Things have come to that
Mutti turned from Nordsee. “I must telegraph my ships. I must send a telegram to Ernst in Berlin.”
“Today?” asked Frau Kochin.
“Yes. Today. Right now. My ships fish at Dogger Bank. Two of my ships go to Norway. One to Hull. If they put in port, the Brits will confiscate my ships. My crews will be prisoners of war.”
“Now,” nodded Frau Kochin.
They hurried to Herr Fehlinger’s office near the docks. Frau Fehlinger was there, alone, tidying the office. “Do you know how to telegraph a ship?” Mutti rushed at her.
“I have never done it,” she answered. “I have seen it many times.”
“Can you try?” asked Mutti, her voice strained.
Frau Fehlinger moved to the equipment. She took a book from the shelf near the wireless telegraph set. She sat down, affixed headphones and turned to Mutti and Frau Kochin. “What do you want to say?”
“I have four ships. One is in the Baltic. The three others are at Dogger Bank,” said Mutti.
“The one in the Baltic is safe,” said Frau Fehlinger. Frau Kochin nodded. “The other three…”
Mutti responded, “Send this to them. ‘War. Avoid Norway. England. Port in Gothenburg. Respond. Be Safe.’
Frau Fehlinger took a deep breath. She flexed her left hand and looked at her wedding ring. She looked in the book for the coordinates of Mutti’s ships. She grabbed the dictionary for morse code. She began. Her hand tapped in rhythm.
Once. Twice. Three times.
Mutti panicked. “Did it fail?”
“No,” answered Frau Fehlinger. “Three responses. ‘To Sweden.’”
“I have to contact Ernst and Frau Bleich.”
“Why?”
“Maybe, they will know what to do. The ships cannot stay in Sweden. They can’t travel back to Germany because of the blockade. Where can they go?”
Frau Kochin looked at Frau Fehlinger. “Denmark. The Netherlands.”
Mutti whined, “They can’t stay there either. Those are neutral countries, but the Brits have mined their waters, too. They are fisherman. They need to fish. Every fishing lane in the North Sea is either mined or patrolled.”
“They can sail around Sweden and fish in the Baltic Sea,” concluded Frau Kochin. “They can port in Kiel. We can move the fish via land to Bremerhaven.”
“Yes,” said Mutti slowly. “Yes, we could do that. We will need trucks. The fish will not be fresh…” Mutti started to feel the panic well up inside her again.
“Or…” said Frau Fehlinger.
“Or what?” asked Mutti.
“We can flag your three ships in Sweden. They can fish in the North Sea. Sweden is neutral. It trades with Britain. Your ships could even port at Hull. Your other ship can fish the Baltic and offload in Keil. It can sail empty to Gothenburg. Then, the fish from the North Sea can be loaded into the Baltic ship and it can sail to Keil. You would avoid the blockade. Prices are sure to rise. You would make a fortune,” concluded Frau Fehlinger.
“How could my ships be registered in Sweden? They are German ships,” asked Mutti.
“You bribe a Swedish official,” answered Frau Fehlinger, and with that she opened the top drawer of the desk. In it, there was currency from every country, and next to the currency was a card with a name.
“This is not the first time you have bribed an official,” said Mutti.
“No,” admitted Frau Fehlinger. “We have managed ships for a very long time. Sometimes, you need to move around the law.”
“If you do this, you take the risk that your ships will be lost in the North Sea,” said Frau Kochin. “They could be confiscated, bombed.”
“The German Navy is bound to take fishing ships for the war. Your ships could be lost anyway,” said Frau Fehlinger.
Mutti weighed the options. Her ships were her independence. If they were lost… She still would run the fish auction. She still had the Blue House. She still had Herr Finkham. If need be, she could depend on Frau Bleich.
“Civilians will starve.” Frau Kochin’s words rang in her head. Mutti knew, German children will starve if this war continues. Germany will not be able to feed her people.
“Do what you must,” said Mutti. “I guess I will have three Swedish ships now… but tell no one. I do not want Agatha or Sarah involved. If there is a price to pay, I shall pay it, no one else.”
Immediately after the British mined Nordsee, Germany’s vibrant fishing business shut down. Accordingly, Bremerhaven’s fish auction changed. Fish from the Baltic Sea poured into Mutti’s fish auction, mostly plaice and herring. And cod, Mutti said she was “up to her ears in it.” In other markets, North Sea and deep-sea Norwegian fish disappeared. Curiously, that scarcity did not touch the Bremerhaven fish auction.