Chapter 107: A Christmas Story During the Three World Wars (3)

Noon, December 24, 1946, Berlin, Germany

Although a year and a half have passed since Hitler's final defeat and the complete collapse of the Nazi regime, the smoke of the original Battle of Berlin has long since dissipated. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 But at the moment, the city of Berlin is still full of ruins and rubble. At least half of the blocks, roads, parks and squares are still buried under layers of rubble and mud. And the rest of the neighborhood is also full of scaffolding, looking like a hundred ruins waiting to be rebuilt.

Especially around the Reichstag, where the street fighting in Berlin was fierce, as far as the eye can see, there are empty shells of buildings within a radius of several square kilometers, twisted beams reaching to the sky, and bare steel bars stretching out on the remaining walls that have not yet collapsed, like the remains of a pterosaur crucified. In the outline of the walls, the ugly shape of the chimney is faintly visible. There was a dead silence everywhere, and there were scattered bones that had not been buried......

At this time, in the bitter cold wind, groups of German aunts wrapped in coarse cloth turbans, as well as a number of blonde Germanic girls, wielding shovels and pushing carts, are clearing the rubble-covered streets, demolishing and tearing down the crumbling houses that survived the bombing, as well as the barricades and bunkers that were repaired during the city's defensive battles, and then carefully clearing out the bricks and other building materials for future reuse.

Since more than six million German men died in the war, and most of the remaining German men were in prisoner of war camps in Siberia, helping the Soviets to develop the wilderness free of charge, the newly established German socialist government could only let women take on the task of cleaning up the ruins and rebuilding the city of the capital Berlin. They are described by a technical term as trummerfrauen - which can roughly translate as "rubble woman" or "gravel woman".

This is a revered word in Germany in any time and place, and the fathers and sons of these women were all sent to the front by Hitler, and many of them never returned. The homeland was in ruins. Fear, sadness, hunger, humiliation...... But they used their weak shoulders to prop up their shattered families and ruined country, and struggled to rebuild their homes from the ruins.

You know, they are engaged in a very hard work, but also very dangerous, those shattered and crumbling dangerous buildings, not only are there the danger of collapsing and burying people at any time, but also under the rubble, there are still an unknown number of unexploded bombs...... From the beginning of the clean-up of the ruins in Berlin to the present day, explosions and landslides have occurred every day. But the German women, who had suffered from hunger and cold, had no choice at all - it was almost the only relatively stable and "legitimate" job they could find in a defeated country that had been scorched to the ground......

“…… Toot-toot-toot-toot-everyone's attention! Attention everyone! It's time to call it a day and eat! It's time to call it a day and eat! ”

Listening to the whistle and shouts of the foreman, Maria, who had been working for half a day. Mrs. Smit wiped the sweat from her forehead, walked down the huge pile of rubble formed by the collapsed house, placed the shovel in her hand against the corner of the wall, and then washed her hands with her fellow workers under a common faucet, and then walked to the outside of a cooking shed where there was already a long queue, and prepared the metal number plate around her neck to receive the food for this lunch.

Her current job is very hard, not only is it a lot of work, but it is almost all year round, there are no Sundays, and she has to work the day before Christmas. But compared to the nightmare days when the Nazi regime fell, Mrs. Smit felt that life was not bad.

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Although the Soviets used the word "liberation" extensively in their propaganda documents depicting the Red Army's conquest of Nazi Germany in an attempt to create an image of glory, greatness and justice, the Germans were accustomed to referring to the moment of the fall of Nazi Germany as "zero", meaning that a new history of Germany began.

Because it was really difficult to get the German people to accept the idea of being "liberated" by the Russians. For countless German women, at least, the arrival of the Russians was tantamount to a catastrophe like the collapse of the heavens. To put it bluntly, the Soviet Red Army, which broke into the territory of Germany, was really a little far from the title of liberator, but not far from locusts.

