The Man who did the right thing

In the German village of Pretzelberg, there was great excitement all around as Chancellor Hitler was to come on his first visit to the village. The villagers, simple people were very excited to see their Chancellor for the first time, a man whose speeches they had only heard on the radio and were simply amazed by his fiery oratory. Markus, the milkman, while going on his daily rounds was continuously saying to the residents of the small village that, "I hear the Chancellor is going to denounce the Jews in our village too. He is gonna clean up our village from that filth." Gertrude his sister was even more ecstatic she was saying to the people, "I hear he is gonna open an institute for Aryan studies in our village. That's good, isn't it? We should know our heritage so that we do not get exploited by that Jewish filth again." Mr Hoftzeller, the grocer was saying, "Ah we can finally meet him in person, the great man! God bless him, he has done more good to Germany than all the other leaders of the Republic together."

  However, in the Jewish quarters of the village, there was a different mood altogether, as although the Jewish residents were more prosperous than the Aryans they knew their chancellor's legendary hatred for their kind. The residents were more alarmed rather than ecstatic. Mr Goldman, the banker had a gloomy face as he was talking to Mr Rothstein the doctor. He was saying, " We are doomed now. I hear the Chancellor is going to open a centre for Aryan studies here. That means the end of all of us." Mr Rothstein replied, "You are right Herr Goldman. We will now be dirty Jews, the filth and the vermin. But what surprises me is that the same people who come to us for help call also call us filthy Jews." The two men thinking about the ungratefulness of their Aryan neighbours just shrugged their shoulders and went along their way.

  In the midst of this hullabaloo in the village, there was one unusually quiet household. That was the house of the Detweilers namely Johann and his sister Hilda. Johann was a policeman who was given the duty of being in the Chancellor's guard day when he arrived the next day. Any Aryan would think this duty as a great honour but Johann was a different man altogether. He had been a longtime supporter of the Social Democratic Party and a great believer in the values of the Weimar Republic and therefore even the thought of being Hitler's bodyguard was despicable to him. He was saying to his sister, "And they had to pick me to be on his guard detail along with Franz. You know how much I hate the Chancellor as well as Franz. I do not know whom I hate more Herr Hitler or Franz." Hilda replied, " I know what you mean Johann. I hate Franz too for his political beliefs and his hatred towards our Jewish brothers and sisters. But what can you do? You are a policeman it is your duty to protect the Chancellor." Johann sighed and replied, " Duty! Ah! That word I hate the most. Because of my duty, I have to protect a man who works against the very constitution I have sworn to protect. I have to protect a man who is the very antithesis of the liberty proclaimed in our constitution. Just look Hilda what our Chancellor thinks about the Jewish Race." Hilda replied, " I understand dear, but what can we do? If you do not do your duty, you know you will lose your job. And we all know how vindictive the Chancellor can be. We may even find our house being raided by his stormtroopers."

  Indeed a raid by Hitler's stormtroopers was a very disagreeable proposition in Germany. They were brutal and destroyed whoever was unfortunate enough to fall into their hands. Sometimes they would just call people in for questioning and those people would never return again. Rumours had it that those people were taken to the infamous concentration camps where they were tortured and then shot. To this proposition, Johann sighed again and said, "Yes the stormtroopers! You know how much I hate them. And as for the Chancellor, I want to kill that bastard!" Hilda shrieked hearing Johann's words and said, "Do not say these words aloud Johann someone may inform the local party office. Please forget what you just said." In fact, this was a fear common in Germany in those days, the local Nazi Party office offered huge rewards for informers who could identify 'traitors'. Johann then said, " I do not care you hear! I simply want to kill that bastard!" Hilda replied calmly, " And what about your duty to protect me your sister? Do you not have a duty towards me?" Johann to this said, "I obviously have a duty towards you. But to me, my country comes first! My dear Germany, My fatherland whom I have sworn to protect from all evil. And Herr Hitler is evil. He is against the values of the Republic we hold so dearly.  He is against our constitution therefore he must be stopped before he destroys it." Hilda said, " Please Johann I beg of you, do not talk like this ever again. You have a long day tomorrow go get some rest."

  As Johann retired to his bedroom he became convinced about the need to kill the Chancellor. After all, as he thought, " To protect my Constitution and my country is my first duty. I have must protect them from all forms of evil and Herr Hitler is evil. He must die for the Republic to survive and the people to continue to enjoy their hard-fought liberty." With these ideas, he retired to prepare for the next day, that day he knew would be the most significant day of his life.

  The next day Johann woke up and had breakfast early in order to go to the local aerodrome where Chancellor Hitler was to arrive. Then after being duly warned by Hilda not to try anything stupid, Johann went out on his journey towards the aerodrome. He reached early and waited in formation along with Franz and other members of Hitler's guard detail. In the detail, Johann was the only social democrat as all the others were die-hard Nazis among them Franz was particularly radical, In fact, he had set a record in the village about handing over traitors to the stormtroopers. Everyone except Johann Detweiler in the detail was ecstatic about the Chancellor's visit and Franz was even more so as they all of them were talking about the things Hitler could do including opening that institute for Aryan studies. As the Chancellor's plane touched the aerodrome everyone stopped talking and Johann braced himself for what he knew was to be the most decisive moment of his life. He was thinking, " Should I do my duty towards my family? Or should I do the right thing? Should I kill him? Or should I protect him?" Then suddenly the plane landed and Hitler got out from the plane and gave a Nazi salute as everyone saluted back Johann knew that he had to do the right thing. As Hitler along with his storm troopers came towards the police detail, Johann took out his gun and shot straight at his heart. Hitler fell down with blood streaming out, he was dead and the deed was done as everyone was so stunned they could unable to move. As Johann began to run, he could hear the shriek of sirens behind him. He knew he would be caught, arrested and executed but he felt content that at least he had done the right thing.

   This story was originally published on my blog literary-political. Link to the post has also been provided