They swayed like branches in the wind …

JT Twissel

This one’s for Charlie Dills

There have been many movies made about life in post WWII Germany (The Third Man, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, etc., etc.) that portrayed American GIs who stayed behind as profiteers or spies. The reality is, many were broken men who didn’t want to pretend the world would ever be free from evil. They worked for the Army, mostly in logistics, married European women, adopted European traditions and spent too much time at the Officer’s Club enjoying Happy Hour every night.

Occupied Germany, circa 1970

As a nineteen year old hippy dippy (love will save the world!) I loved hearing their stories and I think they were amused by my naivete. To a point and then I’m sure I was very annoying. It’s one thing to read about the millions of people – Jews, Catholics, Poles, Roma, Sinti, Soviets POWs, gays, priests, members of the resistance – targeted for elimination by the Nazis. It’s quite another to talk to someone who helped liberate one of those camps.

“I saw thousands of people whom the Red Army has saved – people so thin that they swayed like branches in the wind, people whose ages one could not possibly guess.”

Boris Polevoy, correspondent for Pravda

So, on this eightieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, I’m remembering you Charlie Dills.

From my WIP which at this point is resting:

The train had passed through Switzerland on a cloudy night, thus, there had been little to see out the window, only the blur of lights as they’d passed through town after town without slowing down. Charlie’d watched her curiously for a while and then his eyes closed and his head slipped against the window. For the rest of the night he lay like a broken doll in that position. At one time, he’d probably been a handsome young man, she thought, like Gregory Peck, tall and dark with prominent features and soft eyes before the alcohol and cigarettes had taken their toll. Now he looked beyond repair.

Outside their cabin, the Italians partied all night long, laughing and sometimes arguing. Loudly and without a care for first class passengers who might want some shut eye. They were going home for the winter where presumably they’d have plenty of time to sleep. Riley didn’t know what awaited her except a long drive home through Switzerland with the saddest man on the planet.

18 thoughts on “They swayed like branches in the wind …”

  3. This reads like you found your voice, which is stuck in all its lilt between 1960-1970. Ring ring goes the phone, you answer, and the man say, can I speak to your mommy? Duke

    Reply

    1. The sad thing is the survivors are not going to be around that much longer – I only hope we can keep the memory of those places alive because it will become more difficult.

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    1. I don’t think I know that book – I’ll have to check it out. I’m ashamed to say that there are many people in my country who would like to see white supremacy become the dominant religion. I don’t see how they can make that happen but many people in Germany thought Hitler was a buffoon.

      Reply

      1. It’s a book by French philosopher Paul Ricoeur. I bought because of the title which is extraordinary. But I gave up around the middle. Too… outwordly, I might say. And I normally don’t balk at philosophy…
        Yes, it seems that would be a growing trend, not just in the US, alas.
        A buffoon who ravaged Europe, slaughtered 6 millions Jews, Gipsies, Gays…
        We seem to be back at square one. The problem is that the last time, America came to our rescue, now the buffoon IS in America…

      2. Trump was not elected by the majority of Americans – millions of qualified voters did not vote for whatever reason. Millions more are starting to regret their votes. He’s angered the high ranking military officers and members of the FBI. No doubt this country is in for some hard reckonings – I’m not sure we’ll survive but there will be fighting in the streets unlike you saw in Germany.

      3. That’s ‘good news’. Not living in the US, one does not have access to the ‘every day’ feeling. Speaking form outside, the fact that the military is ‘angry’ is good news… They might be the last barrier…
        And I believe America will survive. The American people are a strong nation. Some have been waylayed, but will come to their senses… Justice is one good avenue. There are hundreds of judges ready to fight.
        Be good.

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