Before the fall of Nazi Germany, Maria. Mrs. Smit originally lived in a small town outside Berlin. She vividly remembers the scene when the Soviets arrived on her doorstep: the Russians, dressed in long uniforms and big leather boots, after eliminating the small number of German troops stationed on the outskirts of the city, unceremoniously stormed the houses and robbed the residents of their jewelry and watches. Any resistance is futile, and if anyone dares to resist, the Russians shoot and kill people directly.

These undisciplined Russian soldiers, not only robbed things with impunity, but also searched everywhere for young women, grabbed one and dragged them to an empty house for a long time, and then ♂ gang raped. Twenty-nine-year-old Mary. Mrs. Smitt was not spared, and was dragged away by the Russians in the middle of the night, and then forced at gunpoint into an empty house. There were already some young women standing without a strand of hair. Then came the unbearable group rape ♂, which lasted again and again for an entire night, and was not allowed to leave until dawn.

However, compared to the rest of the German women who suffered the same fate, Mrs. Smitt was not the worst of all, because they could at least drag their weak bodies home and continue to live with humiliation. And many of the more unfortunate German girls, who were violated by a platoon, or even a company, on the same night, and so changed from girls to women, and from women to corpses overnight...... Many cowardly German women committed suicide because they did not want to fall into the hands of the Russians, or hanged themselves in shame after being violated. There are also teachers and students of the church girls' school who commit mass suicide in despair after being violated en masse. During this period, the various tragic events that took place in Germany are simply too numerous to count and describe.

However, no one sympathizes with their tragic plight, because the heinous crimes committed by the Nazi German army against the women of the invaded countries during its invasion of European countries can only be more and more cruel than this, and definitely not less and more civilized...... While these seemingly innocent German women, who had rejoiced in the victories of Nazi Germany and enjoyed a steady stream of spoils brought home, their fathers, husbands, and brothers who served in the army were also doing all sorts of heinous bestiality against the women of the Soviet Union, France, and Poland. Now that the situation has been reversed, and the vengeful Soviet Red Army has entered Germany, it is the turn of these German women to be raped, humiliated, and even slaughtered, and it is only natural that they should pay off their debts for their fathers, husbands, and brothers who burned and plundered on the battlefield -- since they are defeated countries, they should obediently accept their fate and kneel down to enjoy the treatment due to the defeated countries.

In fact, compared with what happened to Nazi Germany in another time and space after its defeat, the situation of the Germans in this time and space was much better - because the Soviet Union in this world was helped by Miss Sophie, the ship's mother, and it did not collapse in the early days of the Soviet-German war, and the German army only occupied some border cities, and it could not be pushed when it reached the Minsk line. After that, the main battlefields of the two sides were placed in Poland and southeastern Europe, and as far as the Soviet Union itself was concerned, the damage suffered by the war was not serious, and naturally there was not much blood feud with the Germans, and the idea of revenge was relatively light.

Due to the minimal damage to domestic productivity caused by the war, as well as the addition of black technology, the supply of materials for the Soviet army has become more abundant. Except for the initial period of chaos, when the occupation stabilized, although the Russian GIs still could not control their lower bodies, and still frequently had improper relations with German women, they finally no longer relied on violence and coercion, but traded cigarettes, canned food, biscuits, and sweets with them - in this time when everyone was starving and freezing, according to the "market" of the big German cities at that time, Soviet soldiers usually only had to take out a piece of bread to have a blonde purebred Aryan girl. There's really no need to be too stingy and look like you're cheap.

Moreover, it is also due to the anti-heaven ability of Miss Ship's mother to build a factory out of thin air, coupled with the various future world scientific and technological achievements obtained from Wang Qiu's side, today's Kremlin is no longer very eye-catching to those old machines in Germany, and it is not like after the victory of World War II in another time and space, as soon as it broke into Nazi Germany, it dismantled the machine as war compensation, if the factory door is too small and the machine can't move out, simply smash the wall open, and the car drives directly into it to move, which is even more powerful than locusts, It seems that Germany is eager to be dismantled directly into an agrarian state......

