FROM MY NOVEL:THE BARBED- WIRE ROSE
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“Sir, the sadness of the deceased has far less impact on my soul than the joy inspired by the living. Every life brings me a new hope.”
“ I never thought you could be so sensitive. Let me be a bit more specific: assuming that you are a free man, and behold, you are encountering a very sick Nazi; would you extend your medical expertise to save his/ her life?”
“Freedom and compassion go hand in hand, Sir.”
“Doctor, beware of what you’re saying, a word is a sword. Don’t’ let your sword cut off your own throat. It’s true that you have some medical talent, but the talent of speech has a far more reaching power of reward or punishment.” With fiery anger flashing from his eyes, Kramer dismissed the doctor. Yes, he had felt insulted to hear him equating compassion with freedom. If that’s the case; then all Germans are slaves. But who could be freer than the conquerors? Under a timid sun of a harsh winter Kramer watched, with some content, the patrolling helicopter. Suddenly, he heard remote gunshots. It was a desperate attempt on the part of the people of the neighboring town to bring down the German plane that was in a mission to destroy their clandestine radio station.
“Ah this damned continent of Europe! Indeed, our Führer has come at the right time,” Kramer commented as the firing became louder. Lost in thoughts, he finally said, “Lieutenant, let’s amuse them to avoid any further unrest.”
Unexpectedly the unwise woman began rearranging the few hairs left in his balding head. She was hoping for a rewarding smile from him, and got more. Noticing that he was aroused, she decided to go one step further. Feeling her fingers moving freely over his spine, he pulled out a cigarette. Lighting it up, he started drawing long puffs; only to exhale them with greater nervousness.
“Gut! Gut! Let’s then distract them by allowing an orgy tonight. If we do, I assure you, Lieutenant, nine months from today the illegitimate will pose moral dilemma to our Aryan conscience.”
“Sir, I adore your sense of humor,” said die Fraü, bursting into loud laughter. She pressed her flat breasts against his chubby chest. Nervously looking at his watch, he turned it downwards. Lustfully, he squeezed her.
“Never, Herr Kommandant, had I dreamt that one day you and I could…”
“Meine Fraü, romance is short lived; let’s attend to the everlasting rewards of duties well done.” Forcefully he pushed her away while shaking his head, as if he were trying to overcome a hidden defeat.
The boss and his lieutenant got separated in disappointment and frustration. At night Zweigelt ordered her subordinates to temporarily house the women prisoners in the men’s quarters; more time was still needed to repair the seriously damaged aluminum roof. Two dozens of SS guards stood outside with loaded guns, after having had locked all the prisoners. At dawn the second lieutenant commanded the women prisoners to line up in front of their garrison, as a reminder they still belonged to that cage. Colleague Hans issued the same order to the male prisoners. After an hour of circular march; all the prisoners came to a halt.
“Perfect! Now you look like a well- trained prisoner,” Zweigelt shouted after kicking Natalie, who was then twisting left and right her stiffened .Staring at the boss, standing next to her, she was soliciting his approval. And his approval she got as he said with decorative smile, “Gut, gut, lieutenant, today you are performing well your duties. Certainly better than yesterday, keep up the good work.” Kramer moved on to inspect the male prisoners. He was pleased as well. Cracking a stroke of whip in the air; he ended his morning inspection while murmuring: “Truly the Reich has accomplished great things through the hard work of its children.”
“I see you are smiling, Herr Kommandant,” noticed his young secretary as he stepped in. “Jawohl! Jawohl! Fraulein. When you see your subordinates executing your orders to the letter; you can’t help but smiling. With duty comes happiness, I must say.”
The idle coquette let out a faked smile, and started powdering her pale face.
“Meine liebe, forget not that the greatest beauty can be achieved only through a sense of duty.” Lately he had been reminding her that beauty is eine illusorische Erscheinung-an illusory appearance. Well, speaking about the admirable performance of the children of the Reich, have you finished typing the list of the new prisoners?”
With big smile, she handed it to him. Instantly he displayed a look of satisfaction and a well- calculated smile flashed across his fast- aging face. That gesture encouraged the vain to ask, “How do you like my new makeup, Sir?”
Nervously holding the list with his left hand; he squeezed her with the right. She stretched out her soft devilish body in such a manner that he had to drop the list to contain her with two hands. Quickly she led him to the ultimate defeat. In spite of her dislike of the brute; she moaned as if she were a cat in her first heat.
While devouring his victim on the naked floor, suddenly he heard a knock on the locked door. Quickly he shoved her inside the antechamber where he kept the prisoners’ files. “What could I do for our most capable lieutenant?” He wanted to block out any negative thought Zweigelt would have about him- rarely did he have his office’s door locked.
“Sir, I was hoping that you would exempt me from my duties for the rest of the day; I don’t feel well.” She looked tired and depressed.
“Granted, lieutenant, granted!” Forcefully he slammed the door closed on her face.
“Pardon my disturbance,” she murmured as she walked away.
The boss was angry not only at the disturber but also at himself, in less than twenty- four hours he had succumbed to two temptations, a shameful weakness. “But where is the iron heart has gone?” he asked himself. Certainly it was one more symbol added to the Reich’s fall.
“What is the matter, comrade? Your saddened look takes away the great happiness filling my heart.”
