The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
― Edmund Burke
Dietrich walked into a grubby bar in Berlin and sat down. "Ein Bier, bitte."
While he waited for his drink, he thought about what was happening to Germany. He had seen in the newspapers the terrible plight of the Jews. How ashamed he was to know his country had done that. The looks the Allied soldiers gave him hurt deeply. But who could blame them? He had not done as much to help the others as he should have. Many of his former fellow soldiers were being held as prisoners.
Honestly, Dietrich was afraid for them. How many would be killed in fits of anger by Allied soldiers? He had heard that many German POWs were being unfairly treated by the Allies. Just the week before, Dietrich had witnessed a former German soldier attacked and then killed. There had been nothing he could do to stop the brutality.
Dietrich hated the feeling of powerlessness. But really, he told himself, he should have become used to it, and long before Germany and the Reich had fallen.
After all, he'd been powerless to do anything for a very long time.
He had been called back to Berlin just before the war in North Africa had ended. Dietrich had hardly returned to a hero's welcome. The High Command had suspected him of being part of in a plot to assassinate Hitler, he had been lucky he had not met his end hanging from a meat hook. Instead, because of Dietrich's celebrity status, the High Command had chosen to promote him, and then, to sentence him to a desk job and a promotion to keep him quiet.
How he had hated that job! It had been such a humiliation.
Even Rommel had not been was not able to help Dietrich, because he too was under investigation. But at least, Dietrich hadn't been executed. After all, the High Command had already been planninged to discreetly murder Rommel. They couldn't arouse suspicion by the "mysterious death" of yet another famous war hero.
After the war had ended, he had been pardoned and freed due to the fact he had provided the Allies with information, albeit a bit unwillingly.
The bartender set the beer down in front of Dietrich, interrupting his thoughts..
"Danke." Dietrich took a sip and grimaced. It was terrible.
Behind him a new voice spoke, "It is not to your liking?"
Dietrich turned around and came face to face with Sergeant Moffitt of the Rat Patrol. Next to him were the rest of the Rat Patrol, and surprisingly, Christina.
Dietrich swallowed his surprise along with a mouthful of the foul beer. Quickly hiding his surprise he replied, "It is quite bad."
"Then perhaps you would not object to this." From his pack, Moffitt produced a carefully wrapped bundled. With a flourish, he removed the protective covering to reveal a bottle of very good champagne.
Dietrich eyed the champagne suspiciously. "What is this for?" he asked.
"Does the name Hauptmann Wanasee ring a bell?"
They knew about that! "It sounds familiar," Dietrich said, keeping both his voice and his expression carefully neutral. "But, what does he have to do with me?"
"Come now, Captain. Don't give me that. You were the only one who could have shot him. Rest assured, I'm not here to get you in any trouble."
Dietrich tried to change the subject. He looked at Christina. "How are you enjoying Berlin?"
Christina smiled. "It is a lovely city."
"Can we get back to the original topic, please?" asked Moffitt. "We're not here to chitchat."
"No? Then why are you here? Surely you did not track me down just to give me champagne."
"We need your help. We need you to testify against a Captain Krause," Troy explained.
"What do you need me for? The Lieutenant," Dietrich inclined his head at Christina, "was the one abused."
"That's why Christina is here." Troy nodded. "We'll use her, too. She'll testify. But, we also need you."
"I am afraid I still don't quite understand."
"We're quite certain Krause was is behind an order to kill all the Jewish soldiers he had captured. We need you to talk to the men under him and try and verify that fact."
"You do not need me for that." Dietrich looked at Moffitt. "At least one of you speaks reasonable German."
Moffitt snorted at the near insult. "Reasonable, eh?"
Troy held up his hand. "Moffitt would do it himself; but the court said it had to be someone who would not threaten or intimidate the men."
It did make some a degree of sense to Dietrich. "But then, you also expect me to testify against the man myself?"
"Yep," said Troy. " In other words, you. You're are a German officer, your testifying against another officer will hold more weight than if we did it alone. You'll bury them."
Dietrich narrowed his eyes. He wondered if Troy understood what he was asking. "What makes you think I will agree to do it?"
"Because you're a good man," said Tully.
"And, an honorable soldier," Moffitt added.
"Honor?" Dietrich stiffened. "You are talking to me about my honor? I am afraid you are giving me far more credit than is due."
Five pairs of eyes looked at Dietrich with curiosity.
"Let me tell you a story. When Hitler first took over Germany, I saw right through him. But I was too concerned about my military career to try to do anything to stop him. That night, that awful night which began the hell and the horror of it all, the night of Kristallnacht, I was there," Dietrich said. "Did you know that? I stood there and I did not do anything to stop them! Where was my honor then, I ask you?"
Moffitt shook his head slowly in protest. "You're not to blame, not for any of those things."
"Am I not?" Dietrich dismissed the well-meaning words with a wave of his hand. "There is far more to this story, I am afraid. When they burned all those forbidden books, I was there. When they ordered all the Jews to wear stars, I was there. The only thing I did not do, was commit all these acts myself. I knew Hitler was wrong. But slowly, I persuaded myself that there was nothing I could do, that it was enough that I was not partake in them myself. I swiftly rose through the ranks. I was used for propaganda promoting the Third Reich. During all this, I never did anything to help the unfortunate people around me. Eventually, I met Field Marshall Rommel. He showed me what being a soldier meant. It didn't mean following someone else's orders blindly. It meant caring for your country and trying to protect it. When I got sent to North Africa, I promised myself no matter what happened, I would never sink to the methods of some of my fellow officers. I even tried to assist in a plot to assassinate Hitler. When I was called back to Germany, I was given a desk job and a promotion and told to keep quiet. I didn't, and helped the few remaining Jews to escape. I gave them money and a safe house. But it was all too little, and too late. What exactly does that make me?"
"I'd say it makes you an honorable man, Captain," Troy said finally, having digested Dietrich's story.
"I didn't do anything to stop Hitler before that. How can you call me honorable?"
"Because," said Hitch, " If you had no honor, you would' have continued to do nothing. And, you did something, didn't you? At least, what you could."
The rest of them nodded their agreement with Hitch's statement.
"What's it going to be, Captain?" Troy looked Dietrich in the eye. "Maybe you couldn't do anything to stop all of the awful things that the Nazis and Hitler did, but now, you can see justice done."
Dietrich looked intently at all of them. At last, he spoke. "Alright, I will do it."
Moffitt smiled. "Thank you, Captain." He called to the barkeep and flashed him a few Reichsmarks.
As improbable as it was, within moments crystal flutes appeared before them.
After Moffitt had filled them. He raised his own his champagne glass. There was a twinkle in his eye which rivalled the sparkle of the champagne. "To the man who saved my life."
"Hear, Hear," the rest of them echoed.
Dietrich smiled slightly and nodded, neither declining or accepting the credit he was being given. Even with the war over, somethings were better left a mystery.
"When and where shall I report tomorrow?" Dietrich asked.
"At 07:00 in the Allied Headquarters. That is where Krause and his men will be brought for interrogation. After we are done with them, they will be sent back to Dachau until the trial."
"Very well, gentleman. I will be there." Dietrich saluted and left.