He Never Learns

[Amanda Knight]

Again it was a horrible day, rain fell down now, not snow…The Netherlands seemed to always be either snowing or raining, it never seemed to be sunny…maybe that was because it was February and it always was bad weather in February, but still….Peter blamed the bad weather on the Nazis invading his home country, they were the reason that the weather seemed to be awful…

Peter walked along the streets, the rain was drenching his coat and hair as he walked, and he kept his head bowed, trying to keep the rain out of his eyes so that he would be able to see where he was going instead of having rain in them and making him blind. It hadn’t been a great past few weeks, the people of Amsterdam were starting to starve, Peter’s parent’s shop wasn’t doing well at all, people were buying as much food as they could lay their hands on and the family were struggling to get supplies to give them the stock for the shop, especially with the Polshes family living in their cellar, they were very demanding as they had to stay down their all the time and weren’t allowed out, only early in the mornings for a quick breath of fresh air and late at night, then they were back in there…poor them, it was Mr Polshes, Mrs Polshes and their little daughter Emilie, the Bloch’s had allowed them to hide because the Polshes were one of their most well known Jewish friends and now that the Nazis had taken over, the Jews hiding with relatives and friends in houses or fleeing to Britain or Northwards, there was no place for them to go really…poor them…it raises the question what had the Jews done to the Nazis to make the Nazis hate them…yes, the Jews had been persecuted right back in Roman times with Masada and Caesar’s empire…but why?

That was the question Peter wanted answered, but he wouldn’t be able to get an answer…he rounded the corner and came across Nazis, this was the second time in three days that those bastards were beating up a Jew, this time it was a young woman of about thirty years old, she was screaming and crying out for help, and yet again no one was doing anything, and yet again Peter got angry and yet again Peter shouted at the Nazis holding her and forcing her towards the van which was awaiting just a few metres away.

Peter shouted at the Nazis, furious at them, hating them even more…yes there were the occasional nice ones like that man who had come in and who Peter had given food to in exchange for a packet of cigarettes…but frankly most were horrid, evil people. He came towards the first one, his face anger, the woman screamed at him to help her and Peter grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her away but yet again he was thrown to the ground by a Nazi and yet again was started to be hit.

[Werner von Maybach]

[OOC: I would like this thread to take place before Werner got send to the North African front.]

It was raining since days and Werner was in a very bad mood because of it. He had some drinks in a smoked out bar and was now on his way back to the barracks. Werner felt tired and a little tipsy. His mind was already wandering to his warm bed.

After he got wounded in Poland, he got send to a reserve company in Amsterdam. The Netherlands were occupied now for longer than a year but these people here were just not willing to cooperate. On the other hand Werner realised, that the general behaviour of the German occupation troops was very arrogant against the civilians here.

Suddenly, there were some loud German voices and other, strange sounds. Werner went a little faster and came around the corner of a very ancient looking building, when he saw some German soldiers beating up a woman and a small boy. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing and a certain stroke of anger rose inside him. Beating defenceless children was way too much for him. When coming closer, he recognized the soldiers were all privates. The small boy looked alright, but the woman was heavily wounded.

“Verdammt noch mal, was macht Ihr hier. Ist es eure Vorstellung von der glorreichen Deutschen Wehrmacht, kleine Kinder und Frauen zu besiegen. Ihr solltet euch schämen.“

One of the privates, who was at least as drunk as Werner answered: “Halten Sie sich da raus. Schließlich ist das eine ganz üble Judensau. Und der kleine Bengel wollte Ihr halt unbedingt helfen. Selbst dran schuld.“

Werner did not know whether it was the alcohol or the disrespectful answer of this private, but he just lost completely track. He stroked out and punched this private directly in his face. Although the weather was very stormy, everybody could hear the sound of a breaking nose.

Translations:

“Verdammt noch mal, was macht Ihr hier. Ist es eure Vorstellung von der glorreichen Deutschen Wehrmacht, kleine Kinder und Frauen zu besiegen. Ihr solltet euch schämen, Ihr Idioten.“

“Damn, what are you doing here? Is it your imagination of the glorious German Wehrmacht to beat little kids and woman? Shame on you, you poor idiots.”

“Halten Sie sich da raus. Schließlich ist das eine ganz üble Judensau. Und der kleine Bengel wollte Ihr halt unbedingt helfen. Selbst dran schuld.“

“Just keep out of it. This woman is a really nasty Jewish pig. And this small rascal wanted to help her. He has to blame it on himself.”

[Amanda Knight]

Why did he have to be so stupid? Why? What was he doing? Why had he tried to help the woman? Because he cared for his country and the people in it, and maybe because he hated the Nazis, that could be the other reason…what ever reason it was, Peter knew that maybe now it had been a bad idea to do this…

Shouts came from up above him, German was the voice and Peter could see a flash of uniform, another Nazi, he was shouting at the other bad Nazis who had been beating him and the woman up…did he just say little kids?. Peter was 16 for crying out loud…right, that was another reason to hate the Nazis, they seemed to not understand people’s age, having said that, Peter did look young for his age, he had been teased at school for being so young looking, once he was mistaken for being 10 when he was actually 12 years old at the time, his voice hadn’t broken until he had been 13 so that had been really depressing when his voice had stayed high and all the other boys’ voices had become low.

