Finding Rebecca: A Novel of Love and the Holocaust

BOOK: Finding Rebecca: A Novel of Love and the Holocaust
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Finding Rebecca

A Novel

By Eoin Dempsey

German Military Ranks
and definitions

 

Führer
: Adolf
Hitler, the leader of the German Reich (Empire).

Hauptsturmführer
:
the SS equivalent of a captain.

Kapo
: a privileged prisoner who served
as a barracks supervisor or led work details in a Nazi concentration camp.

Lagerführer
: SS
officer responsible for discipline in the camp.

Lagerkommandant
:
the head of a particular concentration camp, in
Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, (1940-43/44), Arthur Liebehenschel, (1943-1944) and
Richard Baer, (1944-1945).

Obersturmführer
: the equivalent of a 1
st
Lieutenant in the US army.

Rapportführer
: a mid level officer,
specific to the concentration camp system, whose job was to oversee the
officers below them who had more direct contact with the prisoners.
 

Reich
: the German Empire, specifically
the Third Reich, which existed under the Nazis from 1933-1945.

Reichsführer
: Heinrich Himmler, the leader of the SS and
Hitler’s second in command.

Sonderkommandos
: work units of Nazi
concentration camp prisoners, composed almost entirely of Jews, forced under
threat of death to aid with the disposal of victims of the gas chambers.

SS
: an elite military unit of the Nazi
party, which, after being founded as a guard for the Nazi party itself, grew
into an army of more than a million highly trained soldiers. The SS were solely
responsible for the guarding of the concentration camps.

Standartenführer
: the equivalent of a
colonel in the US army.

Sturrmann
: a
storm trooper, the equivalent of a regular enlisted soldier.

Untersturmführer
: the equivalent of a 2
nd
lieutenant in the US army.

Wehrmacht
: the regular German armed
forces, not involved in the running of the concentration camps
.

This book is for my wife, Jill.

Text Copyright © Eoin Dempsey
2012

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
or stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express
written permission of the publisher.

 

 

Chapter 1
Auschwitz-Birkenau,
September 1943

 

The car came to a halt and the driver
stepped out to open the door for Rapportführer Friedrich. Christopher climbed
out of the car after him. “This is where you will be doing the majority of your
work.” Friedrich said. The car had pulled up outside a row of about thirty
warehouses in three rows,
each about forty feet wide
and two hundred feet long. Friedrich took the ledger out from under his arm and
lifted a piece of paper on top, looking underneath. “I see you’ve been selected
for this position as a result of your background in accounting.” Christopher
nodded. T
he barbed wire stood taut at the end of the rows of warehouses and
behind. “I’m glad to see we have a professional man here to help out. I was a
lawyer back in Frankfurt before the war myself.” Christopher nodded once more,
waiting for Friedrich to speak again. “It says here you came from the occupied
territories, but you’re a German.”
 

“Yes, I was living in Jersey before
it was liberated by the German forces.”

“A blessed day I’m sure.” Friedrich
smiled, dropping the piece of paper back down onto the ledger, which he handed
to his driver. “As an SS officer, I’m sure you’re more than aware of the
importance of the job we have here.”
 

“Of course, Herr Rapportführer.”

Friedrich smiled and shook his head.
“Such a strange accent.” It was a fine September day and Christopher felt a
bead of sweat run down his back. His new uniform was tight around the shoulders
and he squirmed to free them from its grip. Somewhere there was a band playing,
Christopher could hear the strains of music, faint on the wind. “There are too
many tribes in Europe, too many differences, too much potential for conflict
and war. You only need look at the history of Europe to see the effect that
this has had. Do you study history, Herr Seeler?”

“Yes, Herr Rapportführer.”

“Of course you do. I’m sure that was
a large part of the reason you asked to be stationed here, to be at the nub of
history? I feel the same way myself. We have much in common, Herr Seeler.”
Christopher remained taciturn and nodded. “Principal among these tribes causing
trouble has always been the Jews. They’re responsible for this war. Facilities
such as this one are in place to make sure that wars like this one never happen
again. You understand that don’t you, Herr Seeler?”

