The things we do

This story is about a German who was taken by the Nazi's and forced to serve. It has another little gem in it too. Can you find the deeper meaning?

"This just in! Japan has bombed Pearl Harbor! This could mean that the United States will enter the War. Our führer says the following of the attack: "Japan has done something today. A great deed! They have detonated a bomb on a US naval base. So as of today, we are officially at war with America. Never have we been so united, and together we will get our reparations from the first great war! ". The radio played loudly throughout the living room where Christoffer and his family were listening. Mama said, "Good! It's about time those damn Americans learn their place! Heil Hitler!"

Father agreed, "Heil!" 

They stood and looked to Christoffer. 

He was quiet, "His useless wars will soon bring us down. We're merely chasing dreams."

Christoffer sister stood up and touched his upper arm ,"Brother, do not be like that. Show some German pride."

"Why should I show pride for a country that is digging itself into a rabbit hole? I will not! Screw Hitler! Screw German--"

Father slapped Christoff hard on the face, "Do not say that about this country!" There was a pause, "I will laugh and happily send you away if you get drafted."

Christoffer held his face and ran up the stairs away from his family. And soon there was a knock on the door. He was curious, so he tiptoed down the wooden stairs to see the door. He didn't want his family to see him, so he had to be careful. At the door were Nazi soldiers. Father was at the door with them talking. Seeing them filled Christoffer with rage and disgust so he got up and pushed his father from the door saying to the soldiers, "Stay away you filthy pigs! No one wants you here!"

He tried to slam the door, but the Nazi pushed it back open. He was an ugly bugger. And he had a younger Nazi with him. He said to Father, "This is your boy?"

Father looked at Christoffer with disgust, "No. He is not. Just a homeless boy." 

The old Nazi took Christoffer by the collar as Christoffer yelled, "Father, No! I'm sorry, No!" The door closed and the Nazi's threw him in the truck. Christoffer didn't want to go, he wanted to be home with his family. He tried to jump off before the large truck started, but he was held back. Eventually he stopped fighting. It was hopless.

***

1 MONTH LATER

"ATTENTION!" The commander paced back and forth. Today was Christoffer's first day stationed to a camp. He's been training for this moment. It seemed easy enough. They told him that the camp was a vacation home for them and he had to make sure they were safe. That's all he had to do. The commander continued, "This is Auschwitz, our finest camp!" Christoffer looked around, it was...empty? "All the Jews are in their bunks! Make sure they stay there. And if you see them come out," There was a pause, "Shoot them!" They were dismissed to patrol. There were pairs of SS guards paroling. Christoffer was paired with a man named Benjamin who seemed shy and scared. 

Christoffer said to Benjamin, "Are you afraid?"

Benjamin cleared his throat, "Of what? There's nothing to be afraid of. We have the guns here."

Chritoffer chuckled, "True, but will you use it?"

Benjamin hesitated, "Yes. Will you?"

"This place. It's a lie. They told us that the Jews were safe here. They're not safe."

"Why do you care? We just have to make sure they follow the rules. If they do then we don't have to shoot."

"I can't shoot them. They're people like you and I, they just have a different religion. I can't kill a person."

"Well, I can. And I will." 

They didn't talk after that. They just finished their shift and went to sleep for the night. The next morning, Christoffer was waken up by a random guard, "Get up. Commander wants to see you right away by roll call."

Christoffer nodded, "Time?"

"4:30." The guard left and Christoffer got up and dressed out to where  Commander was waiting. Christoffer saluted "Sir!"

Commander pulled out a Jewish boy from the mass of the crowd. They were all lined up outside. There must've been hundreds. Commander smiled wickedly, "Benjamin says you see this trash as a human. True?" Christoffer looked at the young, frightened boy. 

"I do sir!"

"You said you would not kill him?"

Christoffer began shaking with fear, the commander waited. Shakily he said, "Yes sir."

Commander took the boy harshly in front of all those in roll call and in front of the soldiers. He let the boy go and stepped away, looking to Christoffer "Shoot. Now!"

Christoffer looked to his commander, "Please sir! Next time, I will!"

Commander stepped into his face, "Shoot! Or I will and you'll be joining him.'

Christoffer left out a shaky breath. he closed his eyes and raised his gun. He couldn't bare look at what he was about to do. After a little bit he slowly started to pull the trigger until it fired. He heard the boy's body fall to the ground as he cried. Commander smiled in pleasure, "Congratulations Soldier! Now, it wasn't to bad was it?"

Christoffer couldn't look at the body, do he turned away, "No sir." Murderer.

Author's Note

Did you find it? If you did then congrats! Enjoy and I'm sorry for any mistakes in grammar or spelling.:) I tried not to use Christoffer's father/mama on purpose btw and commander is also on purpose.

Reviews

[Carol Cashes]

I've just come back from a 6 week involuntary hiatus and read your message about reading your work. Since I'm only 2 days unemployed (not a bad thing - an AWESOME thing!) my brain is still adjusting to reading material of my choosing, so I'm going to venture a quick guess regarding the gem:

"Never have we been so united, " This was touted after 9/11 and now, by avid (rabid?) Trump supporters. War has always been used to unify people in a common cause and there's an old saying that our young men are merely cannon fodder for old men's wars.

I loved the plot and story line. It reads like you have some personal perspective on the German psyche at that time--a grandmother or someone? I'm sure this scenario played out many, many times in Germany. Good name choices - especially like the German spelling of "Christoffer".

None of us can really say what we would do in Christoffer's place that last morning...we like to think we would have the strength of our convictions, but when faced with that type of choice, the will to live/survive is as strong as it was in the beginning of time.

There are some minor grammar/spelling issues, but I will only point them out if you want me to--let me know.

Because I've been away, I have currently 120+ Read Requests, so I'm going to "spread the love" but I will be returning to your work--I, too, write short stories and have only attempted a few poems that were inspired by the talent here and emboldened me to try my hand.

As for my work, I think, based on this story, you would enjoy Family Plots, The Last Winter, and The Terrorist.