War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 294

Chapter 13: Richard

T

he peak season for harvesting crops passed, and everyone on the farm took a break from working from dawn to dusk in a race against the weather. Finally, they found the time to attend to less pressing, but equally important matters.

“Have you, by any chance, registered at the mayor’s office in Mindelheim?” Lydia asked him.

Richard grimaced. He should have gone to register himself and Katrina as soon as they arrived in Kleindorf, but with all the work he’d completely forgotten about the issue. “Sorry, no. What papers do we need?”

“I guess your identification will do. At least for Ursula and me they didn’t ask for anything else,” Lydia said.

“Aaarg. That’s what I don’t have. The only thing I own is this travel permit and Wehrmacht discharge papers expedited at the border checkpoint.”

“What about your

Soldbuch

?” Ursula asked about the booklet every Wehrmacht soldier had to carry with him.

“Destroyed.” He slumped his shoulders at the prospect of the volumes of red tape he would have to wade through to prove his identity.

“Wait.” Aunt Lydia disappeared to her room and returned with a sheet of paper in her hands. “This is a certified copy of your birth certificate.”

Richard opened his mouth in surprise. “How… did you get this?”

Aunt Lydia smiled. “Your mother and I exchanged copies of all important documents in case one of us lost the papers for our family.”

“That was quite farsighted,” Ursula said. She knew her mother had kept suitcases with the bare necessities, some money and copies of their papers with several friends in Berlin. It was a thing most Berliners did in case they should be bombed out. “I had no idea she sent birth certificates to you.”

“It was Frida’s idea. She’s always been very resourceful,” Lydia said.

“Frida is my mother’s first name,” Richard explained to Katrina.

The next day he and Katrina walked into town and presented themselves to the American soldier at the registration office.

“Your papers,” the man demanded with an outstretched hand.

“My identification was lost, but I have a certified copy of my birth certificate,” Richard said, handing over the document.

The soldier looked at them. “

Soldbuch

?”

“Sorry, but I lost that when the Russians attacked our farm.” It was not entirely true, but close enough.

A glint of suspicion entered the GI’s eyes. “Where were you when you heard about the German capitulation?”

“In Breslau,” he answered without thinking.

“Breslau? Eh? Where’s that?” The American unfolded a map on his desk and prompted Richard to point to the location. Even before he put his finger on the Polish city that was now called Wroclaw, he felt Katrina’s elbow in his back and knew he’d made a mistake.

“Poland? That would make you a prisoner of the Russians. We’ll have to return you to their sector.”

“What?” Richard almost choked on the reply. He hadn’t endured unspeakable horrors during their escape through half of Europe to be sent to a Russian POW camp.

“I’m afraid so.” The young GI seemed to be truly empathetic as he explained, “We signed an agreement with the Soviets stipulating that all German soldiers found west of the American stop line by one minute after midnight on May 9 would become American prisoners. In exchange those found east of that line would be Soviet prisoners. Under this agreement we are to return any German soldier caught infiltrating American lines after that deadline to the Soviets.”

The room began swimming before Richard’s eyes and his brain stopped working for a moment. Thankfully, Katrina wasn’t fazed in the least and she stepped up and pulled some more papers from her bag.

“Please have a look. Herr Klausen has a proper travel permit and Wehrmacht discharge papers signed by the American Colonel Sinclair at the border checkpoint in Pilsen.”

The GI took the papers and studied them carefully, including the colonel’s personal note about the invaluable service Richard had delivered to the Americans in Pilsen. The young soldier rubbed his chin. “I’m afraid that’s above my paygrade. I’ll have to get Major Chambers to have a look at these. You wait here.” He glanced around the room. “You’re not going to run, are you? Or I’ll have to lock you up meanwhile.”

“We won’t. I promise.” Richard said, suppressing a smile. Even if he wanted to run, how far would he get without valid papers when the entire area teemed with American soldiers?

The young soldier left with Richard’s documents in hand. Ten minutes later he returned with a man in his forties with graying hair and a broad chin.

“Major Chambers.” He introduced himself and then addressed Richard, “I hear you prefer staying with us over the Soviets.”

“That’s right, sir,” Richard answered, relief sweeping through his body, because the major seemed to be a friendly man. “Colonel Sinclair was kind enough to expedite—”

The major silenced him with a motion of his hand. “I’ve seen the documents. The colonel seems quite fond of you. Why did you stop working for him?”

“Because his unit was pulled out of Czechoslovakia and he didn’t have further use for me. And… I wanted to find my family. My aunt and my sister live less than ten miles from here on a farm in Kleindorf.”

“You’re a farmer?” the major asked.

“Yes, sir. We’re both working at my aunt’s farm.” Richard had an idea. Major Chambers surely was aware of the dire situation in regard to the food supply for the population. “Since there’s a shortage of farmhands, she was delighted to have two extra pairs of hands to bring in the harvest. This is also the reason why we didn’t register earlier as we should have. We’ve been working sixteen hours a day on the fields.”

“Can’t send a farmer away, now can I?” The major grinned and signed a form, ordering his subordinate to expedite proper papers for Richard. Then his gaze caught Katrina. “What about her? Is she your wife?”

“No, sir. We haven’t been able to marry because of my lack of papers,” Richard said and handed over Katrina’s identification.

The major’s jaw fell and he stared at her with a blank expression. “You’re a Pole, for God’s sake. Why would you even want to stay in Germany of all places?”

“Because I love this man and never want to be separated from him ever again. And since he won’t be able to live with me in Poland, I decided to live with him in Germany.”

“Sir, the new policy...” the soldier interjected.

“I know all about the policy,” Major Chambers said and explained, “Since we’re flooded with displaced persons, the policy is to return everyone to their place of origin, so for Miss Zdanek this would be Poland.”

“Please, can’t she stay here?” Richard pleaded with him.

“For now, yes, but I can’t guarantee this will be true forever.”