“Yes, Herr Rapportführer, of course.”
Christopher looked into Friedrich’s grey eyes and then at a large concrete
building four hundred feet away, its massive chimney extending twenty feet into
the air spewing out thick black smoke. Christopher brought his eyes back around
to Friedrich who was speaking again. Christopher’s face remained stoical and grey,
not betraying any emotion.

“The point I’m trying to make is that
we must be hard as granite here.” Friedrich was staring at Christopher, as if
trying to look through his eyes. “This is something I tell all my new officers.
The work we do here is too important to be stained by any form of sympathy or
compassion for the prisoners.” He spat. “Any form of weakness, particularly
towards the prisoners themselves will not be tolerated. I need only hardened,
passionately committed SS men. Do you understand me, Herr Seeler?”

“Of course, Herr Rapportführer, I
understand very well.”

“Of course you do. Don’t think I
doubt you or your commitment to our cause. This is more of a word of warning
against the insidious nature of the Jew and how they prey on the cancer of
self-doubt.” Christopher felt his stomach tightening as Friedrich continued.
“Like all vermin, the Jew has learned to adapt, and with magnificent success.
They know how to read our emotions, to tap into our fears. That is why this is
the work that only a strong man could do, a man not susceptible to the vile
efforts of the Jew to undermine all that is good in the world. You must know
that any order that is given to you is done so with the good of the Reich in
mind and thus you must never question any order that you receive. Do you
understand all of this, Obersturmführer Seeler?”

“I welcome the task, Herr
Rapportführer.”

“Good, good, I thought you’d say
that. I have huge confidence in you and yours is a very important task. With
the expansion of our activities here we have the need of a dedicated officer in
charge of the redistribution of funds back to the Reich, and of course, this is
where you come in. You will oversee the Sonderkommando, the Jewish workforce we
have here, in their duties of sorting through the various goods and valuables
that we are able to reclaim. You will then sort these valuables and dispatch
them back to the Reich. Their safe passage will be your responsibility. I
appreciate that it might take a little time to come up with a system, but don’t
take too long. The needs of the camp are too great to put up with any kind of
laziness or inefficiency.”

They walked along the line of
warehouses. Christopher looked inside an open door. Inside there were perhaps
twenty women, sorting through suitcases with chalk markings scrawled on the
outside. They did not look up at him as he approached the door. Their eyes
remained rigidly on the suitcases in front of them. Every few seconds one of
them would step forward to pitch an armful of clothing into a massive pile or
to dispatch jewelry onto a long desk overseen by armed SS guards. And there were
thirty such warehouses.

Friedrich motioned to him to follow
and Christopher stepped out of the building, which he had walked into without
even realizing. “You will be in charge of these warehouses.” He pointed in the
general direction of the warehouses in front of them. “You will also be
responsible for the currency that comes out of all of the warehouses. Now,
needless to say, any corruption in this, or any other role will not be
tolerated by me, or the powers within the camp. The Political Department is
always watching. As you know, they have the power to search anyone at any time,
and are also constantly on the lookout for any unauthorized contact between the
SS themselves and any prisoners. If you are caught stealing, or embezzling, as
you accountants like to say, the punishment will be swift and harsh but I’m
sure there’ll be no need for anything like that.”

“Of course not, Herr Rapportführer.”
Christopher replied.

“Walk with me, Herr Seeler.”
Friedrich walked between two warehouses. Christopher scuttled to catch up with
him. It was strangely quiet outside of the warehouses. Christopher wondered
where all of the prisoners were. He had heard that there were thousands of
them. “So, had you heard of our facility before you were stationed here?”

“I had. My uncle told me about it. He
is an officer in the Wehrmacht, stationed on the Eastern front.”

