SS-Sturmbannführer Alexander Von Herrmann.
Berlin, Germany.
June 8th, 1941. 6:37pm

- I´ve been wondering if I made the right choice to follow my father back into this place. ¨The motherland is calling, we must answer¨ he claimed, over and over again, I guess I eventually grew tired of hearing it and complied with his desires, now here we are. – I thought while looking at swastika banners through the window, they flailed about as the wind picked up.

- Selfish, proud bastard, where are you now huh? You get piss drunk and jump off a fucking bridge while I´m Poland fighting my way through, knee deep in the dead. – I said inside my head, I heard the secretary say something but paid no attention to her, flashbacks of the battlefield came to my mind, my head felt heavy as it was getting cluttered with thoughts, I was breathing heavily.

- ¨The motherland is calling, we must answer¨ - My father´s voice reverbed in my head, again the secretary said something but I was so sunk into my mind that I ignored her, My face felt hot.

- Look at me now, I´m stuck in this place, deep within the ranks and with no way of going back…Fuck. – I thought, the secretary had stood up and was now standing in front of me, I looked up, a bit startled by her sudden approach.

- Sturmbannführer are you alright? Should I call a medic? – She asked while staring with a pair of big green eyes at me, she had a look of concern in her face, her skin was very white and she had little freckles in her cheeks, her lips were lip-sticked in glossy red.

- Oh I´m sorry if I startled you, yes I´m fine, I was just… thinking. – I said, after wandering in her lips for a bit.

- Are you sure? Your face was really red a moment ago, should I get you some water or coffee? –

- Coffee sounds nice, black, 3 sugars please. – I said and did my best effort to let out a smile.

- Right away Sturmbannführer. – She said, went to her desk and picked up the phone, the call was quickly answered.

- Hi, it´s Trudi, can you please send 2 coffees up? One as always the other one black with three of sugar, thank you. – She said and hung up, shortly after a kid in an apron came up the stairs and placed the cups in her desk, afterwards he went right back where he came from.

- There is a small coffee shop next door, the Oberführer likes the coffee from there so he has all the coffee from this office be brought from there. – She said as I stood up and grabbed the cup from her desk, I took a sip and Realized why the Oberführer went to such lengths, the coffee was on point.

- I hope the coffee is of your liking. – She said.

- It certainly is, thank you. – I said with a smile, she was very charming and had this soft and calm tone of voice.

- I´m Trudi Hauptmann by the way, please call me just Trudi. –

- A pleasure, my name is Alexander Von Hermann. –

- I know. – She quickly replied.

- I´m sorry? – I said surprised.

- I…I mean… E…everybody around here knows who you are, the…the Oberführer won’t stop talking about your actions in Poland he admires you greatly. – She stuttered, trying to correct herself, her face was all red.

- Is that so? –

- Yes… – Her phone rang, she darted back to her desk, picked up the call and busied herself again, I sat there in silence trying to clear my mind from the thoughts I had earlier, an hour had gone by and I was still waiting for the Oberführer to see me, I was growing impatient so after a little while I decided to ask Trudi what he was doing.

-Excuse me, Trudi, was it? – I asked.

She abruptly stopped typing and looked my way, she seemed slightly startled.

- Yes Sturmbannführer, how may I be of assistance? – She clumsily stood up and asked, in a funny formal tone, I tried not to laugh.

- Is Oberführer Schneider going to take much longer? – I asked.

- He should be done soon Sturmbannführer, would you like me to get you another coffee in the meantime? -

- No thank you, I´m fine, and calm down with the mannerisms there is no need for that. –

I made a short pause and asked.

- What is the Oberführer doing anyway? -

- A gentleman came in earlier, I don´t know who he is. – She sat down.

- Military? -

She stopped to think for a moment.

- No, I don´t believe so, he has been here before though. – She said.

- Ha, great, he is making me wait over a civilian, this better be worth it Schneider, this better be worth it. – I muttered, but perhaps a bit too loud as I noticed the girl heard me and chuckled a bit.

I gave her a stare, she blushed again.

- I apologize Sturmbannführer. -

As soon as she finished that sentence, the lock on the door clicked and a tall young man in a dark suit came out, he stared at me for a moment with a cold gaze, he didn´t look German, if I would have to guess I´d say he was British but that would be insane in times like these, he continued walking and went down the stairs, Trudi stood up and walked hastily inside the office, she even left the door open behind her, after a couple of moments she rushed out and said:

- The Oberführer will see you now. -

I stood up and made my way to the door, my boots making a thumping sound on the wooden floor with each step I took, after entering the large room and closing the door behind me I gave my salute.

- Heil Hitler! – I said, Schneider stood up from his desk and did the same shortly after. His office was beautiful, very spacious and well lit, with a tall ceiling and white walls lined with wooden book cabinets completely full and big tall windows overlooking the street below, pictures of landscapes and generals from the Great War and behind his desk a huge portrait of the Führer.

- Von Hermann! Good to see you, sorry to keep you waiting, I had some…pending business with the gentleman that just walked out. – Schneider said, smiling.

Although he held such an important title he was relatively young, being only 26, he was one of the youngest high-ranking officers here at Berlin, despite that. many believed he was an idiot, a mere puppet for some industrialists that had some business with his family since already quite some time ago, the fact that he had a goofy appearance and a very slim shape didn´t helped his reputation much, but that was none of my business, I knew damn well that behind that pair of round spectacles was one of the most evil men the Reich had at its service.

- Don´t worry about it Oberführer, how may I be of use to you? – I said, having in mind that I was addressing my senior officer.

