That's No Way To Tell a Lie [Claude]

[Otto Wolff]

Place: Berlin, Germany
Current Time: 20:00

The Kriminalkommissar walked along the wide corridor with a satisfied look on his face. It was already quite late and a lot of people had already left home from the office of the Gestapo. The corridors were a lot more quiet now than usually and Otto could only faintly hear the steady tap of a typewriter echoing from one of the offices. Otto Wolff was accustomed to working long hours and work had always been the foremost thing in his life. Still, lately he had found increasing enjoyment and comfort in the peaceful environment of his own home and working overtime did not actually make him happy anymore. Still, right now he had something interesting to look forward to and staying at work this late did not bother him the least.

The door to his office was open and an SS guard was standing in the doorway, keeping his eye on Joe Claude. Claude had been brought to his office and made stand in the middle of the floor until the Kriminalkommissar would arrive. The guard had kept a close eye on Claude, as if he wanted to make literally sure that Claude stayed exactly in the middle of the room.

The office itself was very simply decorated and there were no windows on the wood-paneled walls. A swastika-decorated flag of the Reich was draped on one wall, a picture of the Führer was on the other one, accompanied by a framed propaganda poster with an eagle and bold text stating 'Mit unsern Fahnen ist der Sieg!'. The furniture was limited only to needful things, including a desk for the Kommissar, cabinets for papers, a small table for a radio and a separate desk for the typist. The scarce lighting and the lack of windows made the office appear almost like a dungeon.

Otto was wearing his SS-uniform, his clothes as immaculate as always and the swastika-decorated armband proudly presented on his left arm. The front of his uniform was decorated with the Golden Party Badge and his commendations from the Great War, the ribbon of his Iron Cross holding a pin which indicated that it had been awarded in the First World War. His polished black boots clicked sharply on the floor as he made his way to the office, the guard quickly saluting him as he finally reached the door. Glancing only briefly at Claude, Otto stopped inside the office to remove his leather coat and peaked cap, which he gave to the guard. The guard proceeded to hang the coat on the coat hanger next to the door and looked at Otto for further instructions. "Ich komm damit klar, danke," Otto said and motioned towards the door with one hand. The guard snapped into attention again and backed out of the door, the door finally clicking shut as he left the office.

Otto's eyes now settled on Claude and he passed by the man while taking off his leather gloves and walking towards his desk. "Do take a seat," Otto said in his smooth and deep voice. There was a quality of pleasantness to the way Otto spoke English and his voice might have even been characterized as being soothing if it wasn't for the intimidating uniform he wore. There were two chairs in front of the desk, they did not seem as luxurious as Otto's leather chair, but were quite comfortable nonetheless. Otto dropped his gloves on the table on top of a pile of papers, all of the official looking documents bearing the eagle of the Reich. There were no photographs or personal items anywhere to be seen, either Otto was very work-orientated or there were some other specific reasons for this.

Otto sat on his chair opposite to Claude and searched through his pile of folders for a while. With a quiet and thoughtful 'hum' he seemed to finally found what he was searching for and he opened the file. "Well, it seems that I can finally discuss things over with you without any interruptions. Nice and quiet here, is it not?" Otto asked as his gaze briefly flickered at Claude over the various papers in the folder. He picked up a thin piece of paper, something that looked like to be a clipping from a newspaper. It had been folded so the right article was easier to find and Otto slipped the clipping over the table towards Claude. It was an article about the explosion in the hospital, somehow Otto had managed to fish the news up. "Seem familiar to you?"


Translations:

"Mit unsern Fahnen ist der Sieg!"
"Victory is with our Flags!"

"Ich komm damit klar, danke."
"I can take it from here, thank you."

[Cpl. Joe Claude]

The soft clicking of a type-writer was getting on Joe’s nerves. That seemed to be the only noise in the whole building apart from the shuffling of the SS guard’s feet behind him. It was eight o’clock, the clock on the wall outside ticked away slowly, in time with the type-writer.

The office was like a dungeon, there were barely any windows and the light from the little oil lamp on the table didn’t give off much light what-so-ever. Joe had been told to stand as still as possible, his clothing was the same as his work clothing – trousers, shirt and shoes – plain and simple.

He had been dreading this meeting for the past few days, ever since he had seen the look on Otto’s face when his wife Zelda had butted in on their conversation…no interrogation more like.

