Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Scribd
Upload
39 views

Free Writing II

The document describes Adolf Hitler recovering in a German hospital at the end of World War I in 1918. As he regains his sight after being exposed to mustard gas, Hitler is enraged by news that Germany will sign an armistice accepting defeat by the Allies. He blames Jews and Bolsheviks for Germany's surrender. When a nurse informs him he is being discharged from the hospital as the war is over, Hitler abruptly leaves in his uniform. The nurses share a worried look, sensing that the end of one war may kindle another, even more terrible conflict.

Uploaded by

Barbara Cernadas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
39 views

Free Writing II

The document describes Adolf Hitler recovering in a German hospital at the end of World War I in 1918. As he regains his sight after being exposed to mustard gas, Hitler is enraged by news that Germany will sign an armistice accepting defeat by the Allies. He blames Jews and Bolsheviks for Germany's surrender. When a nurse informs him he is being discharged from the hospital as the war is over, Hitler abruptly leaves in his uniform. The nurses share a worried look, sensing that the end of one war may kindle another, even more terrible conflict.

Uploaded by

Barbara Cernadas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

The Kindling of the Most Terrible Fire

Pasewalk, Germany, November 10th 1918.

Autumn is in its prime, but where one would expect to find leaves browning and birds chirping,
there are only shell holes and corpses and barbed wire and trenches. War is coming to an end; one
can feel it in the air. Still, no one agrees on who is in the lead; it is hard to find a winner in a war of
attrition that has dragged on for more than four years.

The man in the white trousers has not moved in over half an hour but now his eyes open and he
blinks at the bright light. Little by little, he is regaining his sense of sight. Darkness has been hell.
Yes, even compared to the horrors of the war he has been fighting up until just a couple of days
ago. During the days of darkness he is not even sure if it has been days, it might have been
months or merely hours for all its worth the thoughts that have most often stolen into his mind
are memories of his childhood: the cane his father brandished coming down on him time and
again till his flesh was raw and his mother pressing wet towels against his wounds.

On opening his eyes and being able to see, his first instinct foolish though he knows it is is to
look around in an attempt to spot the enemy who has released the mustard gas. However, all he
can see are white walls lined with countless beds; some men sit upright talking to their neighbors;
others lie flat, a green blanket covering their misshaped bodies. The stench of corpses and

I.S.P. Joaqun V. Gonzlez


Lengua III

Brbara Cernadas
Free Writing II

decomposing feet that used to fill the trenches has been replaced by the classic bleach odor that
wafts through hospitals.
Two young nurses march up and down the room, checking the patients temperature and blood
pressure against their notepads. They are discussing the cover of todays newspaper: Germany is
to sign an armistice with the Allies accepting defeat. There is an aura of menace about the man in
the white trousers. It is almost as if the beads of sweat rolling down Adolfs sunken face carried
more than salt water; as if his very soul were imbued in hatred so strong that it percolated
through his every pore and stayed there, in mid-air; the atmosphere around him tainted by the
toxic substance. He cannot explain it rationally, but his mind instantly goes back to his pre-war
days living in a shelter for the homeless in Vienna; and to his roommate, Reinhold Hanisch, who
made a fool out of him by choosing to befriend some wealthy Jews before Adolf.

Those Bolsheviks and Jews... those despicable and depraved criminals are selling us over to the
Allies. Ill have them pay...

The taller nurse barges into the mans thoughts in her deep, monotonous voice, The Doctor says
you can go home now. What do you mean, go home? Im going straight back to the front line
where I am needed. Theres nothing to do there. The big men have settled it. Its over. Go home,
get some rest.

As the man gets out of his white trousers and into his uniform, the taller nurse drops the
newspaper unceremoniously onto his bed. Lance Corporeal Adolph Hitler glances at it abruptly
I.S.P. Joaqun V. Gonzlez
Lengua III

Brbara Cernadas
Free Writing II

and marches out the door just as hastily. On the bed, the open paper reads Roaring Fires of
Europe to be Extinguished at Last.

The two nurses look apprehensively at one another; something in their guts tells them this is far
from over. The embers of one war are to ignite the fuse of another, even more terrible than the
last

I.S.P. Joaqun V. Gonzlez


Lengua III

Brbara Cernadas
Free Writing II

You might also like