Story 6
Stalag 13 used to be cold.
Helga remembered when she first started working there as a secretary. It was a chilly, grey day in October of 1941.
She had heard that Allied prisoners were dangerous, and her mother had lamented that a pretty young woman like her would be at risk. As she arrived on her first day, she stood outside the front gate and warily watched as groups of men in worn, ragtag uniforms milled about the compound. When she stepped inside, she tightened her grip on her cloak, hoping to avoid any unwanted attention. Barely anyone bothered to look at her and the few that did didn't even flinch. She was struck by the thought that these were more like ghosts than men- lifeless, dull, and hollow; wandering, aimlessly and without purpose.
A big guard with a kind smile had walked her across to the Kommandant's office. When she thanked him for his protection, he just shook his head with an odd hint of sadness. "You do not need to worry about the prisoners," he had said. "Their fire is gone. The Kommandant…" He'd left it at that. It didn't take long for her to form her own opinion about the Kommandant.
Colonel Ruger was a hard, cruel man- a dyed-in-the-wool Nazi. He didn't think it was enough just to make the prisoners' lives miserable. No. Instead, he amused himself of new ways to break them, humiliate them, and beat them down.
In such conditions, she expected far more escape attempts, but the very few that occurred were dealt with ruthlessly.
It looked like they were in for a long, dark winter. But there was an unexpected thaw that Christmas- the Americans had entered the war. And for the first time since she started working there, she saw a prisoner smile. An actual, genuine smile.
Ruger, of course, couldn't let that happen, and the conditions became even more unbearable. Helga felt so sorry for these men- her enemies- that she sometimes smuggled in a few rolls of bread and let them fall out of her large coat pockets as she walked through the compound in the morning. They were always gone when she left that evening, and since she never got in trouble, she assumed they had found their way to a hungry man, and not an attentive guard.
Spring came early in 1942.
The camp warmed up, and not because of the weather.
Ruger was called away to a camp in the East, and a new man, Colonel Klink, took his place. Klink was a gentleman. While he often made a big show for his superiors about how tough he was, in reality he was a man who believed in the rules of war and the humane treatment of prisoners.
The prisoners took advantage of the change. There were more escape attempts, but each was stopped thanks to the experience and tenacity of the guards. Naturally, Kommandant Klink would get furious, but he didn't do anything harsher than sending the offending men to the cooler- infinitely preferable to Ruger's usual punishments.
The camp felt lighter, less dangerous. And it wasn't long before Helga heard the occasional laugh float in through her office window.
A warm summer's breeze swept over the camp with the arrival of Colonel Hogan.
The American was young and charming and, strange though it sounded, he actually seemed excited to be there- as if he was about to start some sort of adventure. Being an officer, he often met with Klink, which meant he saw her everyday. And she'd be lying if she said his smile didn't make her melt.
Things changed rapidly at Stalag 13. Some of the more experienced guards were transferred. But instead of taking advantage as they had before, escape attempts stopped completely. The prisoners busied themselves with sports and theatre productions and all sorts of other activities. It seemed they had accepted their fate and were trying to make the most of it.
And then, just as fall was setting in, there was a veritable heat wave. Suddenly Stalag 13 became a hotspot for visiting generals, experimental tanks, planes, and rockets. Nearby bridges blew up, trains were derailed, and dignitaries went missing. Somehow, Colonel Hogan always got himself involved and, somehow, things always went sideways for the German war effort. Considering how often Hogan asked her for information- which she willingly gave- she couldn't help but think that he was somehow behind all these occurrences.
"Fraulein?"
Helga snapped out of her thoughts and looked back up at the newly arrived Gestapo agent. He glared back impatiently.
"Bah, never mind," he said when she was too slow to answer. He left her desk and barged into Klink's office and immediately started yelling.
Helga bit her lip when she heard him announce his belief that Stalag 13 was actually a base for Allied sabotage missions and he was now making it his mission to root out the infamous Papa Bear- the most dangerous man in all of Germany.
She wasn't surprised when Colonel Hogan strolled into her office at that moment with a cheeky smile on his face and a fire in his eyes.
It seemed that, once again, the temperature at Stalag 13 was rising. She just hoped they didn't all get burned.