The Auslander by Paul Dowswell Page B

Who would not be seduced by such a prospect of wealth and power?
    Now, as they had been trained to do, the boys all stood with their right arms raised and chanted ‘SieG HEIL, SieG HEIL, SieG HEIL’, like a great wave of sound, always in groups of three, until Axmann gestured for them to stop.
    Now came the most important moment of the ceremony, the oath of allegiance.
    The loudspeakers boomed out.
    â€˜I SWEAR THAT I WILL SERVE THE FÜHRER ADOLF HITLER FAITHFULLY . . .’
    The boys all chanted confidently along. They had practised this moment, each of them, in private and in their clubhouses and meeting halls. Peter felt his heart swell with pride.
    â€˜I SWEAR THAT I WILL ALWAYS STRIVE FOR THE UNITY AND COMRADESHIP OF GERMAN YOUTH.
    â€˜I SWEAR OBEDIENCE TO THE Hitler-Jugend LEADER AND TO ALL LEADERS OF THE Hitler-Jugend .
    â€˜I SWEAR ON OUR HOLY FLAG THAT I WILL ALWAYS BE WORTHY OF IT, SO HELP ME GOD.’
    Now he was truly one of them. He belonged in this mighty throng. Peter felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. He had never felt anything like this in church.
    With the ceremony over, the boys dispersed. Hertz grabbed Peter by the arm. ‘Where is Segur?’ he said angrily. Peter shook his head. His friend had vanished, probably off to the stand to greet his parents. ‘What on earth was happening during the Reichs-jugend-führer’s speech?’
    Peter was annoyed with Segur, too, but he wasn’t going to betray his friend. So he looked the squad leader straight in the eye and with great seriousness said, ‘I am sorry, Hertz. I think Segur was overcome with emotion at this great moment in his life.’
    Hertz had been some distance from the boys. He would have to give Segur the benefit of the doubt.
    â€˜Very well,’ he said. ‘But you can tell your friend I am watching him. And you. If I have any cause to doubt your National Socialist spirit, I will be happy to report your failings to the Gestapo.’
    Peter was about to protest his own innocence, but Hertz had already disappeared into the milling crowd. Peter felt affronted, being challenged like this, but he wasn’t going to let it spoil the moment. Peter felt proud to be in the Hitler-Jugend . The uniform made him feel like a real soldier. A real grown-up. Now he was a full member he had even been given a ceremonial dagger. He felt the weight of it on his belt. The black textured handle with its swastika emblem balanced perfectly with the shiny steel blade. On the hilt was engraved in Gothic lettering Treve bis in den Tod – Faithful unto Death – and on the blade itself Blut und Ehre – Blood and Honour. And that blade was sharp.
    As he walked towards the stand to join the Kaltenbachs he hoped he would be able to live up to that ideal. They greeted him with affectionate hugs, even Frau Kaltenbach. ‘Peter, you look every inch the political soldier,’ she told him proudly. Traudl and Charlotte were desperate to see his new dagger, though their mother told them it was not to be taken from its sheath. Only Elsbeth was missing. She was working. Peter felt a twinge of disappointment.

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    CHAPTER 12
    November 1941
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    Almost every day, the Kaltenbachs would gather round the radio to listen to another special news bulletin. Each one was trailed an hour or two in advance, each one introduced with a grand orchestral fanfare. Each one told of further successes in the east, as three German armies penetrated further and further into Soviet Russia. First it had been Byelorussia and the Ukraine, the great cities of Odessa and Kiev, Smolensk and Novgorod. Then Kursk and Kharkov, and now, unbelievably, German soldiers encircled Leningrad and were almost at the gates of Moscow.
    Peter enjoyed seeing the elation and excitement on their faces. ‘Has there ever been a more electrifying time to be alive?’ said Professor Kaltenbach to them all. ‘The Führer said that we had merely