Not Quite in the Fire ...

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Liesl took Krafft's hand and looked at Niemeyer, "My name is Frau Liesl Schmitz, my family name is Baumgartner. My husband was killed in action at Stalingrad, as to me being Stabsfeldwebel Krafft's wife, all I can say is we're not yet married. But we intend to be. We met in my husband's home village, to the east of Berlin and ..."

Niemeyer looked at her, "You've walked all that way? With the Russians howling up from behind?"

Krafft stepped in, "Something like that, Herr Niemeyer. First things first, where is this Backus fellow and do you have any food, my men are not quite starving but they are hungry. And we've come rather a long way."

Niemeyer blinked once, then twice, looking at Krafft, then at Frau Schmitz, "Of course, where are my manners? The Americans brought food. I'll see to it immediately. As for Hauptmann Backus, we should see him now. If you'll come with me."

Niemeyer led Krafft and Frau Schmitz to a modest dwelling, not far from the ferry landing. Krafft stopped in the street.

"There are no sentries?"

"No, of course not, this is my home. If you wait here, I'll go get the American ..."

"Horst? What is this? Do we have guests?" A middle-aged woman came out of the house, drying her hands with a small towel. Obviously, to Liesl at any rate, this had to be Frau Niemeyer.

"Ah, yes, a party of soldiers have just come across the river, this is their leader and his, uh, wife." Niemeyer answered his lady.

"Come, come now, come inside, it's far too blustery a day to be standing out in the street. Would you care for some tea?" As Frau Niemeyer herded them into the house, Krafft looked somewhat nervous.

"No need to worry, Stabsfeldwebel, if this was a trap would I leave you with my wife? I'll bring Hauptmann Backus here, you two can chat and then we'll proceed from there. Is this acceptable?"

Before Krafft could answer, Frau Niemeyer handed him a cup of very nice smelling tea. It had been months since he'd had a cup of tea. He took a sip, then said, "You're in charge here, Herr Niemeyer."

As Niemeyer hustled out of the door, his wife shook her head, "Horst? In charge? He wishes. Now come, come sit down."

"So you took it upon yourself to bring them over the river? Rather dangerous don't you think, Herr Niemeyer?" Captain Backus, United States Army, asked as he ushered Niemeyer into his office in the town hall. The two men were speaking German, a language Backus had been rather rusty with until ten months ago.

"What should I have done, Herr Hauptmann? Leave them to the Russians?"

"Well, my boss may want to do just that. Where are these men now?"

"I have them stashed away, I'm feeding them as well. Their commander is at my house. He and his, uh, wife are with my wife."

"Well, I suppose I should go speak with this fellow. These boys aren't SS are they?"

"Heaven forbid, I would let those bastards rot on the other side of the river, these boys are army, roughly used I'll add. They've marched from east of Berlin to here. According to their commander, they've marched well over two-hundred and fifty kilometers. Their main goal was to get to this side of the Elbe and surrender to the Americans."

Backus nodded, "All right, take me to this fellow and his, his wife did you say?"

"Yes Sir, something like that."

Backus shook his head, Herr Niemeyer was hiding something, he could tell.

"So Frau Schmitz, you are a Wehrmachthelferin?" Backus was looking at her papers, something seemed somewhat "off" about them.

"No Sir, my papers are forged, it was a device so that I could stay with my husband." Liesl glanced at Krafft when she said that.

"Frau Niemeyer, would you have clothing which might fit the young lady?"

"Well, yes, I suppose. Let me get something, come with me Frau Schmitz."

As the two women went upstairs, Backus looked at Krafft. "Forged papers in wartime, wearing a uniform you're not entitled to, you're lucky the Russians or the Kettenhunde didn't catch up to you."

Krafft grinned at Backus' use of the term "chained dogs" for the Feldgendarmerie, "Yes, Herr Hauptmann, serious indeed. But desperate times ..."

"And is she really your wife?"

"No Sir, but we intend to make that official as soon as we can."

Backus stood up and began to pace in the Niemeyer's small kitchen, "It is my understanding that this village and the entire province of Magdeburg is to fall into the Soviet Union's zone of occupation. My commander has sent word from Magdeburg to 'not get comfortable' as he anticipates that we will fall back to the west once Berlin is captured. So, you gentlemen," he looked at Krafft, "present something of a problem for us."

"How so, Sir?"

"There have been many German units fleeing to American lines in the hopes of not being taken by the Soviets. Some have been turned away, not allowed to cross our lines. My commander doesn't like Germans, not at all. I doubt he would accept my accepting your surrender." Backus stopped talking and looked out the window for a bit.

Turning back to Niemeyer and Krafft, Backus asked, "Do either of you have any ideas? I personally don't like the Russians, my mother's family is Polish, they have an intense dislike for Russians and that's something I inherited from my Polish grandmother. So, what do we do?"

They were back at the warehouse, although Liesl had stayed with Niemeyer's wife. "It's best this way," Frau Niemeyer had insisted.

Herr Niemeyer spoke briefly with Krafft, "If you think of something, anything ..."

"I'll try, but no matter what, thank you for your help so far. My second-in-command, Unteroffizier Lang, saw Russian scout cars across the river this morning. He's worried they'll bridge the river and ..."

"Not yet, for now we are in the American zone, if what Backus says is true, it won't happen for some time yet. Weeks, not days. So Ivan will stay on his side of the river. To put on a good face, I had Herr Driessler scuttle the ferry."

"Scuttle?"

"Opened the seacock, which flooded her, and then let the ferry settle to the bottom of the landing. She's fine and can be pumped out fairly quickly, but to the casual observer, she's not useable."

"Will that fool the Americans?" Krafft asked.

"Good question. They are a somewhat gullible people but awfully clever. They're also unpredictable. Backus will probably see through our little ruse, his commander probably won't. He's an arrogant bastard who sees what he wants to see. Hopefully he stays in Magdeburg."

"So for now?" Krafft asked.

"We wait, if it helps you sleep tonight, Frau Niemeyer is trying to round up civilian clothing for your men, the right papers though ..."

"Tell her to stop, if we're caught out of uniform, the Amis could shoot us."

Niemeyer nodded, "We'll see about that. Get some sleep, Stabsfeldwebel and we shall see what tomorrow brings."