But he had found something interesting to stare at for the 15 minutes he had been told to stand in the middle of the room…the picture of Hitler, Joe was debating whether the man would look that good in real life, and how the most easiest way to kill the all-powerful man…slit his throat or stab him in the back? The list was endless. After deciding that the best way was to go at him with a quick stab in the back, Joe turned his attention to the Nazi flag and the writing underneath – Mit unsern Fahnen ist der Sieg – so they thought the flag would win them the war? It wasn’t a very good propaganda poster; surely a photo of a heroic German soldier standing over a dead American or British corpse would be more boosting?

The soft click of shoes on wood now approached the office and the door opened, revealing Otto Wolff. The guard saluted, Joe kept his arms to his sides and watched as the man ordered the guard away and went towards his desk, with only a glance towards the Jew.

”Do take a seat.”

Joe walked towards the chair which was in front of the desk that Otto now sat at. He sat down on it and lent backwards, watching Otto…what was he looking for?

"Well, it seems that I can finally discuss things over with you without any interruptions. Nice and quiet here, is it not?"

”Oh yes, like a prison.” Joe said sarcastically, but quietly so Otto would have to have amazing hearing to hear what he had just said.

"Seem familiar to you?"

Joe took the piece of paper and scanned the head line…the hospital exposition. ”Well I’m not going to say it isn’t am I, yeah, yeah this is the one.” he put the paper back on the desk and pushed it back towards Otto, ”Why?”

[Otto Wolff]

The office was dim and quiet and the only sound for a moment was the long creak of the Kriminalkommissar's chair as he settled into a more comfortable position. Otto studied the expression on Claude's face as he handed him the newspaper article and the man seemed indifferent in the same way that he usually did. Otto could only wonder what kind of thoughts were going through Claude's head, what kind of things he had seen while imprisoned in the camp.

It was hard to read the scarred man's state of mind, as he seemed to cloak his emotions effectively... at least most of the times. Maybe he had been through so much suffering that he had just stopped caring? Otto's dark eyes studied the man thoughtfully, the Gestapo officer resting his elbow on the desk. He was trying to see a person behind those eyes, to set himself in Claude's place just for a moment to understand him better. It was a daunting task and although Otto had seen many concentration camps in his time, he could not really imagine what it would have been like to be on the other side of that fence, locked there, just waiting until your time was up and you would be shut into a small, dark room with several others. The deadly gas would fill the room, people would scream, clawing at the walls and then...

”Well I’m not going to say it isn’t am I, yeah, yeah this is the one. Why?” Claude asked after looking at the article concerning the explosion in the hospital. Otto snapped out of his thoughts, arching an eyebrow and scanning through the papers gathered inside the folder. "I believe I'm the one who is supposed to be asking the questions here. Now... I've looked through the information we have on you, just to confirm what you told me earlier. I guess there are many questions I could ask you, but there is one thing that has been on my mind since we last had our small discussion," Otto remarked and Claude could no doubt already guess what Otto's question would concern.

"Before we were interrupted, you told me that if you talked to me about the girl, she would be killed," the Kriminalkommissar said in his steady, low voice. "Who do you think would pose such a danger to an innocent German child? I do not really know what you think of me, nor do I really actually care, but I can assure you that I would not hurt a sweet child such as Heidi. Whatever you might think of me, I'm not a complete savage," Otto said with slight amusement in his voice.

Closing the folder, Otto's gaze settled on Claude once again. "I have gone through my sources of information and have not found any stories of an orphanage being emptied of children in the recent days. It was quite obvious that the girl has been somewhere just before she met up with you. She had been fed and had clean clothes on when I picked you two up from that line, she did not even have a number like the other prisoners. So... someone has been taking care of her and she certainly did not escape from an orphanage recently. I have been in the Geheime Staatspolizei since 1933 and I have heard enough stories to know when I'm being lied to."

Otto leaned back in his chair and narrowed his black eyes as he looked at Claude. "Now, Joe Claude.. I would like to hear what you know about the girl."

[Cpl. Joe Claude]

Joe’s hands were sweating as he grasped them together under the desk. Why did he suddenly feel so uptight and worried? Was it to do with the way Otto was staring at him thoughtfully?