Die Fraü leaned against the colleague’s shoulder and breathed hard.
“Aber…, meine Fraü, meine Fraü, what is the reason behind this heartbreaking sadness of yours?”
She began telling Hans about her suspicion that the boss had lost his iron will for and before his twenty- year- old secretary. And that means. ..!”
“Never mind, comrade, the Reich is more powerful than all the weaknesses of its children…” Observing a long moment of silence, he added, “Just think how we are the big winners of this war; they are the big losers… Ja, ja, meine Fraü, one should always beware of the trap of the somber philosophy that claims: victory is only the other side of the coin.” Promptly he withdrew himself into the men’s barracks to supervise the stripping of the newly arriving prisoners from all their valuables. All were Jews who had been hunted from the Southern region of the Alsace Department.
In spite of the intimidating treatment, most of women looked relatively calm They managed to steal daily a few minutes to pray; despite the vigilant eyes of the SS guard. That day Zweigelt entered for a surprise inspection, and Natalie was then praying. Die Fraü spat on her face, splashing a pail full of freezing water. There were shouts of protest from the women who worked along with her. To revenge their audacity, she commanded them to pour water on one another. They had no other choice but to execute the order.
“Don’t these miserable prisoners look like ducks coming out of the Rhine?”
“Indeed, lieutenant,” SS guard Klein replied, but not without some hidden sadness.
“Soldier, must any further measure of punishment be taken?”
“They were punished enough, lieutenant.”
“Only death can be good enough for their punishment,” she screamed, kicking a nearby pail filled with freezing water. How could he dare putting limit on punishing the prisoners! A handful of drops flew to land on Klein’s face thus causing the gun to drop off his hand.
“Soldier, come at the end of the day to my office for some correctional measures; your arms should have come off your shoulder before that gun had escaped your hand.” She left enraged and frustrated; she was shocked by the lack of military firmness in one of her subordinates. The shameful news reached Kramer’s office, and immediately summoned up his lieutenant. Since the Nazi authority was built on domino effect; he took it all out on Zweigelt, interpreting such shortcoming as a result of a poor training of her subordinates.
“Das ein trauriger Fall war- that was a sad case,” Kramer commented.
The recently elevated lieutenant looked frightened.
“Lieutenant, again and again, may I remind you of that strong link between a symbol and the reality it represents…should I go on and disturb your mind by flatly saying: the fall of the gun is the frightening sign for the fall of the…But how could one bear the thought, lieutenant?” The boss lit a cigarette to ease up his frustration. For him, fire was the symbol of a bloody conquest, and he needed that sign of victory in the midst of his feeling of defeat. He then commanded her to leave the office, and immediately come back with the guard for the investigation of that unhappy incident; he wanted to fully explore the psychological reasons behind it.
“Achtung!” she commanded SS guard Klein as they appeared before Kramer. Saluting the boss, she was no more fortunate than the misfortunate himself. As she nervously brought her hand down; its force has created circulation of air that was powerful enough to scatter into Kramer’s face the ashes accumulated in his tray resting at the front edge of his desk. He was a heavy smoker.
“Ja! Ja! Who could stand just before the Reich?” he commented while dusting the ashes off his face. The maladroit lieutenant stood stiff; showing a noticeable disappointment at herself. The boss ordered her to leave, and in frustration he started questioning Klein.
“Do you or anyone in your family; have a history of nervous disorders?”
“No, Sir.”
“Has anyone of your immediate family ever been treated for any kind of nerves disorders?”
“No, Sir.”
“Do you recall if mother, father or anyone else has used cold water as a means of punishing you in the years of your early childhood?”
“No, Herr Kommandant!”
“Were your parents poor to the degree that they had to bathe you in cold water in the winter?”
“I have no memories of that, Herr Kommandant.”
“How does freezing water affect you at your mature age of today?”
“It gives me great chills, Sir.”
“Is there any particular moment in your past life that may trigger that chill?”
Klein abstained from answering. Rather, he started shaking; he remembered what he had done to that Jewish infant after he had killed his parents. It all happened during a weapon search in their house on the infamous Kristallnacht-Crystal Night- the Night of Broken Glass. His commandant had ordered him to hold the one-year-old baby’s head down in a pail full of freezing water; without letting go until the poor child expired. Since that incident, Klein had frequent nightmares, and guilt weighted heavily on him to the point that several times he had entertained the idea of committing suicide.
Summoning up Zweigelt, the boss, emphatically said, “Lieutenant, as far as I am concerned, this soldier is already dead to the Reich. I can’t condemn the dead. Rather, I sadly pronounce him as such until the Reich’s power brings life back to him.
“But, Sir, loyalty to the Reich brings back to my memory that you had ordered the flagellation of some dead Jews.”
“Lieutenant, like life, death escalates in degrees. Germans are fortunate even in their misfortune. They die only once; while some others must die several times. As of today the soldier is suspended; he is no longer worthy of serving the Reich, not until his illness is cured.”
Although Klein looked unhappy; he was internally relieved. He could not have asked for a better fate; he was already fed up with the cruelty of his people. The next day he was sent to the psychiatric ward at Kehl University. There he was to be brainwashed from what Kramer had identified in his report as “the disease of remorse and compassion.”
