the end of WWII

crystal ball.It is said that it was given to him by the Jewish girl.There is an American Statue of Liberty in the crystal ball, and it is still snowing around.

Schneider felt something.When his parents died, he quit his dance school job and immigrated to New York.

He stayed in New York for more than half a century and never returned to Germany.

During the period, the world situation was changing, the Cuban missile crisis - which almost led to the third world war - the Berlin Wall, the rise of the United States, frequent wars in Central Asia, drastic changes in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of the Soviet Union...

Schneider married, fell in love with a former dance student, and adopted a child who later became a family too.He was even much older than the combined ages of the two of them when he and Allen were still together.

In the early days, he used to look at some photos of World War II soldiers, or travel to Germany and Eastern Europe, holding a glimmer of hope.Later, when he was old, he seldom went to those places.

Only sometimes, when some youthful blond youths pass by him, he always pays attention to them.They were so similar to Alan that he would even be in a trance, thinking he saw Alan.

But in fact, more than half a century has passed, and Alan's face has long been blurred in his mind.Even if Allen could appear in front of him in a young form, Schneider might not recognize him.

Over time, Schneider became very forgetful.Sometimes he couldn't even think of Alan for a long time, and only remembered that in the dark era of war-torn Europe, there was someone who had spent a difficult but beautiful time with him.

Mankind has entered the 21st century.

One morning the following year, his grandson came hopping into the kitchen.Schneider was making breakfast, and when he saw his little boy, he put down the egg beater in his hand, picked up the boy and kissed him, "Good morning, dear Bob!"

"Grandpa, there is your phone in the living room!" The little boy waved his arms.

"Okay, I'll go right away." Schneider put his grandson down, and the family's sheepdog ran in from the door, and the boy wrestled with it happily.

Schneider sat down on the sofa, picked up the handset next to the telephone, "Hi, this is Schneider. Who are you?"

"Hello, Mr. Schneider. I am a staff member of the Belarusian Archives Service."

Schneider felt strange and didn't understand what relationship he had with this distant country.

"Well, sir, we sorted out the secret police surveillance files left over from the former Soviet Union some time ago. There is a file in it, and I think we should send it to you."

"Does this "file" you mentioned have anything to do with me?"

The person over there was silent for a while, "The relationship here is really delicate...Because of the content inside, we decided to send it to you."

"Who is the owner of the file?"

"Let's take a look first."

A few days later, a heavy package arrived at Schneider's home.He struggled to carry it home with a handcart, piled it next to the sofa, and then found scissors to cut its outer packaging.

He thought the so-called "files" were just a few thin sheets of paper, at most the size of a book.But he had no idea that the stacks of books and bound papers in front of him, which were half his height, were what they called "files".

There is a large piece of paper above the file, which is old and yellowed, and "Erbis" is written on it with a signature pen.Schneider thought for a long time, but he didn't think he knew such a person.He cut the rope binding the files, picked up an old notebook on top, and opened it to read.

The secret police file is a typical product of the former Soviet Union. Its main mastermind is the National Security Agency. It usually targets a target person-this target person may have ties to the West, slander the Soviet Union or socialism, or be a Western spy. Weave a large informant network around the target person and recruit countless informers and secret police. These people may be the target person's relatives, friends, or even the closest spouse.

Informants and the secret police use all means to monitor the target person, record his every move, and collect everything they think is suspicious, in order to find evidence that he has betrayed the authorities and then put him in prison.The recorded words and collected information become the person's file.

And this "Erbis" is obviously the one being monitored in this way.

It is written in his file that Elbis was a German soldier captured by the Soviet Union during World War II. After the war, he was still imprisoned in a Soviet military prison and worked for them.

Until 1957, Elbis was released, but was not allowed to return to Germany, but was sent to a place in the Soviet Union to do farming - which is now Belarus.

In that place, Elbis often tried to contact West Germany, wrote letters and articles to be published in newspapers and periodicals in Western countries, but all of them were found and handed over by the authorities.The government wants to arrest Erbis, but there is no conclusive evidence.

"We firmly believe that he is a spy for West Germany." In the file, a secret police commented, "so we launched a close secret surveillance on him to find evidence that he was a spy."

In these files, there are not only records of Elbis' whereabouts, but also his personal belongings and collection of books. For countries collected as evidence of espionage, individual power is obviously insignificant, like a drop in the ocean.

The contents of Elbis' letters and diaries are recorded in the archives, and the name "Slovlsky" is repeatedly mentioned in it.That seemed to be his lover's name, for Elbis always spoke affectionately and sweetly when referring to this "Slovlsky."

However, this "Slovlsky" does not seem to be by his side, but in a Western country.Poor Elbis kept pouring out his experiences and thoughts to "Slovrsky" affectionately in his diary, his longing for the other party, the pain after the war and the hardships of life now - because of his letters He was often accurately intercepted by the secret police and could not be sent at all; his phone was also monitored, so he could not contact people in Western countries, and could only vent in his diary alone.

"He may go to New York to find me." Elbis wrote in a diary, "but how does he know that I live in the place where we fought together?"

Seeing this, Schneider suddenly trembled in his heart, and a memory that had been buried in his heart for a long time was awakened.He immediately dropped the things in his hand, staggered to the phone with difficulty, found the number of the Belarusian Archives Bureau a few days ago and dialed it.

He explained the situation with the other party on the phone, and found the staff who called him that day.

"Hello, I want to ask, are the names in the file you sent me real?"

"Those names are just code names, sir. I think you've guessed who it is, haven't you?"

Schneider fell silent, his wrinkled face silently looked at the thick stack of files in the corner.It seemed to have turned into a person, standing there alive.

"I think I guessed it. Tell me." His voice trembled, his eyes were pious, as if he was waiting for a trial.

"The code names in the file are usually related to the real person's name. The 'Slovlsky' in it refers to you, Mr. Schneider."

Schneider's eyes were blurred and filled with tears.

"And 'Erbis' refers to a German named Alan Judith."

A few turbid tears rolled down his loose facial skin, fell on the brown sweater, and condensed into a string of thin water droplets.He was silent and didn't speak for a long time.

"Sir? Sir? Are you still there?"

"I'm here." Schneider sniffed and tried to put on a calm voice, "So, is Alan Judit... still alive now?"

"We don't know about this, sir. We tried to contact him before, but he has moved and his number has changed, so we can't find him." The clerk said, "We see from the file that you seem to be related to This Alan Judit has a lot of connections, so I sent you his file."

"Thank you, I am very grateful to you. If there is any news about him in the future, please be sure to let me know." Schneider said excitedly, "He used to be my... very good comrade in arms."

The staff didn't point him out, just smiled on the phone, "We will definitely, please rest assured."

One morning many days later, the staff called.

"Mr. Schneider, what a coincidence. Not long after you called us, we found the phone number of Alan Judith's nephew. I think we should give you his phone number, and you can contact him yourself."

"Okay, thank you all."

Schneider wrote down a string of numbers on a piece of paper, then hung up the phone.He sat quietly on the sofa for a while, folded the note in half, unfolded it again, and silently looked at the numbers on it.

He read all of Allen's secret files yesterday. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the monitoring of Allen was also terminated.During that time, Allen was caught and imprisoned for five years.He kept a diary every day in prison, and most of the things he wrote were related to Schneider.

He didn't fall asleep the next night.More than half a century ago