The next morning provides an even more unpleasant start of the day than the previous one for Hauptmann Hans Dietrich. Two pairs of arms grab his shoulders roughly and drag him from his cot to his knees on the floor. Dazed and confused from the rough awakening, he tries to gain a look at who is entering the cell now. "Hauptmann Dietrich. Ein guter Morgen, finden Sie nicht?", Waldheim's silky voice mocks him about this being a good morning. Metzlich wordlessly steps to his other side and places a bucket half-full with water in front of him. After his experience with the salty water, Dietrich trusts him even less than before and instinctively jerks away from the vessel. The hands holding him tightly, force him forward now.
"Dietrich, ich gebe Ihnen noch eine Chance zu gestehen", Waldheim praises his own mock generosity of offering Dietrich a last chance to confess. If he would have enough spittle left, the Hauptmann would have spit in the SS officer's face. But his mouth feels parched enough without losing any more fluid purposefully. Settling with a murderous glare directed at the SS Obersturmbannführer, Dietrich mentally prepares himself for the torture to come.
Waldheim now openly turns into the dangerous predator he is, changing his stance from casual to ferocious, as he yanks Dietrich's head back by a bunch of hair he has grabbed. "Ein Judenfreund in der Familie ist ein Pech, das passieren kann. Aber ein Zweiter ... Das hat System." As the SS officer rambles about his theory that a single 'friend of Jews' is a misfortune, but two make up a system, as Dietrich remains silent. "Nun, Hauptmann Dietrich, was haben Sie zu den Vorwürfen gegen Sie zu sagen abgesehen von gar nichts?", Waldheim mocks him about his silence. But, knowing that nothing Dietrich could say would improve his situation, he decides to conserve his energy and strength.
In spite of knowing what would await him, Hans Dietrich instinctively struggles against the force pushing his head under water. He focuses on keeping his breathing under control, even though he knows that it will be to no avail, as they want his breath to run out. As his body's instinct takes over forcing him to struggle to breath in spite of nothing but water entering his lungs, it feels like forever until they pull him out of the water. Dietrich is coughing up some of the water, one of the most precious ressources out here in the desert, so leisurely abused for a senseless torture. "Haben Sie nicht gestern noch um Wasser gebeten? Sehen Sie, wie wir Ihre Wünsche erfüllen, Hauptmann", Waldheim cruelly mocks the Afrikakorps officer about having asked for water for his survival only yesterday and now being served more than enough. To turn this element of survival against him as a torture device is a particularly cruel streak in Hans Dietrich's eyes.
Metzlich, the brute, grabs a handful of Dietrich's hair and pulls his head back. "Hast du uns was zu sagen, Verräter?" Defiance has not fully abandoned Hans Dietrich. As he remembers countless interrogations he has conducted with the Rat Patrol, above all with Sergeant Troy, he decides to adopt their approach, if only to spite Metzlich into beating him unconscious and hopefully landing him in medical attention. "Dietrich, Hans. Hauptmann der 5. Leichten Division des Deutschen Afrikakorps", he recites before adding his ID number. His jibe does not miss its target, as Metzlich backhands him violently and deals a few more strikes to the Captain, before Waldheim reigns his officer in. "Wir wollen ihn nicht unmbringen... zumindenstens nicht, bevor er gestanden hat." How comforting for Dietrich to hear that they do not intend to kill him until after his confession.
Their morning session of interrogation about his cousin Elisabeth Wolf and Hans' connections to her and the resistance end after two more hours of meaningless torture of the Hauptmann who would not even have been able to confess anything, even if he would have wanted to. The session is finally concluded with Dietrich being dragged to the medical area, barely conscious or aware of his change of surroundings. Starting his recitation of name, rank, unit and ID number for the umptieth time, Dietrich gets interrupted by Doktor Sommer's frantic voice demanding him to stop: "Hauptmann Dietrich. Hören Sie auf. Sie sind auf der Krankstation." Confused, the Captain blinks trying to regain enough focus of his gaze to recognise his environment.