The drunken voice of one of the privates floated through the air now, calling the woman a Jewish pig and he, Peter, a small rascal…apparently the private had thought that Peter had to blame it on himself for getting into trouble…how kind…

Suddenly a small crack and a howl of pain was heard above and the boy raised his head, so did the woman who indeed looked badly shaken and hurt, the two looked and saw that the Nazi who had just approached had broken the nose of one of the other Nazis…

[Werner von Maybach]

The attacked private yelled and felt on the hard concrete street. A lot of blood was dripping out of his nose and mixing up with the rainwater. The pain in Werner’s hand was awful. Probably it was broken. Werner hated to loose control, but this private just pushed him a bit too far. This action could have serious consequences for him. Corporal punishment was absolutely forbidden in the German Wehrmacht. In Werner’s opinion this was one of the major differences between the German and for example the Italian army. Now he broke this rule by himself.

“Ich hoffe das hat für heute gereicht. Das nächste Mal denkt Ihr vorher nach, bevor Ihr einen Vorgesetzten respektlos behandelt. Ihr beiden bringt euren verletzten Kameraden und die Frau ins nächste Krankenhaus. Das ist ein direkter Befehl. Ich kümmere mich inzwischen um den Jungen. Na los, worauf wartet Ihr noch? “, Werner shouted at the two other privates.

Quickly Werner realised a sudden change in the faces of the two soldiers. They were trying not to show him their anger, but inside they wished for revenge. One of them answered grudging: “Jawohl, Herr Unteroffizier.”

The third private was regaining consciousness again and stood up shakily. It seemed like he hasn’t got something left to say at all. Closemouthed and offended he walked some metres away from the scene and waited for his comrades in safe distance. Meanwhile the other two soldiers helped the Jewish woman to get up.

Werner turned to the boy and kneeled down next to him. In the dimmed light of a lantern he could see, that the boy wasn’t as young as Werner thought. “Kannst du etwas Deutsch sprechen? Ist alles in Ordnung mit dir? Komm, Ich helfe dir erst einmal hoch.“

Translations:

“Ich hoffe das hat für heute gereicht. Das nächste Mal denkt Ihr vorher nach, bevor Ihr einen Vorgesetzten respektlos behandelt. Ihr beiden bringt euren verletzten Kameraden und die Frau ins nächste Krankenhaus. Das ist ein direkter Befehl. Ich kümmere mich inzwischen um den Jungen. Na los, worauf wartet Ihr noch? “

“I hope you guys had enough for today. Next time you better think twice, before disrespecting a superior. You two will now escort your comrade and the Jewish woman to the next hospital. This is a direct order. I will care about the boy in between. Hurry up, what are you waiting for?”

“Jawohl, Herr Unteroffizier.”

“Yes, Sir Sergeant.“

“Kannst du etwas Deutsch sprechen? Ist alles in Ordnung mit dir? Komm, Ich helfe dir erst einmal hoch.“

“Can you speak some German? Is everything OK with you? Come on, let me help you get up first.”

[Amanda Knight]

The sound of a yell could now be heard from the private who had been attacked by the other Nazi man. He landed on the ground just by Peter who scooted away from the man and the blood as quickly as he could, he lifted himself up to look around, realizing that his clothing was suddenly very wet indeed, he would have to go home and change, what would his mother think, she would go mad if she saw him now, he wasn’t supposed to get into trouble like this and definitely wasn’t supposed to get his clothes this wet, it was hard enough what with the Jewish family living in their house then to have to worry about wet clothes.

The nice man was now barking orders at the other men in German, telling them to go away and take the woman to the hospital while the leader man was going to take care with Peter, oh god…he wasn’t going to start beating him was he? No…this man seemed different to the other horrid Nazi men, this man seemed kinder, yes, kinder was the word not lovely and nice but kinder…that was as far as Peter was going to go to say nice things about the Germans, god he hated them.

The private who had been knocked to the ground was slowly getting up, it looked like he wouldn’t be beating kids and Jews around for a while as he silently went away with his other soldiers, helping the lady to get up and go to the hospital, she did look in a bad way, with blood pouring from a cut on her face and arm, a bruise was slowly appearing by her eye and another on her lower part of her leg, her hair was ruined, her hat had fallen off and she was bending down to pick it up, shaking and crying.

Peter bit his lip and looked around, seeing the kind German face of the man now his height as he knelt on the ground beside the boy.
”Ja spreche ich deutschen Sir.” Peter said in German, ” Ich bin danke Ihnen fein,” Peter allowed the man to help him up, yes he was fine, just a bit shaken.

Translations:

Ja spreche ich deutschen Sir – Yes, I do speak German sir

Ich bin danke Ihnen fein – I am fine thank you

[Werner von Maybach]

It was relieving, that the youth wasn’t seriously injured. Although he was frightened as hell, he seemed to be alright. The rain was weakening a little bit and now Werner realised, that the boy even did wet himself. Why couldn’t these drunken idiots just think about their actions?