However, although the Soviets in this time and space no longer look down on the little machines of Nazi Germany, the engineers and technical workers of Nazi Germany are still very valuable in their eyes - the education level of the Soviets in these years is not comparable to that of the Cold War era, when everyone knew calculus, and most ordinary Soviet citizens had the education level from elementary school to junior high school. No matter how many factories, mines and oil fields are built by various unscientific means, if there are no skilled people to operate them, they can still only let rust: therefore, in such an extreme shortage of labor, it has become the Kremlin's inevitable choice to plunder high-quality human resources from Germany and Austria after the defeat of the war.

Thus, after the fall of the Nazi German regime, the Soviets not only continued to detain millions of German prisoners of war, but also allowed them to continue to work in Central Asia and Siberia without compensation. They even took advantage of the anarchy of the early occupation to forcibly requisition large numbers of young and middle-aged laborers from Germany, and even emptied entire factories - in this case, the machines were left behind, and the workers were pulled away to work in the newly built "unmanned factories" in Siberia and Central Asia.

As a result, when the socialist regime in Germany was formally established in the spring of '47, the new German rulers were shocked to discover that the ratio of men to women of childbearing age in Germany was now one to four, if we did not count the millions of German prisoners of war and able-bodied men who were working hard in Siberian labor camps! I am afraid that only by following the example of the Arabs in polygamy can a German man marry four wives to maintain balance......

In this case, even if the factories in Germany were still there, they would not be able to function because of the lack of human resources, and it would be impossible to resume production. Even post-war clearing of rubble and reconstruction of railways, roads and urban buildings struggled because of an acute shortage of labour.

Moreover, post-war Germany in this time and space is much larger than Germany in another world - in view of the lessons of later history, the Kremlin does not think it is necessary to increase the territory of Poland, a hardcore anti-bone boy. Therefore, after the fall of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union only restored Germany's new territory to the state before the outbreak of World War II, and the places of Alsace, Northern Schleswig, and Danzig that were lost after the end of World War I were certainly not returned, but they were not ceded off East Prussia, Pomerania, and Silesia.

It is a good thing that the territory of Germany has not been further reduced, but these remaining lands have been the most damaged in the war, and have experienced countless massacres and destruction - both the Soviet and German armies, in the face of guerrilla warfare, will not hesitate to go on a killing spree, round up and shoot all the men of the villages and towns, and then drive the women and children into the churches, and then burn them along with the churches. As a result, after the end of the war, according to the description of the war correspondent, the only people who could be seen walking on this land were old Soviet Red Army soldiers. The fields were deserted, the granaries had been emptied, there were no cows, horses, or poultry in the fields, and there were no birds chirping or any wild animals in sight. Apart from the occasional passing Soviet soldier, there is hardly any living creature to be seen on the land.

As you can imagine, the amount of work to be rebuilt in the face of so much ruined land, which was completely deserted and indesolate during the war, and even buried with an unknown number of mines and unexploded ordnance, must have been staggering. However, in today's Germany, there are only old and weak women and children, how can they do so much work?

Seeing such a devastated and ruined dilemma, but there was no one to use, the new red government in Germany naturally wanted to complain to the big brother of the Soviet Union and reach out, saying that German women could not find their husbands. However, Stalin, who had always been kind-hearted and black-hearted, refused to let people go at all, but instead taught the German comrades to learn to think backwards -- there were more women and fewer men in post-war Germany, and the rest of the German men were all in Siberia, right? It doesn't matter, send the extra German women with you! It's okay to reunite their flesh and blood, isn't it? The USSR can definitely afford it! There are never too many people on the Siberian side!

In the face of such a brazen big brother, the German authorities can only consider themselves unlucky, except to allow those abandoned towns and villages to grow weeds and turn into wilderness, the only way to fully mobilize women, so that these strong women who have suffered from the scourge of war can shoulder the difficult task of rebuilding the country......

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For post-war Germany in this time and space, in addition to the extreme shortage of labor and the extreme imbalance in the gender ratio of men and women, there is also a very fatal disadvantage, that is, peace did not come with the collapse of the Nazi regime, but immediately after the end of World War II, World War III broke out, thus greatly delaying the process of German reconstruction. Mrs. Smit's house on the outskirts of Berlin was fortunate enough to survive the terrible years of World War II, but six months after the fall of Nazi Germany, it was unfortunately burned to the ground by incendiary bombs dropped by British bombers...... Homeless, she brought her two sons to Berlin, where she lived in a modest shack and made a living from a government-organized debris clean-up project.