Casting his eyes down to the floor, Joe found the floor pattern very interesting all of sudden but then Otto’s voice broke the silence –

"I believe I'm the one who is supposed to be asking the questions here. Now... I've looked through the information we have on you, just to confirm what you told me earlier. I guess there are many questions I could ask you, but there is one thing that has been on my mind since we last had our small discussion,"

Oh well that wasn’t hard to know the question. The Jew’s eyes cast up to Otto and watched him to see what he said next –

"Before we were interrupted, you told me that if you talked to me about the girl, she would be killed. Who do you think would pose such a danger to an innocent German child? I do not really know what you think of me, nor do I really actually care, but I can assure you that I would not hurt a sweet child such as Heidi. Whatever you might think of me, I'm not a complete savage,"

The folder was slammed shut and eyes turned upon Joe as the man spoke once more –

"I have gone through my sources of information and have not found any stories of an orphanage being emptied of children in the recent days. It was quite obvious that the girl has been somewhere just before she met up with you. She had been fed and had clean clothes on when I picked you two up from that line, she did not even have a number like the other prisoners. So... someone has been taking care of her and she certainly did not escape from an orphanage recently. I have been in the Geheime Staatspolizei since 1933 and I have heard enough stories to know when I'm being lied to. Now, Joe Claude.. I would like to hear what you know about the girl."

Silence filled the room; the only noise was the tick-tick-tick of the clock. Joe was completely lost for words. He stared at the polish wooden table with a sort of distant expression. He shuffled his feet slightly, the words sinking slowly in.

”That hospital.” he pointed at the newspaper cutting, ”The girl was there like I told you and that she was rescued and taken somewhere…I don’t know where.” he paused, chewing on his lip, and then continued, ”I met the girl again; I admit it, back when I was in the camp, we were lifting boxes on the street and I recognised her behind a fence in a playground. She may have looked well-fed and clean, but the emotional scars were there and well…” he trailed off, staring at the wood, still not looking at Otto. ”She recognised me, and she was so happy and she was about to tell me something when…when the guards took me away.” he stopped, and stared up at Otto for the first time since he had spoken. ”That’s all I know.” Otto could tell this was a lie…but he did not know how much the truth would hurt Adelheid’s future.

[Otto Wolff]

It didn't take a great detective to see that Claude was getting nervous, he could not even look Otto in the eyes. The man directed his gaze down as he listened to Otto's words. Whatever this man knew, was something he did not wish for Otto to find out. Of course, one way or another Otto usually got the information he wanted. The Gestapo did not hesitate to use very gruesome and violent ways of extracting information and Otto was more than capable of doing such things himself. Still, he rarely resorted to such methods and much more preferred just using his wit to get the information he needed.

He knew many other employees of the Gestapo who would jump at the occasion to use sadistic torture before even trying the less violent ways of asking their questions. So far, Otto's own methods had worked quite well and he would have not really wanted to use such distasteful means of interrogation, anyway.

The room was silent as Claude pondered on what he should say and Otto stayed silent, waiting patiently until the scarred man finally spoke. He told Otto about meeting the girl in the hospital, the girl being rescued and taken somewhere, Claude could not say where exactly. Then Claude had met the girl again later and he went on to mention something about the girl's emotional scars, making Otto frown slightly.

Well, it had not been exactly hard to see that Heidi was terrified of something. A lot of children would have panicked in a strange place, trying to seek shelter in something or someone that they knew, trying to return to home and to safety. If this Jew was the best shelter the girl could think of, then she must have been in some dire situation indeed. Heidi had, as Otto had seen, even been ready to join the ragtag band of Jewish prisoners just to be close to Claude, the only refuge she seemed to have.

”That’s all I know,” Claude said after ending his story of what had happened and Otto let out a sigh, placing a few fingers on his chin as he considered the man's words. That could not be the whole truth, for it still did not explain why Claude felt that the girl's life was in danger.

Staring at Claude for another silent moment, Otto finally spoke again. "I do not really believe that is quite all you know, Claude. It still does not explain why you feel that Heidi's life is in danger. You must consider something here. Even though you might be blinded by your anger, resentment... whatever it is you feel about Germans. I have treated you more fairly than one is even allowed to in the society we live in today. I heard that a German had been arrested just for thanking a Jew in public. I have given you decent clothing, better work, food and shelter. I have provided safety for the girl. I know these things might not make you trust me, but I am walking on a thin line as it is."

Otto leaned forwards in his chair to regard Claude better. "The next thing I will do and what I must do, is to give over the girl to proper authorities so that they can place her in an orphanage or into a family that might adopt her. I cannot keep her in our house forever, without any identification or even knowledge of who she actually is. The chances that someone will adopt a child at these times are slim to none, people have hard enough time feeding their families as it is. Whatever you feel is out there and a potential threat to the girl, will find her once she is sent out," Otto's tone of voice was steady, but he regarded Claude now less sharply, maybe even in a manner that could have been considered somewhat friendly.

It could have been because this was the first time there was nobody around to witness how Otto spoke to Claude. There was no hatred, resentment or superiority in Otto's voice anymore and he paused for a moment, letting his works sink into Claude. It all felt quite surreal, since Otto was wearing his SS-uniform and in the dim lighting the red and white of his swastika-decorated armband seemed to almost shine with a strange glow. As much as Otto had to try and look past the fact that Claude was a Jew, Claude might have been facing the same problem as he now saw Otto carrying all of his Nazi decorations.

