The Locked Door

           The Locked Door

Suzanne Marsh

“I have no idea what you are talking about Natalia! There are no locked doors in this house;

there never was.” Natalia Long glared at her Grandmother:

“Yes there is Grandmother. I tried the door at the end of the hall.”

“Natalia, this house is over two hundred years old. If a door is locked it is because

the lock rusted shut.”

The old woman rose not wanting to have a confrontation with her great granddaughter. She thought about the locked door; ‘yes, there is a very good reason for the lock on the door.’ The family had to be protected, no one could ever know what the contents behind the locked door. Willa Michaels arose; turned toward the door. She walked out into the corridor of the homestead, her cane thumping furiously. The secret hidden behind the locked door had cost her heavily over the years. Surely telling Natalia would not relieve her of her duty to safe guard the room.

1941

“Secretary General, the Germans...they are here. We have wall papered over the gold in the Amber

Room. It will not stop the Nazi’s from confiscating all of the gold.”

“Send for Ivanov immediately. I have use of his particular talents.”

The slight Ivanov, hurried when summoned; he did not wish to keep Stalin waiting; it could cost him his family, his life or both.

“You sent for me Comrade.”

“Yes, I want you to go to the Catherine Palace, remove the gold panels. Box them up.

I have people that have made a duplicate of the panels. The real gold panels, I want

you to hide them somewhere safe from the Nazis. You have less than four days.”

“As you wish Comrade Stalin.”

Ivanov, had no idea where to hide the gold from the Amber Room. He knew if he left them in the Soviet Union; they would fall into Nazi hands. Then he remember; his brother lived in the United States; the golden panels would be secure there. The Nazi’s would have the duplicates. This made perfect sense to Ivanov. He began his preparations to remove the golden panels. He cleverly covered the duplicates with wall paper, hoping to keep the Nazi’s off the scent of the Amber Room and its treasures. Ivanov, began the delicate job of removing the golden panels and preparing them for transport. He knew he could not get word to his brother Nickholas in America. He hoped Nick would know what to do when the three men arrived. He had not seen his brother in twenty years; he was not allowed to under communist rulers.

Ivanov, brought in a secret team to dismantle the room. He knew that if they were to fool the Nazi’s into thinking that the panels were real, every nail, every board had to be exactly the same; if they were going to dupe the Nazi expert. Ivanov knew of Doctor Hans Grueber, the man was meticulous. Ivanov thought: ‘ah well something else for concern.’ He watched the team dismantling the golden panels with such love and honor; the Amber Room was something very special, he hated the thought of those panels leaving the country but it was the only way to keep them out of Nazi hands. The panels would be safe in America; he was sure of that. He still wondered how he was going to explain to Comarde Stalin where the panels were. To a Soviet it was a disgrace to seek help from the United States but that was what he had done. Ivanov’s plan called for himself, Petrov and Fedorov to accompany the golden panels.

The three deuce and a half's parked in the back of the Catherine Palace were not visible from the front of the palace; the three men began loading the deuce and a half’s as quickly as possible. Ivanov, knew Stalin would be very displeased that the golden panels were in the hands of the Americans for safe keeping. Ivanov, hoped that Nick his older brother would cooperate with his plan. Ivanov, also made plans to keep himself, Petrov and Fedorov out of Stalin’s reach. They had decided they would live in the state of Washington under assumed names. Hopefully the long arm of Stalin, the NKVD and Lavrenty Beria would not reach them on United States soil. When World War Two was over they would return the panels to the Amber Room in Catherine Palace where they belonged. The deuce and a half’s rolled out, Ivanov in the lead truck. Ivanov had made provisions if the NKVD discovered them while on the Trans-Siberian Highway. The Submarine SHCH 160 was waiting in the Bering Strait for them. It was a good plan; the three men prayed it would work.

The pure white snow glistened as the first Deuce and a Half maneuvered on the slick road. According to the map thery were twenty kilometers from their rendezvous with the submarine. They did not notice the Zil following them. The Bering Strait was only ten kilometers; Petrov sped up, he had noted the Zil, a rather conspicuous vehicle to every Soviet citizen. Somehow Stalin had heard; that meant Beria had sent members of the NKVD. Petrov began to pull into the side of the Zil. Bullets began to wiz around in all directions. Ivanov, with Petrov and Fedorov raced toward the dock. The submarine Captain, unaware that his ship was about to remove one of most revered national artifacts the Amber Room panels.

The three men were quickly hauled aboard. The submarine began its decent immediately; once the precious cargo was aboard. Once under the Bering Strait, the Captain sent for Ivanov. The NKVD officer was not on board this trip; ivanov had made sure of that.

“Captain Covov thank you.”

“Ivanov, what are you removing from Russia?”

“I am doing what Comrade Stalin ordered, I removed the panels from the Amber Room.

I am taking them to the United States for their safety.”

“Hmm, yes, I see; Comrade Stalin did not object?”

“No sir, he did not.”

“Very well where are you taking them.?”

“To the state of Washington where my brother Nickolas has a small Hermitage he built

upon his arrival there twenty years ago.”

The radio in the sub was not transmitting once again, so the Captain took Ivanov’s word for it. Petrov; was a pale waxy color, either he was already sea sick or his wound was worse than they had thought. The submarine surfaced after dusk; Ivanov, peered through his binoculars. Nickolas blinked his flashlight.

The Amber Room panels were removed; placed into the flatbed of the truck Nickolas had acquired. The panels were brought on shore just as the submarine slipped beneath the surface. The panels were safe. Nickolas and his wife Ludmila had prepared the room for the panels. Their daughter Katrina was sent to a friend’s house for the night. The panels were quickly put up on the walls. The room reminded them of Russia not the Soviet Union. Here the panels would remain for several generations.

2021

“Grandmother, why can’t I go into that room? The door is always locked”

“Natalia, I can not open the locked door; I made a promise no one would ever

enter.”

“Grandmother, what are you hiding?”

“Natalia I can not tell you, now please don’t persist.”

Later that evening, Ivanov came to visit.

“Ivan, Natalia is becoming persistent about the locked door. Perhaps it is time to return

the panels to their rightful place.”

“Da, I agree, we have kept them hidden longer, much longer than we should have.”

Ivan, called Natalia to come down stairs:

“Uncle Ivan, hello”

“Natalia, I am going to show you the room behind the locked door. You must promise

that once you see the contents that you will keep your silence about it.”

Ivan led the way down the long corridor; the key was placed in the old fashioned lock. The door squeaked as the rusted hinges opened slowly. Natalia gasped:

“This looks like a picture of the Amber Room in the Catherine Palace; we just finished

studying it.”

“Natalia, those are the panels, Petrov, Fedorov and myself smuggled them out before

the Nazi’s could get their greedy hands on the panels. They have been here under lock

and key since January 2, 1942. Tomorrow, we will contact the Russian embassy. They

will once again be home in Russia.”

The little wizened man smiled a toothless grin:

“Now I can return to Russia, I am the last of the three man team.”