Dawn Redemption

After work, Fein didn't have anything else to do, so he slowed down and walked towards the hotel according to the route he had asked in advance, wanting to spend more time on the road.

Unexpectedly, when I went to the place to check the time, it was still twenty minutes early.Finn didn't expect to be so active.It is inappropriate to go in directly. Arriving so long in advance is no different from arriving late. It is essentially unpunctual.

Waiting so long is really terrible.After thinking about it, Finn decided to stroll around to pass the time.After he arrived in Berlin, he didn't look around much. The only thing he could figure out clearly was the road from his apartment to the security department.

Finn walked a few steps along the street, and suddenly saw a bookstore next to him, and walked towards it without even thinking about it.

As far as he could see, there were very few bookstores in Berlin.He had seen another bookstore on the side of the street, but the shop was empty and dilapidated, the window glass was completely broken, and the debris had been cleaned away, but there were still unfallen fragments stuck on the window frame, like The mouthparts of insects.No matter looking in from the broken window or the open door, it is like a deep cave that cannot be found.Near the door, where the light can still shine, you can see the remains of bookshelves, tables and chairs that have fallen here and there on the ground.

And all this did not stem from the previous bombing.On the wall, the handwriting written with harsh white paint has not faded.

That's a Jewish store.And Berlin, like many other shops, large and small, throughout the Reich, were first painted with Jewish symbols and later smashed like crazy.

And the owner of the store, it is very likely that Fein has met in the previous few years-in Auschwitz.

The owner of this bookstore should be Aryan, so it is still reluctant to open.It's just that in this season, the voice of the bookstore is still very bleak.Finn said hello to the boss, and then walked to the bookshelf and began to browse casually.

Finn actually likes reading very much, but since he left the house, there are not many opportunities for him to read in peace.When I was a child, it was partly forced by my teacher at home, and partly because I was withdrawn and didn't want to play with children of the same age, so I could only shut myself in the room and read the books on the shelf.Fortunately, the family didn't care about this, maybe because Finn didn't dangle in front of their eyes when he read quietly.

But he has memories, and the books he read when he was a child can't be found on the bookshelf.There are only a few scattered books on the bookshelves, which are in line with the specifications issued by the Propaganda Department.

"Sir, didn't you find what you wanted?" The boss was a very kind old man with a big gray beard.At some point, he came out from behind the counter and got behind Finn.Finn nodded.

The boss slowly sorted out the books on the bookshelf that were messed up by customers, just like helping his little grandson sort out wrongly buttoned buttons: "Many books have been confiscated and not allowed to be sold. It is said that they were all They were burned centrally, for fear of damaging our children."

He smiled when he said it, but shook his head and sighed when he finished.Finn was also at a loss for words. If it was just for entertainment, he really didn't have much interest in the books left behind.I just glanced at the title of the cover and put it back according to the place I took it out.

Looking down at his watch from time to time, seeing that the time was almost up, Finn greeted the boss, went out and walked straight towards the hotel.

He didn't know all the officers. When he saw the people standing at the door exchanging greetings, he quickly glanced around, and most of them were unfamiliar faces.Fortunately, he saw Mr. Lubeck, the chief of the section, in the crowd, walked over quickly, and waited for him to finish the ongoing conversation before greeting him.

"You go in first." Lubeck said.Finn nodded, walked into the restaurant under the guidance of the waiter, found his seat and sat down.

This was definitely the most luxurious ostentation Fein had ever seen.The huge crystal chandelier is full of gorgeous colors, and the bright and soft lights are shrouded in exquisite tableware and candlesticks that are far more decorative than practical.On one side of the hall, formally dressed band members gather, and all kinds of musical instruments are also readily available.Before the party officially started, the pianist was sitting on the stool, playing a few bars from time to time, tinkling to try out the sound, mixed with the scattered voices of the officers who had already seated, it was considered lively.

Finn was not talkative, so he could only sit there by himself, waiting until all the staff were seated and the banquet began.Fortunately, the seats were allocated according to departments and departments. Most of the people at the same table were familiar to Finn, so it was not particularly embarrassing.

