The Nazis Discover Elsa’s Hiding Place
While living in the Heinz home, a lot of friends would deliver supplies to take care of Elsa. Her friend Sylvia continued to keep an eye on the house in her absence, but she was forced to sell the painting and the piano in order to pay for much-needed supplies. People in the town loved Elsa, and her close friends were willing to keep her secret so that she could survive.
Elsa did not have any paper to write on, so she used onion skins to write letters to her son, which were smuggled out whenever possible. She spent two years living in the Heinz house. She would hide in her room most of the day, and only walk around the rest of the house at night, when the family was out on a weekend. The curtains were drawn, and she was too afraid to look outside. She would even have sudden panic attacks when she thought the Nazis might come inside, and crawled into a hidden passageway behind a cupboard and a large blanket box.
In 1943, Elsa had successfully hidden for two years before two Nazi soldiers were let into the house by Mr. Heinz. They heard rumors that he was hiding a Jewish woman in his home, and he had no choice but to allow them to search the house. But Elsa heard them coming, and she was able to slip into her hiding space. She could hear the Nazi soldiers opening every kitchen cabinet, upturning furniture, and moving things around. She waited for her moment to slip out the back door. At the time, she was only wearing a homemade house dress that was far too big for her and some hand-knit socks. She had to hide at a nearby hospital. Elsa knew that if she was seen by anyone in town, it would immediately look suspicious. She was thin and pale, with her cheeks slightly caving in from the years of hiding. Her clothes were also a head giveaway that she wasn’t exactly normal.
While she was in hiding, she had a “Plan B” ready with her friend and former tenant, Sylvia Kosminski. If the Nazis ever discovered her hiding place, Mr. Heinz was supposed to notify Sylvia about what happened, and she was supposed to rendezvous with Elsa at the hospital. However, there was much more going on that Elsa had no idea about. The reason why the Nazis had been investigating Heinz’s house in the first place was because he was caught selling jewelry on the black market, and they were about to take him to jail. So Sylvia did not show up. Hours continued to slip by, and by 8 PM, Elsa knew it was time to move on and figure out a Plan C. She moved on to another friend’s house. This time, it was the Hofrat Family. They were one of the many groups who were smuggling food into the Heinz house for two years.
Thankfully, Sylvia had not betrayed her best friend. The reason why she didn’t show up was because she was at a birthday party out of town, and no one was able to get in touch with her until around 10:30 PM. After getting food, clothes, and shoes from the Hoftrat family, Elsa and Sylvia met up while walking on the road. It was dark outside, and Elsa was walking quietly in the streets, trying not to make any noise or draw attention to herself. As far as the Nazis were concerned, they were just two ladies walking home from a party. Sylvia grasped Elsa’s arm, and they quickly walked to the house. Once they were finally safe inside, Elsa collapsed on her old couch that she had given up to Sylvia years before. After two years of hiding, she was finally home.