“Tell me, Helga, did you ever meet Hitler?”
She brightened like a lamp that had been switched on. “I met him on many, many occasions. He had many dinners with us and us with him. He liked us children and sometimes he got down on the floor and played with the little ones. It was like he could live a normal life for just a little while and not worry about the burdens of the world. He would even bring his dog, a German Shepherd named Blondi. She would play with us too. Her great tail would wag and thump and she’d try to lick our faces. She’s dead now too.” Her eyes began to glisten with tears at the memory. “Someday, the world will recognize Hitler’s true greatness.”
Along with being shocked and horrified, Winnie was fascinated. She wanted to learn much more about the daily, even banal, life with Adolf Hitler. One of Helga’s female handlers had come within a few steps and coughed discreetly. Helga turned and glared at the woman and then turned back to Winnie. She was clearly annoyed.
“I think my guardian angel wants me to go back with her. I enjoyed this talk. Can we do it again some other time? I hope we can.”
“Even though I’m a spy and don’t hate Jews?”
Helga shrugged and smiled engagingly. “Perhaps that will make it even more interesting.”
Ernie waited a few moments before sitting down beside Winnie. Across the park, one of Helga’s male guardians glared at them. Ernie smiled and gave him the finger. The guard’s eyes widened and then he laughed and returned the favor.
“Ernie, that was incredible. I don’t know if I was just in the face of utter evil or listening to the mistaken ranting of a naive little child. Or maybe it’s a bit of both.”
“Well, she’s been listening to that crap for all of her twelve years. That’s plenty of time to be thoroughly indoctrinated. Maybe even to the point of no return.”
“I hope not. I can’t imagine children like that growing up to be future Nazis.”
Winnie stood and brushed off her skirt. “I don’t know if I feel filthy and need a bath or angry and need a drink.”
“Why not both?”
She took his arm and they walked away. “Let me think about it.”
* * *
The negotiations had been tense. The ranking Russian commander had been only a senior sergeant who covered his nervousness in front of officers by being rude and arrogant. He did speak passable German, which was a plus.
Tanner spoke first. “What should we call you and the men you represent?”
The question seemed to surprise the Russian. “Whatever you do, do not call us communists or part of the Red Army. Also, we are not Nazis. We were always fighting for our homeland. Why don’t you simply call us Russians? My name, by the way, is Sergei Radeski.”
Apparently the two other men with Radeski spoke German as well since they nodded their concurrence. Good, Tanner thought. “I see that there are no officers among you. Where are they and why would you be authorized to negotiate in behalf of your entire division.”
Radeski smiled and it wasn’t a pretty sight. Like so many of his countrymen, he was missing several teeth. Dental hygiene in the Soviet Union was a lost art. “Many of our officers had misgivings about dealing with you. We were concerned so we put them all in protective custody. Some of them are hell bent on dying in battle because they’ve been told that anyone taken prisoner by you Americans would be turned over to Stalin’s thugs to be tortured and then murdered.”
Tanner had filled his canteen with vodka. He pretended to take a swallow and handed the canteen to Radeski who sniffed, smiled and took a long swallow. “It’s almost as good as Russian vodka.”
The canteen was passed to the other Russians. When Tanner got it back, it was almost empty.
“Sergeant Radeski, what you feared was indeed likely to happen. But then Stalin went too far. Our president, Harry Truman, is very upset that Stalin is stealing so much of Europe and murdering Russians who are returned to him and that includes those ordinary prisoners who were captured. Apparently, Stalin feels that they have been contaminated. Therefore, President Truman will not force anyone to return to Russia.”
“Where will we go?” Radeski asked, suddenly very solemn. The enormity of their predicament weighed heavily on them. Their cause was lost and they were lost.
“Actually, you have several choices. And by the way, that includes the Croats among you. We will take care of them as well.”
Radeski shrugged and spat on the ground. “Fuck the Croats. I am only concerned about Russians. Now, where will we go?”
“Argentina will take you,” Tanner said. “It’s a lovely country with ranches and farms, good wine, and plenty of beef to eat.”
“Do their women like to fuck?”
Tanner didn’t have to force a smile. “Don’t they all? And then there’s France, which will take you, but they will want you to join either their army or the Foreign Legion. Either way, you will probably be sent to IndoChina where the French are fighting a communist group called the Viet Minh.”
Radeski nodded. “IndoChina has yellow-skinned women, right?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting, Captain Tanner. I’ve never fucked a yellow-skinned woman.”
“I’m sure they’d be thrilled.”
Radeski laughed. “They’d be thrilled until the money ran out. I am not a fool, Captain. I think Argentina would be the better choice, but I will have to discuss it with my men.”
They all rose and shook hands. “Don’t take too long, Senior Sergeant. If the Germans realize what we are doing, they could begin shelling.”
“You’ll have our answer in an hour.”
* * *
It took just a few minutes longer than an hour. American soldiers spotted a long and winding column of men coming down the road and keeping to the left side of it. Tanner had told them that, if they were truly surrendering, to leave all their weapons behind, and that included their German-style helmets. There was fear that the helmets would draw fire from confused American soldiers.
As the Russians slogged by, Tanner looked at their faces. Some were sad and some looked utterly defeated. Others looked hopeful and even smiled at him. They knew they’d been given a reprieve from a death sentence. They were all filthy and appeared near starving.
Radeski approached Tanner. “It has been decided. We would like to go to Argentina.”
“Good choice. I never asked you, but what about your families back home?”
“They are dead. If they are not already cold in the ground, they soon will be. Stalin’s secret police would have rounded them up the moment they found out that we’d deserted the worker’s paradise that is Mother Russia. It is sad, but that is life under Stalin. We will start over and someday you will find out that Stalin is worse than Hitler.”
The Russian column continued. “Sergeant, how many men did you bring with you?”
“Approximately eleven thousand. There could be more, perhaps less. No one was eager to stand around and be counted. They just wanted to leave. I am confident that other units will surrender once they see that we are safe. Until then, they will just stand aside.”
Tanner was flabbergasted at the number of Russians and the gaping hole it must be leaving in the German lines. “And the Germans are just letting you go? They’ve done nothing to stop you?”
The question surprised Radeski. “Germans? What Germans? There are no Germans, comrade Captain. They’ve all fled west.”
“Then what’s between us and Innsbruck and the American army fighting its way north?”
Radeski roared with laughter, as if it was the funniest question he’d heard in a long time. “There’s nothing between here and Innsbruck. What’s left of it is yours for the taking.”
* * *
The discussion between Allen Dulles and Henri Guisan took place in a small room in the town hall of Arbon and were tense. Guisan’s rank was simply “general.” It implied that he was the only man of that rank in the Swiss Army, which Dulles didn’t think was correct. The Swiss Army was several hundred thousand strong. Logic, therefore, said there had to be more than one general. Dulles had concluded that it was an honorific and simply meant that he was the overall commander.