"Mami, I'm all wet. Why do we have to be outside in the rain?" complained Robbie.
"I'm all wet too. And I'm hungry," added Tutti.
"I know children. We're all wet and hungry right now," replied Mami as she pulled the children close trying to protect them from the downpour. "We wanted to get closer to home, and the Americans thought that we could get in an airplane here that would take us to Holland. But the planes can't fly in all this rain."
"Why not?" asked Robbie.
"I don't really know, maneke, but I think it's because the pilot can't see very well."
After five days in Dobrany, American trucks moved the whole family to an airfield outside of Pilsen where they had been told they could fly out of Czechoslovakia. The terrible weather grounded all flights and again, all they could do was wait for the authorities to tell them where they could go. After spending the day on the open field in the rain, they were given a place to sleep on the cold hard floor of a building that had been converted into barracks. There were no beds or blankets and once again, they were all hungry.
The next morning the Allied Expeditionary Forces, who were in charge of the airfield, provided the recently released Jews dry bread for breakfast. The children were cranky and the adults were crankier. Tutti was bored beyond belief and begged her mother for something to do.
"Mami, do we have to just sit for another day? It stopped raining. Can we go outside?"
Mami saw two American soldiers walking by who were smoking cigarettes and she suddenly had an idea.
"Robbie, Tutti. Come with me." She signaled Pappie to come too, and they all went outside and followed the two soldiers. "Tutti, Robbie. I have a job for you two. When the soldiers are done with their cigarettes they will drop the butts on the ground. I want you two to be ready to pick them up right away. If we collect enough butts your father and I can have our own cigarettes tonight. Pappie gave Mami a big smile when he heard the plan, and the children were happy to have something to do.
As Tutti followed the two soldiers she noticed their crisp uniforms. One was tall and the other was short. The shorter soldier had dark curly hair that snuck out from under his cap. They didn't notice Tutti and Robbie were following a short distance behind.
The two soldiers stopped walking for a minute and turned to talk to each other. Tutti noticed that the tall soldier was quite handsome. His square jaw was topped with a friendly smile. Two dimples defined his cheeks, and his wide forehead led to dark hair that was combed back in a wave. As Tutti was admiring the handsome soldier with the clean uniform, the short one dropped his cigarette butt on the ground. Before he could put his boot on it to stomp it out, Robbie scooped it up as he had done in the camp with the orange peels and raced back to his mother. The shocked soldier didn't know quite what to make of the speedy child. The tall soldier, also finished with his smoke, dropped it on the ground and then watched as Tutti whisked it up. They stared as Mami opened the nubs and emptied the remaining tobacco into a handkerchief.
"Excuse me," said the handsome soldier. "Would you like a cigarette?" He held out his pack of cigarettes to Mami and Pappie.
Mami's face was red, and she didn't answer the handsome soldier who was offering her a smoke.Tutti looked at her proud and embarrassed mother and wondered what she was thinking at that moment. She wouldn't want anyone to know she was scrounging old cigarettes off the ground.
Pappie was the first to answer. "Thank you. Thank you so much. It's been so long since we have been able to smoke."
"You are free now. You don't have to pick up trash. Come with us. We can get you a whole new pack," said the shorter soldier.
Heinz held out his hand. "I'm Heinz Lichtenstern and this is my wife Margret."
"And who are these two nimble children?" asked the tall one.
"This is Tutti and her brother Robbie," answered Mami. She had finally found her voice. When she heard her name, Tutti stood tall and smiled at the handsome American.
"Where are my manners?" said the taller soldier. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Sergeant Lloyd Miller1 and this is my friend Corporal Stanley Greenberg2."
"Where are you from?" asked Corporal Greenberg.
"That's a long story," replied Pappie. We have been in Theresienstadt for the last eight months. And before that in a camp in Holland."
"You are Jewish refugees from Holland? I'm Jewish too. I just can't believe what's been happening. What you've been through! Please, come with us. Let's get the children some food, and we can find you those cigarettes we promised."
That was the start of a wonderful evening. Sergeant Miller and Corporal Greenberg brought the Lichtensterns back to their own quarters and treated them to extra rations. They had only recently left the United States as they were replacements in the 8th Armored Division and hadn't been in Europe long. They hadn't actually met any survivors as yet, and they were full of questions about the last five years and life in the camps. They wanted to know about the camp conditions and how the family had survived. In turn, the Lichtensterns were full of questions about life outside the camp. How much of Europe was destroyed? Was Amsterdam intact? What had happened to Mami's parents who were sent to the East?
Opa Okkie and Muttchen joined Mami and Pappie as they sat with the GIs on their bunks and talked past midnight. The children tried to listen but had trouble following the English. Robbie fell asleep under the bunk, and Tutti fell asleep holding Popje and dreaming about the handsome American.
The next morning the soldiers gave the family a hearty breakfast of real bean coffee and bread piled high with thick swipes of butter and cold cuts. They also gave them a supply of sugar, cocoa, soap, cigarettes, and to the delight of the children, chewing gum.
Tutti and Robbie had never had chewing gum before. Robbie unwrapped a piece and promptly popped it in his mouth. "Dank U. Mag ik een ander?"
"Nee, dat mag je niet. No, you may not," answered Mami with an angry look. Corporal Greenberg turned to Mami and asked for a translation.
"I'm afraid he is asking for another piece. I'm so sorry." Mami was embarrassed again.
"Already little man? You didn't swallow it, did you?" asked Corporal Greenberg with Mami as his translator.
"Yes, it was delicious," answered Robbie.
"Haven't you had gum before? You aren't supposed to swallow it. It is just for chewing. Just keep chewing until the flavor is all gone. Then you can throw it out," explained the soldier. Mami helped translate Corporal Greenberg's explanation.
"What do I do with it when it is time to go to sleep?" asked Tutti.
"American children put their gum behind their ear to save it for the next day," joked Corporal Greenberg.
The rest of that afternoon was spent with Miller and Greenberg. They took several pictures of the Lichtensterns and Lloyd Miller gave the admiring Tutti a couple of snapshots of himself.
The next morning when Tutti woke up her hair was all in a tangle with her gum stuck in it.
"Mami, I can't find my gum," complained Tutti.
"It is all in your hair, Tuttchen. How on earth did it get there?" asked Mami.
"Corporal Greenberg told me to sleep with it behind my ear." Tutti started to cry.
"Oh Tuttchen! He was only joking. You were supposed to throw it out, not save it." Mami pulled her close and hugged her. "I guess it is time you had a haircut anyway. Let's see if someone around here has any scissors."
1Lloyd Miller's actual rank is unknown.
2 Stanley Greenberg is a fictitious name.
