On Der Spree

The Rowing Clubhouse was located on the Horst-Wessel-Stadt side of the Spree River in Park an der Spree, not far from Lukas’ mother’s flat. Lukas slid his bicycle into the rack beside Jacob’s basket bicycle and found him waiting inside the clubhouse.

“Lukas, it is great to see you! Isn’t it warm out today?” Jacob beamed.

“Ja, a great day to be on the water. So, your father permitted you to come?”

“He said he couldn’t forbid me from trying out.”

“Gut!” Pointing to a door at the back of the clubhouse, Lukas said, “We change in there.”

Lukas followed Jacob into a small changing room with benches arranged on three sides. As Jacob pulled off his shirt and dungarees, Lukas could see that the tow-headed boy was towards the end of puberty. His chest and shoulders were filling out and he had a patch of downy hair trailing down his flat belly.

Jacob caught him looking and turned around, pulling on his long swimming trunks. Lukas pulled off his clothes and did the same. Then they donned ratty runners, left their clothes in a pile and headed out into the sunny day. They were met by the Rowing Master.

“You’re new boy! What’s your name,” he addressed Jacob.

“Jacob, sir,” he replied shyly.

“Jawohl, well the new boys get the leftovers!” The Rowing Master directed them to a boat being brought alongside the dock by a pair of young men. Lukas nodded his head at the heavily-muscled blond boy who was getting out of the boat. The sweaty boy took one look at Jacob and smirked, passing the oar he was carrying to Lukas. His mate did the same for Jacob. “Don’t fall in!”

Jacob looked over at Lukas, “That is a funny looking boat. Have you ever done this before?”

“Yes, I have been training down here off and on since the snow melted. You?”

“Papa and I paddled around Lake Muggelsee once, I think.”

“Look, it is nothing like that.” Lukas laughed. “You will find that everything in rowing is named differently. That is not a boat, it is called a shell. This oar I am holding is called a sweep.”

“Oh, that is good to know. Lukas, I am sure I understand what pair means, but what does coxless mean? It is a funny word to me.”

“Ja, most rowing teams have a pilot, called a coxswain, who crouches in the shell, navigates and manages its speed by directing the rowing crew. In our case we do not have a pilot, that is why it is called coxless.”

“So, that means that we have to navigate the shell all on our own?”

“Don’t worry, there is the Rowing Master and his Helfer, who will be out with us, and I can help you also.”

“Well, how do we begin?” Jacob asked nervously.

“You get into the back,” Lukas wiped the seat off and steadied the shell while he climbed in. Lukas climbed in front, so that he could watch what Jacob was doing.

“Place your sweep into the oarlock, like so.” He demonstrated for Jacob using his own. Jacob had the easier time of it because he was on the water side and Lukas was on the dock side.

After Lukas felt that they were relatively stable, he gradually pushed them away from the dock. The blond boy watched them from the clubhouse, anticipating a spectacular failure.

“Oh, so we are looking backwards from the direction we are rowing?” Jacob asked doubtfully.

“Ja, keeps it interesting, doesn’t it?” he laughed. “I will look behind us and mind our direction. Just follow my lead. Now, do as I do. Dip your sweep into the water and pull.” Jacob did as was told and realized that the seat was on a sliding track.” “Lift it out of the water like I am doing and then repeat.”

Jacob found it a bit unnerving trying to stay in time with Lukas, while keeping the shell from capsizing into the water. If they were not in time, sometimes their sweeps would tangle up and stop their momentum.

“Don’t worry, we will find our rhythm with more practice,” he said to Jacob, smiling to himself, thinking of something that he had read about in the homophil magazine.

As they moved further from the dock, they both found it more and more difficult to go in a straight line. They were starting to turn in a circle back to the dock. The blond boy smirked at them from the clubhouse and then pointed them out to the Rowing Master.

“Ach, I will go today, but after that they are all yours, Helfer.”

“Can’t wait, Herr Master.”

The Rowing Master got into the pilot boat and motored out towards the pair. He shouted at them “Achtung! You boys aren’t in the Olympics yet! Slow down and use your back and leg muscles to pull the sweeps smoothly through the water.”

