Page 56 - Vol. VI #8

Mama has Claws (continued from preceding page) like a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a laboring heart he he he he he he he couldn’t listen to to to to to her
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analytical merciless to to others As a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a young artist Adolf Hitler had created sketches of of of precisely designed plazas devoid of of of of inhabitants Here in in in in in Prague in in in in in in the the the the the cold assessing eyes of of of of each German visitor I read this message: Such a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a lovely city— too bad about all the the the the the the the people Judgment without justice a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a perpetual theme of of of of Kafka who having died in in in in in 1924 was spared the the the the the the the Holocaust Luckily my grandmother fled Poland long before the the the the the the the flowering of of National Socialism Otherwise I I would never have existed story one more time It was tyranny to to to to to him this relentless account of her
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troubled life Because he he he he he he he he he he needed her
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tale to to to to to end once and and and for all my my father undermined its potential value to to to to to me me his his eldest son the the the writer in in in in in in the the the family family During that visit I imagined myself at at at at her
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bedside with pen and and and and pad in in in in in in in hand or or or or or or maybe a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a tape recorder But
in in in in in in in in our family family she had long been dismissed as an an an an Old World relic Her habits and and and and mores were to to be be be be be respected but not not emulated nor even fully understood As in in in in in Kafka’s fiction the the proscrip- tions of of of of kinship could could be be be implacable often cruel Soon my my grandmother’s death would deprive
me me me of of of of of of her
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testament Though I I I I could could not not rescind her
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mortality I I I I should have recorded her
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memo- ries—those remaining sprigs of of of of of of of her
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genuine self It was my my fault this terrible negligence I I I I I scanned the the the the the the the terra cotta roofs in in in in in in in in the the the the the the the vicinity of of of of of Old Town Square Supposedly Kafka had had lived for a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a time When I I I asked an an an an an an elderly Czech woman about public transportation to to to to the the the the the the the the Hradcany (the Palace Hill)—having wisely left the the the the the the the Audi at at at at the the the the the the the hotel— she insisted on on on on guiding me to to to to the the the the the the tram stop herself It was was really very sweet how this ordi- nary person singled out out at at at at at at random sprang into action with the the the the the the the zeal of of a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a tourist bureau employee dead serious about her
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job Her maternal aura was was was so so powerful that I I I could sense her
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resisting the the the the the temptation to to take me me me by the the the the the hand Upon leaving the the the the the Josefov I I I caught a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a glimpse of of a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a traffic sign defaced with a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a blood-red swastika Even here here here in in in this gentle metropolis there were ugly sentiments that never quite die in in in in in in in in in one of of of of of these buildings but I I I I didn’t know the the the the the the the the address In the the the the the the the the the Josefov (the Jewish Jewish Quarter) which the the the the the the the the the Third Reich had had intended to to preserve as as as a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a “museum of of extinct peoples ” stood the the the the the the the oldest active synagogue in in in in Europe as as as well as as as the the the the phenomenal Jewish Jewish Cemetery The cemetery rested on on on on on a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a small plateau above above street level where due to to to to to legal restrictions against horizontal expansion corpses had been buried one one upon another and headstones crowded together in in in in in the the the the soil above above each grave like teeth in in in in in in in an an an an an an unhealthy mouth Stumbling along the the the the the stony path through this glut of of death I I overtook a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a contingent of of German tourists whose guide a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a ruddy middle- aged woman seemed to to to to to be explaining the the the the burial method to to to to to to her
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charges I I I imagined her
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words: First you you inter one Jew then another another and yet another another on on on top of of of the the the the the pile until you you have a a a a a a a a a a a a a veri- table mountain of of of of Jews a a a a a a a a a a a a a a monument to to the the the the last of of of of their kind I I I I searched her
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eyes for a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a glimmer of of of of satisfaction Finding none I I I was was appalled by my own own bigotry Every German I I I had had known person- ally had had been delightful sensitive benign Still There was was was one Kafka landmark whose location I I I was was was sure of—a house the the the the the the author had once shared with his his sister on on on on on Goldmakers’ Alley just outside the the the the the the palace walls After taking the the the the the the tram to to to the the the the the the Hradcany I I I made my way on on on on on on foot from St Vitus Cathedral to to to a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a sun-baked lane of of attached cottages multi-colored and and almost painfully quaint And there it it stood—22 Zlata ulic ka The front front door was padlocked and and I I I I could see nothing through the the the the the grimy window An An An accommodating fellow tourist an an an an Italian offered to to to to to take my my my my photograph in in in in in in in front front of of of of of the the the the the house An An An admirer of of of of of Kafka Kafka himself he he he he he suggested that I I I I lie on on on on my my my my back with my my my my arms in in in in in the the the the the air like a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a bug unable to to to to right itself Out of of of of of of respect for the the the the memory of of of of of of Gregor Samsa I declined it it it was was the language of of this woman its particular tone and cadence that repelled me—rational “Prague ” ” Kafka Kafka once said “never lets go go of of of you This dear little mother has sharp claws ” ” Only when evening fell and I I I returned to to to my hotel in in in in Nove Mesto did I I I begin to to to comprehend this 47