“Yes sir, General Paulus!” I said, picking myself up and grabbing
hold of my nearby Gewehr 98.


“We have some Jews hiding in this village and are executing them
soon. You are to join in the festivities,” said the General as he marched off
towards the “festivities”. As I watched the General walk away, I suddenly heard
the sound of crunching snow. In a split second I whirled around, cocked my 98,
and raised it with my finger on the trigger.


“Hey, Leon, cool it, I'm not a Jew or a Russian. Lower your damn
rifle!” It was Corporal Lukas Adler.


“What the hell do you want?” I replied, lowering my rifle.


“Are you going to be an Aryan today? We got plenty of Jews to
satisfy your blood-lust,” Adler said with a smile.


“You know how I feel about Hitler's beliefs. It's all a crock of
shit. We aren't superior, if anything we are inferior because we were stupid
enough to start this goddamned war, all because of the bullshit an Austrian
spews,” I replied, pissed off.


“Yeah, I know. I'm only joking, so calm the hell down Leon. I
didn't come up here just to piss you off; I came to tell you to find a jacket.
We are going further into Soviet territory, Stalingrad, after the Jews are
taken care of. The General wants you down there,” Adler said with a smirk. With
that, Adler and I headed to the village for the executions.


Upon reaching the village, we saw eleven Jews; all lined up in a
row before a pit.... their grave.


“Fertig! Feuer!” The execution command is given by the General,
and without delay, gunfire pierces the silence of the occupied village. Ten
bodies drop into the pit before them, but one, a little boy, doesn't fall. His
executioner missed the boy, on purpose, just to see the horror in the boy's
face a bit longer. The boy begins to cry, tears streaming down his face as he
stares at the cruel smile on the face of his torturer. The soldier was Ubel
Tarea, a man who joined the Army just to kill. With a sadistic smile, right
before the child, Ubel cocks his rifle, aims for the boy's forehead, and pulls
the trigger. The boy's small body crumples in an instant, and mere moments
later, Ubel kicks the corpse into the pit, spitting on it as he turns to leave
his sinful work behind.


“That son of a bitch deserves to die, and if I get the chance, I
will do it,” I said, with my fist clenched, blood dripping from my palms. “If
Hitler isn't pure evil, then he is.”


“They are both evil, but Hitler is the puppeteer, Tarea, the
puppet. But that puppet, it takes enjoyment from the things the hand orders.
Kind of makes you wish you were blind, doesn't it, seeing things like that?”
Adler said, trying to lighten the atmosphere.


“Whatever, come on, the puppeteer wants us to go to Stalingrad
now, so let's go,” I said as I turned and walked to join up with the rest of
the 6th Army, with Adler in step with me.


Around one o'clock, the 6th Army approached another village, another
deserted village. Once again the Russians had withdrawn further into their
territory, towards Moscow, destroying everything they left.


“We are 20 kilometers from Stalingrad! Sixth Army will gather its
strength here before it rains its almighty lightning upon Stalingrad!” the
General said as he set his gear down.


“What is this place?” Adler asked,


“Just another ghost town in this frozen hell we call Russia,” I
replied, knowing we had another freezing night ahead of us.


“Balthazar, Adler! You two, scout the village, and if you find
anything useful, report it!” the General ordered. Following the order, Adler
and I set forth into the silence of the frozen ghost town.


“I'm thinking of deserting. I'm tired of all of this bullshit;
there is no reason for this war. All I want is to go home to Adelita and Aria,
get out of this cold, and stop being a tourist in Hell. Tonight before the 6th
moves on Stalingrad, I'm leaving,” I confessed to Adler. “I'm going to stock on
what I can, and then I'm leaving, and you can come if you want.”


“But you know what Hitler does to deserters! He will have you
killed, and there are plenty here, Tarea for example, who will gladly kill
anyone for the Fuhrer!” Adler replied, trying to dissuade me.


“I don't care. They can hunt me all they want, but I'm going back
to Adelita, I'm going back to Charleroi and getting my family. I'm going to
leave Germany. Perhaps go to America or Argentina, or someplace other than
Europe!”


“Then I'm going with you. I miss my family too, and I also don't want
to stay in Hell. We can both move our families. I want to be back with Anna as
much as you do Adelita!”


“Fine, but we have to prepare. We wouldn't make it back to Germany
as we are now. And I've told you, I am dealing with Tarea.”


When Adler and I returned to the rest of the Army, it was already
nightfall, the worst cold of the day was setting in. Adler and I were leaving
soon, but there were things to be dealt with. I needed to inform Adelita of my
defection. I wrote a letter to her, one I knew she would receive before I
returned, but not soon after I sent it. This is what I wrote:




 My Heart and Soul,




I miss you so much, and so, I am returning to you. I am returning
very soon to be back in your arms. When you finish this letter, prepare
yourself and Aria. We may be out of contact for a while, but you are always in
my heart. Adler will be with me as well, so inform Anna of our “return” as
well. We will be going on a “vacation”. I will be with you soon.




 Ich liebe Dich unendlich




Leon




 


I wish I could have written more, but the less, the better. In the
event that the Nazis read it, they will not be aware of my plans. As I inserted
the letter into an envelope, I saw Adler running towards me, excitement upon
his face.


“We will have more companions for our trip. They are trustworthy
men, and they want to leave this place as well,” Adler said. “It is Hans,
Adolpho, Igor, and Ivan. They believe what we do and want to come with us.
Adolpho is a Half-Track engineer, so we now have transportation. Our plan is coming
together, and we can leave as soon as you are ready.”


“Alright, and Paulus knows nothing of this, right?” I asked.


“Not one bit. The others are preparing now and are anxious to
leave. The Half-Track is filled and we can leave immediately.”


“Then we leave at midnight, when the Army is asleep. In the
meantime, I have things to take care of.” With that, Adler and I parted ways.
We were to leave in three hours. And I had business to attend to before
leaving.


I found Tarea alone, polishing his Kar98k, the same weapon that
had earlier ended the life of the innocent Jewish boy. I had vowed to stop
Tarea's cruelty, and I would. I raised my 98, and cocked it. At the sound,
Tarea spun around to be face to face with me. He had not prepared his weapon.


“What are you doing Balthazar?” Tarea asked with crazed interest.
“You are going to end me? Is it because of the Jew? I know how you love Jews.”


“Son of a bitch, you murdered that boy in cold blood! You are no
soldier just following orders! No man should enjoy war, but you do. You are no
man, no human. You are like Hitler; you are evil incarnate!” I said, my blood
beginning to boil, as a twisted smile was spread wide across Tarea's face. He
was enjoying this, hearing of his evil. No remorse, he was the night's infinite
darkness, with no chance of a dawn. He needed to be stopped. “I can't let you
do that again.” I squeezed off one round, the bullet entering his skull. His
body dropped, and on his face, there was that same smile, the smile of the
Devil. Now, I could go home, but not as the same Leon that Adelita knew. War
had changed me. It destroyed me.


I stepped up into the Half-Track, all eyes on me. “Let's go.” I
started my day in Heaven, and I was ending it in Hell. The only silver lining
of Hell, was the hope that I would soon be saved.