It was hard work but as they kept at it, the Rowing Master’s directions seemed to help. Lukas looked behind him towards a church steeple across the water and used that as a guide. Jacob found sometimes his sweep didn’t catch enough water, and other times it went in too deep and stalled them. In both cases the shell seemed to tip them precariously towards the water.

After about twenty minutes of rowing around der Spree like this, Jacob was winded and asked “Lukas, do you think that we might take a break?”

“Jawohl, that is enough for us today.” He angled them back to the clubhouse.

As they brought the shell alongside the dock, the blond boy was back to take their sweeps. “Not bad for a first-timer.” As Lukas got out of the shell, the blond boy looked him up and down avidly. Lukas didn’t seem to notice.

While they were changing out of their sweaty gear and into their street clothes, Jacob asked Lukas, “Why did that blond boy look at you that way?”

“In what way, Jacob?”

“He looked as if he wanted to eat you up, like a plump bratwurst at suppertime.”

“Oh, yes, some boys are like that. It is nothing to be concerned about.”

“Well, I have to head off to school now.”

“See you on Wednesday, Jacob?” Lukas asked.

“Yes, I can’t wait! I will bring a snack next time. I’m famished,” he said as rode away on his bicycle with the big basket in the front.

Yahweh

Lukas arrived at the Rowing Clubhouse before Jacob this time. While waiting he looked out across the vast expanse of der Spree. The day had dawned windy and dark clouds on the northwest side of Berlin were threatening rain. He could see that the Rowing Master’s blond Helfer was already out on the river in the pilot boat, supervising the rowers bobbing on the choppy water.

Then he heard Jacob’s voice behind him “Hi Lukas, sorry I’m late!”

Lukas turned around “You’re not late, it is I who is early,” he laughed as he joined Jacob in front of the clubhouse.

“A bit rough out there today.” Jacob remarked uncertainly.

“Look, we should be extra careful today. The Rowing Master’s Helfer is already out on the water.”

While they were changing, Lukas asked Jacob, “It has been a few weeks now since we have been practicing together. If you are comfortable, may we switch places so that I can sit in the stern and set our stroke rate and rhythm?”

“Of course. I will sit in the bow and spot for that church steeple across the river.”

“Gut!” They picked up a shell off the racks in the clubhouse, “To heads, ready up!” Lukas shouted and they flipped it over their heads. Together they walked it carefully down to the dock. “Hands in! Roll it!” Lukas shouted as they flipped the shell over and placed it into the water beside the dock.

Jacob sat in the bow and Lukas went to sit in the stern, settling their sweeps into the oarlocks. “Hands out!” Lukas shouted and he pushed them gently away from the dock.

When they were at a safe distance from the dock, Jacob sighted behind him for the church steeple and Lukas shouted, “Ready all, Row!” He pulled his sweep through the water with his back and legs and Jacob followed suit. As the shell gained momentum it became easier for them to remain in sync.

The Helfer shouted at them from the pilot boat, “Keep it up, you boys are doing great!”

The pair angled away from the clubhouse and out into the middle of der Spree. As they stroke, they can see their fellow rowers, as well as a handful of boats going back-and-forth under the Oberbaumbrucke. A small fishing boat angled toward them and Lukas shouted “Power ten!” They stroked with all of their might to get out of the way.

In the pilot boat, the Helfer looked up to see a troop ship closing with the pair very quickly. It didn’t look like they had spotted it yet. “Achtung, Achtung!” he yelled at them, but they were too far away to hear him. He turned his boat and motored towards the pair at top speed.

At the very last second Lukas saw the ship bearing down on them and changed course to avoid it. It was a near miss, but the wash from the large ship headed right towards them. “Wash! Take the run off,” he shouted to Jacob to position their sweeps at a 45-degree angle and steady the shell as much as possible.

The waves crashed over their shell broadside and they were tossed headlong into der Spree. Lukas tumbled around in the murky water, not knowing which way was up. After a few frantic heartbeats he was able to right himself at last and kicked up to the shimmering surface of the water. Jacob was nowhere to be seen.

“Jacob, Jacob!” he yelled. No answer.