"Do you think she is safer out there once she is out of my house? I have taken care of her and I do not wish to see her get hurt, you must have realized that by now. I can't protect her if I do not even know what I'm protecting her from. Her safety and future are now in your hands, Claude. Whatever more there is to know about the girl, I must hear it."

[Cpl. Joe Claude]

Was it just Joe or were the lights getting dimmer and dimmer, swallowing him up into the pit of hell that he was tittering on the edge of? If he hadn’t been as afraid of Strumfelder as he currently was, he would have told Otto everything the first time they had met, even maybe shared a joke with the officer. But, because of the iron grip that Strumfelder had on Joe permanently it seemed, he wasn’t going to say anything unless he trusted Otto.

He could feel the Nazi’s eyes on him for a moment and then he spoke once more. Joe listened, turning his head so he could see Otto out of the corner of his eye, watching the man. He spoke softly; his words seemed to fire sense and truth at Joe from all angles.

Joe opened his mouth to say something but shut it as Otto lent forward, regarding him better. What he said next sent a cold shiver down Joe’s spine and he blurted out – ”No! No, don’t send her away!” he stared at Otto, his eyes suddenly wild with fury and slight emotion, ”You don’t realize, she is the only connection I have to…to home.” his voice cracked, ”I don’t know anyone in this country from when I was with the Allies, she keeps me going!” he stared at Otto, trying to see some sense in the man.

"Do you think she is safer out there once she is out of my house? I have taken care of her and I do not wish to see her get hurt, you must have realized that by now. I can't protect her if I do not even know what I'm protecting her from. Her safety and future are now in your hands, Claude. Whatever more there is to know about the girl, I must hear it."

Joe stared helplessly at Otto for a second and then lent forwards, he would tell Otto the truth, everything. The man needed to know and he’d find out one way or the other anyway –

”She isn’t called Heidi, she’s called Adelheid.” he paused, ”That day I saw her whilst packing boxes – Strumfelder was there and he hurt her, he was angry at her for…for talking to me I guess, he pointed a gun at her and then fired at me instead…” he stopped, ”But the thing is…she isn’t safe, she isn’t safe with Strumfelder! You have to believe me; do you really think a father of a child would hurt her and try to kill her? I got this letter from when I was back with the Allies after I had come back from the first time I was in this country, a threat from Strumfelder saying that he somehow knew that I had met the girl in the hospital and he had her captured and was threatening that if I was not to come to him then he would send me the girl’s fingers!” he stared desperately at Otto, ”Please believe me Otto! You may just see a Jew sitting in front of you and you may hate me and my religion and my people but surely, you can trust me on a matter like this!”

[Otto Wolff]

Otto knew well that he had chosen his words wisely and carefully enough to have some impact on the Jew, but he did not quite expect the desperate reaction he now saw in Claude. First the Jewish man was pleading for Otto not to give Heidi away to authorities as she was his only link to home. Otto did not really understand what he could have meant by that and for a moment he wondered if the girl then had been living outside Germany at some point of her life. Obviously with people who had been able to speak German, he should find out more about that later.

Then the truth seemed to come to light and it was more than enough to leave Otto surprised and baffled. Heidi was not Heidi after all, but Adelheid, the girl Otto had been tasked with finding by doctor Strumfelder. Somewhere deep inside he had harbored some thoughts about Heidi actually being Strumfelder's daughter, but he had dismissed them as being far too convenient and outright ridiculous. After all, there could be no way that Otto would pick up an orphan girl from the street and then soon after that take upon an assignment to find the same girl. Such things only happened in movies.

The Kriminalkommissar leaned back in his comfortable chair, listening to the words that were spilling rapidly from Claude's mouth. Claude told about the girl being hurt, that Strumfelder had tried to kill her and that the doctor had threatened to send Claude the child's fingers if necessary. There was an expression of doubt on Otto's face as he calmly listened to the explanation which seemed to numb his mind. Usually Otto was left with a sense of calmness and satisfaction when he knew that he had succeeded in getting the truth out of a person, but this time the words seemed almost poisonous to him, making him feel worse with each passing second.

”Please believe me Otto! You may just see a Jew sitting in front of you and you may hate me and my religion and my people but surely, you can trust me on a matter like this!” Claude pleaded and Otto did not even notice the fact that the Jew had just called him plainly by his first name.