Such days are naturally very tiring and hard, but they are stable enough for her and her two sons to barely survive. Moreover, with the passage of time, the treatment of these "rubble women" who participated in the cleaning of ruins and urban reconstruction work is slowly improving.

-- In the beginning, they dragged their weak bodies to a hard day, and they could only get a free lunch, usually only brown bread, salt and hot water, and a few potatoes to cover their wages, so that Mrs. Smit's two sons had to catch rats and dig wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger. Later, it gradually increased to providing two meals a day for free, plus food parcels that could be brought home, barely enough to feed the family. Salaries have now been paid, rationing has been reinstated, and the ration card can be used to buy food in state stores, and the quality and quality of working meals have improved considerably.

It seems that because today is Christmas Eve, the free lunch provided by the government is also extraordinarily rich. Not only was the staple food upgraded from black bread to white bread, salted fish was added to the potato soup, and each "rubble woman" was given two small sausages. Mrs. Smit was reluctant to eat this extravagant meal, but carefully wrapped the sausages in oiled paper and prepared to take them back to her children to taste.

After lunch, the foreman announced another good news: in order to celebrate Christmas, the government temporarily granted them "rubble women" a day and a half off, and the whole city will stop work from this afternoon until tomorrow. At the same time, an extra kilogram of granulated sugar was distributed to each person as a Christmas gift from the state to the working women - a thing that would have been too shabby to be held in the future, but which has made many German aunts overjoyed at this time.

So, in a rare cheerful mood, Mrs. Smit braved the cold winter wind and left the site of the ruins of the Reichstag and walked to her lodgings.

Although Hitler's Nazi German regime had fallen last year, the city of Berlin at this time was still full of tragic traces of all kinds of war burning, ruins everywhere, devastation everywhere, and it was difficult to find a house without bullet holes at all. Between the rubble and the rubble, there are occasional disabled servicemen who have lost their ability to work, some with medals on their chests. But now they were all wrapped in thin clothes, sitting numbly on the ground, staring at everything with dull eyes, without the slightest spirit, as if they had lost their souls. Passers-by are in a hurry, paying no attention to the dying beggars - in an age when everyone is starving and cold, people's hearts seem to be frozen, and sympathy and pity become extremely rare.

In the vicinity of the crumbling and dilapidated buildings, there are many shacks made of construction waste, which are temporary shelters for the homeless who lost their homes in the war until new buildings are built. There was a dilapidation, squalid and destitute everywhere, and only a few children playing with them added a lively touch to the shacks in the ruins, or at least made it look a little alive.

-- At present, although the population of Germany is a quarter to a third less than before the war, the number of houses destroyed is so much greater that there is a serious housing shortage. These survivors of the war had to live in the ruined homes they had destroyed, living in cellars, ruins, caves and sewers, without access to the most basic public services of a modern city, such as running water, gas and electricity...... There are millions of people working hard not only in Germany, but all over Europe. They stay in the middle of the twentieth-century ragged machines and live a medieval life.

Still, even in such a difficult environment, the people of Berlin are still racking their brains to create a little festive atmosphere. They made Christmas trees out of green waste paper and steel bars, washed empty cans and broken glass pieces and hung them as Christmas presents. Everyone put on their few good clothes and tried to put a smile on their faces.

In order to have a good Christmas, the new German government has also made its best efforts. Although Berlin's concert halls, cinemas, and theaters are still in ruins, the government managed to borrow equipment from the Soviet Red Army and set up several open-air film teams to provide citizens with a minimum of entertainment during the festival. Then a few more bands were put together and ready to play carols when the Christmas bells rang.

