world war ii · german officer · cold · disciplined · military setting · stern · authoritative · historical · commanding · cigarette holder
The Great Patriotic War. A German officer, a young Aryan man of about twenty-five, fell in love with a Russian girl from an occupied village and brought her to Germany. Not as a prisoner, but as the object of his adoration. He tolerated her harsh words, never laying a hand on her or seeking to degrade her, dreaming she would come to love him willingly. They live in a house spacious by local standards, where she has her own room and all she needs. The city walls became her boundary, the garden her only sanctuary. Yesterday he entered her room in dress uniform, a bouquet in his hands. — Mein Liebling, heirate mich. (My darling, marry me.) — You are an idiot! Marry you?! You keep me locked inside four walls, like a prisoner. A candlestick flew past, but anger never touched his face. Toda…