CHAPTER XXX

AN ALSATIAN NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICER

In a preceding chapter, I referred to an officer at the Kommandantur by the name of Wolff. He was a German Jew who could “give points” to Prussians! He displayed a large number of decorations, among which one noticed the emblem of a Turkish Order worn in the centre of the abdomen! Amongst ourselves we frequently made fun of this barrel-bellied officer, carrying a kind of crescent on his front! I wish to relate here an incident in which I was a participant:

Every Tuesday and Friday, during the last year of my captivity, I was allowed, as the reader knows, to take a walk in the Tiergarten accompanied by a non-commissioned officer of the jail. Orders had been given, however, that my escort was never to be a non-commissioned officer named Hoch, an Alsatian. In the course of my conversation with Hoch, I had frequently expressed a desire to have him some day for my walking companion. He was quite willing, but the sergeant-major, in this instance, had the whole say and Hoch was not called upon for a long time to be my guardian. In the month of August, 1917, however, Hoch was requested to accompany me on my promenade in the park.

The instructions which had been given to the jail officials concerning me were very strict. I was not supposed to know that, but I knew it perfectly well. The non-commissioned officer, it had been ordered, was to leave the jail with me at two o’clock, proceed to the nearest urban railway station–that is to say about 300 feet from the jail–then board a train and go direct to the park. The promenade was to be made “inside” the park. I was not to be allowed to walk “outside,” neither to talk to anyone nor enter any other place.

On the afternoon I now speak of we had just left the jail, when I proposed to Hoch that we walk through the streets in order that I might buy a few cigars. Hoch willingly acceded to my request and we entered Koenig street. We bought some cigars, and from this street we crossed to Unter-den-Linden avenue, which leads directly to Brandenburg Gate which opens on the Tiergarten. I mention these details to show that we took the shortest route from the jail to the garden.

On Unter-den-Linden avenue we suddenly found ourselves face to face with Captain Wolff, of the Kommandantur. The officer knew me well, having met me four or five times at the jail, where he came every week to take the statements of prisoners who, through petitions or otherwise, had complained of the treatment inflicted upon them.

He advanced towards me and spoke thus:

“You are going for a walk in the garden?”

“Yes,” I answered.

I carried a small parcel in my hand.

“And,” said he, “you make some little purchases when you go out of jail?”

I thought it well to answer affirmatively.

“Au revoir!” said he sharply, and went his way.

I noticed that my Alsatian escort was very much annoyed by this accidental meeting. He remained taciturn all the way back to the jail.

Two days elapsed and Officer Block then came to my cell, anxiety being written all over his face.

“You went out this week?” he inquired.

“Yes, on Tuesday.”

“Where did you go?”

“To the park.”

“Did you go to any other place?”

“No.”

“This is strange,” he said. “I have just received from the Ober-Kommando a document which contains a single phrase to the following effect: ‘Why have instructions been transgressed in the case of Dr. Beland?’”

I feigned bewilderment. I could not understand how we could have transgressed the orders, for, I remarked, we went direct from the jail to the Tiergarten.

“Did you meet anyone?” asked the officer.

“Yes.”

“Who was it?”

“Captain Wolff, of the Kommandantur.”

“Ah!” said he, “there is the whole story. Where did you meet him?”

“On Unter-den-Linden avenue.”

“On Unter-den-Linden avenue!” the officer cried; “on Unter-den-Linden avenue?”

“Yes, and what harm was done?” I demanded. “Am I not allowed to promenade within the limits of the park? How can I get there more direct than by following Unter-den-Linden avenue?”

“Ah!” said he, “that is true, but it is not according to the orders we have received.”

And he thereupon explained how, under these instructions, I was to go to the park, accompanied by a non-commissioned officer, by urban train without however passing through the streets. He added that while I was not supposed to know these instructions, the non-commissioned officer would be punished if he “ignored them.” I expressed regret to see a fine fellow like Non-Commissioned Officer Hoch implicated in the matter. He agreed that Hoch was a dutiful man as a rule.

The idea at once occurred to me of saving Hoch from punishment if it were possible. I accordingly asked the officer to delay his answer to the Ober-Kommando for an hour. Having granted the request, he left me and I immediately went to the room of Non-Commissioned Officer Hoch.

Directly he saw me he realized that something was wrong.

“We are having some annoyances,” he said.

“Yes, but the matter is not very serious. This is the trouble we have to face.”

I related what had just taken place between the officer and myself, whereupon the poor non-commissioned officer, lifting his arms, exclaimed: “I am done for!”

“No, no,” I said, “I assure you that all is not lost. There is a means to arrange matters.”

“How?” he asked.

“Well, according to regulations, one day each week you spend the afternoon in town. Let us suppose,” I said, “that the afternoon the instructions concerning me were read by the sergeant-major, you were absent.”

“Ah!” replied Hoch; “but I was present.”

“I am not asking you,” I said, “if you were present. I am affirming that you were absent.…”

“Very well,” said he, “but the sergeant-major will remember that I was present.”

“I will attend to this,” I said. “For the time being we will take it that you were absent when the instructions were read.”

I left him, and proceeded to the sergeant-major’s room. This officer was at that time a sick man, and had consulted me three or four times about some kidney trouble he was suffering. He was surprised to see me and asked the reason for my visit.

“Well,” I said, “you remember the famous instructions concerning me? Three months ago, when you read them to the non-commissioned officers, Non-Commissioned Officer Hoch was out on his afternoon leave, was he not?”

“That is true,” he said.

“Well, on my last outing, I asked him to pass along Koenig street with me, and he consented.”

“Then there was no offence,” said the sergeant-major.

“Certainly not,” I agreed. “There is need only for a little explanation.”

I went on speaking of other matters, particularly of his illness, and leaving him then I hurried off to see Officer Block. I explained to him that when the instructions concerning myself were read three months previously Non-Commissioned Officer Hoch was absent.

“Well,” he said, “I will report in that sense.”

We waited four days for the outcome of this explanation, and during this time Hoch was in terrible fear. He imagined himself condemned to the dungeon or sent back to the trenches where three of his brothers had been killed.

Finally, on the fourth day, Lieutenant Block told me he had received the answer from the Ober-Kommando. “The explanation,” the document stated, “is satisfactory, but Non-Commissioned Officer Hoch must be severely reprimanded.”

“I hope the reprimand will not be too severe,” I ventured to say.

Lieut. Block did not reply. A German officer never commits himself when discipline is in question.

He left me, and a few minutes later the Alsatian non-commissioned officer was summoned before him. The following colloquy took place between them:

“Non-Commissioned Officer Hoch?”

“Yes, my Lieutenant.”

“You went out with prisoner Beland last week?”

“Yes, my Lieutenant.”

“You passed along Koenig street and Unter-den-Linden avenue?”

“Yes, my Lieutenant.”

“You know now that this was against the instructions received?”

“Yes, my Lieutenant.”

“I reprimand you severely.”

“Very well, my Lieutenant.”

“You may go.”

“Very well, my Lieutenant.”

And Hoch turned on his heels and disappeared.

The next minute he was in my cell, laughing in his sleeve at the happy turn of events in the adventure.

One can see that the whole trouble resulted from an excess of zeal on the part of the notorious Wolff.