After a change of the bandage on his shoulder, gulping an aspirin against the pain and having rested for a while, Dietrich is recovered enough to think and speak coherently again. Doktor Sommer whispers: "Haben Sie von Tobruk gehört?" Dietrich frowns at the strange question whether he has heard about Tobruk reminding the MD that they have both fought in the capture of Tobruk. "Wir beide haben an der Eroberung im Mai teilgenommen, Doktor." Doktor Sommer takes a deep breath. "Hauptmann, Tobruk ist gestern gefallen." After their losses at El Alamein and the constant retreat forced onto them, Dietrich is not as surprised as the Doktor that Tobruk has fallen. He would have hoped that they would be able to keep the strategically important port and fort, but Hans Dietrich is well aware how thinly stretched German supplies are, as well as how exhausted the troops are. Retreating from this oasis is only a matter of time. Even the SS cannot withstand reality. If only he could hold out long enough, until Rommel's forces arrive on their retreat.
As if on cue, Metzlich enters the medical unit and his smile turns sadistic, as he sees Dietrich awake. If he would ever have the chance to get at him, the Hauptmann is silently vowing revenge. For now, he settles with glaring at the SS officer, however the effect of his glare is greatly diminished by the bruises on his face. "Immer noch diese aufsässige Einstellung. Sie sind eine Schande für den deutschen Offiziersstand, Dietrich", the SS officer taunts his Wehrmacht equivalent that his defiant attitude makes Dietrich a disgrace for any German officer. Gritting his teeth at the insult, Hans Dietrich meets the other man's eyes with a defiant stare nonetheless.
The SS officer finally averts his eyes and motions to one of his guards to escort the Afrikakorps officer out of the room. As Dietrich passes him by, the man whispers in his ear: "Nun werden wir uns über Ihre eigene Taten unterhalten. Sie dürfen sich freuen, Herr Hauptmann." Finally, they would move to questioning Dietrich about his own deeds rather than his cousin's. Even though he has anticipated this, Metzlich's ironic words that he should look forward to this send a shiver down his spine.
Obersturmbannführer Waldheim lets Hauptmann Dietrich take a seat in front of his office desk, formerly Dietrich's. With due formality as would have been appropriate for a high inquisitor, he draws the file folder from his briefcase and opens it at a seemingly random page. With a grave voice the SS officer starts to read: "Hauptmann Hans Dietrich legt Beschwerde ein gegen das Verhalten von Major Jan Osterbrink wegen Unterwanderung von Generalfeldmarschall Rommels Befehl, von Ausschreitungen gegen die Zivilbevölkerung abzusehen." Dietrich remembers to have protested against the Major ordering to have several Jewish inhabitants of a neutral town harassed and marked with yellow cloths with the star of David.
Waldheim switches the page and reads from a different passage: "...standen wir einer Übermacht an Arabern und Beduinen gegenüber. Unter den gegebenen Umständen hat keine Alternative bestanden als die, mit den Soldaten der Rattenpatrouille einen temporären Waffenstillstand einzugehen. Der gemeinsame Feind konnte dadurch neutralisiert werden und alle zu dem Zeitpunkt noch lebenden deutschen Soldaten konnten unbehelligt zu ihrer Einheit zurückkehren." Dietrich frowns at his report about the necessity of a temporary truce with the Rat Patrol to fight off an overwhelming hoard of bedouin fighters who have also killed their local negotiator.
Without asking a single question, Waldheim continues his reading of reports either of Dietrich describing run-ins with the Rat Patrol, situations where he has formed temporary truces and alliances with either natives or enemy soldiers for the protection of his men and their supplies. These are interceded by either his own filed complaints against superior or SS officers who have behaved in an unnecessarily cruel way or harassed and endangered innocent civilians, women and children mainly, or complaints of lower ranking officers against him for agreeing to truces or avoiding "proper marking of the Jewish populace".