Otto had to spend some time regarding Claude's words and then he spoke slowly. "Hate is such a strong word. You are confusing sense of duty with hatred. I do not hate you... or your religion. I have merely been doing what I must, for the Fatherland, just like any other patriotic German. And what you are telling me now is a serious accusation against a faithful, long-serving officer of the SS," Otto remarked, although his tone of voice did not sound accusing or angry. Obviously the man could not quite make up his mind on who to trust. His thoughts went back to the time he had met Strumfelder and he considered the man's deformed face, the way he seemed to carry himself with certain superiority. The letter which Otto had received had been full of worry and anguish, like that of an truly distressed father. Just because a man did not look like he fit the traditional role of a loving father did not mean that he could not be one, right?

With a long sigh, Otto pushed himself up from the chair and rubbed his chin as he walked a few steps towards the cabinets, then back to the desk again. "How can I know that what you tell me is the truth? It is a Jew's word against that of an SS officer, you do realize that?" Otto asked, his eyes settling on Claude again.

"The only thing I want is for this war to end. I want to build a house somewhere in the country, retire honorably, to spend my time fixing up the house for my wife, go back to playing the piano more again... Is that indeed so much to ask?" Otto muttered, saying all of these things mostly to himself. He had always looked back at his achievements with pride, but recently he had found himself tormented by some of them. If the war ended and Germany would not win, what was there left for him? His career would not be worth anything, he would be left with children who hated him and a wife who could never be proud of him. And if the allies invaded Germany and found out where Otto had been working, he would be shot against the wall in the same way he had seen many others getting killed. For someone who had seen so many things and achieved so much, his future seemed bleak and forlorn indeed.

Otto ran his hand slowly down his face as these thoughts filled his mind, but he tried to sharpen up quickly. The Jew could not see Otto Wolff pitying himself, he had to maintain his face in front of him. "This is a very serious matter," he added more to Claude again, but Otto had already let his guard down and the worry and weariness were now evident on the man's face. "How can I know you are telling me the truth on anything? You do not have any proof, now do you? How will the girl react if I tell her that I know her real name?"

[Cpl. Joe Claude]

The Jew now was thinking that he had made a bad mistake. The girl could be in even more danger now, if he had never have met Strumfelder, if he had not captured that little village, if he hadn’t been in that spot then maybe it would have been someone else who Strumfelder had decided to capture, another man who perhaps wasn’t a Jew but having said that, they would probably survive a shorter time in Nazi Germany because of them just being…being a “normal” soldier, shot on the spot. But then, the whole thing would have been different, Vlakte had saved Joe. But Vlakte wasn’t going to come back and save him a second time, Vlakte…or Theo as he was called now was happily engaged and maybe even married by this point to that lovely Frenchwoman. He might be out of France by now and in England or the United States that was where he had wanted to go he had said. He was away from the war, even though he had done some horrific things in his time, he was out of it for good. No Nazis would catch him. This whole war business was a scary and dangerous place to be and Joe was all for getting out of it as soon as he could.

Otto’s facial expressions changed from surprise to baffled, he had leaned back in his chair and was thinking it over by the looks of things. Finally he said – "Hate is such a strong word. You are confusing sense of duty with hatred. I do not hate you... or your religion. I have merely been doing what I must, for the Fatherland, just like any other patriotic German. And what you are telling me now is a serious accusation against a faithful, long-serving officer of the SS,"

Ah. Good point. Joe had just insulted as Otto had said a “faithful, long-serving officer of the SS”, even though he did not see Strumfelder as faithful in his eyes, the man was probably much admired because of his brutality towards his captives, getting the best out of them in the meanest and horrific ways possible. A clever man one could almost say of him. Joe just saw a lost figure, a man whose only thoughts were to kill every living British, American, French etc etc soldier and civilian and to ruin their families and their lives that he could and no one would get in the way of it.

Otto spoke again, and again the Jew comment – "How can I know that what you tell me is the truth? It is a Jew's word against that of an SS officer, you do realize that?"

”Some may see it like that, if you look past my religion, you see a man who has been at the hands of Erhard Strumfelder, seen what he can do to people and then that word against the man who…who can stamp on his own so-called child.”

Otto now turned away towards the filing cabinet, and then came back towards the guest, speaking almost to himself – "The only thing I want is for this war to end. I want to build a house somewhere in the country, retire honorably, to spend my time fixing up the house for my wife, go back to playing the piano more again... Is that indeed so much to ask?"

Joe watched the man, looking at his worn-out frame, almost feeling sorry for him. The man was obviously feeling sorry for himself…”I want that as much as you do, not the retiring part but this war to end…” he muttered quietly.

