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Lars Franke Blog Entry |
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June 23, 2023, 4:00:15 AM June 23, 2023, 4:00:26 AM June 23, 2023, 4:00:36 AM June 23, 2023, 4:00:47 AM 6/23/23: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Major/Master Sergeant Lars Franke: Sans cap (top drawing), with peaked cap (second drawing), with field cap and goggles (third drawing), with field cap and goggles on (bottom drawing). He's a former adjutant/guard who's forced to go on "medical leave" after a mental breakdown so accepts a demotion and transfers to a tank unit. He has...issues. There'll be more about him later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se. Regarding his design, he's a Doberman pinscher. I was going to give him headphones, but couldn't figure out how to draw them, then decided they're more of a work accessory than part of his uniform. This isn't quite how I picture him, though I do know he's a Doberman, has brown hair, and usually has an angry expression. TUMBLR EDIT: Franke is more of a back character--he's absent throughout almost the entire main storyline--so his history hasn't been developed yet. For now I'll assume he had a relatively normal, if strict, traditional middle-class German upbringing. For whatever reason, he takes a fancy to the Nazi Party and joins the SS. I'm unsure if he was in the Great War--I don't think so--or if he fights at all in the early days of the second war--again, I doubt it. He enters the SS-Totenkopfverbände, the guard units who administer the budding camp system, though the SS-TV is closely aligned with the Waffen-SS so there's the understanding that he could be shipped off to the front at any time if the need arises. When he joins, this possibility is distant, so he doesn't dwell on it when he's assigned to a camp. It's a rather new camp Franke eventually ends up at, and a new commandant is on the way. The story is he's a transfer from another camp and has a rather shady reputation due to a couple of mysterious incidents, one involving the death of a prisoner who committed suicide by electrocuting himself, the other involving the deaths of his own parents. Although his involvement in the first incident is almost ensured and has even become a bit of an urban legend--witnesses claim he didn't lay a finger on or even threaten the man, just walked toward him, at which the prisoner panicked and went running straight into the electric fence--the second incident is much murkier; although his mother was supposedly very ill, and chose (mostly) legal euthanasia over dying slowly, there are vague rumors of some sort of inappropriate relationship between the two, and their possible involvement in the earlier death of her husband/his father, who supposedly died of a heart attack...except there may have been hints of suffocation. It's all quite salacious and unproven, of course, but his reputation involving the death of the inmate is said to have contributed to his transfer--and promotion--in the new camp: The higher-ups wanted somebody particularly nasty for the job, and Lt. Col. Ernst Dannecker is said to fit the bill. The guards are curious about him not only because of the rumors, but because he'll have to pick an adjutant, or second-in-command, from among them. When he arrives, he seems like nothing special, in fact, he appears to be bored with the entire situation. Hardly seems like the hardened killer type. Still...Franke is ambitious, and immediately starts angling for the promotion. He's just unsure how to most effectively do it. Dannecker seems impervious to fawning and flattery, which is all Franke knows, so he tries to make himself useful, indispensable, instead. This means doing all the unpleasant chores Dannecker needs done but nobody else wants to do. This at least captures Dannecker's attention, but nothing much else. Franke gets so frustrated at his lack of progress that one day when a prisoner accidentally splashes mud on his pants he loses his temper, knocking him down with his stick, then kicking him, screaming the entire time. The prisoner is helped up by his fellows and skulks off while Franke sits down on a piece of wall and grumbles and fusses over the stains. A voice behind him--another guard, he assumes--says, "You're really so prissy that you'll let a mudstain bother you?" to which Franke, incensed, snaps, "F**k off!" There's a pause, then the other person steps around in front of him; Franke bristles and lifts his head to cuss at him again, only to notice his collar tabs--the SS-TV Totenkopf, and four silver pips with a black-on-silver stripe, an Obersturmbannführer--then his face--Dannecker wears a mildly peeved expression. Franke promptly shoots to his feet and salutes, bobbing his head and removing his cap for good measure. Franke: "A--apologies, Kamerad Kommandant! I didn't know it was you." Dannecker: "Really? You would've spoken differently had you known?" Franke: "Of course, Kamerad Kommandant." Dannecker: "So you're saying you like to lie to your superior officers." Franke: "I..." *confused* "Of--of course not, Kamerad Kommandant...?" Dannecker: "You're really bad at this, you know?" Dannecker turns and walks away. On the one hand, Franke is glad not to be struck or reprimanded for his disrespect, but on the other hand, it looks like he maybe missed his chance to win Dannecker over. Lying in his bunk that night, he mulls over it all. His faux pas did little more than annoy Dannecker; it must have been his assault of the prisoner that got his attention. Franke winces--beating down prisoners isn't his thing--but makes a mental note. Of course it makes sense, when Dannecker was allegedly assigned this camp on account of his own brutality: Violence is what gets his attention. Franke has to be more violent. He makes a point, then, of smacking the prisoners around when he gets the chance, though it isn't much different from what the other guards already routinely do. Just randomly beating the s**t out of one is technically against the rules. So Franke is still struggling to think of what to do when he gets into a verbal spat with one of his fellow guards one day. He's still frustrated at his lack of progress, too, and if there's one thing Franke is really bad at handling, it's frustration. Result, the verbal spat soon becomes physical, and after a bit of shoving around, Franke hauls