Clinking glasses and toasting are unavoidable on such occasions. In the past few years, he has consciously increased his drinking capacity. From the very beginning when he came out, he just poured the wine, and now he can barely survive social occasions.But in order to prevent gaffes after drinking, or being too drunk to walk at all, he silently filled a lot of food into his stomach before everyone started drinking.

So in the end, at most, his face was hot and his head was dizzy, and he was still able to talk and walk.

But what Fein didn't expect was that after the banquet was over, the party still stayed on.After drinking too much, his thinking is a little dull, so when the music suddenly changed from slow lyrical music to passionate dance music, he was almost shocked.

Finn looked up and saw that many officials left their seats and walked out of the restaurant one after another.Hearing that it was extremely lively outside, Fein followed him out to have a look.The scene in front of him made him freeze in the door frame, he just didn't dare to take another step forward.

Not to mention that people squeezed the entire hall so that there was no time to step down. Accompanied by the fast-paced music, they danced and made noise, and the smell of alcohol filled the entire space, as if everyone was drunk in it.

What made Finn even dare not look directly was that at some point, there were several beautiful and sexy girls in the crowd. They laughed coquettishly, and they took off the officer's big-brimmed hat and put it on their own. on the head.Being pushed and shoved among the men, twisting the soft waist against their bodies, the clothes were ripped into a mess after a while.

With loud booing, the music reached its climax, a naked body whose clothes had been pulled off was thrown high, the woman laughed shrilly, and after being caught, she rode boldly on the shoulders of an officer .

Fein was so startled that he immediately turned around, not daring to look any further.The scene behind him was too chaotic, he didn't know that those serious and bright military officers were gathered there in such a lewd manner.

His heart was urged by the beating beat, beating wildly.He didn't even dare to turn his head away, and walked back to the restaurant as quickly as if he was escaping.

The restaurant has become quite deserted.The empty plates were cleared away by the service staff, and there were only a few people left at each table, sitting together drinking and chatting.Most of the people should have gone to the hall to join in the fun. After scanning around, most of the people who stayed were older officials, or people who were as uninterested as Finn.

He returned to his original seat, where Section Chief Lübeck was still sitting.Indeed, looking at his appearance, it was really hard for Finn to imagine the scene where he was among a group of people, swaying around the slender waist of an enchanting woman.

But the scene just now was enough to completely change his impression of many people who thought he knew something.

"Come back so soon?" Mr. Lubeck asked after seeing Finn pull out a chair and sit beside him. "Yeah." After Finn agreed, he realized that his tone was a bit annoyed. He was afraid that the section chief would be offended, so he hastily slowed down and added, "I haven't slept well these days, and I'm not interested enough, so I won't play together. "

Lübeck was holding the wine bottle, and Finn saw that he wanted to pour wine, so he quickly took the wine bottle over, poured it into the wine glass in front of Lübeck, and poured some for himself.

"Happy work." Mr. Lübeck touched his cup with him, and then drank slowly.Fein doesn't like drinking, but now he just feels that sitting here drinking is much easier than watching those people having fun in the lobby: "I wish you good health."

He drank the wine in the glass and put the glass back on the table.

Lübeck took a meaningful look at the direction the music was coming from, and sighed: "This may not be a way to vent your anxiety." He turned to look at Fein, "If you really can't stay any longer, take advantage of them While it's still making trouble, it's okay to go quietly first."

I don't know if it was because of drinking, but Mr. Lübeck, who is always serious, smiled rarely.Finn shook his head lightly: "No, I can sit still."

Mr. Lübeck didn't say anything, and didn't let Fern drink any more, he just turned around and took a sip.

Finn put his hands on the table, propped his face, and looked around.It is estimated that someone has already sneaked away while no one was paying attention, as the section chief said.Fein felt that he lived alone, had no wife, elders, or children, and no one would care about how late he went back, so he had no excuse to leave early.

For the same reason, he was worried that any inappropriate actions of his would cause unnecessary friction if others saw him.

