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Christof Dannecker Blog Entry |
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February 9, 2024, 12:00:14 AM 2/9/24: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Christof Dannecker. He's the son of Else Dannecker, younger brother of Margarethe, and stepson of Ernst. He's the only one of Gret's family who stands by her after her involvement in Ernst Dannecker's death, and he helps her whenever he can after she flees home. There'll be more about him later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se, though there's already some about him in Else's entry. Regarding his design, he's a Pomeranian. TUMBLR EDIT: Christof, brother of Margarethe, Tanja, and Bernhard, has already appeared in Else's entry. He's not a major character, and isn't that old (he's the second Dannecker sibling, maybe a couple of years younger than Gret), so I haven't much history for him, and much of it applies to the rest of his family as well. Same as with Gret and the other two, he loses his father, a soldier in the Heer, in combat, and the family struggles to get by on what Else earns alone. She runs into Ernst Dannecker, commandant of the local labor camp, while on a grocery outing with her kids; not long after he wheedles his way back into her life and soon sweeps her off her feet, quickly convincing her to marry him and move her family in with him, making them dependent on him. You've seen already that Dannecker's plans are actually for the teenaged Gret, and not Else; as such, he makes sure to spoil the children, the better to win them over. He fawns over Gret especially, though of course, if grooming her doesn't work, there's always coercion. The main thing is to convince her own family to believe him over her, and sadly, for the most part, it works. Gret is suspicious from the start and her suspicions are well founded. Unknown to her, Christof is uncertain as well, though he isn't sure why and can't explain it, so he says nothing. Dannecker is kind to him, buys him toys and clothes and books like the family could never afford before, pays to send him to a good school, fencing lessons, etc., so he tries to be grateful. He finally figures out what's going on when he wakes up late one night, he's not sure why, and gets up to leave his and Bernhard's room. On his way through the hall to get a drink of water he thinks he hears a noise from Gret's room, and pauses to peer inside. He sees something so inexplicable and horrifying that he quickly backs away and hurries back to his room, forgetting all about his drink. He never tells anyone about what he saw...until the alarm goes off at the camp one day, they're notified that there's been a prisoner escape, Dannecker is dead, and Gret is involved and is missing, and then Gret shows up on their doorstep late one night. Christof wakes in time to hear his mother berating Gret for Dannecker's death and calling her a liar when she accuses him of things no stepfather should ever do; he finally dares to speak up, to confirm that Gret is telling the truth, he knows because he saw. And he's sorry he kept silent for so long. He's shocked when his words have the opposite effect than intended. Else still sides with Dannecker--now claiming that Gret must have seduced him. When she starts screaming for her to get out, Christof is the one to help her hastily pack up some clothes and goods and head out the back. There, he's nearly shot in the head by Josef Diamant, one of Dannecker's former prisoners and the ringleader of the escape, the guy who actually did kill Dannecker (with Gret's help); Gret intervenes, and brother and sister tearfully part ways, but not before Christof promises Gret that he'll help her any time he can, all she has to do is ask. He returns to the house, where his mother forbids him from ever mentioning Gret again or else she'll disown him, too. Reasoning that he can be more helpful to Gret from home, Christof obeys, although it breaks his heart to see his two younger siblings buy the story their mother tells them that Dannecker was a good man, and essentially "forget" that their oldest sibling ever existed. It isn't that long before Christof notices a strange man standing near the corner of a building, during a family visit to a market, furtively gesturing at him; he's nervous until the man seems to grow a bit frustrated, then pulls something out and quickly flashes it at him. It's a jack of diamonds playing card. Christof makes an excuse to briefly part ways with his mother and hurries across the street and around the corner, where he promptly asks the man if Gret is all right. The man--thin, dark skinned, with odd brown-and-blue eyes, and huddled in an oversized coat with his cap pulled low to shield his face--seems perplexed but assures him she's fine. He says Gret is the reason he's there, and explains something they need Christof to do, involving dropping something off at a certain time and location. Christof says he'll have to come up with an excuse to keep his mother in the dark, but he'll do his best; he only asks the man to pass along to Gret the message that he loves her. While the drop is needed, it's also intended as a test, set up by Diamant to determine how trustworthy and reliable Christof really is. And Christof passes the test, following through on his promise. Gret is disgruntled to learn of the test, and grouses at Diamant, "I told you he meant it." Christof continues helping Gret--by informally aiding the Diamond Network, the resistance organization that springs into existence in the wake of Diamant's escape--throughout the remainder of the war. After the war's end, although Else never stops blaming Gret for the loss of her husband, and Tanja and Bernhard pretty much stand by her (they really don't know any other way to think), Christof still stands by Gret; brother and sister reunite, hugging each other hard, tears in their eyes. (By now Christof is grown and doesn't depend on Else anymore, so she has no real threat to dangle over him, and grudgingly drops her vow to disown him; still, she refuses to listen to anything he says regarding Gret, so he stops trying.) Christof again apologizes for not speaking up sooner about Dannecker's abuse; Gret says she doesn't forgive him, as there's nothing to forgive--she blames Christof for nothing. He offers to let her live with him and to take care of her if she needs it, yet Gret says she may have something else lined up, and she'll let him know soon if it goes through. They promise to keep in touch. Some time later, Christof receives a letter: Gret has moved into a mountain town some distance from the city, and has taken a job as a clerk in a jewelry store--Diamant's jewelry store. She has her own room located over the shop; it's small, but it's home. She and Christof write frequently, but don't get to visit much due to distances; still, they at last get the chance to have lunch together in the city. Gret arrives with a familiar face: the strange man who'd met with Christof to set up his initial task so long ago, the one with the odd mismatched eyes. He seems nervous as Gret introduces him as Lukas Mettbach, a Sinto and former prisoner like Diamant. Although he distrusted and despised Gret early on--frequently calling her "Nazi b*tch" for her relation to Dannecker--over time he slowly grew to respect her, and they recently got back in touch when he started to work as an informal courier for Diamant. Turns out the two of them have developed romantic feelings for each other. As a member of one of the same groups Gret's people had persecuted and considered "subhuman" during the war, Lukas still has a lot of misgivings considering a relationship; yet Christof welcomes and accepts him immediately, clasping his hands in his own (startling Lukas, who has some aversions to being touched) and smiling at him. The way he sees it, if Gret is happy with Lukas, then Lukas is family. It's not quite the family Gret and Christof grew up with...but in many ways, it's much better. [Christof Dannecker 2024 [Friday, February 9, 2024, 12:00:14 AM]] |