off and punches the other guard, promptly laying him out. It's not like the time he hit the prisoner, though--guards fight back. So the other guy pushes himself up, shakes himself off, and comes right back swinging. Franke hits him first, then commences pummeling him, left and right, until he goes down again; then Franke starts kicking. A couple of other guards who'd been watching finally grab Franke's elbows and pull him back. It takes a few minutes for him to simmer down a bit, and he stomps off to the other side of the yard to stew while the unconscious guard is carried to the medical building. A little while later, Franke is summoned to Dannecker's office; he grimaces but reluctantly heads for the administration building, knowing full well what to expect. Fighting among guards is strictly forbidden. On the walk there he tries to think of what other sorts of jobs might be open to him. Franke finds Dannecker waiting with arms crossed, another visiting SS official standing beside him. As he watches, perplexed, Dannecker pulls out some folded Reichsmarks and hands them to the other officer, who offers an awkward salute and excuses himself. Dannecker crosses his arms again. Dannecker: "You lost me some money today, Kamerad. I bet against you." Franke: *blinking, confused* "P...pardon?" Dannecker: "Anyone can smack around a half-starved prisoner, but it's something else entirely to knock out one of your Kameraden. I figured you didn't have it in you. Especially after all that girly fuss over your uniform." Franke: "Am...am I being reprimanded?" Dannecker: "That depends." *comes around the desk to face him* "I'm not looking for anyone who makes a habit of walloping his fellow officers, you understand?" Franke: "Of--of course not, Kamerad Kommandant." Dannecker: "I am looking for someone, however, who isn't squeamish about anything that needs to be done. No matter how unpleasant. Understand?" Franke: "J--ja, Kamerad Kommandant." Dannecker: *leans uncomfortably close* "Tell me, Kamerad, if you ever get someone's blood, or brains, splashed onto that nice shiny uniform of yours, what'll you do...?" Franke: "I..." *swallows* "I--just hope that I'll be the one who made that person bleed, Kamerad Kommandant." Even as he says it, Franke's also thinking, "WTF." That's definitely not what he'd be hoping for. Still...he feels the need to pretend it's what he would want. There's a slight pause, then a smile slowly creeps up Dannecker's face--Franke has to force himself not to shudder when realization hits. Dannecker isn't simply cruel. He's a sadist. Franke gets promoted to the rank of Sturmbannführer and the position of adjutant, though it feels rather like he sold his soul to do so--fitting, as Dannecker has already earned himself the whispered nickname of "Der Teufel" (The Devil), which he doesn't seem to mind when word of it reaches him--he even eventually procures an ornate, and presumably expensive, tapestry (by illegally trading away a Jewish prisoner set to be terminated) featuring the Devil, which he hangs on the wall not far from his office. Franke swallows his revulsion, however--if this is what it takes to move up in the world, well, he only wishes he had a few more souls to sell. He takes to his new role with gusto, bossing around the other guards in such a manner that even Dannecker has to pull him back now and then ("You want them afraid of you, Kamerad, not so annoyed they slip laxatives into your coffee"), as well as terrorizing the prisoners (Dannecker takes no issue with that) and handling all the tedious everyday administrative affairs Dannecker has little mind for. He excels at this last duty, keeping things running a lot more smoothly than they otherwise would, considering Dannecker's chaotic leadership style; he also provides a mediating voice when officials visit and Dannecker says things he really shouldn't say, in effect greasing the bureaucratic wheels when necessary. He might have a pissy attitude when dealing with his equals or underlings, but he knows how to suck up, and uses that to both his and Dannecker's advantage. As time goes on he also learns how to pick up on Dannecker's quirks, and learns through experience when to avoid him. Dannecker tends not to often lose his temper--in contrast with the frequently volatile Franke--but he does get infuriated in his own particular way. Franke knows that when he falls quiet and gets an unpleasant glint in his eyes to steer clear of him or else--this tends to happen either right before he shoots someone, threatens to shoot them (he likes carrying a revolver, the better to play Russian roulette), or embarks on what become known as his "pet projects." The first time a prisoner enrages him enough to carry out a pet project, the amount of time and effort he puts into it is breathtaking to behold; and Dannecker ends up not even needing to kill the guy. The prisoner does this himself, when the guards enter the prisoner barracks one day to find him hanging from a bunk. Although pet projects aren't his cup of tea, Franke can't help but be impressed; the rumor about the prisoner in the previous camp, who would've rather thrown himself at an electric fence than keep dealing with Dannecker, makes more sense now, and he's awed that somebody can inflict such fear without even needing to beat someone. It takes a special mindset to pull off such a thing, and he knows he lacks that. The problem, though, is how unfortunately easy it is to get sucked into a pet project without intending it; Dannecker doesn't care about collateral damage, so Franke and the other guards quickly learn to keep their distance whenever he gets that glint in his eyes. Franke is surprised when Dannecker appoints a Jewish prisoner, Isaak Schindel, as Lagerälteste, or kapo, to help keep the prisoners in line, in exchange for better food and lodgings. Dannecker has an especial hatred for the Jews, cracking down harder on them than on others in the camp such as Roma or Slavs. Why would he choose to put one in a position of authority? Dannecker tells Franke that he actually gave him the idea, and he thought it might be "fun" somewhere along the way. Franke's not sure what to make of that, but he knows it can't be good, and Schindel is likely to become a part of one of Dannecker's pet projects. And that's exactly what happens when the camp gets a new batch of prisoners; Franke, observing selections (it isn't