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Hermine Cranz Blog Entry |
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July 5, 2024, 12:00:08 AM 7/5/24: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's characters from my anthro WWII storyline are Hermine Cranz and Claudia Detzer. Frau Cranz is Andreas Cranz's nervous, chronically ill mother; he takes a job as the commandant's chauffeur to provide for her care, yet also makes money eavesdropping on his passengers for the resistance. Frau Detzer is Trudi Detzer's mother; she's fiercely protective and supportive of her daughter, who is recruited as a double agent for the resistance. Both mothers wish their children had much less dangerous jobs but it is what it is. There'll be more about them later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se. TUMBLR EDIT: Frau Cranz and Frau Detzer finally have first names! They didn't really need them (I've never given any to more important characters like Frau Bitterlich, or Schavitz...I wonder what Schavitz's name would be...?), but...well, here we are. The rest of this entry will be written individually to avoid repetition. Much of Frau Cranz's part of the story is told already in her son Andreas's entry. I don't know much about her individually, except that the family is quite poor, and her husband dies (or leaves?) when Andreas is still young. Frau Cranz works hard at whatever menial job it is she has (likely maid or servant of some kind), but grows ill and is forced to take to her bed. (What illness this is is never specified; it has symptoms like tuberculosis--Frau Cranz is weak, thin, and coughs frequently--yet I'm not sure this is it, as she never receives proper treatment for that, and whatever it is it doesn't seem contagious as Andreas never catches it. Ah right, her lungs are sensitive as well, as Andreas, a chain smoker, always leaves the apartment to go smoke. Maybe she had TB in the past and this is the result? Dunno.) Frau Cranz is left no longer able to work. With no breadwinner left, Andreas starts working various street jobs while still a child, vowing to someday save up enough money to move them both out of the city and to a country cottage where Frau Cranz can breathe the fresh air. Frau Cranz is crushed by this--she loves Andreas dearly and feels she should be the one supporting him--yet can't do anything else. Andreas is scrappy and resourceful; he shines shoes, delivers messages, runs errands, washes windows, and is especially skilled at guiding newcomers to whatever area of the city they need to find. He knows the streets, buildings, and alleys like the back of his hand, and can always find the exact out-of-the-way spot anyone is looking for. Not only that, but he hears everything--there are no secrets around Andreas, except those he wants to keep. He's paid off more than once by people who really don't want anyone to know where they are or where certain meetings are taking place. He soon catches on that members of the new Nazi Party are especially good marks (he gets pretty good at blackmailing them without them even realizing he's doing so), and it isn't long before he pretty much knows where all the bodies are buried--metaphorically speaking. When he's old enough, Andreas somehow gains access to an old taxicab, and starts ferrying passengers around the city. He finds that a local brothel does pretty decent business, and suggests a work arrangement with the madam, Frau Bitterlich, whereby he'll recommend the place to inquiring passengers and receive a cut of Frau Bitterlich's earnings, a finder's fee of a sort. Like him, Frau Bitterlich has figured out that the Nazis, despite their publicly proclaimed honor and family values, are the most profitable clients, so she flips around what likely started out as another blackmail attempt on Andreas's part, and the two become business partners. Frau Cranz is already anxious enough about her son needing to work; all the blackmailing and involvement in shady jobs just makes that worse. When he returns to their tiny miserable flat one evening, all excited--"Ma! Ma! You won't believe the luck, Ma!"