Otto realized what he was doing, his facial expression sharpened up and spoke once again – "This is a very serious matter. How can I know you are telling me the truth on anything? You do not have any proof, now do you? How will the girl react if I tell her that I know her real name?"

”I did have proof, I had the letter and everything but they took my clothes from me when I came here so that wasn’t much use. But if you don’t believe me then I assure you, you are sending that girl to her death.” he glanced up at Otto, staring into the man’s eyes, willing him to believe him.

[Otto Wolff]

The room seemed to grow smaller around Otto and his chest felt tighter for a moment as he considered what Claude had just told him. It was true what Claude said, he indeed was a man who had seen what Strumfelder was like and it took a certain kind of mind to be able to torture someone in as vicious way as Claude had been tortured. Otto looked at the scars on Claude's face and wondered if Strumfelder's vicious streak was reserved only for the enemies of the Reich or if it would truly expand to such lengths that the SS officer would attack his own daughter. Heidi... well, Adelheid, was an adopted daughter of course, but would it make such a difference? She was still a small, innocent child and Otto had to wonder how anyone could bring themselves to harm her.

”I did have proof, I had the letter and everything but they took my clothes from me when I came here so that wasn’t much use. But if you don’t believe me then I assure you, you are sending that girl to her death," Claude said, staring Otto straight in the eyes as he spoke. Otto could not look back at Claude for too long and instead he glanced at his chair.

The Kriminalkommissar nodded in response as he slowly sat back in the chair, staying silent for a while before answering Claude. "She is a sweet little child, much too innocent for this world we live in. It never ceases to amaze me how children can still find joy in the simplest things, even when so much has been taken away from them," Otto said in a contemplative tone, speaking mostly just so that he could give himself more time to think.

If what the Jew was telling him was indeed the truth, then the girl would not be safe in Berlin. She might not even be safe anywhere in Germany, which would mean that the only place where she would find shelter at was in the hands of the allied forces. If Otto was to help the girl to safety, he would be placing not only the girl's life, but also his own life in danger. Then again if he did not help the girl and Strumfelder had indeed lost his mind so completely that he was ready to kill her, little Heidi was doomed.

He wondered what the girl would say if he told her that he knew who she really was. Would she tell her the same things Claude had told Otto? Would they be the truth or something Claude had implanted in her mind as part of some strange scheme? Otto glanced again at Claude and could not really believe that the man was lying about what he had said. The Kriminalkommissar's instincts rarely failed and he could not really think of any motive for Claude to be lying either.

Otto realized that he had been left staring at Claude, although he seemed to be looking straight through him. "I would not, of course, wish to place her in danger. But she cannot stay in my house. I do not mind her staying, of course, she is a happy and well-mannered child, but if what you say is true, she will not be safe with me forever. I will talk with her and ask about the things you have told me about, see what she has to say."

The Gestapo officer rubbed his eyes with a sigh. "Let us then assume that what you say is indeed the truth. And let us also, hypothetically speaking, consider that she is not safe in Germany and must find shelter elsewhere. Would you then have any ideas on who she might be safe with? Outside Germany, that is. Someone you can trust and who you know would be ready to help. This all of course... highly hypothetical," Otto added, just to make sure that Claude did not think that Otto was already promising to meddle with anything.

[Cpl. Joe Claude]

The air in Joe’s chest was tightening as he stared at Otto, awaiting an answer. He felt like he had just run a race and now had a stitch in his side it was like he couldn’t breathe properly.

Otto seemed to take his time but Joe saw that he had confused the man and he was wondering what to do about the girl and all the information he had just been given. Joe looked away and down at the desk, tracing the pattern with his right finger and then looking back up at Otto, trying to work out what he was thinking but failing miserably.

"She is a sweet little child, much too innocent for this world we live in. It never ceases to amaze me how children can still find joy in the simplest things, even when so much has been taken away from them,"

Joe raised his head to look at Otto, the man was finally it seemed giving in to some extent. Joe nodded silently; the girl was indeed sweet and much too innocent for this world. She was not meant to be here, she had seen too much, felt too much.

The Gestapo office was staring at Joe and hadn’t said anything for some time, he just stared through Joe like he wasn’t there, Joe cocked his head to one side and made a slight coughing sound to get the man’s attention which he did or rather the man realized that he had been staring to much so sat straighter and spoke again –

”I would not, of course, wish to place her in danger. But she cannot stay in my house. I do not mind her staying, of course, she is a happy and well-mannered child, but if what you say is true, she will not be safe with me forever. I will talk with her and ask about the things you have told me about, see what she has to say. Let us then assume that what you say is indeed the truth. And let us also, hypothetically speaking, consider that she is not safe in Germany and must find shelter elsewhere. Would you then have any ideas on who she might be safe with? Outside Germany, that is. Someone you can trust and who you know would be ready to help. This all of course... highly hypothetical.”

