The Passport

THE CUFFLINKS

Rudi was the only German in the glass factory. “He’s the only German in the whole district,” said the skinner. “At first the Romanians were amazed that there were still Germans after Hitler. ‘Still Germans,’ the manager’s secretary had said, ‘still Germans. Even in Romania.’ “

“It has its advantages,” the skinner thought. “Rudi earns a lot of money in the factory. He has a good relationship with the man from the secret police. A big blond man with blue eyes. He looks like a German. Rudi says that he’s highly educated. He knows all the different kinds of glass. Rudi gave him a glass tie-pin and cufflinks. It paid off,” said the skinner. “The man helped us a lot with the passport.”

Rudi gave the man all the glass objects he had in his flat. Glass flower pots. Combs. A rocking chair of blue glass. Glass cups and plates. Glass pictures. A glass night light with a red shade.

The ears, the lips, the eyes, the fingers, the toes of glass Rudi brought home in a suitcase. He laid them on the floor. He laid them in rows and circles. He looked at them.