an extermination camp with gas chambers, but prisoners deemed unfit for work are shot and sent to the crematorium--smoke plumes from the chimney more days than not), has no reason to take notice of one new arrival, a former jeweler and document forger named Josef Diamant, but he'll become quite familiar with that name soon. Diamant is sent to the right...forced labor, rather than death. Franke, bored, pays him no attention as he's pushed along into the camp. He knows the s**t's about to hit the fan, however, when one day Dannecker does lose his temper and starts beating a prisoner in the yard. Nobody dares to intervene, not only because they know they stand no chance, but because it's just such a novel situation to witness. So it comes as even more of a shock when Diamant abruptly jumps forward and knocks Dannecker's hand aside, sending his stick flying. Absolutely EVERYONE--all guards, all prisoners, Schindel, Franke, and not least of all Dannecker himself--freezes. Dannecker doesn't even look angry, he's in such disbelief. From Schindel's entry: Everyone expects Dannecker to lay into Diamant next, but he simply lowers his arm, turns, and walks back toward the administration building. Diamant tries to help up the beaten prisoner but is shoved away--"What have you done? You've only made it worse! He'll kill us both, now!" And indeed, a murmur ripples through the camp: Dannecker is striding back, seemingly having composed himself. The prisoner gets on his knees and starts begging for forgiveness--Dannecker doesn't even stop to look at him, just pulls out his revolver and shoots him in the head. Schindel and everyone else watches as Diamant panics and goes running, Dannecker fiddling with his gun as he just continues walking after him. He corners Diamant against a wall, puts the gun to his head, and fires--nothing happens, yet Dannecker smiles and says, "Your lucky day, Jew." There's a reason Dannecker prefers carrying a revolver--easy to play Russian roulette, one of his favorite torture methods. He doesn't kill Diamant that day, but later that night, he arrives at one of the prisoners' barracks after dark and motions the guard to let him in. Schindel isn't there to see it, but other prisoners who are wakened by Dannecker's unexpected appearance murmur about it the next day. Dannecker singles out Diamant's bunk, kneels down, presses his gun to his head, and whispers a promise. Diamant is officially his new pet project. Franke looks on from a safe distance over the following weeks. Dannecker's psychological torture is so effective as he's expert at playing the long game; a single pet project can go on for months. He often goes many days without doing anything at all, which just drives his victims even crazier trying to figure out if he's done with them yet or when the other shoe is going to drop. Well, he pulls this on Diamant, and it starts to work--it isn't long before Diamant is a nervous wreck--yet it doesn't go as quickly as Dannecker would prefer. He decides he needs to step things up, and one day has both Schindel and Diamant brought to his office. Franke waits outside in the hallway; the three are in there for only a little while, not too long at all, but by the time Dannecker calls for Franke to come in, something drastic has obviously happened. He steps into the office to find Dannecker seated casually in his chair, the two prisoners standing before him much as Franke left them; both of them are shaking. Diamant looks positively miserable and humiliated, his eyes wet, while Schindel is actually sobbing. Franke wonders WTF Dannecker could've done to get such a reaction, but all that the commandant does is wave his hand dismissively and say, "Take them both back to the yard and return to your duties, bitte." Franke obeys--neither of them protests--and all goes on as normal. Until a few days later, that is, when Schindel, unprovoked, knocks Diamant down on his way to morning roll call and starts beating the living s**t out of him with his stick, screaming for him to fight back--which the normally rebellious Diamant refuses to do. Franke, seeing the commotion, hurries over to break it up, only to get hit in the face by Schindel's club; he stumbles back in pain and surprise, and a few other guards hurry to beat Schindel into submission. All three of them--Diamant, Schindel, and Franke--go to the medical building, where Franke scowls and winces the entire time a physician tends to his broken nose; he has to wait a bit for the others to regain consciousness before going to reprimand them. Normally, he'd love the chance to thrash them both personally; yet things between these two and Dannecker are anything but normal, and he does not want to get caught up in a pet project. He's actually dreading when he'll need to inform Dannecker of what happened. So he settles for a harsh verbal rebuke--gritting his teeth at the way the nearby physician's assistants try not to laugh at his stupidly nasal voice--while Schindel and Diamant just sit silently with their heads down. They both quietly say Ja, Herr Sturmbannführer when he demands that they understand, then he dismisses them. He's very cranky and unhappy indeed to have to steel himself to address Dannecker...yet when he delivers the news, Dannecker simply smirks a little and goes on with his day. On the one hand, Franke is immensely relieved not to be punished himself; yet on the other, he wishes more than ever that he knew what's going on. He reminds himself not to meddle in a pet project, treats himself to a hot shower and then a cold pack for his throbbing nose, and retires to bed early. Franke is too wrapped up in his own annoyances to pay much attention to what's going on in the following days, so he misses a lot of warning signs that Dannecker's project is unraveling. It's not unusual--for Dannecker, at least--when he brings his young stepdaughter Margarethe to visit the camp; he loves lavishing her with attention, including showing her off to the men in the camp--guards and prisoners alike--although they know very well that the teenager is off limits. Now and then Franke cuffs a guard upside the head for eyeing Gret a little too long--"She's a child, you degenerate!"