Summary

On October 30, 1942, the Finnish police informed the commander of the Gestapo in neighboring Estonia, which they intended to hand over to them in the coming days, nine Jewish refugees. 
About a week later, only eight Jewish refugees were handed over to the Nazis.

Where did the ninth Jew go?Y?

Chapter 10 - The House Hotel

The flight from Rovaniemi to Helsinki was short. In less than an hour I made my way out of the terminal, zipping up my coat, intending to step out into the cold and stand in line to catch a taxi to the hotel.

A light tap on my shoulder made me turn my head back and meet who if not Heidi's beautiful face.

"What a surprise," I exclaimed, "what are you doing here?"

"In your message you mentioned the flight number," she said, "I decided to save you the expense of a taxi. Let me take you to the hotel."

"If the transportation is at your expense, then the dinner is at my expense," I hurried to take advantage of the opportunity, "Which restaurant do you prefer?"

"I'm not sure I know the restaurants in Helsinki better than you. You choose," she offered.

We stepped out of the terminal into the cold and walked carefully on the icy sidewalk towards the covered parking lot.

"Aren't you working at the store today?" I asked.

"After you sent me the photo of the engraving, my curiosity grew and I decided to give up a day's work to meet you. This cipher grabbed me really hard, I delved into it and tried to reproduce some of the signs," she said,

"Only my code caught you?" I dared to ask.

She smiled and did not answer. That's how Finns are, they don't talk when they don't have to.

"Which hotel did you book?" she asked and opened the luggage.

"Scandic Marski. This is my home hotel in Helsinki."

"Ummm… it's right downtown," she said, "Do you know what the name of the hotel means?"

She started the car, started driving, left the airport area and joined the sparse traffic.

"Of course I know. Marski is a marshal and he is named after Marshal Gustav Mannerheim, the legendary Finnish army commander in the Winter War," I said proudly.

She gave her thumbs up and smiled.

"I hope it's okay with you that I gave the cipher photograph to a laboratory that specializes in manuscript restoration," she said, looking at me uncertainly.

"That's more than fine," I replied with a smile, "I'm glad you took this challenge seriously."

After the short drive, Heidi was mainly interested in my recovery and during the interview with Kaiza. When we arrived, we nimbly maneuvered through the winding road that led into the hotel's underground parking lot.

From the look on his face in which the receptionist introduced me, he confirmed my words about the place being my home hotel in Helsinki. I received an upgrade thanks to the high rank I reached as a club member in the chain to which the hotel belonged.

I debated whether it would be appropriate to invite Heidi up to the room with me, but she again proved to be a mind reader.

"Go up to the room, get organized and come down. I'll wait for you here in the lobby with my laptop. When you come down we can start delving into our code," she said with a smile.

When I came down, I found her sitting in the cafe on the lobby floor. She chose a table in front of the storefront that looked out onto the main street of the center of the Finnish capital. The name of the street, why not? He is Mannerheim. The Finns really admire that leader who, thanks to his courage and leadership, Finland remained independent as a democratic republic and remained so even during the Cold War, despite the threatening proximity to its neighbor to the east.

I ordered myself a glass of beer and Heidi settled for a cup of coffee. Not long ago it became clear to me that the Finns occupy one of the first places in the world in...drinking coffee, if not the first place.

"I think I recognize at least two signs that aren't numbers or letters," Heidi turned the computer screen in my direction, "I marked them in yellow."

I looked at the screen. The image on the computer looked better than the one on the camera monitor.

"Do you see what I see?"

I strained my eyes. I moved away, I came closer and what I saw were indistinct spots. Heidi realized that I was not as sharp as her, got up and stood behind me.

"I think it's the Star of David," she said.

"Star of David?". I enlarged the picture. Wow, there's something to it.

"Could be. What else do you recognize?" I asked.

She pointed to another spot on the screen.

"It's a swastika."

There is a situation.

"I can also see a sign here that could be the number 8," I pointed out.

"You're right… and here you can see the letter N and the number five… and it clearly looks like an arrow pointing down." the coloring

I looked at her questioningly.

"Do you have any idea what this all means?"

"I have no idea," she said, taking her seat, "but it's obviously fascinating."

"How's it going?" I asked.

"We will wait for the reconstruction of the laboratory. I hope they will be able to extract from the picture a little more than what can be seen here," she said.

I looked at her and liked what I saw. I was very happy to spend time in her company.

 "Have you decided which restaurant you want to go to?" she asked as she closed the laptop.

"Yes. I chose one of the best restaurants in town."

"Then let's move," she said and stood up, "challenges make me hungry."

"No need to move. I made sandwiches," I said.

The look in her eyes made me burst out laughing. She looked at me awkwardly, waiting for an explanation.

"The first part of my sentence is true," I said, "we're not moving anywhere, but the second part is a joke. I didn't really make sandwiches," I reassured her, "we'll stay to eat here. They have a really great restaurant, even for vegetarians like me."

We got up from our place and went down to the lower level where the hotel's restaurant is located. Although it was early, the sign indicated that the kitchen was already open.

"You're a surprising guy, Nadav," she said as we waited for the waiter.

"What's so surprising?"

"I haven't met many vegetarian Israelis. For what reason did you choose to abstain from meat?"

"I'm not so sure that there aren't many vegetarian Israelis, but the reason I stopped eating animals is humanitarian."

"Mmm..." she murmured, "Maybe I should start too. Maybe even tonight."

The waiter approached with a friendly smile on his face.

"Good evening, Mr. Shemer," he said, "a table for two?"

Heidi again looked surprised. Do the waiters here know you too? her eyes asked.

I winked at her.

The book was also translated into English and was published as a printed and digital book

A printed copy, including the author's dedication and signature, can be obtained by contacting her at the address: [email protected]. The book can be purchased at "Hebrew", at "Bibox", at "Stimetsky Digital" and at "Amazon". Links can be found on the website.

From the review:

• • "An amazingly beautiful historical novel...one of the best books I've read recently" - Shmuelik Katlan 2.5.24

• • "A significant book, highly recommended!...touched me in a way that left me with a lot of thoughts." – Ricky Baruch, 9.05.24

• • "It's all here... mystery, adventure, suspense, history. Want to read!" –Rinat Elazar Peretz 8.5.24

• • Illuminates the cultural differences in a special and inspiring light. A story, about people, with whom you can identify. – Carmel Levy 6.05.2