Wüstenrose

Although only ten bodies strong, the small group had been assigned an executive boardroom within the party’s official quarters.

The room itself was far more grandiose than anything Thea had been used to. Frankfurt’s city budget was far more modest than that of the Reichskapital and although the city buildings themselves were rich in architecture, they did not follow in the futuristic footsteps of Berlin’s new buildings. The windows were wall-to-ceiling glass, giving a bird’s-eye view of the men and women below. Thea wondered if they ever looked up and theorised about the meetings going on beyond the glass walls — whether they knew that, as they handed over Reichsmark in exchange for fresh loaves of bread, that the people within the folds of the Nazi inner circle were plotting the deaths of hundreds of thousands of dissidents.

There was only one person in the room that held rank over everybody, and Obergruppenführer Bretz had done exactly that from the very moment that he had stepped foot in the room. It had long been a running joke in the lower ranks that Bretz made up for his lack of stature with his bullish arrogance and booming voice. He had been a Heerführer during the Second World War, a tiny, angry commander with a rifle that was rumoured to have been almost the same height as he was. Now with the war long over and victory penned in the Nazi court, Bretz had been cajoled into a desk job that saw him do nothing more than scream at those who had the misfortune of being placed in a room with him.

“Officers! You all know why you are here, I trust?”

Thea had been given the misfortune of sitting beside Bretz himself and as he spoke, she found herself the unfortunate recipient of a shower of spittle. As she tried her hardest not to grimace visibly, she nodded alongside the others. Nodding himself, more in smug control than in any show of camaraderie, Bretz gestured toward the glossy black folders left as a placemat in front of every occupied chair. Almost as if by autopilot, Thea found herself opening the folder and quickly scanning the contents. Battle plans. Even at a fleeting glance, anybody could tell that the contents of the folder were battle plans, battle plans that contained the names of smaller suburbs of some of the biggest cities in the country. They were going after German citizens. Thea suppressed a shiver as she turned her attention back to the booming voice at the head of the table.

“Each of you has been assigned a city.” Bretz either seemed completely undisturbed by the sudden change in the atmosphere of the room, or didn’t seem to notice that each of the officers had sat up a little taller. “There are to be two Einsatzgruppe per large city, and one for each smaller city. There are ten groups in total. Two for Berlin, two for München, two for Frankfurt. One each for Dresden, Gelsenkirchen, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. You have a list of your personnel within your documents. Questions?”

Silence. One of the officers looked like he wanted to speak up but he decided against it, pressing his lips together tightly and shaking his head. Bretz grinned widely.

“Perfect. You will all depart to your cities this evening. We have given you the names of those that we think are part of the rebellion in your assigned area. Your job, for now, is to surveil them. Do not take any action until we give the orders. Clear?

Murmured nods of understanding. Thea found herself scanning the document in front of her once more. Gelsenkirchen. Resistance HQ, if the intelligence was to be understood. One of the cities that had a reduced guard flying out to meet it. She was in charge of a group of people she had never met before, in a city of which she had never visited.

Shit. She was completely, entirely on her own.



“Gentlemen.”

Thea looked out uneasily over her new subordinates. She hated meeting new people. Perhaps she could cope if she knew she only had to command their attention for a few minutes, or even for an entire meeting. Yes, if she could disappear from sight as quickly as she had arrived she would be happy. However, these men would make up the unit she would be commanding and for the most part, would be her only hope of human communication. They were to observe for a month. One month of awkward silences, one month of pretending like she wasn’t entirely uncomfortable under the watchful gaze of five men.

She had been given a diverse bunch, at least. Three were older men, holding themselves in high esteem and rightfully so. Two of the three had been awarded the Iron Cross for shows of what their reports deemed as ‘incredible valour’ during the war, and the third had been one of the top sharpshooters in his unit. The remaining two were younger — the youngest had just celebrated his twenty-first birthday earlier that week — but if the reports were to be believed, they had both clamoured their way up the ranks by sheer ruthlessness. One boasted the deaths of fifteen dissidents at his own hands. Even Thea had been impressed by his victim count, and she had come up against men who had been fighting the cause since the early days.

“Introductions,” Thea started, “are probably null and void by this point. I believe Obergruppenführer Bretz has already handled the discussions of the most important topics. We will be travelling to Gelsenkirchen via plane. You have a few hours, if need be, to gather your surroundings and say goodbye to any friends and family. When we reach Gelsenkirchen, we are to maintain absolute radio silence. No contact with those back home. Are we clear?”

Two of the men nodded in her direction. The other three seemed to be in varying states of disinterest in her speech. One – Thea assumed he was the youngest – was even swinging backward on his chair, gaze wandering toward the window as opposed to being focused on her. Biting back the urge to simply shout at the man, she stood from her position as head of the table, and walked calmly over to where he was. Instantly, he pulled all four legs back onto the floor and focused his attention onto Thea’s hostile frame.

“What’s your name?” Thea asked the boy, although she already knew. He barely had a five-o-clock shadow – it had to be the youngster, Bremmer. However, she kept quiet, waiting on him answering. He seemed to smirk for a few seconds, before opening his mouth and revealing a perfectly straight set of pearly, white teeth.

“Oh, sweetheart, sorry. I’m taken.”

One of the other men stifled a laugh. Thea felt blood rush to her cheeks and silently cursed her mother for the genetics that led to her being easily susceptible to facial flushes. Clearing her throat,, Thea brought her fist down onto the tabletop, making the young man jump. The smile faded off of his face.

“Firstly,” Thea started, feeling her face heat, “it’s Gruppenführer to you, not sweetheart. Secondly, I am your direct superior and if I ask you a question, you’d damn well better answer it to my satisfaction. You might not be used to women in positions of power, but you’ll do as I say, when I say it. Y’know, just like you’d do if I were a man. Now, let’s try that again. Your name?”

The man swallowed audibly, and Thea felt a little pang of pride as she noticed that he was now visibly nervous. “Bremer. Oberführer Bremmer.“

“Oberführer Bremmer what?“

“Sorry. Oberführer Brehmer, Gruppenführer.”

“Good.” Thea looked around. “Does anybody else have reservations about the chain of command like Oberführer Bremmer here? Perhaps you want to be reassigned. After all, I wouldn’t want you all feeling emasculated.”

Four swift shakes of the head. Thea smiled triumphantly.

“Perfect. Now, go and get prepared. I want you all back here by seven-thirty sharp. We leave at eight. Am I clear?”

A weak chorus of ja, Gruppenführer echoed around the room.

“Excellent. Heil Hitler, boys.”

“Heil Hitler, Gruppenführer.“