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PARTISAN REVIEW
Russian woman come up to me and she tells me her baby died be–
cause the farmer she worked for wouldn't give her any
milk.
I'm
going to see to it you people do a little starving. Just to make sure,
I don't want you taking any food out of that house. Understand?
Take your clothes. Take your silver. But no food. And you come
up to me again and try negotiating I'm going to make it clear to
you that you are a kraut woman."
She had nerve alright. We were all watching her and she kept
her chin up, her eyes level, and went right ahead. She told the lieu–
tenant not to believe everything he heard from those people. They
were naturally filled with hate. Not everything they said was true.
There were some among her countrymen who were not good people,
she couldn't deny that. But were they all to be punished for a few?
The lieutenant had been a grocer and had never been proficient
in debate. He couldn't tolerate a German woman arguing with him
and he ordered her out. She left, but didn't withdraw like a van–
quished enemy.
"I'm gonna see that woman learns some respect," Smitty mut–
tered, following her every stride as she departed. "I'll see you later,
kraut woman," he told her. The contempt she directed toward him
made me shiver. I could see resolution settle on Smitty. So did the
lieutenant.
"Now get this, boys. German men are one thing. I want you to
layoff their women.
If
they're agreeable, that's a different matter.
But I don't want any rough stuff. Hear? We're responsible for this
town. There's no war in this town. I want this town to be in the same
shape when we leave that it's in today. You understand? Is that clear?
Smitty?"
"That's alright with me, lieutenant," he said.
The next morning I observed the German girl-her name was
Margaret-address the factory workers in the yard. There were
about thirty employees, mostly women, a handful of old men. Civil–
ian men had to be old. The Germans had been recruiting antiques
for their army. Whole companies of men older than my father were
captured and herded to the rear- confused, anxious old guys who
undoubtedly had cheered the Fatherland from the sidelines but were
too ancient to maintain their fervor after a twenty mile forced re–
treat on foot.
