Roses by the Rhine River

Chapter 7: Thorns of Peace of "Roses by the Rhine"

6:03 on Easter morning, April 21, 1946

Isabella's grape shears are suspended over the first bud of the "peace rose". Dewdrops roll down the gears of Karl's mechanical prosthesis along the serrations. After waiting for seven years and seven months, this new variety nurtured by American military blankets, French cuttings, and Soviet snow water finally blooms on Easter morning. The edges of the petals are dyed with blood-red serrations, very much like Karl's war wound on his left chest.

"It's time for the reporter to take pictures." Karl's prosthetic limb gently pushes aside her hand. There are snow particles from Moscow in 1941 stuck between the gears. "Lia has arranged the sheet music of 'Wild Roses' in the watchtower."

The eight-year-old daughter is lying on top of the tower, using the piano strings made of Soviet tank springs to fix the sheet music in the wind. Isabella sees the French key sewn on her daughter's skirt - it was a trophy from last Christmas Eve. Suddenly, she hears the barking of East German border guards coming from across the Rhine.

09:17 The lens of the Allied reporter

The Leica camera of the Time magazine reporter is aimed at the rose bush. The flash of the magnesium lamp startles the robin resting on Karl's prosthetic limb. "Mrs. Hoffman, I heard that this rose saved the life of a Soviet political commissar?" The reporter's American English is mixed with the smell of bourbon. The lens reflects the pearl necklace around Isabella's neck - it was exchanged for her daughter's diaper.

"It has saved all those who persevered in the frozen soil." Isabella holds Karl's severed finger and slips the wedding ring onto his shrunken ring finger. "Including the brewing recipe hidden in my husband's prosthesis."

When the lens turns to the cellar, Karl suddenly lifts the Soviet military blanket - revealing a copper press confiscated by the Nazis in 1940. The body is engraved with the number of prisoners of war from Stalingrad. The reporter's finger suddenly trembles: "This is my father's equipment in Bordeaux!"

14:28 The sound of the flute of the East German boy

When Lia's piano piece "Wild Roses" is soaked by the fog of the Rhine, a crisp sound of bamboo flute comes from across the river. Isabella sees blue and white stripes flashing in the reeds - that is the school uniform of an East German boy. The boy suddenly holds up an oiled paper bag, revealing half a loaf of rye bread. There are grapevine cuttings hidden in the bread crumbs.

"Mom, he is playing the tune taught by Dad!" Lia's piano string suddenly tightens, and the Soviet spring makes a sharp tremor. Karl's prosthetic limb jams the telescope. He sees the Communist Youth League badge on the boy's collar - it is the son of the Soviet second lieutenant whom he rescued as a prisoner of war in 1943.

The trade is completed at dusk: Lia's French key is exchanged for the cuttings. There is a secret letter from the East German resistance organization hidden in the boy's bread. When the first star rises, Isabella finds that the cutting is engraved with "April 21, 1946, Elbe" - which is the anniversary of the meeting of the Soviet and American forces.

19:53 Moonlight in the Soviet warehouse

Karl's mechanical prosthesis scrapes sparks on the rusty iron door. When the red star badge on the lintel falls, Isabella catches it - on the back is engraved "For the roses by the Rhine. Zhukov. May 9, 1945." Inside the warehouse, the brewing equipment looted by the Nazis is neatly stacked. Each machine is sealed with a Soviet seal. The date on the seal is May 7, 1945 - the night before Karl escaped.

"Look at this." Karl lifts the copper cover of the press. The inside is engraved with dense Russian: "In the winter of 1942, brewing with the snow water of Stalingrad. Missing my wife by the Rhine." Isabella's tears drop on the engraving, washing away the congealed blood stains and revealing the following German words: "Isabella, my grapevine is still alive."

They find their daughter's cradle in the pile of equipment - an old thing blown up by the German army in 1940. Now it has been rewelded by Soviet soldiers using tank tracks. There is a doll lying in the cradle, wearing the school uniform of an East German boy and holding the bud of the "peace rose" in its arms.

23:45 The emerging rift at the beginning of the Cold War

When the ice of the Rhine completely melts, the searchlight of the East German border guards sweeps across the rose manor. Lia discovers from the watchtower that the boy on the other side is planting a tree. His figure under the moonlight is very much like her father's when he was young. Suddenly, gunshots cut through the night sky. The boy's bamboo flute falls into the river and drifts westward with the current.

Karl's prosthetic limb hugs his trembling wife and daughter. The mechanical fingers tap out Morse code in Lia's palm: "In Moscow in 1941, Dad was waiting for Mom like this." Isabella presses the thorn of the "peace rose" into her palm. The blood drops on the boy's school uniform cloth and smudges into a small red star.

[Wine tasting notes] 1946 Easter special brew: The wine body presents a new green color, suspended with the golden powder of the Soviet red star and the sound of the flute of the East German boy. At first smell, it is the breath of thawing frozen soil. But when it enters the mouth, it has the mellowness of Bordeaux Merlot. The aftertaste hides the metallic astringency of barbed wire. When the wine slides down the throat, you will hear the loud noise of the ice of the Rhine cracking and see two scarred souls plant the first seed of peace among the rose thorns.