- Ah, straight to the point, I like it. – He made a pause, stood up and walked to the window gazing to the outside, he then continued: - I know that high command has given you some time to mourn the death of your father, by the way, my most sincere condolences, but right now the Reich cannot spare officers; capable, young, strong officers, such as yourself Alexander. – Again, he made a pause, but this time I interjected before he could continue.

- You are going to send me back to the front, aren´t you? – I said bluntly.

- Right, straight to the point… Not exactly me, but since you were stationed here in Berlin, and I am sort of a chief of staff here, I am the one to give you the news. – He said, turning away from the window and walking towards his chair in the desk.

- Where to? – I asked.

- As you may or may not have heard, the Italians are moving into France alongside us, Generaloberst Guderian has the French on the run and we have many troops already stationed in French soil so soon into the campaign, the Maginot line didn´t work as well as the French thought it would, we expect to have Paris in a couple of weeks in the worst of cases. – He said and adjusted his glasses while looking at some documents in his desk.

- Yes, I´m well aware of the current situation in the front. -

- Good, good, information is power Von Herrmann, the more you have the more powerful you become, I´m glad you´ve stayed well informed. – He made a pause to sign a document and continued.

- As soon as Paris is taken you are to report at the airfield, you´ll be dropped on a village called Pierrou, the maps say it´s a village but it´s too large so I´ll just call it a town, you´ll rendezvous with a special unit there, a map of the area will be given to you and the meeting place will be marked on it, you will receive new orders once you have landed, seems like they have a special assignment for you, in the meantime you are to stay on standby in case you are needed sooner, if it comes to that I will have my aide let you know as soon as the order comes in. –

- Any idea of what am I getting into? –

- I just know it´s a special assignment in France related to the French resistance and some spies and defectors. – He said while looking at some documents and signing them.

That last part struck me, so far I´ve been in the fronts, leading and fighting with infantry squadrons and panzer divisions, flying fighter planes and in bombing runs as air support for the ground invasion, but now espionage?

- Spies? Is the Abwehr and Canaris involved in this? – I asked.

- It´s Admiral Canaris, Von Hermann. – He remarked and sighed lightly.

- Don´t ask me, I´m just relaying the message. – He replied, still not looking at me.

- Are you serious about not knowing a thing? –

- Are you suggesting that I´m holding information and by so lying to you Sturmbannführer? – He said in a serious tone, raising his voice slightly, looking me straight in the eye this time.

- I apologize Oberführer. – I said.

- That is all Sturmbannführer, you are dismissed until further notice. –

We both stood up.

- Heil Hitler. – We both saluted, I turned around, walked out of the office and closed the door behind me.

- Goodbye Trudi. – I said while walking out.

- I hope you have a nice stay here at Berlin Sturmbannführer. – She said, with a smile on her face.

I stopped on my tracks and turned to face her, she blushed lightly.

- Trudi, by any chance would you happen to know a nice, calm place where to have a drink around here? – I inquired.

- Well… Oberführer Schneider likes a little tavern that is not far from here, ¨the cliffhanger¨, when you leave the building turn left, walk to the end of the block and then make a right turn, walk two blocks and it should be on your left side. –

- Ah, perfect, many thanks Trudi. –

- You´re welcome Sturmbannführer. –

- That sounds too formal, please, call me Alex. –

- I´m sorry Sturmbannführer, protocol indicates that I must address all officers… - I interrupted her with a hand gesture.

- No Trudi please, I insist, feel free to address me by my first name, at least when the Oberführer is not around. – I said, smiling, she blushed even more.

- Very well Sturmbannführer, I will try. – She said, stuttering a little.

- Fair enough, goodbye for now Trudi. – I said and continued towards the stairs.

The stairs led straight to the exit at street level, I turned left as Trudi said and started walking towards the end of the block.

It was chilly outside, the streets were busy with people, many of them workers and soldiers, I was in full uniform with my medals showing, the knights cross in my neck, some of the soldiers saluted me as I passed them, it soon became a little uncomfortable, so I wore my black leather trench coat over the uniform, that way it would cover the medals, I don´t like unnecessary attention.

- Covering my medals so no one sees them? So Silly. – I thought.

Upon reaching the end of the street I turned right and kept walking, eventually the tavern came into sight, there was a wooden sign outside reading ¨the cliffhanger¨ with the painting of a white, strong man climbing a rock.

I walked in, the decoration was rustic, wooden tables, wooden chairs and stools and a stone and marble bar, a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling and stone floors, the bar was to the right, a couple of workers were sitting down there having a beer and chatting.

To the left were 3 booths for 4 people lined up along the wall, they were empty, in the middle were two wooden square tables with four chairs, one on each side, empty as well, I went ahead and sat on one of the booths, I just wanted to be as isolated as possible.

I sat down, took my cap off and placed it to my left side on the bench, shortly after the waitress came to take my order.

- Good evening sir, what can I serve you today? – Said the waitress, she was a tall, blonde lady, she might´ve been in her mid-forties.

- I will have some schnapps, do you have anything to eat? – I asked.

- Certainly, today we have aalsuppe, eintopf, weisse bohnensuppe or if you want something less…simple, we also have a plate called Himmel und erde, it´s a plate that combines potatoes, chicken, meat and apples with onions and bacon.

- Himmel und erde sounds fine. – I said.

- Coming right up, I´ll bring your drink in a moment. – Said the waiter and went straight to the kitchen.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the whole thing about Paris I mean, spies? The French Resistance?

I thought the Abwehr was here for that, maybe Canaris is running low on staff and is asking the SS for some men under lease, but knowing the relationship between both organizations that was unlikely.