“And how did he hear of the
camp?” Friedrich stopped to look at Christopher

 
“My uncle knew of my desires to serve the
Reich and researched where best I might be stationed.”

“Our work here, although of vital
importance cannot be spoken of. I have no need to remind you of the oath of
loyalty you took.”

“I remind myself of it every day,
Herr Rapportführer.”

“Good to hear young Herr Seeler. With
men like you here we will make the Führer proud.” They emerged from the third
row of warehouses in front of a large brick built building. It looked like a
massive farmhouse, stretching several hundred feet in length. “These buildings
you see here are new. They were only constructed two months ago, in July. This
is where you will be gathering the goods and belongings. This is a good time.
We have not received a shipment in a day or so. It’s always better to show new
people around when it’s empty. When we get a shipment in things can get a
little hectic around here.” Friedrich led Christopher toward the entrance to
the building, and past several prisoners. They seemed well fed and looked
relatively healthy. Each prisoner was carrying a tool of some sort, or pushing
an empty cart. None looked at Christopher as he walked past them. Friedrich led
Christopher inside a small anteroom. That room led straight into a large
changing room, with benches all along the walls and up the middle, complete
with hooks. Each was numbered. It was completely empty, windowless and the air
inside was thick. Christopher wanted to leave as soon as he walked in. “You
will organize the collection of the clothes and valuables of the undesirables
liquidated here.” The word ‘liquidated’ reverberated through Christopher and he
thought of Rebecca. Christopher felt his legs shaking beneath him and
immediately sat down. “This is no time to be taking a rest Herr Seeler. There
is much work to be done.” Christopher felt his legs bound back up and he
followed Friedrich back out through the anteroom, past the massive steel door
with the peephole and the sign that read; ‘Harmful gas! Entering endangers your
life.’

Christopher took the air outside deep
into his chest, filling his lungs. Friedrich was already walking ahead.
Christopher jogged to catch up with him, trying to slow down his breathing,
trying to control his pulse. “I’m sure you can see the nature of our work here
and why it is so sensitive.”

Christopher didn’t answer for a few
seconds but then caught himself. “Yes, Herr Rapportführer, sensitive and
important in equal measure.”

“Yes, that’s it. That is one of the
crematoria you will be drawing the repatriated goods from. There are three
others, soon there will likely be more. It seems that our work is never done here.”
Friedrich led Christopher back towards the car. “Your office is at the end of
these rows of warehouses but that also may change over time.” The driver
saluted as Friedrich approached and held the door open for the two men.
Christopher was shaking so much that he struggled to get into the car and had
to force himself to bend over, striking his head on the roof of the car as he
got in. Friedrich seemed not to notice. The drive to the end of the row of
warehouses took only a few seconds with Friedrich talking all the way,
something about responsibilities and honor but Christopher was not listening
anymore.

The car pulled up outside the
administration building. Christopher thought that it might have been quicker to
walk. Friedrich strode ahead of Christopher, still talking as he went, to a
wooden door with a large glass window. He stood back as Christopher opened it
and then he walked inside.
 
There
were three other men in the room, and all looked up as Christopher entered.
Friedrich led him though the room to a door to a private office and brought him
inside. There was a wooden desk with a large safe behind it. There were bookshelves
filled with files and ledgers on the walls and a window. The desk was clean
except for a telephone and a stack of papers in the corner. “This will be your
office, although I expect you will spend much of your time in the warehouses
and crematoria I just showed you.” They walked back out to where the other men
were sitting. “Let me introduce you to your support staff.” The other three men
stood up. “Firstly this is Karl Flick.” A portly man with glasses stepped
forward and shook Christopher’s hand. Flick’s palm was cold and wet and
slithered off Christopher’s hand. Wolfgang Breitner stepped forward, a small
man with a large nose, who smiled as he greeted Christopher. Last was Toni
Muller, a tall, serious looking man.

BOOK: Finding Rebecca: A Novel of Love and the Holocaust
2.48Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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