Hammelburg, Gestapo Headquarters, Office of Major Wolfgang Hochstetter
September 13, 1943, 1400 hours

Major Wolfgang Hochstetter was an angry man. Major Hochstetter was always an angry man. Someone once told him he must have been born with a scowl on his face. That someone is no longer alive.

This time, Hochstetter had a reason to be angry. Only a week ago, he had the chance to apprehend three Russians. In the end, he wound up with none of them. Sure, he did allow two of them to leave, even giving them travel authorizations. But later, when he had the chance to have them detained in Leipzig for him, a Major in the Leipzig Gestapo office refused to cooperate.

Then he had the chance to take a Russian prisoner of war from that imbecile Klink. The Abwehr ended up taking that prisoner away from him. It was small consolation that he found out that the prisoner was shot while trying to escape. No, the point was that he didn't get the pleasure of interrogating the prisoner himself.

So Major Hochstetter fumed. He felt that he did not get the respect that he deserved. He was the head of the Gestapo office in the Hammelburg area, but that didn't seem to matter to the people in other areas. He was chastised by Major Freitag from Leipzig and insulted by Major Wagner from the Abwehr in Berlin. His superiors didn't seem to know he existed, until something went wrong.

Hammelburg was small. And although Hochstetter was in complete control in the area, he wanted more. He wanted people in higher places to show him the respect that he felt he deserved.

It had been a week since the disaster at the rocket research facility. He had mentioned only General von Rauscher in his report to Berlin, omitting any mention of the Russians that he had let go. The General had since been taken away for interrogation, and shot for being a saboteur. Berlin didn't even give Hochstetter the privilege of doing that himself.

Yes, Major Hochstetter was angry, and someone was going to pay the price for his anger.

He picked up some reports that had been put on his desk that morning. They detailed the investigations into the several acts of sabotage that had taken place in the area over the past week. Nothing. His men had found out nothing.

That made Hochstetter even angrier. Not only did Berlin show him no respect, they sent him idiots to staff his office.

Hochstetter knew who was responsible for all of the sabotage in the area, but he could not get anyone to listen to him. He had told anyone who would listen, and many who wouldn't, that it was the American Colonel Robert Hogan from Stalag 13 that was responsible. Berlin told him it was impossible, that nobody ever escaped from Stalag 13, and if Hogan did escape, why would he commit acts of sabotage and then return to the camp?

Berlin had finally told him to shut up, and find the real saboteurs. They told him that he should concentrate on infiltrating and breaking up the local underground, rather than harassing an American prisoner of war who couldn't have done anything. And they had told him that if he didn't like that assignment, he could just as easily try to shoot Russians on the Eastern Front.

So Major Hochstetter had quit telling people that he knew Hogan was responsible, and remained angry. This anger slowly turned to hatred. Hatred towards the man that he felt was responsible for ruining his chances at advancement, and the promotions that he knew he deserved. And this hatred settled into a resolve to get even with the man responsible, to finally expose the man for what he was. If he could do that, then the Generals in Berlin would see that he deserved a more prominent position.

But Colonel Hogan was a prisoner of war, and was protected by the Geneva Conventions. Unless Hochstetter could show that he was really a spy and a saboteur, he couldn't touch him without incurring the wrath of his superiors.

But Hochstetter had thought of a plan to force Hogan to expose himself. If Hochstetter could not intimidate Hogan physically, then he would try psychologically. If he could put enough pressure on Hogan, the man might slip up, and then Hochstetter would have him.

Just this morning, Hochstetter gave the order to begin this harassment. From now until the end of the war, Colonel Robert Hogan, senior prisoner of war at Luft Stalag 13, would no longer receive mail. All his incoming, and outgoing, mail would be given to Major Hochstetter.

Hochstetter smiled to himself. Let's see how you like that, Hogan. Let's see how you like being cut off from the outside world, with no communications with your loved ones.