Suddenly, he saw a very familiar face.At a corner table, Mueller is drinking and chatting with his colleagues.He didn't even go to the carnival outside, which made Fein feel unbelievable. At this time, Mu Le suddenly realized something, and turned his head keenly, meeting Fein's eyes.

He waved his hand flamboyantly as a greeting to Finn.Finn nodded in return, and then he turned back to pick up his glass and continued chatting with the person next to him.Finn had no choice but to lower his head and continue to think wildly.

The boring time was long or short, and when the banquet finally ended, everyone left the hotel with support or alone, and Fein had no sense of time, only his consciousness was still clear, and he had been caught by the lobby just now. The scene was so exciting, especially now that I was out of the hotel and was blown by the cool night wind, most of the alcoholism subsided.

It was completely dark, there was no moon and no stars in the sky.Except for street lamps, there was no light at all.

He didn't know if there was anyone going home with him, and he didn't want to go with others, so he walked back slowly.The figure flickered under the illumination of the street lamps. In this strange city and strange streets, Fein actually felt a sense of strangeness to himself.

What is he doing?Where is he going?

Finn knew that many people had the same problem as himself, especially at this moment, but he didn't want to know the answer.He is afraid of knowing the answer.

"Oh!"

"Ouch!"

Finn was thinking about it. He thought that there would be no other people on the street at this time. After all, the curfew policy was still in effect.Unexpectedly, he bumped into the person rushing in front of him.

Although Finn had drunk alcohol, his body was still strong, but he staggered when he was knocked over.But the other party was not so lucky, and fell backwards with a scream.

Looking at the figure of the other party, he should still be a child, and Fein broke out in a cold sweat, trying to pull him up.Fortunately, the child just said "Ouch" a few times, struggled to get up, and patted the ashes. It seemed that there was nothing serious.

With just one look, Finn recognized the kid in the uniform of the Hitler Youth.It was a paramilitary organization that trained loyal teenagers who supported the Führer and the party.

To say why Fein is so familiar with this organization, there is only one reason - he also came out of the Youth League back then.

"Sorry." "Sorry, sorry, sir." The two apologized to each other at the same time, and then fell silent again after the words fell.Finn looked at the boy's round, childish face and asked, "What's your name? Why haven't you come home so late?"

The boy scratched his hair in embarrassment: "Leo Fleischer, sir. Our team was the last one in training today. The officer punished us for working hard and kept picking and picking. He dismissed us just now." He was a little flustered, and suddenly Thinking of saluting to Finn, he hurriedly raised his arm and almost poked the tip of Finn's nose, "Long live, Hitler!"

Finn raised his hand in return: "It's so late, go back quickly, isn't your family worried?"

"They?" Leo pouted, "They didn't want me to join in the first place, and they yelled at me the day I went to report, saying that if I really went, they would never ignore me again. Fortunately, they didn't really want to join. Let me in, but I don't think they care how late I get home or anything."

The conversation should have ended here, but Fein suddenly asked in a strange way: "Then why did you join? For what?"

"To protect the head of state and my motherland!" Leo replied loudly.I don't know if he didn't catch his breath because of the loud voice or what, but after he finished speaking, even in the night, it was obvious that the part above his neck was flushed.

Finn leaned slightly to stare into his face, and Leo flinched slightly at his ice-blue eyes. "Really?" Finn asked.

Leo seemed to be discouraged, and his straight and stiff back relaxed: "Actually, people of the right age are now forced to enter, both boys and girls. I was afraid that my family members would be more anxious, so I told them it was me. want to join."

He raised his eyes tremblingly, and saw Finn slowly raising his hand.Before he had time to dodge, he felt that hand lightly landed on his head, rubbing his messy hair.

"You're a good boy." Finn sighed, "Go home quickly. They must be worried about you too, just like you, they don't say anything..."

He suddenly froze and stopped talking.

Leo nodded vigorously: "Okay sir! I'll go back right away, I wish you health!"

He ran away while waving.Finn turned around belatedly, watching his trotting figure gradually disappear into the night.

In a daze, he seemed to see the rainy day from behind, but he was no longer the boy who never looked back and was hidden by the rain and fog.