During the three hours of staged tirade Hans Dietrich has been constantly on edge, fully expecting Metzlich to throw a fist at him at any given time. Finally, the Obersturmbannführer looks up from the file he has read and focuses on Dietrich with a malevolent stare. "Ihre Rechtfertigung, auf Befehl des Generalfeldmarschalls Rommel agiert zu haben, haben wir oft genug gehört, Hauptmann Dietrich. Verrat unter dem Deckmantel von Ritterlichkeit bleibt dennoch Verrat." Wiping away Dietrich's frequently repeated justification to have acted according to Fieldmarshal Rommel's orders, before he can repeat it, Waldheim summarises his attitude of the Hauptmann's behaviour as treason cloaked in chivalry. Hans Dietrich glares at him in righteous indignation over such a casual declaration of his code of honor as treason.
"Bei allem Respekt, Herr Oberstrumbannführer, es ist mir unverständlich, wie es Verrat am Vaterland ist, Zivilisten für ihre Arbeit und Güter zu bezahlen anstatt sie zu zwingen oder zu berauben oder gar zu ermorden. Würden Sie das mit deutschen Zivilisten tun?" Even though Dietrich starts his statement with 'all due respect' which he does not possess in the least for the SS officer his tone turns more defiant with every spoken word. At first he questions in what way paying civilians for work and goods rather than forcing, raiding or murdering them is treason to his homeland, then spins the question around asking whether the SS officers would do the same things to German civilians which finally earns him the long awaited strike from Metzlich.
"Der Gefangene ist weder einsichtig noch reumütig", Waldheim speaks his assessment of the prisoner as neither reasonable nor repentant as if the Hauptmann was not even present. "Wie sieht das mit den Waffenstillständen und Verhandlungen mit feindlichen Truppen aus? Haben Sie dafür auch eine so einsichtige Begründung, Herr Hauptmann?", he casually interrogates after having stopped Metzlich's beating by simply raising his hand. "Wir kämpfen in einem Krieg, Herr Obersturmbannführer, den Feldmarschall Rommel zu einem Krieg ohne Hass erklärt hat. Dazu gehören Feuerpausen, Waffenstillstände und unsere Kriegsgefangenen ehrenhaft zu behandeln, denn sonst müssten unserer eigenen Männer fürchten, nach einer Schlacht gemeuchelt anstatt gefangen genommen oder gemäß internationaler Abkommen anständig behandelt zu werden." Repeating Rommel's common phrase of a 'war without hate' and the German treatment of their enemies reflecting directly on how their own soldiers would be treated after battle or as POW.
Apparently, neither Waldheim nor Metzlich like his argument or his defiant tone, as Dietrich finds himself dunked into a water bucket very soon. With almost morbid sentiment, the notion that valuable water is wasted in such a way crosses his mind, as he struggles for breath.
"Dann gibt die Vorwürfe, die Frau General König wie auch viele andere gegen Sie erhoben haben", Waldheim reminds the drenched and wheezing Hauptmann of Mrs. König's and others' accusation that he is often the last man standing after one of the Rat Patrol's raids, because he is actively aiding them. "Ich kann Ihnen nicht sagen, weshalb sie mich nicht schon längst getötet haben, obwohl sie vielfach die Gelegenheit dazu hatten. Die Sentimentalität der Amerikaner ist ihre wahre Schwäche", Dietrich actually answers completely truthfully that he does not know why the Rats have left him alive in spite of many chances to kill him, arguing that sentimentality is the true weakness of the Americans.
But the truth neither is believed nor earns him his freedom of the charges he is innocent of. On the contrary, Metzlich treats him as harshly as possible without causing permanent damage and not risking too kill him too soon.
By the end of the day, Hans Dietrich would almost have looked forward to the Rat Patrol marching in and wreaking havoc among the SS. How the mighty have fallen, Dietrich muses with self-irony, as Metzlich dunks his face into the water bucket for the umptieth time. His vision has started to blur a while ago, his other senses mostly as well. Only a small tunnel of awareness remains for him and the black walls are closing in with terrifying speed, until blackness is the only thing remaining.