--and shows her the uniform he's been given to wear for his new job as chauffeur--pristine, all black from cap to boots--she immediately notices the tiny pin on the breast, adorned with the twin lightning bolts. Frau Cranz claps her hands to her face, aghast. Frau Cranz: "My Andreas! What have you gotten into??" Andreas: "A new job, Ma. Better than the last one! Lots better pay! You'll see." Frau Cranz: "But, how--?" Andreas: "Some Nazi a**hole hailed me the other day. You know, the 'Sieg Heil!' type with the stupid boots. Needed a ride, his broke down. I got him there. See him again today and he offers me a full-time job. You think this monkey suit is nice, you should see the car! Big black Mercedes! Swanky! And these Nazi a**holes are drowning in money, Ma, how else they afford all those kids. This guy's some important f**k, just tosses money at me if I get him places fast. I can save up for that house in no time, just see." Frau Cranz: "Ah mein Gott, my boy! Don't tell me you're joining them! What if they send you off to the front? The Red Army will take you and I'll never see you again..." Andreas: "Maaaaa...I ain't joining 'em! Um Himmels willen! What do you think of me?? Pretty sure I don't even qualify, they check your family tree back like a hundred generations and you gotta be Teutonic to the dawn of time, persnickety f**ks." Frau Cranz: "But, the pin..." *looks out the window down at the limo parked on the street, SS flags flying* "And that CAR!!--ah, mein Gott!!" Andreas: "Ma, I gotta wear the pin so they know I work for 'em! Don't mean I'm one of 'em! They have, it's a fancy word...aux...aux...something. Means you work with but aren't one. I wear a tiny little pin and a monkey suit and drive their car and that's it, nothing else's changed, except the pay, Ma!--you'll see, stop worrying. I work long enough to save up, get us that nice little house in no time! Fresh country air!" Frau Cranz: "Who...who is this man you work for, now...? You say he's important...?" Andreas: "Ja, some bigwig, runs the camp. Kommandant-something." Frau Cranz: *claps hands to face* "Dannecker der Teufel?? Ah, my Andreas!!" *breaks down sobbing* Even an uneducated shut-in like Frau Cranz knows who Commandant Dannecker is, you'd have to be living under a rock otherwise. He has a shady reputation even among his fellow SS-Totenkopfverbände members. Andreas tries to reassure her that seriously, all he has to do is drive the guy (and occasionally, his guards) around, nothing more, he won't get involved in any nasty business, swear. Poor Frau Cranz isn't consoled. She'd really rather her good sweet (blackmailing) boy have nothing whatsoever to do with a monster like Dannecker...but it's true, the pay is really good, the work is much more reliable and much less strenuous (as a permanent auxiliary, he gets paid by the SS whether he gives any rides or not, and he gets to keep all the passenger fees), so she gets to sit down to supper with her son much more often. ("These Nazi a**holes really like family sticking together, at least they say," Andreas says.) And now with Dannecker employing him personally, it's pretty much ensured that he won't be drafted and sent off to the Soviets. Frau Cranz eventually learns to swallow her revulsion and fear, and accept Andreas's new job. If it means they can get out of this place and away from these people all the sooner. This arrangement goes on for a while--over the tiny dinner table Andreas shares all the juiciest details of the day, including frowning over Dannecker's habit of bringing one of his stepdaughters, Gret, to visit the camp with him, and the odd way he puts his arm around her and whispers in her ear as if Andreas isn't even there ("Ugh!" Frau Cranz shudders, "Awful horrible man!")--until one day, Frau Cranz nearly drops the dishes she's carrying to the sink as an awful wailing sound comes from the distance. She hurries to peer out the window, sees everyone else within earshot looking in the same direction. At the edge of the city, just visible from here, are the looming watchtowers and perpetually smoking chimney of the labor camp; electric fences and a wall block the interior of it from view, though most citygoers are at least somewhat aware of what goes on there. That's where the wailing is coming from; nobody's ever heard the camp alarm before, so Frau Cranz starts gnawing her fingers, agonizing over her son. When he arrives home some time after, she throws her arms around him and weeps. "Andreas, Andreas! My boy! I was so worried! What's happening?--do you know...?" Turns out Andreas is just as confused as she is; he was at the SS garage nearby, taking a smoking break in between calls. He tried to return to the camp to figure out what was going on, only to find it in lockdown--no one out, no one in. So he came home to let her know he's all right, but no, has no idea what happened. He says he's going to step out to see if he can get any info; she pleads with him to stay, yet he leaves. Returns not too long after. He'd managed to find a couple of SS-TV guards who'd also been locked out of the camp; on seeing him they'd expressed condolences for him having to get a new job. When he asked WTF that meant, they replied that Commandant Dannecker was dead--killed in a prisoner escape. Frau Cranz is terror stricken at this--"What if they come for us??"