Never make friends with the enemy.

Robert Hogan thought he knew better than to break that rule.

When you got close enough to remember they were human, you got too close.

It snuck up on him very slowly;

When he first arrived at the camp, he regarded every German with hostility,

And he didn't talk to them unless he had to.

However, recently he had begun to notice things that made it clear –

He was too close.

He actually looked forward to his weekly chess games with Klink,

And he liked to talk to Shultz about mundane things,

Genuinely caring about older guard who treated them like younger cousins.

Sometimes it seemed he forgot there was a war on,

And he was supposed to hate these people.

Stopping them from heading to the Russian Front was no longer just for the operation,

He realized he'd be genuinely sad if they left.

And, if ordered,

He wasn't sure he could get rid of them.

But that's what happens when you get too close.