In the light of the lantern, Werner looked into the face of the boy. It was pale and shrunken. The youthfulness was almost gone. The expression of his eyes was rather old. He wore old and worn out clothes.

After Werner helped the boy to get up, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and an electric lighter. He smiled, offered one cigarette to the boy and lighted one for himself. The alcohol made him nearly forget about his hand now.

“Was hast du dir eigentlich dabei gedacht? Das war wirklich sehr dumm. Du hättest verletzt werden können.“

Without waiting for an answer, Werner continued: ”Es ist jetzt schon viel zu spät. Ich werde dich nach Hause bringen, denn deine Eltern werden sich bereits sehr sorgen.“

Werner did not know why he accompanied the youth. Maybe he felt somehow responsible for him. It could get really dangerous for a German soldier to walk through the night in Amsterdam alone these days.

Translations:

“Was hast du dir eigentlich dabei gedacht? Das war wirklich eine sehr dumme Idee. Du hättest verletzt werden können.“

“Why did you think? This really was a stupid idea. You could have got wounded.”

”Es ist jetzt schon viel zu spät. Ich werde dich nach Hause bringen, denn deine Eltern werden sich bereits sehr sorgen.“

“It’s already very late. I will accompany you to your home now, because your parents will worry about you.”

[Amanda Knight]

Peter’s eyes searched around, looking up in fear at the man beside him…a Nazi man was helping him…him…helping…it seemed unheard of in the area, Nazis never helped anyone, that was the reason that everyone hated them, Nazis were bad people, that was what locals had said and Peter believed, Peter believed all the rumours…

Peter felt a shiver go up his spine as the man looked at him, stared at him in the light of the streetlamp, it seemed he was trying to get something out of Peter, something that Peter wasn’t telling him, but that was what Peter thought and normally Peter was wrong about those things…
Peter got up quickly, trying to not let the man touch him, he didn’t want Nazi filth on his clothes…ironically it was like what the Nazis thought of the Jews and other “odd” people, they didn’t want to touch the locals because they didn’t want to get filth on their clothes, well, Peter was exactly the same…

Instead of walking off, the Nazi man handed Peter a cigarette and Peter’s eyes lit up, he snatched the cigarette from the man’s hand and grabbed the lighter after the man had lit his own, lighting his one and took a drag, coughed once and handed the lighter back.
”Danke!” he said, smiling at the man, his expression changed, he still didn’t trust the Nazi but he held a better view of this particular person.

The man now asked him a question, Peter waited until the man had said about taking him home and then opened his mouth to speak. ”Warum tat ich das? Weil I don' t mögen, wie Sie Nazin die jüdischen Leute behandeln!” he said bluntly, and then shrugged his shoulders. ”Wenn Sie zu wünschen” he muttered, wondering why the Nazi wanted to walk him home…

Translations:

– Because I don’t like it how you Nazis treat the Jewish people!

– If you want to

[Werner von Maybach]

The streets of Amsterdam were empty and silent in this night. Werner knew this city from a visit about 10 years ago. It used to be a very lively and happy place. But all that seemed to have changed since the occupation through the German troops.

Cold rain slowly trickled on the concrete and Werner shivered because of a fresh breeze. He pulled his army cap deeper in his face and looked at the boy again. The youth now looked more relaxed, but still seemed to be doubtful. But would Werner trust himself in the position of the boy?

When Werner heard the last words of the boy, he changed the expression of his face instantly. With a harder tone in his voice he said: “Pass auf was du sagst mein Junge. Auch wenn sich diese Männer nicht gut benommen haben, sind Sie immer noch meine Kameraden. Außerdem, dachtest du wirklich du könntest der Frau helfen? Lass solchen Schwachsinn in Zukunft besser bleiben.“

He hoped not to shock the youth too much, but Werner felt that it was needed to set boundaries here. “Falls du dich fragst, warum Ich dich nach Hause bringen werde, ich habe vor, mich kurz mit deinen Eltern zu unterhalten. Sie sollten wissen, wo sich Ihr Sohn des Nachts so herumtreibt.“

While he was speaking, Werner lighted himself another cigarette. After the certain rush, he started to relax again. It felt damn good to act morally after all.

Translations:

“Pass auf was du sagst mein Junge. Auch wenn sich diese Männer nicht gut benommen haben, sind Sie immer noch meine Kameraden. Außerdem, dachtest du wirklich du könntest der Frau helfen? Lass solchen Schwachsinn in Zukunft besser bleiben.“

“Watch your words, boy. Even if these men didn’t act right, they still are my comrades. Besides, did you really think you would be able to help the woman? Better abstain from stupidities like that in the future”

“Falls du dich fragst, warum Ich dich nach Hause bringen werde, ich habe vor, mich kurz mit deinen Eltern zu unterhalten. Sie sollten wissen, wo sich Ihr Sohn des Nachts so herumtreibt.“

“If you should ask yourself, why I want to bring you home? I want to talk to your parents, because they really should know, where their son is hanging around in the night.”

[Daniel Brennan]

Mod-Post:

CP:
Peter: 8CP

Werner: 7CP


~Dan