When Surrender Was Not An Option by Lee James V. & Crawford George G

Author:Lee, James V. & Crawford, George G. [Lee, James V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Salado Press, LLC
Published: 2012-10-31T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Harassing the Nazis

After the guard and I boarded the second train, he ordered the seated passengers to remove themselves from the second-class compartment. One heavy-set German man put up an argument until the guard shifted his grip on his rifle, ready to strike the objector. After the four civilians left the compartment, the guard motioned for me to enter and be seated. He locked the door, sat down opposite, and stared out the window.

All of this time, I had been getting more and more angry at the stupid Goons who had separated me from my blanket and food. I finally had to express my indignation and proceeded to state my opinion of the German authorities, who adhered to the Geneva Convention on some minor point but ignored it on major issues. The guard sat staring at me without any expression on his face. Angered by his lack of attention, I embarked on a description of his apparent stupidity and ancestry, using all of the negative words I had ever learned in English, Spanish, and Italian. When I finally ran out of wrath and breath, he very calmly said in perfect English, “War is certainly hell, isn’t it, lieutenant?” I was astonished and embarrassed by his gentlemanly response to my outburst. Of course, I agreed that war was hell!

The guard continued, saying he understood my anger at losing my possessions and at the lack of coordination by those who changed the orders at the last minute, but he assured me that I wouldn’t miss any meals unless circumstances caused us both to miss meals. He revealed that every stop at a station had a soldiers’ canteen where we would both eat together. This was something new to me. Soldiers’ canteens? Eat with a guard in a room full of enemy soldiers? I didn’t want to miss any meals, but how would the enemy soldiers react to a Kriegie eating the same food in the same room with them? Many possibilities occurred to me, not all of them pleasant.

To clarify the situation, I asked him if we would be in close contact with the German troops. If so, how would they react? The guard assured me that as I was an American officer on my way to a POW camp under guard, and as the war was coming to an end soon, that unless we happened upon a soldier suffering from a psychosis, everything would be all right. The guard said that if we happened to meet an abusive soldier he would protect me. Although I was reassured, I had my doubts. All I could do was wait and see what would happen when we stopped at a station with a soldiers’ canteen.

The time came for a test. The train stopped in a fair-sized station, because the tracks ahead of us had been bombed. The guard directed me to leave the train and go into an adjoining building. It was crowded with German soldiers who immediately turned and stared at us.

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