In 1969, at the age of 17, Vikram Seth went to England for higher studies. His mother was reluctant to send him away, fearing western influence might spoil the boy. A compromise was reached in the form a local guardian, his great uncle Shanti Behari Seth, who was a dentist in London. Vikram stayed with them initially, and later moved to hostel accommodation at Oxford after getting admission there. By then, he got on well with Shanti uncle’s family and visited them often during holidays.
Shanti’s wife and Vikram’s great aunt was German Jewish, Hennerle Gerda Caro aka Aunt Henny. Shanti went to dental school in Germany, during which time he stayed as a paying guest at Henny’s house. Aunt Henny was aloof at first but later became good friends with Vikram. Shanti and Henny did not have any children and they treated Vikram as their son. When Henny came to know that Vikram must learn German in order to get his degree, she declared that they will speak only German at home. At the dinner table, Vikram got served only he asked for it in German. Shanti always spoke about his brothers and other relatives but Henny never spoke about her past life.
After finishing studies at Oxford, Vikram went to Stanford for a Ph.D. in Economics. It was a bumpy ride, where he took detours like going to China and learning Chinese or writing poetry. The Golden Gate, his first novel in verse, was published during this time. It was inspired by Charles Johnson’s translation of Alexander Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin.
In 1989, Hennerle passed away after a long battle with illness. When Vikram’s parents met him in London, his mother suggested that he write a book based on the life of Shanti uncle. Initially reluctant, Vikram warmed to the idea and interviewed Shanti quite extensively and collected enough material to write a memoir.
One day Vikram’s father was cleaning Shanti’s house in London when he found a trunk in the attic. He brought it outside in the garden where Vikram and Shanti were sitting. They were astonished to find Aunt Henny’s letters and diaries. Shanti had never seen these before. He allowed Vikram to use the material for his book. It revealed facets of Hennerle’s life that were hitherto hidden. After reading this, Vikram felt that Hennerle should also be a part of the book. What started as a memoir became a story of Two Lives.
During the thirties when Shanti was in Germany, he became good friends with Henny and her sister Lola and her mother Gabriele Caro. Lola helped him type his Ph. D. Thesis. Initially a paying guest, Shanti quickly became a part of the family. He got his dentist degree and a Ph. D. in the same year that Berlin hosted the Olympics, 1936. Then he came to England for a job but stayed in touch with the Caro family. In 1939, just before the war stared, Henny came to England. Henry joined the army and was posted in Africa. As the Jews were increasingly persecuted, the prospect of Gabriele and Lola getting out seemed impossible. Gabriele was sent to a sanitarium due to her age.
Lola was sent to Auschwitz.
The last postcard that Lola sent from Auschwitz was to her boss, that he later sent to Henny. It looks as if written by a child. Or by someone who has no strength left and is still trying to write her last words. A description of what Lola must have gone through is given in the book, based on accounts of O. Kraus and E. Kulka who were imprisoned as Auschwitz.
Lola was taken to Block 25 along with other men, women and children. They were told to remove their clothes and shoes and sent into crematorium 1 and 2. They were told that it was a ‘disinfection room.’ These rooms had hollow pillars in them that were filled with holes. Lola, along with two thousand people was pushed into these rooms. The lights were dimmed or switched off. The hollow pillars were filled with Zyclon B that is a cyanide based pesticide. It creates a poisonous gas as soon as it comes into contact with air. Lola and others struggled to breathe after inhaling the gas. Lola must have suffered anywhere between five to twenty minutes before succumbing to death. Half an hour later, the poisonous gas was vacuumed out and the doors would have opened. The rooms would have been filled with bodies. Lola’s body would be lifted and sprayed with water. If she had any gold teeth, they would be removed. Then her body would be dumped in a large iron oven. Her fat would be used as fuel, her hair were already removed for use. Her bones would be crushed and the powder would be thrown in the Sola river.
While writing the book, Vikram went to Jerusalem for a conference. In one of the Holocaust museums, he found a list with Gabriele and Lola’s names on it. There was a letter with this list, sent by the Gestapo to the finance ministry. The letter ordered that the list should be submitted and their incomes should be transferred to the German Reich. There was no signature at the end, just some random zigzag lines. While watching the film of this letter, Vikram’s right knee started shaking uncontrollably. Someone said from behind in a thick German accent, “I can help you with the German.” It was teenage boy who had come for a school trip. Vikram refuted curtly, even though knowing that it was an innocent question. He calmed down eventually.
Vikram used to enjoy German language with Aunt Henny, especially poems by German poets like Heinrich Heine. But after reading this letter, he started to detest the German language. While reading German poetry he stared hearing sentences like “…Das Vermögen ist nicht verfallen, sondern durch Einziehung auf das Deutsche Reich übergegangen…[…The property has not fallen into despair, but through confiscation has passed into the ownership of the German Reich…].”
There seems to be a similarity in how exceptionally creative minds respond to the Holocaust. In his interview on Inside The Actors Studio with James Lipton, Steven Spielberg said that he used to call Robin Williams while he was shooting Schindler’s List in Poland and say, “Robin, I have been crying for half an hour, make me laugh.” And Robin used to oblige.
Aunt Henny’s letters paint a picture of Germany during and after the war. Henny and Shanti used to send everything from oil and flour to chocolates and sweaters to their friends in Germany. Very few of their Jew friends were still alive. Most of the Germans who were left behind felt immense guilt. But there were exceptions. One of Henny’s friends was adamant that the Holocaust never happened and it was all propaganda, that Henny’s mother and sister were “exceptions.” Henny broke all contact with her. The letters also contain Henny’s correspondence with the German government after the war. One of her friends in Berlin was helping her to receive compensation for the lost property. When the money finally arrived, it was woefully meager.
Shanti traveled a lot during the war. First Africa, then Egypt and finally Monte Casino in Italy. As a dentist, Shanti always tried to save the teeth. Extraction was the last option. During the war however, he had to change this strategy. In order to send the soldiers back to war quickly, extraction was the only choice. In Monte Casino, Shanti lost his right hand during a bombing attack. Next couple of years were spent adjusting to this new reality. The artificial hand was useless as far as his profession was concerned. A dentist friend suggested that Shanti use his left hand for his work but Shanti could not bring himself to do it. During a weekend, this friend started having tooth troubles and he forced Shanti to use his left hand. This gave him some confidence. He stared working as an assistant in his friend’s clinic. His friend started giving him increasingly complicated cases. After performing a tooth extraction with his left hand, Shanti’s confidence was back. He started his own practice. When a patient arrived for the first time, a nurse would attend to him and Shanti would not come in till he is settled in his chair. By the time he realised Shanti’s handicap, Shanti would be well in the middle of the procedure. And the patients never left once they had visited Shanti’s clinic.
In one of the chapters about Aunt Henny’s correspondence, Vikram segues into Nazi regime and Israel-Palestine conflict. It is a bit surprising to see the narrator, who was fairly impartial up till now, suddenly come to the forefront with strong political views. The last chapter describes disputes that arose in the family after Shanti expired. While this seems a little out of place, it also reveals hidden facets of Shanti’s personality.
Two Lives is a difficult book. It is difficult to read and it is even more difficult to write about it. When psychopaths gain enormous power and a black cheque to do anything, the consequences are horrendous. Those who get caught in it suffer excruciating pain and die a death that one would not wish upon even one’s worst enemy. And those who are left behind carry this pain throughout their lives.
Two Lives is a tale of these lives.
