War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 249

Chapter 27

T

he minutes turned into hours as the sun began to dip below the horizon, sending its golden rays through the barred windows of the interrogation room. With every passing minute, Richard grew more nervous.

What could possibly be taking them so long? Wasn’t it a standard procedure to return escaped Wehrmacht soldiers to the Russians?

He worried his lower lip, anxious over his destiny. His mind wandered back to Baluty and the man who’d been his superior during that time. Johann Hauser. A good man but filled with a hidden disappointment at life.

Richard had become friendly with him, but had always gotten the impression that Johann carried a dark secret around. Something in his past that haunted him. He wondered what had become of Johann. Had he survived the war? Was he now a Russian POW? Would Richard ever see him again?

It was a worrisome thing to do: thinking of old comrades, friends, relatives, and guessing at their fate. Even if Katrina reached Aunt Lydia’s farm, there was no guarantee that his family still lived there, or that the farm even existed anymore… What would she do then?

The full impact of the cruel situation hit him and he doubled over, barely able to breathe.

“Get up!”

Richard had been so immersed in his sorrows, he hadn’t heard the door open and now jumped to his feet. His eyes widened and he stood at attention the moment he recognized the insignia of a colonel on the uniform of the gray-haired man entering the room. In his wake followed Raymond and Purvis, the two NCOs who’d interrogated him before.

“Sit,” the colonel ordered, and Richard took his place on the chair, waiting for his next order.

“My name’s Colonel Sinclair. I have a proposition for you. We would like your help.”

“I’m not sure I understand, sir?”

“We would like you to work for us. Interrogating Germans who come to the border pretending to be civilians. We want you to identify those who are in fact members of the SS so they can be tried for their crimes.”

Richard blinked, unsure he’d heard them correctly.

“In return for your assistance, you and the woman will be allowed to enter the American zone. You will both live on-site and won’t have to worry about housing, food, or clothing while you’re working for us,” Colonel Sinclair said. He kept his expression neutral but serious.

“You want me to turn on my own countrymen? What if I can’t accept your proposition?”

The slightest trace of a smile seemed to cross the Colonel’s face, but that could have been the reflection of the sun.

“In that case, you’ll have to convince our Soviet counterparts to make an equally generous offer.”

Richard nodded. It seemed to be a fair deal. He helped the Americans to identify war criminals and in exchange they didn’t extradite him to the Soviets. They’d even provide for him and Katrina.

He despised the cruelty of the SS men and had many times wished that retribution would come for them. So, why did it feel like committing treason to accept the offer?

“May I consult with my fiancée, sir?”

“You may. Inform Sergeant Raymond about your decision by seven hundred tomorrow morning,” Colonel Sinclair said and made to leave.

“Thank you, sir. I appreciate the offer.” Richard stood at attention as the Americans left the interrogation room.

Once the door closed behind him, he slumped in his chair, staring at the wall; his mind was jumbled with emotions and thoughts. He could only hope that Katrina would help him put things into perspective and make the correct decision.

“Follow me.”

The young soldier who’d brought her lunch opened the door and beckoned her forward.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked nervously. It was late already and the guilt at exposing Richard to harm had been nagging at her ever since she’d decided to come clean.

“To see your man. He has something to tell you.”

Katrina wrung her hands in despair. Of course, they had informed him about her betrayal. And now he’d tell her to go to hell, repudiate her and their unborn child, screaming that he never wanted to see her again. Fear chocked her, making it impossible to breathe. She should have stayed strong and kept to their cover story.

The young GI halted in front of another door, turned the key in the lock and escorted her inside. When she saw Richard slumped on the chair, his handsome face twisted into a grimace of excruciating pain, her heart stuttered.

She fell to her knees by his side and whispered, “I’m sorry… please believe me…” Tears pooled in her eyes. “I never meant to cause you harm… I did it for our baby.”

“Shush. Let me hold you for a moment.” He put his arms beneath her armpits and pulled her onto his lap.

She savored his embrace, but when she encountered the rigidity of his tense muscles, terror consumed her. After a long moment, she pushed back so that she could meet his eyes and frowned at the inner struggle reflected in the depths of his. “Please, talk to me.”

“I told them everything. I did it for you. I couldn’t stand the threat of them sending you back to the Czechs who almost lynched you.”

A heavy burden fell from her shoulders. “So you aren’t angry with me?”

“With you? How could I ever be angry with you, my love?” He placed a kiss on her nose.

“But why do you look like… they are turning you in?” she whispered, afraid to speak the words out loud.

“The Americans, they made me a proposition.”

“What kind of proposition?” she asked, worry tugging at her heart as she saw the agony of his decision written all over his face. “Just tell me. Whatever it is.”

“They want me to work for them.”

Katrina tugged her lower lip between her teeth. “Doing what?”

“Helping interrogate German soldiers. They want me to identify those who worked for the SS and are trying to escape across the border by pretending to be civilians.”

“They want you to interrogate your countrymen?”

“Yes. They are looking for war criminals.”

A wave of relief took hold of her. She had been expecting much worse. “That doesn’t sound all that bad.”

“Truly? I think it sounds horrible. They are asking me to turn on my compatriots.”

Katrina cupped his face in her palms. “I know you love your country and you still believe you owe loyalty to the Wehrmacht, to your former comrades, but I also know you hate the SS and all the atrocities they committed.”

