Chapter 28

Many American airmen on bombing raids over Germany, especially those close to the Swiss border, had their aircraft so badly damaged that they made forced landings in Switzerland. Dubendorf airport near Zurich was the one usually chosen because of its proximity to the German border.

As a result, these airmen became prisoners of war. Held in Wauwilermoos concentration camp, their treatment was as bad as any concentration camp commanded by the Germans.

The Swiss Army, led by General Guisan and the people of Switzerland believed in 'armed neutrality'. Every male of eligible age was issued with a rifle. Taught how to fire it, he then kept his rifle at home together with ammunition. It was General Guisan's plan, if Switzerland was invaded, the army and the armed population would take to the hills and fight the invader using guerrilla warfare techniques.

The Kaiser of Germany once asked a Swiss militiaman what the quarter million Swiss Army would do if faced with half a million Germans from the German army.

The militiaman replied, "Shoot twice!"

Gerry assisted Hilda to step down from the bus. They were on their way to visit Doctor Franz Muller. His single storey house was three hundred metres away, on a very small block of land. The rich and middle class lived in Doctor Muller's suburb.

As they were walking to his house, Gerry squeezed Hilda's hand. The sun had gone down and the temperature had fallen but he had a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead.

"Don't be nervous, you'll enjoy yourself. He's a pleasant man and his wife is adorable," Hilda said.

Hilda pressed the door button; Gerry heard chimes inside the house. He felt like he did before a dangerous mission. He removed his hat and gloves.

"Good evening, Doctor Meltzer it's good to see you again," the maid said.

"Good evening Katrine. This is my friend Gerry Landen. Katrine is Doctor Muller's house keeper." Hilda said turning to Gerry.

"I'm pleased to meet you Katrine," Gerry said bowing slightly.

Katrine thought that Gerry was a polite man when he bowed. What she didn't know was the shock he was suffering, when she addressed Hilda as Doctor Meltzer.

"Please follow me," Katrine said taking Gerry's hat and gloves.

Hilda caught the fleeting look of shock that flashed across Gerry's face. She wondered what had caused it as they followed Katrine to the coat rack in the foyer. Katrine placed Gerry's hat and gloves on a small side table. She assisted Hilda to remove her coat and placed it alongside Gerry's, on a peg.

"Doctor Muller is in the living room," Katrine said as she led the way.

Gerry was awed by the luxurious appointment of the house; he had only seen the like before in magazines.

"Ah, Hilda and Herr Landen welcome! This is the man I told you about," Franz Muller said to his wife as they both stood.

"Allow me to introduce Herr Landen, Lorraine."

"Herr Landen, my wife Lorraine." With her hand extended, she moved forward. Gerry took her hand; bowed low over it, rising he clicked his heels.

"I'm pleased to meet you Frau Muller."

"My God the formality!" Hilda exclaimed. "Gerry I'm sure that Lorraine and Franz wouldn't mind if we used our given names."

Hilda saw her friends nodding in agreement.

"Would you care for a drink, Hilda, Gerry," Lorraine asked.

Hilda and Gerry wanted cognac, Lorraine turned to Katrine, "and we'll have our usual."

"Please have a seat," Franz said.

"You have a beautiful house," Gerry said recovering from his realisation that Hilda was a doctor.

"Thank you," Lorraine said, "Franz works hard, he's earned all of this since we moved to Zurich; he's a gifted surgeon."

"Now, now, Lorraine, you'll give me a big head," he looked at Gerry, "kapsones, isn't that so Gerry." He chuckled at his Dutch expression.

Gerry floundered then he said, "It's a Dutch word but I don't think it applies to you Franz."

"Gerry is also a diplomat," Lorraine said.

Katrine served drinks and they made small talk, until they were on their second rounds of drinks.

"Hilda tells me that you've led a dangerous life Gerry, the little that you've told me about your last operation sounded horrific." Franz said.

"Probably as frightening as your operation on Richard," Gerry said hoping Franz would not take exception to his remark.

Franz laughed.

Lorraine smiled at Hilda, "And Gerry's observant as well. Would you like to leave the men to talk?"

"No, I want to hear what Gerry has to say," Hilda said.

"Tell me how you joined the resistance, Gerry," Franz asked.

Gerry told them of his abduction, his life in the concentration camp. The way he was saved by Richard, from being sent to Auschwitz. He briefly told of the way Richard had organised his university friends into a fighting force. How he gave them new identities, and encouraged them to learn how to survive as resistance fighters.

"He encouraged me to learn too, I can drive now and operate the communications sets that we use to co-ordinate our activities," Gerry said.

"And you Franz Muller, tell me about your journey from Amsterdam to Zurich via Germany," Gerry said speaking in Dutch to the confusion of the women.

