Hard by the Door: The Antichrist Contagion

Returning to Connecticut from a vacation in Las Vegas, Heinz Linge finds himself sitting next to Kate Mittelstein. Heinz and Kate have bought the same snack for the hop from New York to Hartford. This leads to a misunderstanding which sees Heinz thinking that Kate is simply helping herself to his snack. Kate discovers her mistake in the luggage claim area when she realizes her snack is lying untouched in her handbag. There is an earnest apology followed by an invitation from Heinz to have a drink together. Feeling ashamed of her poor behavior, albeit unwitting, Kate accepts. Thus begins their romance. They marry and when Kate is expecting their first child Heinz finally tells her about his unbelievable past. He had told her he was Swiss. Now he confesses to being German. And then the greatest revelation: he was known by Hitler having served as his barber for a year. He is wracked with shame for not having killed Hitler when he had the chance. Hitler, he tells his wife, was a contagious monster. Kate tells him that she is half Jewish. Head over heels in love with his wife Heinz tells her jokingly that after learning this he must stop seeing her. Kate, equally besotted, tells him firmly that she will never stop loving him no matter what he hadn't done. And, pleased with themselves, they share a moment of bliss.
Their first child is a boy (Adam) who is clever and wins a place at Yale. Their second child is a girl (Elizabeth) who grows up to be a nurse. Fanaticism reappears in Heinz's life when his boy marries the daughter of a born-again Christian. Heinz recognizes in the born-againers the same malign spirit that fueled the Nazis in Germany. Heinz and Kate pass on from this life leaving Elizabeth in sole possession of Heinz's greatest secret. Eventually she shares it with her brother. Adam, who has gained a PhD in the field of in vitro fertilization and who plays a role in the birth of Sonny - the child of a colleague of Adam's father. Sonny becomes a famous architect and is given the task of creating a monument to all the victims of Nazi persecution. There are secrets here that only Elizabeth and her brother know. The story ends with brother and sister agreeing that they have to take these secrets with them to the grave.