I remember The Leader, Herr Professor. He was the most holy man who ever
lived, if indeed he was only a man. Once I passed the open door of an
office in the building I then worked in. I looked in the door--it was
the office of the then-struggling Party The Leader had founded--and I
saw The Leader sitting in a chair, thinking. There was golden light
about his head, Herr Professor. I have told this to other people and
they do not believe me. There were shadowy other beings in the room. I
saw, very faintly, great white wings. But the other beings were still
because The Leader was thinking and did not wish to be disturbed. I
assure you that this is true, Herr Professor. The Leader was the holiest
of men--if he was only a man.
I am most respectfully, Herr Professor, (Et cetera.)
* * * * *
Letter from Fraulein Lise Grauer, nurse, in the city of Bludenz, to
Professor Aigen at Brunn University.
Most respected Herr Professor:
I write this at the request of the Herr Former Police Inspector Grieg,
to whom you directed a letter shortly before his death. The Herr Former
Police Inspector had been ill for some time. I was his nurse. I had
cared for him for months and did many small services for him, such as
writing letters at his direction.
When your letter came he read it and went into a black mood of deep and
bitter recollection. He would not speak for hours, and I had great
difficulty in getting him to take his medicines. Just before his bedtime
he called me and said sardonically;
"Lise, write to this Herr Professor for me. Say to him that I was once a
decent man. When The Leader took power, I received orders that I would
not accept. I submitted my resignation. Then I received orders to come
to The Leader. I obeyed these orders because my resignation was not yet
accepted. I was received in his office. I entered it with respect and
defiance--respect because he was admitted to be the ruler of our nation;
defiance because I would not obey such orders as had been sent me in his
name.
"The Leader spoke to me, kindly, and as he spoke all my views changed.
It suddenly seemed that I had been absurd to refuse the orders sent me.
They seemed right and reasonable and even more lenient than would have
been justified.... I left The Leader in a state in which I could not
possibly fail to do anything he wished. From that moment I obeyed his
orders. I was promoted. Eventually, as you know, I was in command of the
Neusatz prison camp. And you know what orders I carried out there!"
I wept, Herr Professor, because the Herr Grieg's eyes were terrible to
look at. He was a gentle and kindly man, Herr Professor! I was his
nurse, and he was a good patient and a good man in every way. I had
heard of the things that were done at Neusatz, but I could not believe
that my patient had commanded them. Now, in his eyes I saw that he
remembered them and that the memory was intolerable. He said very
bitterly:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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