The food had been passed around the table, with the guest of honor, Klemens and Alessandra’s fiancé being served first. I smiled at my wife and beautiful daughter as they had served the food that they had prepared delicately with the love and respect that any home cooked meal deserves. Klemens seemed eager to eat and impatiently waited for the rest of us to be fed. The fiancé looked at Klemens with a stare of scorn; which seemed to cool the mayor into waiting. With all the plates full I beamed with joy and a smile at Christina.
“Dear, would you please bless the food?” The words seemed to cause the mayor to act slightly restless and slightly offended; but these emotions were quickly controlled from what I could see.
“All good gifts everything we have, come, o God, from thee; We thank you for it,” she so eloquently said in a humble soft voice that was heard across the entire table.
“Amen,” was the collective response of the room; afterwards the mayor hastily reached for his silverware to begin feasting into a succulent piece of roasted meat.
I looked at my daughter’s fiancé and hastened to try to remember his name, it should have been simple, and she had mentioned it in her letters on numerous occasions. “Heinrich,” I finally remembered same as my grandfathers. “How has the war affected you?” I knew the topic would unclog my memory.
“It is a war. Northern France is beautiful; Brittany’s landscape is equal of that to Norddeich. I miss being with my unit out there, but is of great relief to be visiting home and those that I have come to love,” he said while Alessandra began to blush and Christina burst into a gigantic smile.
Klemens appeared uneasy over the discussion. “Love for one another is secondary to the love one must display for ones country in its greatest time of need. Would you not agree Josef? Tristan?”
I looked over at Josef, with the facial expression indicating that I would handle the situation. “Love for one’s country does not outweigh the love in one’s heart for family and friends because I believe both types of loves are different.”
Klemens nodded in disagreement. “Your view is outdated, Herr Reichsführer. One’s love for country must exceed the necessity of family. To totality devote oneself to its country is the highest state a person can find themselves in. If we are to achieve final victory over the enemies that seek to destroy what Hitler has so graciously given, then we must obey his orders without question.”
I chuckled. “What you say is blasphemy! Name one person who subscribes to your view!”
“Herr Hitler,” he replied with a yell attempting to quell my questioning.
“The plausibility and notion that Hitler subscribes to your idealistic view of dedication to the cause is laughable. Hitler; I must admit, however wrong and delusion he is, is dedicated to his beliefs; which takes courage. However, he is not a man who has sacrificed himself to the cause. Have you seen first hand what has been done in Hitler’s name Herr Mayor?”
The mayor’s face was turning bright red in anger; all other faces remained a cool white. “What you say is treason! Hitler has the Reich’s best intentions in mind! He has guided us from the wasteland of Democracy to an enlightened way of thinking and life. The democratic plague can be eliminated and must be eliminated; by the use of all means, the most effective being the use of physical force.”
I noticed Rhiley’s face turning an embarrassing shade of red; his eyes were beginning to tear up. I was not the only one to notice this. “How pathetic! He is as weak and useless as his father; completely undedicated to the cause of National Socialism. His father was lucky that he had valiantly served during the First War; otherwise he would not be lucky enough to be breathing today. It is possible that this young lieutenant may be saved, and reformed into an excellent member of the German race. If not, then his fate is sealed.”
Josef sat still intently looking at his former deputy turned usurper. Christina had moved to comfort Rhiley, placing her arms around him as he continued to weep. Philip and Sebastian pushed their seats back; the motion was quickly followed by Adolf and Erick. I waited for my sons and nephews to complete their movements before I pushed my own chair out with my legs. I stood up, unlike my sons and nephews, and rested both hands on the table.
“Herr Mayor,” I began as I continued to collect my thoughts. “I am deeply troubled by the turn of events at this dinner…”
“As am I,” Klemens interrupted as he pushed his own chair out. While completing the motion to stand up, he pulled out a pistol from his holster. “It is with a sad heart that the Schnack family is a family of traitors. Disregarding my personal feelings, it is my duty to inform you, that you are all hereby placed under arrest.”
The Final Meal
Klemens kept dividing his attention between Josef and me; though he paid more attention to the later. He did not divide his Luger’s attention, and kept it pointed straight at me. However slight of a possibility that one of the Schnack men could draw their weapons to subdue the threat was negligible; and none of them would likely react with the high probability that there was a high probability of serious injury or death.
Klemens slightly moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue. “I am intrigued by your rapid rise to power within the Third Reich. I must say though, I wonder what the reaction will be when Hitler has learned he has been betrayed. I am sure he will be shocked and heartbroken that his savior has been plotting against the Reich and the Führer!” The news of my heroics to save the Führer had been widely published; must to my dismay but there was nothing I could do to prevent the news from spreading.
I coughed without my hand over my mouth, as not to alarm an already distressed maniac. “What do you seek from ratting me out?” I had an idea what the egomaniac wanted, but wasn’t exactly certain.
Klemens sighed, clearly angered over the stupidity of my question. “Do you really think that a person of my allegiance and skill is satisfied with being just the mayor of Norddeich? Absolutely not! I seek, at a minimum to become the Gauleiter of Weser-Ems, at the maximum, perhaps a position with the intent of purifying the Reich of treasonous, weak and disrespectful scum like the current generations of the Schnack family.”
I nodded. I looked at my wife who for the most part given the current situation remained relatively calm while still standing behind Rhiley. I knew most of the accusations being thrown out were news to Christina and most of the family. Rhiley had ended his weeping, though the last tears continued down his boyish cheeks. Philipp, Sebastian, Adolf and Erick divided their attention between Klemens and me as we traded words. Christopher and Josef intently looked at Klemens. Alessandra and Heinrich looked into each others eyes with deep concern.
“Heinrich, help me ward up these traitors so we can go outside and deliver them.” I watched with great heartbreak as Heinrich, who I should have known as the son of the mayor, broke off the stare with my daughter after a long delay. I could sense that Alessandra was about to break out into an emotional wreck. She began crying as soon as Heinrich came to an upright position after pushing his chair out. For a brief moment the father and son stood side by side, Heinrich seemingly nobler looking and an inch or two taller than his father. I watched as he took five steps to his left and reached for his own holster.
He half-heartedly raised his own sidearm, finally leveling it off pointed towards the head of his target. “Father,” he said with a tremble in his voice at first before being interrupted.
“Yes?” was the rather berating response.
“Father, I cannot allow you to do this. You use to be an honorable man, until the war started. Once it started your truly colors began to be shown – you are no better than the very people Tristan is trying to protect us from. You are no better than the men who torment others for their own sadistic purposes. You father, are the traitor, not only to the German people, to your family, but to yourself.”
Klemens turned his head around to look directly at his son and saw that a weapon was pointed at him. The mayor began adjusting his weapon away from me and towards his son. “You cannot be serious! I am your father, and I deserve the respect and expect my orders to be followed!”
With his attention diverted from me, I began to pull out my own weapon. I had not intended to deal with Klemens in his manner. I simply thought by arriving in Norddeich I could somehow diplomatically resolve the situation by removing Josef from Norddeich to become the new commanding officer of the Reserve Army. However, the death of Klemens Schultheiss would impromptu, rather similar to that of Heinrich Himmler. A quick ironic thought passed my head before I began putting the required amount of pressure on the trigger – Rhiley.