--but Andreas shushes her--"Ma, I think they got bigger things on their mind than coming after a limo driver! I bet they're long gone by now." Still, he advises that they stay there until they get official word of what's going on; he imagines the SS will want to question them, simply as a matter of course. "I knew it, I wish you'd never taken this awful job," Frau Cranz weeps as Andreas rubs her shoulder consolingly. As expected, a couple of days later a pair of officers arrives: The Allgemeine-SS has opened an investigation and needs to question anyone even tangentially involved. Andreas is truthful, telling them what he told his mother; when pressed, he says yes, he'd seen Dannecker that day, when he drove him and his stepdaughter to the camp. This detail piques their interest; did Fräulein Gret often accompany Dannecker to camp? Andreas shrugs and says she often went, maybe once or twice a week, nothing unusual about her visiting that day. Did he notice anything that was unusual? A few camp inmates looked at her as she and Dannecker walked past, but then again, there wasn't anything too odd about that: "Her hair, her boots, her dress, she kinda sticks out, you know?" The officers inquire whether he spends a lot of time observing Fräulein Gret's appearance. Andreas frowns and says, "I ain't into little girls, if that's what you're asking. You looking for anything inappropriate, maybe you look at Herr Dannecker, ja--?" The officers then ask if he's making some sort of accusation and Frau Cranz fights not to panic, hastening to try to defuse this line of questioning. The officers purse their lips a little to learn that Andreas has described Dannecker's creepy behavior to her, but they don't belabor the point; if anything, they seem to find the observation credible, at least, they don't defend Dannecker over it. They say they'll need to confirm Andreas was at the garage, but aside from that, they should be set, and they depart. Frau Cranz and Andreas are both left perplexed, but relieved that interest seems to have been taken off of them. Andreas doesn't need to seek a new job after all; the camp acquires a new commandant, Hasso Reinhardt, and he quickly appoints a new adjutant and sets about "reforming" the camp, which Dannecker had left in a particularly miserable state. (Reinhardt is an enlightened sort who believes prisoners can be reformed through work, which is much more productive and much less wasteful than extermination. I. e., he's pro-slave labor. The result of this is the chimney smokes a lot less, though the camp also turns away more prisoners, who go to camps where the chimneys DO smoke profusely.) Commandant Reinhardt needs a driver too, so Andreas keeps his position. The Allgemeine-SS concludes their investigation into the incident, and it's even worse than initially believed: Although only a handful of prisoners escaped, one of them shot Dannecker, and Gret Dannecker went missing along with them. It's assumed she was kidnapped; yet eventually, the posters declaring Gret MISSING are switched with ones that declare her WANTED, and grant permission to shoot her on sight. Gret is now believed to have aided the prisoners in their escape, and to have had a hand in her own stepfather's murder. Andreas admits he's not too surprised, considering all the signs he saw, in retrospect. Frau Cranz doesn't know what to believe; "Poor girl," she murmurs, because whatever the story is, it didn't turn out well for Gret. As for the prisoner who escaped with her, no known photos of him exist, so the authorities can't even print a proper wanted poster. Life goes on, Andreas keeps working, Frau Cranz keeps to their apartment, cleaning, cooking, coughing, dreaming of that little cottage in the countryside. They continue their little supper chats with him filling her in on all the latest scandals. She kisses Andreas goodbye one day, putters around the flat (she never leaves on her own, barely ever leaves at all), hears a knock at the door. Wary--it's a bit early for Andreas to be home yet, maybe it's a neighbor?--she unlocks the door and peers out. Then nearly swallows her own heart when it crowds into her throat. A tall man in a greatcoat over an SS uniform is standing there. SS Officer: "Frau Cranz?" Frau Cranz: *meekly* "Ja...?" SS Officer: "I'm with the SS-Totenkopfverbände, is your son Andreas at home...?" Frau Cranz: "Nein, he's still out." SS Officer: "I'd really like to speak with him, if possible. Will he be back soon...?" Frau Cranz: "Should be soon." *takes in a breath, hurries to open the door wider* "I'm--I'm sorry, bitte, do come in." *officer enters, she waves him toward the little table* "I...I haven't any coffee ready, you'd like some water maybe...?" SS Officer: "Water would be good, danke." Frau Cranz: *fetches & pours him some water, trying not to shake* "I...what did you say your name is...?" SS Officer: *smiles slightly & accepts the water* "Doesn't matter, you'd probably forget it soon anyway." Frau Cranz just makes a small noise of agreement and stands there as he sips at the water for a few moments. When another knock comes she nearly jumps out of her skin--"That--that'll be Andreas, let me fetch him," she says, and hurries to the door. Opens it and pulls Andreas close before he can make his way to the kitchen, and whispers to him, warning him of their guest: "He's dressed SS, but I don't think he's one of 'em! I don't know what he is!" For she's just about positive that guy is not with the SS--for one thing, he's not nearly pushy enough, and for another, he didn't knock on the door NEARLY loudly enough, the SS always knocks in the same way, and that wasn't it. And for a third thing, this is just subjective, she hasn't gotten out much in the world, but for some reason, to her, he looks like a Jew. Andreas's look grows darker as she talks; he has her stand aside, and pulls out a pistol he has concealed on his person--Frau Cranz covers her face, suppressing a whimper. They step into the kitchen and the officer glances at them. SS Officer: "Herr Cranz...?" Andreas: "What d'you want?" SS Officer: "If you're Herr Cranz, I'm here to talk to you." Andreas: "Ja, well, get it out and go on." SS Officer: "You talk to all your superiors like this?" Andreas: "I know you ain't SS no matter what you're dressed like. And I don't appreciate you spooking my ma, so spit it out and go on." SS Officer: "I hadn't meant to frighten your mother, so I apologize. But how do you know I'm not who I say I am?" Andreas: "You don't carry yourself right. SS guys carry 'emselves like a**holes. Now what d'you want?" Frau Cranz is petrified that the stranger will be angry with Andreas's insolence...yet his mouth merely twitches, and he removes his cap. He has a dark complexion, dark hair, dark eyes. "I know you, don't I...?" Andreas says, furrowing his brow; seeing Frau Cranz's confusion, the stranger lowers his head just briefly in a nod, and says, "Josef. Diamant." She doesn't know the name, but Andreas reacts by sucking in a breath through his teeth, and moves a little to put himself more in front of his mother. "That's the guy done shot Herr Dannecker," he whispers loudly, and Frau Cranz whimpers and hides behind him further. "I'm not interested in harming either of you two," Diamant says, to which Frau Cranz retorts, "J-ja--? Funny way you have of showing it! Just like your sort to lie, isn't it--?" And "Ma, hush!" Andreas scolds. Frau Cranz knows it's foolish and cowers when Diamant looks at her but he just says, "All right, I deserved that," and turns his attention back to Andreas. "I'm here because I have a job offer for you." "Already got a job," Andreas says, to which Diamant replies, "Exactly, and that's why I'm here." He asks Andreas about something that apparently occurred some time back; Andreas never mentioned it to his mother, so she has no idea what they're talking about, but she catches on fast. While visiting a street market for some fresh fruit to bring home to her, Andreas happened to look up, and spotted a young woman right across from him, looking back; although she wore a hooded coat that helped conceal her, there was no mistaking that face, that hair, that dress and boots. "Fräulein Gret--?" Andreas had blurted out without thinking; in response Gret Dannecker had gone white as a sheet, turned, and hurried away. He admits he considered following her, yet refrained; obviously she was fearful and in hiding. "Andreas! Why did you not tell me this?" Frau Cranz asks, and he shrugs and sullenly retorts, "Didn't see the point! And didn't want you getting in trouble too in case those a**holes came back looking again." "And that's why I'm here," Diamant cuts in, drawing their attention back. He explains that Gret has been in hiding with him and a couple of other prisoners since the escape; she tried getting back in touch with her family, but it didn't go well. Diamant and the others have been furtively contacting old acquaintances and allies they know they can trust, and are slowly building a resistance network to aid others being persecuted by the Nazis. "You don't need all the details," he says; "the less you and your mother know, the safer. But I have a business proposal. You're still chauffeur to the commandant, ja?