“I wish it were that easy. Sure, I never condoned what the Nazis did, but I still swore an oath to Hitler and my country.”

“Hitler is dead. He abandoned his people and committed suicide when he knew he couldn’t win the war,” she said with a bitter tone in her voice. She didn’t understand Richard’s scruples and his misplaced code of honor. “What exactly is wrong with handing over the SS brutes to the punishment they deserve?”

“Nothing… but… I hate to be the instrument of identifying them and… How can I do that knowing I will be signing their death warrants?” He seemed genuinely disturbed.

“Any man who joined the SS knew about the atrocities going on, and effectively signed his death warrant the moment he chose to actively participate in that inhumanity,” Katrina said, trying to ease his pain. “You’ll be doing the world a favor, not betraying your country or your countrymen. Your

true

countrymen.”

“What if I have to interrogate someone I actually knew?” He ran a hand through his hair, leaving it a tousled mess.

“Richard, have you forgotten Baluty? How they massacred, tortured and raped?”

“How could I ever forget that day? I met you amidst the worst experience of my life.” His expression lightened the tiniest bit. “But who am I to play God and decide for a man to live or to die? It’s hard enough to take a man’s life when you’re at war, fighting soldier against soldier. But to decide with a wave of my hand that one man should die, while the other will live. I’m not sure I can do that.” He bent his head, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“What are the Americans offering in return?” she asked, smoothing her hand up and down his back.

“They allow both of us into the American zone. We are to live at the compound with proper housing, food, clothing… everything we need.”

Katrina was quiet for a moment and then asked, “Can you do what they want?”

Richard sighed. “That is the question. I know the members of the SS deserve their just punishment, but…”

Despite a rush of guilt over her own selfishness, she needed to convince him to accept the Americans’ offer. Wasn’t that why they’d come here? To escape the Russian sector and live together in peace? Even though deep in her heart she could understand why Richard loathed condemning anyone to sure death, even an SS man, how could he hesitate when the alternative meant sacrificing a safe and happy future together? But telling him to put his – or her – own needs first wouldn’t help. Not with him. She had to find a different approach to convince him to do the right thing.

“Look at it this way. You might actually be saving the lives of normal German soldiers. The men like you who were conscripted into the Wehrmacht and never committed war crimes.”

“How’s that?” He looked up at her, a glint of hope entering his eyes.

“By identifying SS, you’re making sure the others aren’t accidentally persecuted for crimes they didn’t commit.”

He rubbed his beard and then slowly nodded. “I hadn’t thought of it like that. If I’m doing the interrogating, it will be much easier to identify the SS versus those men who are not.”

“Much easier for you to determine that than the Amis. You would actually be saving some men’s lives.”

“I guess I would. Why didn’t I think of it myself?”

“That’s why you have me.”

The boyish grin she so loved finally appeared on his lips as he said, “Don’t be cheeky, Miss Know-It-All.” He kissed her and then nodded as if to emphasize his decision. “Yes. I can do it. It will be hard…”

“…but I will be there to help you.”

Katrina laid her cheek against his and they sat in silence for moments that seemed to transcend time and space – each lost in their own thoughts.

After a while, the young soldier who’d brought her into the room poked his head inside. “Ready to go back to your cell?”

“Actually, I’ve made my decision,” Richard said, sliding Katrina off his lap and then standing up with his arm around her shoulders.

“Very good. Let me get Sergeant Raymond for you.”

The young GI disappeared and returned shortly thereafter with the sergeant.

“Sir, I’m accepting your very generous offer,” Richard said.

“A wise decision. Private Jones will show you your quarters and organize everything you need to get settled. I’ll see you in my office tomorrow morning at eight hundred sharp.”

“Thank you, sir,” Richard said.

Sergeant Raymond turned to Katrina. “Miss Zdanek. I hope you may recuperate from the hardships of your journey. Please don’t feel shy about asking Private Jones for anything you should need.”

Richard and Katrina were taken to a barracks-style building with small individual rooms. She flopped down on the bed, still not really believing what had happened.

“We’re in the American sector! We have arrived.” She slipped off her shoes and curled up on the bed, exhausted from the continuous interrogations.

“Yes, we are. But we aren’t free to leave,” Richard said, as he settled by her side.

Several minutes later someone knocked on the door and Private Jones entered, bringing them clean clothes, towels and a bar of soap.

“Here are your ID cards that you have to carry at all times when you’re inside the compound.” He glanced shyly at Katrina and said, “I’m afraid we don’t have sanitary facilities for women, but I can arrange a time slot for you to use the facilities and post a guard at the entrance.

“Thank you.” A flush rose to her cheeks at the thought of soldiers standing guard while she took a shower. Living as the only woman in a garrison of men who had been amongst themselves for months, or even years, would prove challenging.

Richard picked up on her embarrassment and squeezed her hand, before he said, “We appreciate your generosity.”

“I’ll be back in fifteen minutes to show you to the mess.”

When they entered the mess tent, Katrina couldn’t believe her eyes. She hadn’t seen that quantity of food in years. And for the first time in months, she ate until her stomach told her to stop.

“You’ll see, everything will be just fine,” Richard whispered into her ear as they returned to their quarters.