He dipped his head back into the water and swam downwards. He could see Jacob sinking farther down, with absolute terror in his big brown eyes. He kicked strongly with his legs and caught up with Jacob. He grabbed him under one armpit and with a great pull with one arm and a huge kick with his legs, dragged Jacob back up to the surface.

Treading water to keep them both afloat, it looked like Jacob was not breathing. The Helfer angled the pilot boat alongside the two boys, and with the large boy pulling and Lukas pushing they were able to heave Jacob into the bottom of the boat.

Lukas crawled over the gunwale of the pilot boat to see the Helfer turning Jacob over, pounding his fist vigorously on his back. Jacob started coughing and then vomited a gout of river water and goo all over the bottom of the boat. “Delightful!” the Helfer smirked.

Jacob breathed in raggedly, coughed up some more water, then blinked up at them and said, “What happened?”

“Your shell got swamped by the wash from a troop ship. You were lucky, it could have been much worse.” The Helfer motored over to their swamped shell and snagged it with a hook on a rope. It started to rain as he brought them into shore.

The Rowing Master met them at the dock with a handful of towels and helped the shivering boys out of the pilot boat. He tossed a towel to his Helfer, “Clean up the mess in that boat,” and wrapped the boys in the rest of the towels. “Go warm your bones inside boys!”

“Thank you for saving me, Lukas!”

“It was my duty! Vergib mir Kiva, I guess I should have asked you if you could swim. May I call you Kiva?”

“Of course. May I call you Luka?”

“Ja!”

His near drowning got Jacob thinking about life and death. While they were drying off and warming up, Jacob asked, “Luka, the first time you came to Papa’s bookshop you said something to me like ‘God is dead or God has deserted us.’ Why did you say that to me, Luka?”

“Er, my father climbed up the ranks to Colonel in the Kaiser’s Imperial Army and survived the Great War, only to die of the pandemic in ‘19. I was only a Kleinkinder at the time. I don’t think Mutter ever recovered from the irony of that.”

“Did your parents go to church, Luka?”

“Mutter did sometimes. She said it helped her when Vati was away at the front.”

“Where did she go?”

“This was all so long ago. I think she was Lutheran. There is a Lutheran church near us just down from our flat. What about you?”

“Papa teaches me of Yahweh and we go to synagogue on Shabbat. Papa lets me recite from the Tanakh every morning, before we open up the shop. What do you think God is anyway, Luka?”

“That is a very good question.”

“We are taught in synagogue that Yahweh rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked.”

“Your Yahweh sounds like a very stern God to me. What little Mutter told me, Lutherans seem to believe in a benevolent God where love conquers all and we are all forgiven for our sins because we are only fallible human beings.”

“Hmm, but didn’t our Tanakh and your Bible come from the same place?”

“I guess so, but human beings wrote them, so I guess that makes those books fallible too.”

“I will ask Papa about this sometime. He might know better.”

Feeling much better, Jacob dropped the towel and took off his swimming trunks in front of Lukas. Blushing only slightly, he slowly pulled on his street clothes. “Well, that was an adventure!”

“Ja, are you afraid to come back again?”

“Why, with all you strong boys around to save me if I fall in?” He laughed.

“From now on Kiva, I will make you wear a lifejacket!” Lukas said.

…

Sitting in their kitchen after obeisance the next morning, Jacob told Papa what had happened during rowing practice the previous day.

“You are very lucky, Kiva, that your friend acted so quickly!”

“Yes, he is very strong. And the Rowing Master’s Helfer too.”

“Are you thinking of going back tomorrow?”

“Yes, I would like to continue to practice with Lukas. I will be wearing a lifejacket from now on.”

“Hearing this makes me feel much better, Kiva. I think am going to make a Babka for you to share with your friend tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Papa.”

Jacob watched while Papa gathered the ingredients for the Babka. Papa began rolling out the dough and folding it over and over on itself, to make the layers.

“Papa, what is Yahweh?”

“Oy, why do you ask, Kiva?”

“Yesterday just made me think about life and death, I guess.”

“Kiva, it is not for us to question the existence of Yahweh, only to believe and have faith in them.”

“Forgive me Papa, I wasn’t questioning Yahweh’s existence, but rather I wanted to know more about what they are.”