--but he has no similar reaction to Dannecker himself. Very vague but unpleasant rumors circulate that, just as the commandant appeared to have an unseemly relationship of some sort with his mother, the same may be occurring with his stepdaughter. He walks arm-in-arm with her like a couple, fawns over her pretty dresses (which he buys her) and long blond braids (which he likes to run his fingers down), brags to her about his camp and brags to his men about her, and likes putting his arm around her shoulders and drawing her a little too close while murmuring in her ear. Granted, all this could just be proof of a devoted, loving stepfather...just that he has a devoted, loving wife...and three other stepchildren...yet he never brings any of them along for a visit. Gret, for her part, never protests, though she never smiles or otherwise responds, either. Franke decides that if anything is indeed going on, well, he has no proof, and it's nobody's business--he puts it out of his mind. So he misses the fact that Diamant DOES make Gret his business, and even manages to tentatively communicate with her. Schindel, observing this but not wishing to draw unwanted attention back to his contentious history with Diamant, grows fidgety and anxious; Franke simply scolds him to snap out of whatever's wearing on him and do his job. Schindel despises Diamant, yet has nothing against Gret, who's always been polite to him--and he's more afraid of getting drawn back into the pet project than of whatever rebuke he might get for not snitching on some vague behavior. Unlike Franke, he knows something is happening. But he keeps his mouth shut. The result of Franke's lack of attention is that the culminating event takes him completely by surprise, even though, in retrospect, he could have easily seen the signs he overlooked, were he the retrospective type. One day while Gret is visiting with Dannecker, and Diamant has been set up at a craft station nearby to work on a ring Gret requested from her stepfather as a gift (Franke did at least try to convince Dannecker that giving Diamant temporary privileges might be a bad idea, but was promptly shut down--"My Gret wants the very best ring," Dannecker had said, "and from what I hear that's the one thing this despicable Jew is good at, aside from being a nuisance"), a guard named Delbrück complains about needing a helping hand in a back file room. Franke knows Delbrück, and can barely stand him; he just seems terribly unmotivated for a guard, and despite his job delivering the finishing shot to any prisoners who survive the frequent, messy mass executions--a job absolutely nobody else volunteered for, until Dannecker issued a threat--he's known for inappropriately fraternizing with Schindel, sharing cigarettes with him. This is the main reason Dannecker got fed up enough to relegate him to a file room. Franke attempts to put him off but Delbrück is just obnoxiously passive-aggressive enough to get him fed up as well, and finally he snaps, "Fine! You get along so well with that f**king murdering Jew (Schindel was accused of manslaughter in the death of a ghetto policeman before being brought to the camp, then severely beat and possibly killed another inmate), HE can lend you a hand! How about that, huh?" Delbrück merely shrugs--"Don't think anyone needs to be Aryan to carry file boxes, Kamerad"--so Franke sends off into the back of the building possibly the one person who might notice everything that's currently amiss, a very perplexed Schindel, and retires to his own office to get some much-needed work done. After some time, another guard peeks in, mentions stopping by Dannecker's office after hearing an odd noise, and talking with Gret, who explained that she accidentally fired her stepfather's gun so he sent her out into the hall for a bit--strange behavior for someone usually so indulgent--so he couldn't deliver some info Dannecker had requested earlier in the day. Gret is well liked by the guards, and she mentioned Dannecker not wanting to be disturbed, so Franke advises the guard to comply and just try again later, so he departs. More time passes, he looks at his watch, thinks Delbrück is taking a bit long with his work--maybe he's even slacking off with that Jew?--so he leaves his office to go check. Walks by Dannecker's office on the way--no sign of Gret, and the door is shut, so he figures they're in there together and he doesn't want to think about it. Pops in on Delbrück and Schindel, sees they're in fact merely sorting through the files, though Schindel seems badly rattled by Franke's sudden appearance, then seems confused when he merely tells them to hurry up and leaves again. As he returns to his office he mulls over the odd reaction; it's almost like Schindel had been expecting something else. He pours himself a drink, tries to put the vaguely uneasy, "not-quite-right" feeling out of his head. A little more time passes. The guard from before reappears, perplexed looking himself; says he really needs to get that info to Dannecker, but when he gingerly knocked on his door, no one answered. Franke sighs and they head to Dannecker's office. Dannecker can get murderous if bothered while in private, likely even more so if Gret's with him, yet the guard wouldn't have bothered if it wasn't important, and besides, it really HAS been quite a while. They stop before Dannecker's door and Franke tentatively knocks, calls out, "Kamerad Kommandant...?" yet gets no response. Frowns, knocks and calls out louder. Nothing. Casts the guard a frowning look--"See what I mean?" the guard says--then, increasingly flustered, he reaches for his keyring and unlocks the door. The two of them hesitate to enter--"Kamerad Kommandant?--it's Kamerad Franke, coming in"--not knowing what to expect. "Is all well, Kamerad...?" Franke calls, noticing no sign of Gret, and no sign of Diamant either--he should be at his crafting station, working on the ring. "Where's the guard...?" Franke asks, and is informed that as Diamant got closer to finishing the ring, the guards eased off of watching so closely, since it had been so long yet he hadn't tried anything. As they enter Dannecker's office, Franke scowls: "I knew this was foolish! Trusting that Jew! The rat probably ran off with the tools Kamerad Dannecker gave him...I bet that's where he's gotten off to, and if I hear you even mention I said this..." Then Franke trails off when he steps around Dannecker's big desk and sees something on the floor in front of the window opposite. His and the guard's eyes widen--"K--Kamerad!"