she really loved to have fun by her expression when dancing.
That night, Wilhelm fell asleep wondering when he could see her again.