"We should be polite and speak German..." Franz said.

Katrine entered the room interrupting Franz.

"Yes Katrine," Lorraine said.

"Dinner is ready, would you care to be served here or in the dining room?"

"Are you comfortable in here Franz?" Lorraine asked.

"Yes, serve dinner in here please Katrine," Franz said.

Gerry was in for a surprise. When dinner was served, an extra place was set and Katrine sat and ate with them. Not knowing whether he should talk in front of Katrine, Gerry ate and listened to the conversation flowing around him.

Later, when the table was cleared and Katrine had left the room, Gerry asked Franz again about his journey from Holland to Zurich in Switzerland.

"I'm lucky that I don't look like a Jew. Before the war, I didn't suffer from discrimination in Holland or Germany and certainly not here in Switzerland. The work that I did in Germany, as a surgeon, set me up for the type of surgery that I now practise. In Germany from about 1934 onwards, I watched the terrorising of the Jew's at the hands of the Nazi's."

"When I met Franz in Berlin I was studying for an Arts degree," Lorraine said cutting in, "he swept me off my feet. He told me of his ancestry, his mother was Jewish; this didn't worry me at all. Later, we tried to migrate to Switzerland. However, we were turned away at the border. I'm not sure, but I don't think Jewish refugees are welcome here. You see, Franz had been honest and mentioned his Jewish mother in our application." Lorraine said.

"You have children?" Gerry asked.

"Our two daughters are in boarding school in Berne," Franz said.

"How did you finally move from Germany?" Gerry asked.

"After we legally failed to leave Germany, I learned that I was the subject of a Gestapo investigation." Franz said, "I think the Swiss authorities informed the Germans. When I learned of this, I knew that I would have to act quickly. I had a patient, referred to me by a doctor in Meersburg; I took leave and visited this doctor. Eventually, he told me that he could arrange for me to escape across the border to Switzerland. I returned home and converted my assets into gold and diamonds. They were assets that I could carry with me. We travelled to Meersburg and on the boat carrying us across the Bodensee, we met Katrine who was also fleeing. We had forged documents, as did Katrine. We braved it out and Katrine stayed with us while I set up a practice here in Zurich. The practice wasn't a great success, I abandoned it when the hospital offered me a job."

Katrine entered the room and stood waiting for the opportunity to interrupt.

"Do you have any Jew's working in your group of resistance workers?" Lorraine asked Gerry as she glanced at Katrine.

"At the main centre there are three women, one of them, Anna, had her husband and children gunned down in front of her by members of the Hitler Youth League. The other two are mother and daughter. The mother is Richard's sister, she's not Jewish but her Jewish husband was murdered by a crazed mob of Jew haters. This was in Berlin in 1935. The rest of us are German's and I'm Dutch."

"Sit down Katrine. Gerry has some interesting stories to tell," Lorraine said.

"So Richard is the leader?" Franz asked.

"Yes. He started using his own money to establish camps near Ulm and Meersburg. Recently, he started to receive financial help and equipment from the Allies. I've travelled to Switzerland before when I acted as a courier for him. Two of us collected money from the Allies in the Swiss capitol Bern. It was nerve wracking because we were in the country illegally. The Swiss police or the Gestapo followed us; we weren't sure who they were. After we picked up the money, we had to flee back to Kruezlingen" Gerry said. He saw Katrine following him closely.

"Excuse me for interrupting, do you know Alex Nagle, Gerry?" Katrine asked.

"Yes I do. In fact, as soon as Richard's condition has stabilized, I'll be contacting Kurt Nagle. That's Alex Nagle's son. He'll then relay my message back to my home in Goppingen."

"I'm related to his wife Katherine. She's my cousin and she's very upset that Kurt is involved with the resistance," Katrine said.

Gerry exhaled in despair, "I know."

"Gerry, I would like to show you around my house, the women can stay here. They've seen what I'm about to show you. It doesn't interest them," Franz said.

Gerry followed Franz to the rear of the house. He led Gerry into a wide hallway with several doors leading off it.

"All of the bedrooms run off this hallway," Franz said as he opened a door and stood back allowing Gerry to enter.

"This is my hobby," he said.

An L shaped desk occupied two walls. On the desk were test equipment and communications equipment. An area was set aside for building equipment. Gerry went straight to the transmitter. It was modern and more advanced than Gerry had seen before.

"You're well equipped, Franz."

"Amateur radio is my hobby but I also use it to assist people escaping from the Nazi's."

"Just from Germany?"

"Oh no. I've helped people from about four countries. I wanted you to see this for two reasons. Firstly, if you wish to use it then you can have access at any time for as long as you like. Secondly, I would like to be included in your network," Franz said.

