father - home

When it was almost dawn, I finally fell asleep for a while, like this every day for three days.

After Zhao left, I didn't leave Hamburg right away.There may be contraband on board, or illegal smugglers, Jews, political prisoners, the port police ordered the ship to return; the United States suddenly entered the war, the ship was not allowed to leave the port, and the aliens of the enemy country were detained; what other reasons forced the ship to go and return? ...At that time, Zhao can find me in the original room of the hotel.

I sat in a room between two windows at right angles, and from where I sat I could see the street.If he came back, I'd recognize him at a glance from all the people who passed there; if the big ship came back to port, the tweeter on the pier would announce it, and I had the window open so I could hear it in advance.I sit here for no other purpose than to wait for night to fall, for a miracle to happen at the last moment, for his footsteps to sound outside the door, for his face, for his voice.When it was almost dawn, I sat on a chair and fell asleep in a daze, and then I was woken up by the cold wind in the morning.

I took the train from Hamburg directly back to Dachau, which was originally planned, because I had to go back to work.

Before leaving Berlin, I gave Werner's phone number and contact information to Yu and her uncle and aunt. "No matter what, don't hesitate, call him, don't care, you know, Werner is very nice and enthusiastic. It may take a while for me to come, I will find a way to come sooner, but no matter what If you need anything, call me right away." Seeing them nodding, I felt a heavy burden on my shoulders.

No one stopped Yu from going to the station to see us off, and in fact everyone did.Yu's uncle helped me carry my luggage into the car.On the platform, Zhao hugged Yu tightly in his arms.I couldn't hear their whispers, but I saw Zhao desperately kissing Yu, and I only saw tears on Yu's face.Yu's aunt wiped her tears with a handkerchief again and again.

Anyway, life goes on and my life seems to be back on track.Not yet, for two days, I had nothing to do, I was absent-minded, and the long-term restlessness and lack of sleep left me in a state of being both mentally weak and extremely excited.Walter reported to me in a timely manner, but he didn't wait for my instructions, didn't bother me with the camp affairs, and thoughtfully gave me a little more time for recovery and adjustment.He did his job just as well without me, perfect.

Just like yesterday, I met Walter as soon as I left the dormitory.

"Good morning, sir!"

"Good morning!"

"Going to the restaurant, sir?"

"uh-huh."

There were quite a few people sitting in the dining room, and some of them had finished their breakfast and left.

After Walter and I sat down, a prisoner serving as a waiter respectfully brought coffee. "Good morning, sir!"

"Good morning." I smiled at the prisoner.I remember Walter's very surprised expression the first time he saw me say hello to the prisoners, and now he's used to it.But I was still a little embarrassed, because I didn't know the name of the prisoner I greeted. They didn't have a name, only a number, so my greeting seemed so hypocritical.

I took a sip of coffee, and after the waiter poured coffee for Walter, I stopped him when I was about to leave: "Please bring a copy of today's newspaper, please?" There are three morning newspapers in the officers' club, and they will be published at breakfast In the restaurant for everyone to browse.

"Yes, sir, it will be brought in a moment."

I suddenly felt a little nauseous, maybe I didn't sleep well at night. "I'm sorry, Walter." I hurried to my feet and ran to the bathroom.After retching for a while, I washed my face again with cold water.It was the same yesterday, and it seems that it will be some time before life fully returns to normal.

When I got back to the table, the croissants and scrambled eggs with sausage had arrived, but the newspaper hadn't arrived.

Seeing my displeasure, Walter smiled and said, "Someone must be watching." Walter took a bite of the croissant, and his breakfast was the same as mine. Eat breakfast for two hours, so you can get through the morning."

I nodded my head in understanding.It is impossible for a prisoner's waiter to reach out to the magistrate for the newspaper he is browsing.

Because my stomach was still churning, I ate some indiscriminately, and I was about to get up, forgetting about the newspaper too.

"Eat slowly, Walter, I'll go to the laboratory first."

"Are you unwell, sir?"

"fine."

"Oh, sir, Zhao...was on an American cruise ship, right?"

"It's the Ark Royal, what's wrong?" I asked casually, trying to be as relaxed as possible.

"Nothing, I mean it's supposed to be in the Atlantic Ocean?"

"Yes, I won't be in New York in a few days."

