The Communist

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Krafft awakened with a start, he had been dreaming again about life after the war. Nothing felt real, he knew some of the people in the dream but he couldn't remember their names. What panicked him most of all is that Liesl was never in those dreams. He wondered about that.

He looked around, was it night already? The forest was so dark, but then he realized that it was still raining, he could hear the noise of the water dripping down through the fir trees which surrounded their bivouac. He looked over at a young soldier, who was cleaning his rifle.

"Johannes, what are you doing here?" For it was unusual for anyone other than Liesl and Lang to be near him like this.

"Uffz Lang wanted me to let you know what was going on, he would not awaken you and he told me to let you sleep."

"So, what is going on?"

"Uffz Lang and Frau Schmitz went back to find the civilians from Groß Briesen. Uffz Lang reasoned that if they kept coming on and missed us, they might blunder into that Soviet reconnaissance unit to our front."

"Why on earth did he take Frau Schmitz?"

"He thought the civilians might not listen to him, he thought they might listen to her."

Krafft grinned, "I can see that, danke Johannes. You can rejoin your squad."

After the boy left, Krafft decided to go to the edge of the forest and see what was happening with the Ivans.

Lang raised his hands in frustration, "You must go back, at the very least you cannot follow us. We might get into a fight and you would all be at risk."

An older woman raised her hand, "Herr Soldat,¹ would you leave us to the mercy of the Russians? What else can we do but head west?"

"My dear lady, out here we are all at the mercy of our enemies. If the weather clears you might be attacked from the air. Some enemy soldier might fire on you for no good reason other than to terrorize you. We are hated now, why can't you see that?"

"To the west," an older man interjected, "the Americans may not love us, but they are not barbarians, like those Stalinist bastards."

Lang shook his head again and looked at Liesl.

She spoke, "Kurt is right, being out here you are exposed. You can't even fight back. Go back to your village, if you don't want that, at least head due west and stop following us. You could get everyone killed or taken by the Soviets."

"Why are you with the soldiers?" one of the women asked.

"I am an auxiliary, an official Wehrmacht volunteer. I am a soldier!" she nearly barked out those last words, she was growing tired of these people.

An older man forced his way to the front of the crowd, "We may be in for it anyway. Frau Wexler set out earlier to find the Russians on her own."

Lang looked at the man, "Why on earth would she do that?"

The man shrugged, "She and her husband are Communists, he is in a concentration camp, Dachau I think. She was never suspected, but she is definitely a Communist."

Another man interrupted, "She's not a Communist, Herbert, she was a member of the Socialist Party before the war. It isn't the same ..."

Lang interjected, "To the Nazis they are the same, socialist, Communist, Hitler wants them all dead."

The people argued further, finally Lang stopped the discussion, "If you follow us, we will open fire on you. We can't let our mission be compromised in any way. So you have been warned."

As he stalked off, the people looked at Liesl, who said, "I'm afraid he's correct. They will fire at you."

Hauptmann Oster saw Krafft approaching and stood up, "Ah Staber, I was about to come collect you. Sleep much?"

"A little, Sir. Are you aware that Lang and Frau Schmitz went to find the civilians from Groß Briesen and warn them off?"

"Very much so, I ordered it and Lang volunteered. Frau Schmitz going along was his idea, and a good one, I thought. Civilians might listen to a lady whereas a soldier might be a bit overbearing to them."

"I see, Sir." Krafft frowned.

"You do not approve, Stabsfeldwebel?" Oster asked sarcastically.

"Not for me to approve or disapprove, Sir. But those civilians are an unfortunate complication."

"At least we can agree on that." Oster said.

Oberst von Balck had two designated scout/snipers in his command. One had been school trained, the other was a talented marksman who was learning from the school trained man. He had posted them to watch over the Russian reconnaissance unit from a location some 200 meters to the east of the unit. He looked up with some puzzlement when he saw the younger man approaching.

"Why are you not at your post, Seidlitz?"

"Oberfeldwebel Fischer ordered me to report directly to you. We have spotted a woman bearing a white flag some 500 meters down the track, heading towards the Russians. Fischer thinks she might be a collaborator, perhaps a pre-war Communist."

"Hhmm, go back and tell him that under no circumstances must that woman reach the Russians." von Balck's concern was apparent in his voice.

"Ah Herr Oberst, that's the other thing Fischer wanted me to tell you, he's going to shoot the woman if she actually tries to contact the Russians."

"Good, return and support Fischer. I need to get the unit up and ready. If the Russians react to the gunfire, we need to be ready."

Seidlitz hesitated, "Uh Sir, can I point something out."

"What is it man? Time is running out."

"Sir, I was a gamekeeper in old Prussia. During hunting season you could hear gunfire all around. Listen for a moment, Sir, listen carefully."

Von Balck did precisely that, he listened. Then it struck him, as a soldier what he was hearing was familiar and he paid no attention to it. Random gunfire in the distance, the soft chatter of a machine gun far away. Rifle shots not as far away, and always, in the background, the rumble of artillery.

"Point taken, Seidlitz. Still and all, we must be ready. Now off you go."

"A commie? Running to the Russians? Damn it."

Lang and Liesl were hurrying back to the bivouac, the troops needed to know what might be happening. As they hurried along a single rifle shot echoed in the near distance. Neither paid any attention to it.

It was one of the normal sounds of war. Nothing to worry about.

¹ Mister Soldier.