--they still pay you?" When Andreas nods, Diamant says, "How would you like to make twice as much?" Andreas and his mother blink. Diamant explains: Previous to his imprisonment by the SS, he was a well-known jeweler--and document forger--and so still has a lot of contacts willing to help him out; similar with his companions, an accountant and a thief. They have access to money, and are willing to pay Andreas to work for them. All he has to do is what he's already doing--driving Nazis around--while listening in on their conversations, and later, reporting any info he's learned to a network contact. In effect, become a spy for them. "Why you ask me this, how you know you can trust me?" Andreas asks, to which Diamant responds, "Simple. Fräulein Gret is still free, and here you are, calling your bosses 'a**holes.'" Andreas bites his lip and Frau Cranz knows he's wavering; "Andreas!" she hisses, "you ain't actually thinking about it, are you--?" "It's a lot of money, Ma," he retorts, "we could really use it." Frau Cranz pulls him out of the kitchen--really, just to the side a little, yet still within plain sight and hearing of Diamant, as the flat is so small--and the two start whisper-arguing while Diamant pretends not to hear. Frau Cranz: "How you know you can trust this man come off the street? He already lied! He impersonates an officer! Who knows what else he does? This brings only trouble! You want the real SS knocking down our door...?" Andreas: "Ma! You worry so much! I'm grown up now, ja? It's twice the money, means I get you out of this hole twice as soon, ja? It's not like I ain't doing it already, huh...?" Frau Cranz: "Ah I knew I'd regret letting you take up this line of work with these horrible people!" Andreas: "You didn't let me do nothing, Ma, I decided for myself..." Frau Cranz: "If only your father was still here! No one should have to do so much so young. I should be looking after you, not you after me." Andreas: *exasperated* "Ma..." Frau Cranz: "If only I wasn't so sick, you wouldn't have to do such awful things!" Andreas: "I drive a f**king car, Ma. Ain't like I'm out knifing folks under bridges." Frau Cranz: "How long till you are--? Working with these people! What's the saying, lying...lying with dogs...fleas...anyway, what next? First you're a spy, then you're running a camp, then you're giving those awful speeches and people are saluting you--" Andreas: "Ma! I ain't becoming Führer, for Christ's sake." Frau Cranz: "You never know! The path you're taking! First that, then this! Look at this, a Jew in an SS suit! You ever see anything so mad? Just think a minute, Andreas--" Andreas: *sharp wave* "Is settled, Ma, stop your fussing." Andreas takes Diamant up on his offer, despite poor Frau Cranz's wishes, and becomes a spy for the budding Diamond Network. It isn't especially glamorous...it's just driving Nazis around, and eavesdropping. Something he'd already grown good at. And if there's anything he's learned from it all, it's that the SS talks a big game about honor and loyalty and all that jazz, but really, they constantly backstab each other, and can't stop themselves from trash talking their comrades while they assume the driver isn't listening. Andreas knows how to be so bland and unnoticeable that his passengers often forget he's even there. He doesn't pass on the rumors and gossip they share (well, except to his mother), so they assume he's trustworthy. Diamant just happens to be the first person to ask what they're saying to and about and out of earshot of each other. Once a week, Andreas stops by an assigned meeting spot--different each time--and shares what he's learned. He's then handed his pay--the same amount he's paid by the SS. On the first drop, he even brings home an extra bill, along with a playing card--the jack of diamonds--with a note scribbled on it, FOR YOUR MA--JD. "See, Ma...?" Andreas says as she marvels over the money, "I told you I'd find us a way out of this place, now we'll get there sooner, just you see." Frau Cranz just wipes her damp eyes--"I'm going to put it away where nobody finds it, just in case"--and deposits the Reichsmarks in a small box and then under a loose floorboard beneath her bed. Then kisses Andreas and hugs him hard: "My boy! Why do I ever doubt!" That isn't to say she never worries again, though; it's just second nature to her. Especially as the war comes to a head and the advance of the Allied troops is imminent; Andreas calls his mother on the phone the SS installed in their flat for him to receive calls when off duty, and urges her to fetch the most important stuff she can carry on her person--he's coming to pick her up, and get them out of the city. Frau Cranz rushes to and fro, panicky and indecisive, but it's not like they own much to begin with; she grabs a few pieces of clothing, a cherished family photo, her rosary, and of course, the little box from under the bed. Then waits for her Andreas. When there's a knock she nearly jumps out of her skin again, imagining slavering Red Army soldiers ready to do horrible things, yet--"Open, is me, Ma!"