Only the Dead...

U.S. Army Signal Corps Photo

Grenadier Michael Wagner's eyes went wide when he realized what was happening. His fellow soldiers, Grenadiers Robert Otto and Andre Lang, were oblivious to what was going on. They were too busy sharing the bottle of wine which Leutnant Manfred Sauer had given the trio after their "mission" the night before.

The three men were from the area around Köln, all were vocal in their support of the National Socialists, and for those two reasons, Sauer had sent them out to "find a train." As their platoon leader had put it, "Those three are dumb enough to buy that story." Apparently so were the drunken SS men who picked them up, and actually found a train for the battalion!

The plan to surrender to the Americans had gone completely awry, thanks to the "helpful" SS men - the three Nazis had been returned and now the battalion was loaded on a train bound for Wuppertal. It had been the last straw for Sauer, he had not wanted to kill anyone, let alone fellow Germans, in order to end the war for the battalion. Now there was no choice. With the exception of Wagner, Otto, and Lang, the battalion, to a man, was ready to quit. Only these three men thought that the war was still winnable, they believed everything that came out of Goebbels' mouth, they had to go.

One short burst from Sauer's StG 44 knocked the three men to the ground where they stood at the back of the officers' car. As the train had yet to move out, Sauer stepped forward and made sure of the three Nazis. One round each finished the job.

As Sauer safed his weapon, Unterfeldwebel Alexander Münch, the company's armorer stepped into view along with six other men from company headquarters. Sauer was surprised, to say the least.

"Herr Leutnant, you should probably go forward and tell the Reichsbahn men that we were testing a repaired weapon and that there's no cause for alarm. I'll see to things here." As he finished, Münch turned and nodded to his men, who immediately began to pick up the three dead bodies.

As Sauer moved to the front of the train, von Lüttwitz leaned from an open window of the car, "It is done?"

"Yes Sir, perhaps I should have chosen a quieter way? But it's done."

"I already told the train personnel not to be concerned with the weapons discharge, they couldn't care less it seems. They want to get moving soon, they're terrified of Allied aircraft, even at night."

"Can't say I blame them." Sauer turned to go back and speak with Münch, who he met coming forward.

"Unterfeldwebel, perhaps I should..."

Münch grinned and said, "We disposed of the Hitlerites, we stripped them of everything, clothing, identity disks, equipment, everything. There should be no problem if anyone ever finds the corpses."

"Hitlerites? You sound like a Communist, Alex." Sauer meant it as a joke.

"I'm from the Wedding district in Berlin, Herr Leutnant.  There's a reason it was known as Red Wedding. I'm no Communist, but my parents were. My father died at Blutmai, my mother spent six months in prison. I'm no Communist but I hate the Nazis with every fiber of my being. The Brownshirts murdered my mother in 1935, for her political beliefs."

Sauer hadn't known this about his Waffenunteroffizier,¹ "I had no idea Alex. So you have no problems with..."

"With murdering Nazis? No Sir, wasn't the first time, I doubt it will be the last. The boys believe in you and the Major. I'd say we'd follow you through Hell, but that's what we're doing now, isn't it?" Münch headed back to his railcar.

"What was it that made you suspicious S/Sgt Poole?" Cpt. Tony Palminteri was standing in the village square of the town where he had hoped to bag an entire Kraut battalion. C Company had occupied the town and had reported that to regiment, now they were awaiting further orders.

"I wasn't sure at first Cap'n, then when it was all over, I noticed that big Kraut flag again." S/Sgt Bob Poole nodded at the flag which was still hanging from the upper storeys of the town hall. Palminteri turned to look at it as well.

"Well, I'll be damned." Palminteri said.

"You see it too, don't you Sir?"

"Yup, the Iron Cross is supposed to be at the top, not the bottom. That German Major left us a clue, didn't he?"

"He sure did Sir. He sure did."

"Manfred, did you know that I left a letter with Becker, to give to the American commander when they took the town?" von Lüttwitz took a sip of the cognac they'd found in the car. "Good stuff, by the way. I'd rather have Calvados though."

Sauer looked up, "You left them a letter?"

"Yes, I wanted to let the Amis know what happened, that it wasn't a trick. Just in case..."

"You're a clever man Jürgen, remind me never to play cards with you."

"We have fought their 1st Division since Normandy. I talked to the Ic about a week ago, he says that we've been facing their 26th Infantry Regiment since Kreuzau. I believe we met them in the Hürtgen and the Ardennes as well. Warriors, honorable men I think. I want them to think the same of us. We fight for our homes now, it's all we have left."

"What about when we were winning?" Sauer felt bitter about that. He felt somewhat guilty wanting to quit now, now that they were losing the war.

"I know, that bothers me as well. But what else could we have done? We obey orders we try to stay moral men, we try to keep our honor, I don't have an answer Manfred." von Lüttwitz looked morosely into his glass of cognac, then finished it.

"That was rhetorical Herr Major."

"I know, we shall have much to answer for when the war is over Manfred. Perhaps they will shoot us all. There are many who deserve it."

"To those who have seen the end of war." Sauer finished his cognac.

Von Lüttwitz nodded and said, "Yes, my old friend, here's to the dead..."

¹ Armorer NCO

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