"When Richard is mending, we should talk with him about how you could play a part in his operations."

"Let's do that. We should rejoin the ladies now," Franz said, leading the way out of his room.

As Gerry followed Franz, he spotted a chessboard set up on a table in a small sitting room.

"You play chess Franz."

"I love the game."

"If you invite us again, we should have a game," Gerry said.

"I would like that. There's something else I want you to know, Richard Dasch's medical fees will be gratis," Franz said.

"That's very kind, thank you Franz," Gerry said, "That's a great relief. I wasn't sure how I was going to pay all of the fees."

"I thought that might be the case," Franz said.

Gerry wondered if he should discuss his concerns about Richard's progress. He decided that as a guest in Franz's house it would be impolite to impose on him.

When Gerry returned to his seat in the living room Katrine served coffee.

"We'll have to be going shortly, we don't want to miss the last bus," Hilda said to Gerry.

On the bus ride back to his hotel Gerry was reserved, Hilda squeezed his hand.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

Gerry looked around, the bus was full, "Let's talk about it at the hotel."

In his hotel room, Gerry shed his overcoat, helped Hilda with her coat. She was tense and had been since his mood had changed. He poured two glasses of water from his water jug.

"Drink?" he said sourly, "I only have water."

Hilda sat with him at the small table.

"What is wrong with you? Why you are treating me like this?" she asked aggressively.

"Nothing, Doctor Meltzer," he snapped.

"What!"

"You should have told me that you're a doctor!" Gerry said.

"I told you I had a degree. What did expect? Is that all that's worrying you?"

"Look Doctor Meltzer I don't belong in your game. I'm just a piece of driftwood. I'm nothing more than a rebel as you once put it," Gerry said.

"Please Gerry, don't do this to me... I only want..." Hilda was so shocked that she started to sob.

She stood and held strongly onto Gerry's wrist and pulled him reluctantly to his feet.

"Please Gerry don't... I can't help it... I love you!" she sobbed; her tears freely cascading down her cheeks.

When he looked down on her openly confessing that she loved him, he hated himself. Remembering that she had told him about her degree in psychiatry, he realised that he hadn't connected that to the position of doctor. He held her as she continued to cry against his chest.

"I don't want to lose you," sobs racked her again, "I don't want to be the moth that burns..."

Gerry lifted her chin; she gazed intently at him.

"Please don't reject me, I haven't done anything wrong!" she pleaded.

Gerry leaned down, lightly kissed her lips, and then hugging her closely to his chest, "I'm a stupid bastard!" he said.

Through his chest Hilda heard him, "I can't help myself either. I love you too. What I don't understand is how you, a doctor, a specialist, can love me."

This brought more sobs from Hilda, as she held on to him tightly.

She broke away and slumped down into her chair, wiping her face, "Do you want me to go?"

Gerry looked at her, now tears tumbled from his eyes, "Please don't leave me, I know I've been stupid. Now I realise how much I've hurt you I swear I will never cause you this much pain again; ever."

When Gerry sat down, Hilda went to her handbag and extracting a handkerchief, she gently wiped Gerry's cheeks and eyes then she patted her face dry. Picking up her glass of water, she drank it.

She stood and took his hand and this time he came willingly to his feet.

"Can we go to bed now?" she asked as she looked in his eyes and loosened his tie.

Naked, Gerry watched as Hilda disrobed. He decided that she wasn't slightly overweight, as he had first supposed; her ample breasts on her small frame and her wide hips had given him that initial impression. He thought that she was perfect; her round face and brown hair that fell loosely down to her shoulders was alluring. She smiled as she settled onto the bed, her even white teeth adding to her charming assets.

They lay in bed, Gerry on his back and Hilda rested her head on his chest.

"You have two admirers, no, three admirers at Franz's place."

"Oh?"

"I proudly told Lorraine and Katrine more about the Meersburg raid. They can't believe how you can put yourself in such danger. I was jealous when they started talking about how good looking you are. I know Franz thinks you're a hero too. He told me so."

"Please Hilda don't say these things about me. Remember 'kapsones'" Gerry said.

"That's another thing I love about you, you're not conceited."

In the camp, Otto told the men, "I'm going with Manfred to see Chris's wife after that I'll be away from camp for about a week."

All of the men opted to stay on and guard their hoard of gasoline and weapons.

David Meyer said, "I'll maintain the communications relay Manfred, you'll hear from me if I need help."

At 7:00 PM Manfred and Otto set off to see Chris's wife. It was an hour's drive from the camp to Chris's home. Otto shivered, more from anxiety than the cold, as they knocked on the front door. Inside they could hear children playing.

