The Masquerade Ball (Javorcek X ClearSight)

[Javorcek]

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(December 31, 1937)



“Did you hear about this thing the Germans are calling the ‘Anschluss with Austria’?” Mary Dobek, niece to the late Austrian Emperor Charles I, and the woman whose extravagantly rich family was throwing this New Years Eve party enjoyed politics immensely, to the point where she was eager to have little debates, even at what was supposed to be a relaxing social gathering. Apparently she had never heard the old adage: ‘Don’t discuss religion or politics’.

“Is it official?” Danica tilted her head to the side slightly in curiosity. Her family owned a bookstore that Mary frequented. The older woman was nice enough, nice enough to invite Danica’s family to her shindig anyways. Mary had been one of the first people that her mother had befriended ever since they had left Germany. It was rather difficult to keep a bookstore open when the Nazis were burning every piece of literature they could find.

“No, not yet, they’re still campaigning for it. But the papers are speculating that it’ll go through.” Mary answered.

“Hrrrmph. If you ask me, the Austrians have been in cahoots with the Germans since The Great War. If they would like to band together in their misery as the losers of war, let them.” Josef, Mary’s husband, was quick to condemn the Austrians, even though his wife technically was mostly Austrian. He had every right to do so, after fighting for Czechoslovakia’s freedom ever since he was a boy and becoming a well decorated General, no one begrudged him for his show of patriotism, not even his wife. “If that fat-head Hitler wishes to join the countries that all speak German, let him. Austria doesn’t seem to be putting up much of a fight.”

“I speak German. Many of the people in Czechoslovakia can speak German. Nearly –all- of the people in the Studetenland can speak German, would you have Hitler annex Czechoslovakia nation as well?” Mary rolled her eyes at her husband who was ever quick to jump to name-calling without proper thinking. “What do you think, Danica? You’ve seen him before haven’t you? Is he indeed a ‘fat-head’ as my articulate husband likes to say?”

“Hilter is a…passionate man… He cares deeply for Germany.” Danica chose her words carefully, afraid of being within earshot of any Nazi sympathizers. Even though her parents had assured her that they would be safe in Czechoslovakia from the rising Nazi party, sometimes she wasn’t so sure. Hitler had gone from a man with nothing to a man with an entire nation ready to die for him; she felt like there were plenty of reasons to still be scared.

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Alice adjusted her mask once again, forgetting that adjusting it wouldn’t do a blasted thing because she wasn’t actually wearing her glasses and no matter how many times she pushed the mask up to sit on the bridge of her nose, nothing would come into focus. “How about…him?” She elbowed her friend gently, squinting and distinguish if the young man she was looking at would be handsome enough for her best friend Brigitte. The pair had been together ever since they were babies, their fathers were university professors and great friends, leading their daughters to become close friends as well.

Brigitte blushed slightly and shook her head. She lacked any confidence, unlike Alice. The brunette was pretty enough, she knew she was, but once she opened her mouth she just didn’t know what to say.

“Well you should flirt with one of these nice boys here.” Alice teased. “A kiss on New Years Eve is supposed to bring you good luck”

“Did you know that kissing on New Year’s is a tradition from the Romans who would just kiss and then…do…inappropriate things all night?” Brigitte was a veritable font of useless information. “And the kiss doesn’t –bring- you good luck. Your mask is what is symbolic; it stands for the evil spirits of the previous year and when you remove the mask for your kiss, it’s supposed to act as a figurative tossing away of last year’s ills.”

“Sounds like my kind of night.” Alice gave a roguish grin as her friend tripped over herself to find appropriate words for inappropriate things. “I don’t understand why you can talk to me just fine, but when you get around boys you turn into a mute.”

Brigitte shrugged and chewed on her lower lip nervously. She knew that her friend meant well, but the added peer pressure of finding a single man to kiss at the end of the night was not helping her nerves.