Joe neither wanted to place the girl in any danger at all, and he had already guessed that the girl would not be able to stay in the house.

”She would not be safe in Germany, not at all.” he frowned and thought back to the first meeting he had had with her, ”When I met her the first time, she had met two soldier friends who she called her uncles, she also had an adopted family of some sort back in Allied France, if she is able to get back to the Allied front then I am sure…I am sure she would be safe if she gets back there and then…well, and then…” he trailed off, biting his lip and looking down at the wooden table.

He was debating a way to get out of here, if the girl was the only way he could then that would have to do, he could take the child back to her family, leave her there or maybe take her to England with him or maybe even the US. She could live with his family, they wouldn’t mind surely and she would be well cared for. Then he would get a discharge from the army and go and live in peace – the whole thing seemed completely and utterly unreal and wouldn’t have been possible a few days ago but now…now things were looking up.

[Otto Wolff]

Several things were going through the Gestapo officer's mind as he considered the options. He had been a loyal and active National Socialist since 1925, had fought for his country in the Great War and served the Reich diligently for a long time. If he now schemed against an officer of the SS, he would be turning his back to everything he had worked and fought for. Or would he..? Had the Germany he knew become all twisted and wrong without him even realizing it? Or was it the people who had changed so much?

Otto liked to think about politics and also the philosophical side of things, but he did not usually try and think about things from a view that he would find unpleasant. Lately these thoughts had become more reoccurring, along with the nightmares which seemed to torment him almost every night now. He had looked upon the deaths of countless Jews, Poles, communists and other miserable riffraff with no emotion at all. He knew that many SS-men who had to carry out the executions had completely lost their mind over seeing all the death. Some of them had been sent to other duties, some to mental institution and some had just gone and shot themselves dead.

Otto had never felt much when it came to the executions, he was after all, just doing his duty. Still, something was now stirring inside him. They were feelings of doubt, self-hatred, pity and guilt, things that had been completely foreign to him before.

He looked at this particular Jew and tried to see another person, a real human being. Otto had never tried to look at a Jew in such a manner, he had always known they were not human at all and he had accepted this knowledge as a fact. He had read many fine publications on the subject, seen the Jews meekly walking to their deaths like cattle, listened to the stirring speeches of the Führer and participated in weeding out the unwanted material so that the true German people could flourish. Otto did not know why he was doubting all of these things now, but then again, he had hardly taken the time to talk to a Jew before.

Claude had just mentioned that the girl might be safe in allied France, but it was a whole another thing getting her there. Otto could try and get the girl over the border to the allied side, but it would not be very safe for him to venture too far into the enemy territory. The girl would need an escort and of course, a potential person was sitting right across the table. But getting Claude, a Jew, into the allied territory might be an even more difficult and dangerous thing. It would endanger all of their lives and Otto found himself once again asking why he would be go to such lengths anyway?

Was it just him trying to atone for the things he had done? Maybe it was only because he had been such a lousy father that he now felt he should protect Heidi? Saving one Jew and a girl would not be enough to make up for all the lives he had affected and destroyed, so why bother? The Kriminalkommissar sighed, shaking his head slightly as he tried to drive these unpleasant thoughts away.

"Allied France, of course," Otto remarked with a slight frown, trying to direct his mind to more practical matters. "It would be quite task to get her there safely. And she would need someone to escort her. It could be done, although the whole thing could also backfire and cause all of those involved to die... I need some time to come up with more information and I need to talk to Heidi. Well, Adelheid. I guess she is still just Heidi to me."

Otto glanced at his papers and then at Claude again, considering something for a while. "Do you really think that every officer of the SS is a monster?"

[Cpl. Joe Claude]

Joe was on tender hooks, watching the man’s expression, trying to read what he was thinking. This could be his way out, he could be free from this horrible world, full of terror and death and never return to the country he had once thought of as his home…not any more, this place would become a hell hole, the war would be won by the Allies surely and Germany would pay, just like they had done in the Great War. The Germans had started that war and they had lost, the Germans had started this one and they soon would lose it the way things were going.

How could a country take over the world when they were killing their own people? The Jews made up for a considerable amount of the population along with the others that were begin shot. A country could not win on beauty alone could it? Yes the German army was doing quite well…still it made no sense.

The clock on the wall ticked on and on in the silence of the room. Joe twirled his fingers together and then away from each other as if he was in a classroom, bored of the lesson that was being taken place there.