--and Franke rushes forward, dropping to his knee beside Dannecker's still body. "Nein, nein, nein!" Franke yells in a panic, shaking Dannecker, but all that happens is his head lolls a little--his eyes are wide and staring at the ceiling as if in surprise, a bullet hole in his forehead and a pool of blood surrounding him. "That Jew! Sound the alarm!" Franke cries, and the guard goes running. Then--Franke gasps, glancing around--"Fräulein Gret?--Fräulein Gret!"--he jumps to his feet and starts searching the office and its adjacent rooms for any sign of the commandant's stepdaughter, but she's missing as well. Obviously the Jew's done something horrible to her. The wail of the siren starts to sound, and the guard rushes back in. "Have you seen Gret--?" Franke asks; the guard's eyes go wide--"L--last I saw her, she said she'd fired his gun--you think--?" Franke cuts off this suggestion: "That must've been when! Obviously that Jew forced her to cover for him. He must have taken her hostage. How long ago was that?" On learning it's been over an hour, he curses and exits the office, the other guard right behind. The rest of the camp's been thrown into chaos. Everyone knows the alarm means something bad has happened, but nobody knows what. So of course, a big group of guards is converging around the office, looking for info. Franke, startled to suddenly realize he's the highest in rank now, briefly informs them that Dannecker's been killed, Diamant is gone, and he's taken Gret with him. He orders someone to contact the SS main office to report the incident, instructs someone else to take Dannecker's body to the medical building, then tells the guards in charge of the yard to summon all the prisoners to roll call for a head count. Delbrück and Schindel arrive; Franke attempts to blame Schindel for being negligent, but Delbrück defends him, and Franke is forced to abandon this idea as pointless; he did witness Schindel in the file room himself, after all. He goes outside to see how the head count is going. Dannecker's camp isn't a huge one, but a regular roll call would be too time consuming; instead, the prisoners have all been ordered to their barracks to stand beside their bunks, and an officer goes through each building, making sure everyone is accounted for. Diamant's bunk is of course empty. The news gets worse, however; the guards start returning with names of other missing prisoners--not just Diamant. In all, fourteen prisoners, plus Gret, are unaccounted for. "How did this happen??" Franke exclaims; the guards in the watchtowers saw nothing amiss. Nobody can explain it, and a handful of guards who've been searching the camp and the buildings don't find anything either--no holes, no tunnels, no openings in the fence, nothing. Diamant, Gret, and the rest have vanished into thin air. The guards dish out a few threats and physical blows but the prisoners have nothing to report, either. Franke knows a massive scandal is incoming. While he's always longed for a position of authority...he's not sure how to handle it, now that it's suddenly fallen in his lap. It's all a bit much to take in at once. And he starts to see immediately just how shoddy a job Dannecker actually did running his camp. There's an escape route unaccounted for, OR the guards are really just that inept. For Gret to have been kidnapped is simply too awful to countenance. Then, after he instructs someone to release the ID photos of the escapees, along with a portrait of Gret, to the authorities for use in making wanted and missing signs, the guard meekly returns to tell him that, while he's located an appropriate photo of Gret, and the ID pics of thirteen of the inmates, there's no photo of Diamant himself for him to release. Dumbfounded, Franke asks if it's been misplaced. The guard tries not to grimace; no, not that, the photo hasn't gone missing, he says; rather, it looks as if no photo was ever taken of Diamant when he entered the camp...they can't find any photos of him at all. They have no images of the likely escape ringleader to release to the public. That's it...Franke explodes. "What sort of a camp are we running??" he screams. "How did the fool even remember to put his trousers on every morning?? What is this s**tshow?!" He insists that, starting now, things will be different--with him in charge. He'll fix all the mess Dannecker left behind. A few of the gathered guards blink in surprise--while it's expected that the adjutant should assume temporary emergency control of the camp, it's definitely NOT a given that he will be the new commandant. There's an official process to follow. Yet when somebody tries to remind Franke of this, he screams back at them that drastic times call for drastic measures, and he's the only one suited for the job. "You think you can do so much better?" he demands. "Go ahead! Try! Which one of you thinks you can do so much better than I can! Step forward, I dare you!" Brief silence; nobody objects, though nobody looks happy either. Franke's about ready to gloat when--unspeakable!--one of the guards, a lieutenant, pushes his way forward. "The rest of you are going to be such p*ssies?" he snaps, then, to Franke: "You know there's a process, Kamerad! You're no better than the rest of us. You want to make it up as you go along, well, fine then, who's to say I couldn't do it just as well as you would?--or better, even!" A murmur arises--a handful of the other guards start furtively speculating how good a job they might do, who knows. Most of them, however, remain silent, several even taking a step or two back--they've noticed the look creeping up Franke's face, shock at being so spoken to, then the flush entering his cheeks and the murder in his eyes. Franke's barely able to keep himself from shaking with rage as he forces himself to say in as calm a voice as possible, "Herr Schindel! Up front." The kapo immediately appears beside him, cap in hand, head lowered. "J...ja, Herr Sturmbannführer...?" he meekly says, to which Franke replies, "Herr Schindel, use your stick and thrash this man." A kapo is expected to obey all SS orders...yet Schindel doesn't move. Franke looks at him and sees the fear and confusion on his face. Schindel: "P...pardon, Herr Sturmbannführer?" Franke: *hands curling into fists, teeth gritting* "I SAID...take your stick, and beat this man." *Schindel hesitates* *raising voice* "What part of a direct order do you not understand, Jew--?" Schindel: *stammering* "I...it's...a--a Lagerälteste isn't permitted to lay hands on an SS man, Herr Sturmbannführer--" Franke: *yelling* "You're disobeying a DIRECT ORDER, Jew--?" Schindel doesn't move, just stares at him, bewildered and terrified. What he claimed is true, he's not allowed to strike a guard--yet he's not allowed to disregard a guard's order, either. He's literally frozen, not knowing how to react. The other guards start fidgeting and mumbling; if a mere Jew can stand up to Franke, then anyone can. Franke starts to sweat, realizing just how close he is to losing all control of the situation, so he does the only thing he can think of--with a snarl he grabs Schindel's club out of his hand--Schindel jerks back, but doesn't protest--then whirls back around, slamming the cudgel across the guard's face, knocking him down. Everyone gasps and steps back. The gesture is effective at restoring order--yet suddenly, all thoughts of order flee Franke's mind. A shriek rising in his throat, he launches himself at the guard--all he can see is the horrid disobedience, the gall to question him--and starts slamming Schindel's club down at him over and over. He dimly notices everyone else--guards, kapo, prisoners--shrinking back even further, eyes wide, mouths open--but not only does he not care, he literally CAN'T care, every ounce of reason flees his head and all that's left is blind, irrational rage that anyone would dare to humiliate him like that. Everybody cringes back and watches in stunned disbelief as he beats the s**t out of his fellow SS officer, letting out a bloodcurdling scream the entire time. "F**k this!" another guard exclaims, turns, and runs to the camp entrance, demanding the guards stationed there to open the gate; they do so, and he goes running from the camp. Nobody else follows him, though a few more retreat, leaving the gruesome scene. The rest stay put, obviously too frightened to leave. Some tiny little voice way in the back of Franke's brain FINALLY asks if maybe he's gone too far, and he abruptly stops his arm in mid-swing, blinking so his vision clears--the other guard is black and blue and bloody and isn't moving. Very briefly, Franke panics again--is he dead, did he just murder a man?--when he notices the guard take in and let out a small breath; he's still alive. For now. Then the fury surges right back, but instead of continuing the beating, Franke hurls the stick at the ground and whirls to face his audience, which recoils a bit. He jerks a hand at the unconscious guard. "ANYONE who gives him aid or takes him to the medical ward--I'll do the same to you NEXT!" he snarls, turns, and stalks back inside the administration building. And then the real panic sets in. He nearly killed a fellow SS officer. Nearly killed! He saw the looks on everyone else's faces--surely someone will try the same on him next. After all, all it took was a Jew to kill Dannecker. Another guard can easily off him. Consumed by dread all of a sudden, he starts walking briskly, then jogging, then sprinting--having to fight not to cry out in fear, he stumbles into Dannecker's office, slams the door, locks it--sees the huge bloodstain still on the floor, screams, and retreats to the unused living quarters. His fear of being in the same room in which someone was murdered soon fades in the face of the threat of all the living people outside, though, and he forces himself to settle down, though it takes a lot of pacing. He zones in and out a few times, coming to to find himself yelling at the dead commandant, or squatting beside the bloodstain bawling his eyes out, or sitting in Dannecker's chair and admiring his desk, or checking the room with gun drawn just in case there are any murderous Jews hiding. Every time he hears a tentative knock he nearly jumps out of his skin and shrieks to be left alone. Needless to say, it's a very weird and uneasy night. Franke has some bizarre dreams when he dozes off. The next day, a fresh knock, louder and more authoritative than the rest, comes, along with the call, "Sturmbannführer Franke!"; again he screams for whoever it is to go away. There's a pause, then the same voice yells, "Kamerad Franke! This is Obersturmbannführer Hasso Reinhardt from the administrative office. I order you to open this door immediately!" Franke blinks, flushes, then hurries to answer the door. In the hallway stands an unfamiliar lieutenant colonel, Schindel beside him, a group of guards and a few Allgemeine-SS officers behind him. They're all staring at him like he's nuts. Franke hastily invites Reinhardt in, and the exchange from his entry takes place. The lowdown: Yesterday the guard Franke sent away reached the SS main office and reported what had just occurred at the camp (the alarm was widely heard in the vicinity and people were already starting to buzz, though no one knew what was going on, and calls to Dannecker's office went unanswered). Several members of the intelligence unit of the Allgemeine-SS departed for the camp, as investigation of SS-related crimes was under their purview; yet when they attempted to question Franke, he wouldn't answer the door, so they went to examine Dannecker's body in the medical building, not noticing what had happened in the yard. During Franke's rage fit, the other guard fled to SS-TV headquarters to report Franke himself. The situation there was already chaotic with news of Dannecker's death rapidly spreading, yet nobody knew what to do, and it was a while before he got to give his report to anyone. Then quite a while longer--not until the next day--before anyone could be found to go look into things; Reinhardt volunteered as nobody else wanted to, and headed to the camp. Unlike the Allgemeine-SS officers, he immediately noticed the unconscious guard lying on the ground, with Schindel dozing nearby keeping watch; when questioned the kapo confirmed the other guard's story, adding that he'd stayed near the unconscious guard to prevent the other prisoners from killing him. (This whole time, nobody, guards or prisoners, has been working; the entire camp is at a standstill.) Reinhardt effectively dismisses Franke from his self-appointed position as commandant by giving him the choice between resigning (taking a "medical leave"), or facing SS authorities over his bizarre actions. It's not much of a choice, but Franke would far rather leave of his own volition than be subjected to a