His father put the Babka into the oven and closed the door. Looking back at Jacob he said, “Reread Genesis, the First Book of the Torah, Kiva. It tells us that Yahweh made the world and everything in it and ourselves in their image.”

“I will study this more, Papa.”

“See that you do, Kiva!”

Temptation

The next day, as Lukas walked up to the Rowing Clubhouse, the Rowing Master’s blond Helfer crossed his thick arms over his broad chest and stepped in front of the door, blocking his way. “Ah, I see that you are returning my magazine. I was wondering who had filched it from the clubhouse. Did you like it?”

“Jawohl, it was very enlightening,” and handed the folded magazine back. “Look, my name is Lukas. Thank you for saving my friend Jacob the other day.”

“It is my job! And I’m Evan, by the way.” Then the heavily-muscled boy stepped right up to Lukas until their chests were almost touching, running his hand up-and-down his torso and said, “Well, let me know if you ever want to try anything out from the magazine. It could be fun.” The air between them is charged and Lukas felt his member shift inside his dungarees.

Over Lukas’ shoulder, Evan saw Jacob ride up on his bicycle. Evan dropped his hand and stepped away from Lukas, breaking the heat that was steadily rising between them.

“Hi Lukas!” Jacob called out, as he pulled a parcel wrapped in paper out of the basket.

“Guten Morgen, Jacob. What is it that you have there?” he asked.

“Oh, I brought us a Babka as a snack for after practice. Papa baked it for us yesterday, he is a great cook, you know.” He opened the wrapping paper to show Lukas a marbled pastry laced with chocolate inside. “He wanted to thank you for saving me the other day.”

“That looks really good Jacob. Bitte, thank your father for me.”

“I will,” as they sauntered together into the clubhouse to get changed.

After they changed, Jacob covered the Babka with his street clothes so that it wouldn’t get filched by the other boys and they went out to find a shell. Jacob wrapped his arms into a thin lifejacket, covering the top half of his swimming trunks.

“Today we should practice some of the special rowing commands while we are out on the water,” Lukas said.

“Yes, some of the words are a bit funny to me,” Jacob replied.

…

After their practice, they sat down together in the changing room. Jacob broke off a piece of the Babka and handed it over to Lukas. “We need to work on our rowing commands a bit more, I think.”

“Jawohl, the Rowing Master or his Helfer can give us some pointers at our next practice.” Thinking of Evan, Lukas asked, “Do you like the Frauleins, Kiva?”

Between bites of the Babka, Jacob replied, “Don’t know, never really thought about them much. I mean, I see them at school and synagogue all the time and of course they come into the bookshop with their parents sometimes. Do you?”

“Nein. You know that boys can do things too.”

“Oh really, like what?”

“Never-mind, you’re too young.”

“Am not Luka!” He threw a piece of Babka at him.

“Maybe I will tell you some other time.”

As Jacob went to take off his swimming trunks, Lukas could see red welts on his upper back, where he had been chafed by the lifejacket. “Is that sore, Kiva?”

“No, it is not too bad. Papa has some unguent in our lavatory. I will put some on when I get home.”

“Make sure your lifejacket is tied tighter, next time!”

“I will, Luka. Auf Wiedersehen!”

Closing the Clubhouse for Winter

October 1935:

Leaves floated red and gold on the surface of the water as Jacob and Lukas glide on der Spree, their last practice together for the year. The days have been getting steadily colder and it is time to end their practice for the season.

Jacob is melancholy as they put their shell away for the last time before winter. “Spring is a long way off, Luka. When will I see you again?”

“Mutter said she would like to meet you. I know you celebrate Hanukkah, but come for Christmas dinner at our flat. Bitte, don’t expect anything fancy. It will be whatever Mutter can find cheaply at market. She might sing some O Tannenbaum for you, if you ask her nicely.” Lukas smiled.

“I will ask Papa. Would you like to come for the lighting of the candles one night?”

“Ja, I would like that.”

“Until then, Luka. Stop by the shop if your mother needs any records, or even just to say hello.”

“I will, Kiva.”

Next Chapter: Chapters 10 to 11 - Celebrations