Otto spoke after a bit, agreeing with Joe that Allied France would be the best place for Adelheid to go and that he would sort things out, Joe had “left it on the table” so to speak, he could do no more until Otto came back with an answer to him.

Otto then asked a very odd question –

"Do you really think that every officer of the SS is a monster?"

He looked up at the officer, frowning slightly and lent back in his chair. ”No, I didn’t think that before I was tortured. But since then I suppose I do think that every SS man is a monster yes.” he stared at Otto and then down at the desk, ”I used to once think of this place as my home, but not any more.”

[Otto Wolff]

The expression on the Kriminalkommissar's face stayed unchanged as he listened to Claude's answer. "No, I didn’t think that before I was tortured. But since then I suppose I do think that every SS man is a monster yes," Claude said, also mentioning that he didn't consider Germany a home anymore.

So Claude thought Otto was one of those monsters also? For some reason this irritated him and he had to force his mind to remember the fact that he shouldn't care what others thought about him. You didn't many any friends working at the Gestapo and you certainly should not give a Jew's thoughts much consideration. The dark-haired man had to work hard to shake this feeling away and the corner of his eye twitched involuntarily. What did he care if someone thought he was a monster? There was only one person's opinion that mattered to Otto these days and it was that of his wife.

"Then I guess it would be safe to say that every Jew is a lowly creature, now wouldn't it?" Otto asked, challenging Claude's words. There was a hint of sharpness in Otto's words no matter how hard he tried to hide it. He didn't want for Claude to notice that his words had affected the Gestapo officer. "But I guess I should commend you on... having enough guts to come out with the truth, blunt as it may be."

Otto occupied himself with getting up from the chair, gathering a few folders from the table and walking to the cabinets to put all the papers in their correct places. "For now, I would appreciate if you did not talk about this to the girl. And she does not have to know what I do for living," the man talked away while keeping his back turned to Claude. "That might only scare and confuse her, she must be terrified of the SS anyway."

The Kriminalkommissar turned around to look at Joe Claude again and in the dim lighting of the room the tall man with his dark hair and piercing eyes seemed foreboding. "And I'm sure I do not have to tell you this, but what we have discussed inside this room shall stay in this room. Once I have talked with Heidi and gotten her side of the story, I might have more to tell you. For now you will continue working as usual. Although... with any luck on how things seem to be going, the RAF might bomb the courtyard once it's finished," Otto sighed, more than a hint of cynicism in his voice.

"Well, this monster still has some work to do and I believe you need some rest, I would not want you sleeping on the work tomorrow morning," Otto said in an slightly amused tone and he motioned for Claude to get up from his chair, walking to the door and opening it. The guard that had escorted Claude into the office was waiting outside and he snapped into attention quickly when Kriminalkommissar Wolff appeared in the doorway. "Sie können ihn jetzt zurücknehmen."

Otto let the guard walk past him into the office and the guard proceeded to grab Claude by the arm, although it was not really necessary. There was no chance for Claude to run anywhere anyway, but the guard seemed adamant on taking care of his duty with utmost dedication. Whatever traces of friendliness there had been in Otto earlier were now completely erased when the guard was present. Otto did not even bother to glance at Claude again and the man returned back to his desk, sitting in his chair and taking out some papers. "Überzeugen Sie sich, um die Tür zu schließen. Ich habe noch etwas Arbeit um zu tun," Otto said to the guard, who nodded and pushed Claude out of the office ahead of himself, closing the door as requested.

Otto stared at the closed door, now only accompanied by the sound of the clock ticking time away on the wall. He sighed heavily and set the papers down on the table again, he did not really have any appetite for work anymore. Too many thoughts were interfering with any rational thoughts regarding the work he would still have to go through. It was already late and he had been working since the early hours of the morning. The dreaded sharp pain in his temple made a short visit, letting him now that a migraine was lifting up it's head again. The infernal headaches had followed him ever since he had been involved in that explosion in Auschwitz and recently they had been getting worse.

This was the last thing he really needed. There just was no peaceful for moment for him, was there? With an annoyed grunt, Otto picked up the papers again and searched for a pen, settling on his work again, migraine or not.


Translations:

"Sie können ihn jetzt zurücknehmen."
"You may take him back now."

"Überzeugen Sie sich, um die Tür zu schließen. Ich habe noch etwas Arbeit um zu tun."
"Make sure to close the door. I still have some work to do."

[Daniel Brennan]

Mod Post

CP:
Otto Wolff: 8CP

Corporal Claude: 7CP


~Dan