medical review, so he storms off, frustrated and humilated, vowing that he'll be back. Well... Franke gives himself a brief time to stew, then makes a complaint to the SS main office; the Allgemeine-SS refuses to take action, claiming it's a matter for the SS-TV. Ah, bureaucracy. So he complains to the SS-TV main office. They reiterate Reinhardt's stance regarding Franke's aberrant behavior (this characterization REALLY makes him seethe), and while expressing sympathy for his situation, insist there's nothing they can do without subjecting him to a full medical and psychological review, is he really sure he'd want that...? Franke is equally insistent that he's not crazy--but submitting to such a review by the SS is a very iffy prospect, it's all too easy to be declared mentally incompetent--and possibly end up in a camp. Not only that, but even if he passes the review, he almost certainly won't regain his position as commandant. Franke wonders what is the point, then. The SS-TV official is sympathetic but explains that his chances of maintaining his current status in the SS-Totenkopfverbände are practically nil; given his actions toward his fellow guard, without a medical review, he's likely to face punishment. There's literally no way to win, aside from quitting the SS-TV entirely. Franke nearly loses it at that, throwing up his hands in despair--the SS is all he knows and cares about, what is he supposed to do without it? The official pauses before offering a tentative suggestion...just because he's no longer fit to serve in a position of authority in the camps doesn't mean he has to leave the SS itself. He can merely move sideways...into another branch of the SS. The SS-TV is closely affiliated with the Waffen-SS, he explains; Franke can request a transfer there, into a combat unit. Franke's first reaction is to be aghast--"Fight in the war??" he exclaims; then, "Fight in the war," he says, more subdued, suddenly thinking it over. The official notices his reaction and runs with it: "What better way to work that aggression out of your system, ja, Kamerad--? Kill some communists in service to the Fatherland? We always need fresh troops, well, here's your chance to serve, and keep serving. You'll need a bit more training but other than that you should get in easy, you've already passed all the other requirements." "But I've never been on the front before," Franke protests once more; killing communists sounds appealing--being killed by communists, not so much. Yet the official has a ready answer for that, too: "Kamerad, you must have known this was always a possibility anyway!"--which is true, the Waffen-SS often trades out its wounded troops for healthy SS-TV camp guards. Franke finally decides: He'll transfer into the Waffen-SS and continue his SS career. He finds out only belatedly that this also entails him accepting a strict demotion, from major to master sergeant. This steams him immensely yet he's forced to accept it, and after the requisite training is accepted into a panzer unit. He's not much of a team player--he'd far rather be in an infantry unit, not in such uncomfortably close quarters with a bunch of other guys--yet aside from that he does relatively well. He often "snaps" and starts raging and screaming whenever he has to plow through something or blow something up, leading to his fellows sometimes referring to him as "Der Berserker"; they've heard the rumors about his dismissal from camp, and are pretty sure he's a little loose in the head, but they shrug it off, such things are par for the course here. It's not the path Franke would've chosen but he fits in it okay. His new comrades express a bit of concern, though, that sometime he might snap for good, right in the middle of a battle, and that wouldn't be helpful. They invite him out for some entertainment and unwinding. I'm not sure if you've picked up on this but Franke's pretty tightly wound, stiff and formal and a stickler for rules (the main reason he admires the anal-retentive SS); he's rather leery of "entertainment." He accompanies his fellow unit members to a temporary venue that's been set up in a large tent. As soon as the music starts playing, Franke stiffens and realizes he made a mistake coming here--he's been taught to recognize degenerate art, and he knows burlesque music when he hears it. "This is your idea of 'unwinding'?--I should report you right now!" he practically yells at the guy beside him, and pops to his feet, insulted beyond measure to even be here--when the curtains open and the first performer saunters onto the stage. All the angry words die in Franke's throat and his eyes go wide. The busty, statuesque woman who's just stepped out--garish lipstick and rouge and eyeshadow, a bustier it's a wonder she can even breathe in, stockings adorning legs that seem to go on forever, and high heels that could probably kill a man--all the things the Nazi Party despises--is the most astonishingly gorgeous woman he's ever seen. His companion smirks a bit and elbows him when he slowly sits back down and watches the rest of the show, mesmerized--"Still hate the thought of 'unwinding,' Kamerad...?" he joshes, but Franke is too awed by this utter vision of beauty to even care anymore. He's always followed the party rules and standards, he always figured someday he'd settle down with a nice plain plump Fräulein who'd give him a decent brood of babies, yet those thoughts have evaporated--he realizes that THIS is what he really wants, and he won't be able to settle for anything else. After the show, when everyone's getting ready to return to their units, he starts trying to find a way backstage to talk with the first performer. His companion, learning this, furrows his brow as if this is the weirdest idea ever, then looks vaguely uneasy. "Kamerad, are you sure of this?" he asks; then, when Franke says he is, he grows even more consternated, even grasping Franke's arm: "Kamerad--think a minute." Then, hesitantly--"You do know what she is, ja...?" Franke shrugs himself loose--"I know what she is! Let me be, I can make up my own mind," he snaps, assuming his companion is shaming her for her career choice. He finally reaches the backstage area where a bouncer-type attempts to stop him, yet the burlesque performer catches sight of him and says to let him in. "I always appreciate a fighting man!" she coos as Franke meekly approaches, and offers him