Mrs. Smitt's family of three lived in Berlin, of course, a simple shack, two sides of which rested against the remnants of a shop, and the other two were made of bricks that Mrs. Smit had picked out of the ruins, and the roof was linoleum, broken planks, and tin sheets. Since there were no windows, the light in the shack was dim and the smell was not good. Unless it's sleeping, it's raining, or it's too cold, she and her two sons try to stay outside.

When Mrs. Smit returned to the door of her shack in the cold winter wind with two small sausages in an oiled paper bag and a newly received kilogram of sugar, she found her two sons, Simon, aged ten, and Justine, eight, beckoning to her mysteriously:

“…… Mom...... Mom...... A letter from my dad came in today! ”

“…… What the? Your dad got a letter from the prisoner of war camp? Where is it? Where is it? Show me! Mrs. Smitt was amazed.

“…… No, the letter is here. Simon first carefully took a letter out of his bosom and handed it to his mother, and then dragged her into the shack, and at the same time pressed it to her ear, and said in the softest voice, "...... Mom, Dad also sent a parcel full of delicious things! We didn't dare to show it to anyone, and as soon as we received it, we hid it in a blanket......"

Mrs. Smit was a little puzzled to hear that her husband, who had been captured by the Russians in Siberia for joining the German Navy, was able to mail food out of the prisoner of war camp, but she checked the parcel and found that it contained two canned fish, a packet of dried mango, a packet of dried coconut, and a box of chocolate candy. Then she opened the envelope again, revealing a photograph of her husband, Lucas, standing by the railing of the side of the ship in a somewhat scruffy sailor suit, with a cigarette in his mouth and a tropical island covered with coconut trees in the background......

Seeing this picture, Mrs. Smit seemed to have guessed something, so she quickly pulled out the letter paper, went outside and began to read:

“…… Dear Mary,

I haven't written to you for more than four months, how are you doing in Berlin with your children? I must have suffered a lot these days! Good news for you, I've been released from a prisoner of war camp in Siberia! Because I used to be the first mate on a destroyer, the Soviets let me take a group of companions to the South Pacific to drive a merchant ship, enjoy the treatment and salary of the captain rank of the Soviet Red Navy, and have additional allowances when going to sea, which is a rare beauty difference.

By the way, according to the Soviets, you in Berlin can also enjoy special food rations, as the families of Red Army soldiers are treated. So if you have time, please go to the relevant departments to ask about the specific procedures to find out what the specific procedures need to be done, and whether you need me to send the supporting materials here.

The food and living conditions here in the South Pacific are good, the work is relatively easy, and the scenery along the route is intoxicating, with fine white sand beaches and beautiful coconut palms, colorful coral reefs, and all kinds of sweet tropical fruits, many of which I have never tasted before. The parcel was a little ration I had saved for you and the kids to try. When the first month's salary is paid, I will try to send the money back to you. Please take care of your health, take care of the children, and look forward to the day when we will be together as a family again.

- Lucas, who loves you always......"

Seeing this, Mrs. Smit could not help but hold the letter tightly to her chest, and held back the tears of joy from flowing out of her eyes. And her youngest son, Justin, was still curiously reaching out and pulling the corner of the hem of his mother's clothes, "...... Mom! Mom! What did the letter say, how is Dad? ”

“…… Your dad...... He's no longer in a prisoner of war camp in Siberia, he's sailing in the South Pacific! Mrs. Smit choked up.

“…… South pacific? What is this place? How is Daddy doing over there? Justin asked inexplicably, biting his finger.

“…… South pacific...... Far, far away, farther than Siberia, and hotter than Siberia. Your dad is doing well over there...... At least better than in a prisoner of war camp in Siberia! And our days will be better! ”

At this, Mrs. Smit suddenly opened her arms and held her two sons tightly in her arms, her face full of tears of joy, "...... God willing...... Our family survived the war! This must be celebrated! Mom is cooking you a Christmas dinner today! ”

-- Yet, while the Germans were struggling to rebuild their homeland from the ruins of the catastrophic years of war and death, another great country at the western tip of Europe was falling inexorably into the dark ages of primitive barbarism in chaos, hunger, violence and blood...... (To be continued.) )