--she flings the door open and hugs Andreas hard. "I thought you were one of those awful Communists come to do me in!" she cries, to which he retorts, "Ma, why would the Communists knock--? You got our things?" She holds up the box and he takes her arm. "C'mon, then. No time to waste," and they exit--though Frau Cranz takes an irrational moment against Andreas's protests to lock the door behind her. They speed through the city, as best they're able since the streets are crowded with other fleeing citizens and--Andreas gasps and slams his foot on the gas--a blockade appears ahead. "Sh*t," he mutters, goes in reverse, and takes a turn. "That was our own folks, wasn't it--?" Frau Cranz asks, confused--the men at the blockade were in SS uniforms. "Exactly," Andreas says, "they're shutting us in! Not letting anyone out! If the Red Army's coming, we're fish in a barrel." Frau Cranz quails, then Andreas frowns, looking perplexed. "What the..." he mutters, then starts honking the horn, and pulls abruptly to the curb. "Andreas! What you doing--?" Frau Cranz cries, to which he replies, "I know that guy," and opens his door, standing up. Frau Cranz cranes her neck. An SS-Totenkopfverbände officer appears, breathless as if he's been running; "Need a lift?" Andreas asks. "Where you headed--?" the officer asks; "The f**k out of here," Andreas says, to which the officer replies, "If you can stop by Frau Bitterlich's along the way, I'd appreciate it." Andreas makes an odd face but waves him to get in; he does so, and they speed off. Frau Cranz leans toward her son and whispers, "Andreas...der Puff??" Andreas just shrugs and shakes his head: "Don't ask, Ma," and swerves to avoid some people. Cranz's and his mother's escape from the city is described here: Jan Delbrück; Mirjam Zweifel; Andreas Cranz. Cranz keeps his promise to his mother: He gets her the f**k out of the city, and manages to find a small cottage at the edge of a smaller, neighboring city. Cranz's role as a snitch on the SS is never discovered and the Allies have no cause to pester them, so they're left in peace. Frau Cranz never quite overcomes either her cough or her anxiety, but both improve considerably in the months following the Reich's fall; Cranz resumes his old job of taxi driver, though he doesn't have to work nearly as hard anymore, as they have a comfortable enough life. She even visits the old city with him, to stare wistfully at the places they once knew; while they're walking arm in arm, she's startled by a shout--"Cranberry!"--and gasps when a tall, slender woman comes rushing at Cranz, blond hair bobbing and eyes alight, and throws her arms around him, hugging him tight. Cranz hugs her back, then the two part and start exclaiming over each other. Frau Cranz notices another woman in spectacles step up warily behind the exuberant young woman and assumes from their similar appearance that they're mother and daughter. Cranz and the young woman seem to realize they're being watched; "Mama, this is Andreas Cranz, I've told you about him," the young woman says to the older one, and "Ma, this is Trudi Detzer, we worked together a few times in the war," Cranz says to his mother. The two women politely say hallo--then, to their offspring: "Trudi, you and this boy--?" "Andreas, you and this girl--?"--like any mothers, feeling a twinge of hope for the possibilities. Cranz and Trudi immediately dash that twinge: "Nein, nein, Mama, not like that!" "Nein, Ma, she's like my sister!" They start chattering enthusiastically, catching up, Trudi grasping Cranz's arm--"Be back in a little while, Mama, I want to show him around!" and Cranz calling back, "Won't be gone long, Ma, promise--why don't you two talk?"--and like that, the two jog off down the sidewalk, laughing like two kids. Frau Cranz and Frau Detzer are left alone, watching them disappear; after a moment they turn and peer at each other awkwardly. Frau Cranz: *small shrug* "...Children, ja?" Frau Detzer: *small snort* "Ja. Children." Frau Cranz: "Still...would've been nice, having some grandbabies running around, ja...?" Frau Detzer: *pursing lips* "Trudi's...never been the sort to want kids. But ja...it'd be nice, wouldn't it?" Frau Cranz: "Hermine." *holds out hand* "I'm glad Andreas has a good friend, at least. " Frau Detzer: "Claudia." *takes her hand* "And the same." Frau Cranz and Frau Detzer are about as different as night and day: Dirt poor and comfortably middle class, quite uneducated and quite well read on all the latest subjects, anxiously skittish and defiantly determined. They're both mothers, though, and they both want only what's best for their children. That's plenty over which to commiserate. Frau Cranz slips her arm around Frau Detzer's and, like Cranz and Trudi, they head down the sidewalk, getting to know each other. Please now check out Claudia Detzer's entry. [Hermine Cranz 2024 [Friday, July 5, 2024, 12:00:08 AM]] |