The door opened and Liese, Chris's wife, looked up in horror at Otto and seeing his distressed face she screamed, her hands over her ears. Manfred saw her face whiten. She turned away and stumbled into her dining room, she flopped onto her sofa, sobbing loudly.

Manfred and Otto moved inside quickly and closed the front door.

Chris's children, a daughter aged 6 and a son 4, looked at the strangers that had frightened their mother and ran to Liese where they buried their heads in her lap.

She was in shock, but she held her children close, consoling them. Minutes later, she stood up and shepherded her children to their bedroom.

Fifteen minutes later she returned, her eyes were red-rimmed, tears still flowing from her eyes.

"I want you to tell me everything," she said to Otto.

Manfred jumped in relieving Otto of the burden of telling Liese about Chris's death. He told her everything about Chris's final movements, how he had died. He did not tell her about his disposal of what was left of Chris's body.

"Where's Chris's body?" Liese asked.

"Unfortunately, the electricity cremated him," Manfred lied.

Visibly shaken, Otto asked. "Liese can I get someone to come and stay with you?"

"I'm an only child and my parents live in Hamburg. I'm not close to my neighbours. I never befriended any one in this neighbourhood. Chris wanted to avoid contact with strangers. He thought they might report him when he came home from time to time. He was very careful..."

Liese broke down again and Otto pulled her to her feet and held her close. When she was calm, Manfred asked her if she needed money.

"No, when Chris disappeared to the camp to avoid the army call up, I applied for help from the government. I get a pension, it isn't much but I manage," Liese said proudly.

They left Liese's home and as Otto settled into the car, "I'll send you some money for Liese from time to time," Manfred said, "It might lighten her load."

Two hours later, they arrived back at the camp. Manfred shook hands with Otto, took his own car from its hiding place and departed for Richard's farm.

Bernard drove down behind the house and parked his van. The night was cold and the women crowded inside the back door waiting for him to enter.

"Where's Manfred?" Cornelia asked, worry creasing her forehead.

"He'll be back here before tomorrow morning," he said as Alex helped him out of his thick coat. He limped into the dining room, his shoulders rounded with fatigue. His leg was hurting more than he could remember.

"What's happened Bernard? There's something wrong, isn't there?" Alex said.

Bernard held his hand up, stilling any further questions while he slumped into a chair and gathered his thoughts.

"We lost Chris," he said, cursing inwardly that he had said it so abruptly.

"Oh. No!" Alex shrieked, "Not Chris." Her voice was broken and she sat down heavily and started crying.

Cornelia rubbed her mother's arm trying to ease her pain but she cried in sympathy with her. Anna and Erica looked horrified, tears oozing down their cheeks.

Bernard looked so tired that Cornelia left for the kitchen to make coffee for him. When they were seated and Bernard started sipping his hot coffee, he told them briefly that Chris's death had been an accident.

"Manfred is okay isn't he?" Cornelia asked.

"Yes he went with Otto to tell Chris's wife. He's a better man than I am, I don't know if I could do that," Bernard said.

"We haven't heard from Richard or Gerry and they should have been returning with you. Have you heard anything?" Erika asked.

"We haven't heard. If there was any news we would have relayed it to you," Bernard said.

"You're going to bed to get some well earned rest. Right now, this minute," Alex said pulling him to his feet. He limped badly as he followed her upstairs to Alex's room.

Alex undressed him. When she tried to unlace his artificial leg, he pulled away.

"No I'll do that."

"Bernard Stauffer, I will do that for you! I love you and I won't let you shut me out like this."

She grabbed at his iron leg and Bernard lay back and let her have her way.

Sunday morning, it was the day after Gerry and Hilda's visit to the Mullers.

Gerry awakened, he was on his back and Hilda was sleeping with her back to him.

Last night they had talked for two hours, their revelations to one another becoming more intimate. He told her about Anna explaining that he had a special place in his heart for her. He thought of her only as a confidant and a friend. He told her that he did not love Anna but he was sexually active with her.

"The sparkling feelings that I have for you are absent with Anna," Gerry said.

She questioned him closely about both Lein and Anna. As he answered her questions, he glimpsed again the uncertain woman that was Hilda. He told her about the raid on the oilfields at Ems and his escape with Karla and Wim that landed him in Hattem in Holland. He told her about his sexual adventures with Maike who was married and her crazy friend Karla. When he confessed that none of them had excited him to feel love she seemed to understand.

Openly, she revealed to him that she had never been in love. What she had told him previously, was the truth. That was, she had close friends with whom she was intimate but she had never been in love. She told him that as time went by her male friends fell in love with others, and not surprisingly, the number of her intimate friends was diminishing.