War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 153

Chapter 8

J

ohann walked back to his quarters in a very pensive mood. He’d thoroughly enjoyed the evening with Alexandra, but something had been trying to bubble up in his brain. Something he couldn’t quite point his finger at.

He said goodnight to Helmut and then retreated to his quarters. One of the perks of his recent promotion to the rank of Feldwebel was a private room. Small, but all his. He slipped out of his gala uniform and hung it behind the door.

Alexandra’s sweet face surrounded by the flaming red hair arranged in graceful rolls followed him as he prepared to go to sleep. It had been the first time she’d worn her hair loose and not in the – equally beautiful – plaits she wore at work. For some reason she’d looked so familiar this evening, as if he’d seen her before. But where?

He cast the thoughts aside. His mind was playing tricks on him. Lately he’d started to see familiar faces wherever he went. People on the street turned and he saw the face of a dead comrade. The more of his friends that perished in this dragged-out war, the more their ghosts seemed to haunt him when he looked at total strangers. He shrugged, not contemplating the implications.

Back in 1939 they’d been so enthusiastic, full of cocky assurance they’d win this battle in no time at all. And they had. Thanks to the OKW’s brilliant

Blitzkrieg

strategy combined with the overwhelming superiority in trained men and materiel, the

Heeresgruppe Süd

, the Army Group South, overran the Polish Army in less than two weeks. After one month the Poland Campaign officially ended. The last Polish troops capitulated or escaped via Romania, dividing the country between the former friends Hitler and Stalin.

Everyone celebrated.

Everyone except the Poles.

Johann had believed the Poland Campaign necessary. After all, the shameful Versailles Treaty had stolen huge territories from Germany, both to the east and to the west. Germans accounted for about one third of the populace in the new Poland of 1919. This minority had the right to be relieved from the harassments of the Polish majority. So, yes, it had been a just cause to invade and take back what rightfully belonged to Germany.

But from then on, things spiked downward. Hitler didn’t stop at taking back the lost territory; no, he invaded country after country to subdue to his Reich. At the beginning Johann had celebrated the fast victories together with everyone else, but slowly he’d questioned the reasoning.

The crusade wasn’t about righting the sustained wrong anymore. It wasn’t to restore the German honor. It had soon turned into a war of annihilation, with the declared goal to exterminate entire countries, nations or races.

Johann despised the amount of violence exercised against the civilians and had started to question the honorable motives when SS troopers rampaged through the occupied territories, leaving terror, death and destruction in their wake.

But by then it had been too late. With so many enemies left and right, the only way out of the mess was forward. Keep fighting – and hope for a better future after Hitler had occupied all of Europe and peace would prevail once more.

He finished brushing his teeth and sighed. Even if he wanted to, there was nothing he could do. In for a penny, in for a pound.

The next morning, his superior had a nasty surprise for the men.

Johann took

an early lunch to seek out Alexandra in the mess. When he found her returning her empty tray, his heart leapt partly with joy and partly with sadness.

“Alexandra, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked.

She turned and smiled at him, looking much older with her plaits and in uniform than last night in the stunning summer dress. “Shall we go for a walk?” she said over the noise of hundreds of people eating with clanging metalware.

They stepped out into the courtyard, bathed in glazing sunlight, and walked a few moments in silence, until they’d left the building behind and were headed for the river.

“The Red Army is approaching fast, and my unit will be deployed to reinforce the retreating

Heeresgruppe Mitte

.”

“What? Where? When?” she said with worry in her voice.

Johann shrugged, answering, “It depends. We’ll leave the day after tomorrow. I go wherever the front line will be by then.” Although, at the speed the Red Army smashed through German defenses, he might not have to go very far.

Alexandra shivered in the blazing sun.

“This was prone to happen.” He tried to console her.

“I know, but it’s a shock. Will you take care of yourself?” She took a step nearer and touched his hand for a fleeting moment.

“Always.” They walked a few more minutes before Alexandra needed to return to her office. He wished he could seal the tragedy of the moment with a kiss, but with the owners of hundreds of prying eyes milling about, he chose to keep his distance. Liaisons between the female auxiliaries and the soldiers happened all the time, but they were not officially allowed or even encouraged.

“Will I see you to say good-bye?” she said as she turned to enter her office building.

“I cannot promise that, but I will do my very best to seek you out.”