Walter's expression seemed a little unnatural, which is no wonder. He remembered the expression on Zhao Shi when he saw him in the hospital last time. It was not easy, and it was rare for him to care about Zhao.I am still grateful for Walter's transformation.Now that Ernst is gone, I often feel very lonely in the concentration camp. Whether it is because of the change of identity and leaving or other reasons, Walter's initiative has effectively improved our relationship. Let my future days become less difficult.

I flipped through a few medical records randomly in the office, but I was still restless and nauseous. Maybe I will never go to work during this time, and I am no longer used to the smell of formalin in the laboratory.I decided to walk around, there were a couple of new people in the lab that I didn't know well, and some new equipment was installed.I checked the ward first, then the laboratory, the treatment room, the operating room, and finally the autopsy room at the end of the second floor, where someone was working.

Forget it, don't go in, I can't be of much help when I'm there, but they are more comfortable and work better when I'm not there.But just as I was about to turn to leave, a conversation from the open door grabbed my feet.

"You said, will the United States declare war on us now?"

"I don't know, probably not? Didn't the newspaper say it was a misunderstanding?"

"So many people died! The ship was sunk by our submarine!"

"Declare war, just declare war, what's the matter, anyway, sooner or later, who is afraid of whom!"

"But the head of state..."

I didn't hear the words after that.An American ship was sunk by our submarine, and many people died. That’s right, Walter asked about the cruise ship he was on, with an unnatural expression on his face. Also, I didn’t see today’s newspaper.Newspaper, I am the highest-ranking officer in the dining room at breakfast, how can I not get a newspaper?This has never happened to me since Dachau.

I rushed downstairs and ran to the officers' club.The morning papers were placed in the reading room of the Officers' Club after breakfast, bound in binders.but none.The morning papers for the week are neat and tidy, except for today's one.

what happened? !

I rushed back to the restaurant again, grabbed a waiter who was cleaning, and asked loudly, "Where's today's morning paper?"

The waiter was also a prisoner, and when I caught and asked him so suddenly, he immediately trembled with fright, fell to his knees with a thud, and couldn't say anything with trembling lips.

"Sir, do you mean today's morning paper? Did I bring it to you at breakfast?"

It was the waiter who served me at breakfast, maybe because I once said hello to him with a smile, he thought I was different from other SS men, thought I was a polite gentleman, so he was not like the one I grabbed The waiter is so afraid of me.

But he was wrong. Now I am not a well-mannered gentleman, but a wounded lion. "What are you talking about?!" I yelled, pushed the one I was holding away, waved my hand, and the standing waiter didn't pay attention, and was swept to the ground by me.I pulled out a pistol and pointed it at his head. "How dare you say you gave it to me, when did you give it to me?"

The gun was aimed between the waiter's eyebrows, and my hands trembled violently. My fear was far greater than my anger. I pointed the gun at the prisoner, but I never thought of opening the safety.But the prisoner didn't know, his face was pale, sweating, he closed his eyes and dared not look at the black muzzle of the gun, trembling, he begged for mercy repeatedly: "Please don't kill me, sir, don't kill me. I will You, sir, I really gave it to you. You were not there at the time, and the officer sitting next to you picked it up. He said he would give it to you, and he thanked me. Really, I didn’t lie to you, sir, I really It's for you."

I see, it's Walter, he's got the morning papers.There are only three morning newspapers, and there may or may not be relevant news in the daily newspapers, but it won't be until noon, how can I wait!How can I wait!

correct!It occurred to me that there was another morning paper, and there was another morning paper in the battalion commander's office, with Captain Piolkovsky.

I staggered out of the dining room, ignoring the two terrified prisoners sprawled to the floor.At the place of Captain Piolkovsky's adjutant, I finally saw today's morning paper: "Yesterday, in the early morning of October 10, the American cruise liner Ark Royal, which departed from Hamburg for New York, was accidentally injured by a Chinese submarine due to heavy fog in the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, it sank with unknown casualties. It is reported that the Ark Royal carried more than 12 passengers when it set off from Hamburg." The following is a more detailed report, but I can no longer see it.

There is a vague figure in front of him, is it the captain?Sorry, I can't salute you, I still have something to do, let's go first.I dropped my hands weakly, turned around wobbly, took a step, and fell down.