April in Paris by Michael Wallner

Author:Michael Wallner [Wallner, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Literary
ISBN: 9780307389527
Google: 6hcFZ2uRdNgC
Publisher: Random House LLC
Published: 2008-04-07T16:00:00+00:00

17

That night, I extirpated all Geman traces from my clothes, underwear included. Brand names were eliminated. Imprints were rendered unrecognizable. Even the numbers on the soles of my shoes—their German size—had to go; I dug them out with my knife.

The next day, I asked Leibold if I could discuss something with him. We weren’t standing in our usual spot by the window overlooking the garden. This time, we were in his office. “I’m a corporal in the Wehrmacht,” I said, “and for that reason I request to be transferred back to my old unit.”

“Don’t you like working in rue des Saussaies anymore?” Leibold’s tone remained friendly, but I sensed he was lurking behind it.

In recent weeks, rumors of an Allied invasion had encouraged A P R I L I N PA R I S . 129

the French Resistance forces to intensify their efforts considerably. Every day, dozens of arrestees came through our department; the questioning of a prisoner was often a mere preliminary to his execution by firing squad. I admitted to Leibold that I was finding the interrogation sessions hard to take.

“These people are enemies of the Reich!” the captain replied, stressing each word. “If you were at the front, you’d have to kill such enemies with your own hands.” In the silence, we could hear a truck drive past. “Is that what you want, Corporal?”

The sun painted a hard-edged cross on the whitewashed wall.

I stared at the patch of light behind the captain.

“I’m requesting a transfer,” I repeated. My voice sounded strange to me.

“You’ll be informed of my decision.” He bent over his desk.

That same day, I translated the interrogation of two French-women who had broken into a prison camp in order to see their men. When I left the typing room late in the afternoon, Rieleck-Sostmann was conversing with an SS lieutenant. He told her that the barber they’d detained had died of his injuries.

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