an ear-to-ear smile that makes his heart flutter. "I've never seen you here before, this is your first time...?" The two of them chat briefly, she doing most of the talking since Franke can't find the words; this mystifies him, since he's never been shy about speaking his mind before, yet the most he can offer is awkward stammers. He's disappointed when a worker informs him they have to close up, but the performer just smiles again and, after learning his unit is to head out again soon, suggests he stop by the next night; if he wishes, she can give him a nice sendoff. Franke nearly swallows his tongue at that, and has to quickly leave, though he can hardly believe his luck. He gets a few odd looks from his comrades when he goes backstage again the next night, this time with a gift: A box of sweets, expensive and hard to find due to wartime rations. He's anxious that she'll find it silly or frivolous since he has no idea what kind of gift a woman like her would want, but she accepts it, exclaiming, "What Fräulein doesn't like sweets?" Franke finds his tongue not quite so tied up this time around, and again they chat a bit; again the worker arrives after a while to shoo him off, but this time, the performer holds up a gloved hand. Burlesque performer: "Let us be a moment, bitte...?" *worker leaves* *turning to Franke* "Your unit's heading out tomorrow, ja...? Probably will be a while before you catch another rest...?" Franke: "Ja." Performer: *tracing a finger over his collar tab* "Going to defend the Fatherland from those horrid communists?" Franke: "H-hopefully." Performer: *scoots close* *voice lowered* "Remember when I told you I could give you a nice sending off...?" Franke: *nervously* "Mm...mm-hm." Performer: "You do know what I mean by a sendoff, ja...?" Franke: "I...I hope so." Performer: *smiles wider & plays with his buttons* "Mm, I can tell you know exactly what I mean." *leans close to whisper* "I have to tell you something, though, since you're new here, just so there's no misunderstanding. My feelings won't be hurt, Liebe, if you change your mind about me sending you off nicely." Franke: "I won't--I won't change my mind. You're...you're a very lovely woman." Performer: "You do understand what I do for a living, ja, Liebe...?" Franke: "Burlesque." Performer: *brief pause* "Drag burlesque." *long pause; Franke just stares* "You...do know what drag means, ja...?" Franke: *silence* Performer: "Just to be sure, Liebe...it means I'm really--" Franke: *quickly puts his hand out to cover her mouth; she stops speaking* *urgently* "Bitte..." *swallows* "I...I already know. Just...I'd...I'd really prefer if...if you could pretend...you're really a woman...?" Franke feels utter dread and humiliation just having to say this--not just because of the obvious, the real reason his comrades kept giving him the side-eye--but because his request seems horribly rude, plus he may have just scuttled his evening's plans. There's a painfully awkward pause that feels like it goes on forever yet is surely just a few seconds; then the performer again offers that indulgent smile that makes his heart thud hard. "Liebe," she purrs, "I can pretend to be whatever you want me to be." Franke's unit heads out the next morning; his fellows who saw him go backstage notice his normally peevish, irritable attitude has rather improved, and when they later on get involved in a fight, he's exceptionally enthusiastic about it, screaming bloody murder as he blows stuff up. He'd told the burlesque performer his nickname, Der Berserker, and she'd had good reason to use it. This becomes Franke's habit, the motivation he'd been missing in his life. Every time his unit goes on leave he seeks out the nearest entertainment, picks a favorite from among the drag performers, makes his way into "her" good graces by lavishing her with gifts--candies, flowers, jewelry, or anything else she expresses a fondness for--and passes a pleasant night or two in her company. His fellow unit members catch on pretty fast about what exactly is going on, and always wag their eyebrows at each other or even snicker a little and make lewd gestures and whispered jokes ("Which one of them is der Mann and which is die Frau, do you think?")...yet despite the blatant violation of SS rules, they never bother reporting him. It's near the front, rules are bent or broken here all the time (Franke is hardly the first to engage in such behavior), there are bigger things to worry about than who's schtupping whom. As long as he's good at killing Soviets, and is at least moderately discreet, they really don't care what he does in his free time. And Franke is definitely discreet in that his particular hangup is that he invariably requests his romantic partners pretend they are biological women, because otherwise, it's just too repulsive and shameful for him to think about. Franke isn't eine Schwuchtel, he doesn't like men, that's just perverted and disgusting (in the SS's opinion, which is also his opinion) and anyone who suggests as much will get his fist in their face. His comrades very quickly catch on to this and never bring it up--they've seen how he gets when sufficiently infuriated, and don't want to be on the receiving end of that. So, such goes Franke's second life: Demoted, transferred to a panzer company, sent to fight on the front, passing his days killing Russians and his nights in the company of pretty drag queens. It isn't what he once envisioned his SS career to be--a cushy camp commandant position, a plain plump traditional wife, a litter of good little Aryan kids--but it could definitely be worse. And at least he doesn't have to deal with Dannecker and his pet projects anymore. Franke's final arc in the story is still heavily under development. I do know that the second phase of Projekt Weltuntergang, the Nazis' experimental program for creating an Aryan supersoldier, moves on from prisoners to German citizens, and the new Projekt Ultima Thule makes use of several of the more elite Waffen-SS units, including Franke's. (I think he's in the same unit as another character who's so far going to remain nameless as a relatively minor character--should I ever get around to posting him on Toyhou.se he'll be "Unnamed SS Panzer Commander" or whatever fits--anyway, I've mentioned this guy briefly before, he's the (likely meth-fueled) guy who regularly gets into foul-mouthed shouting matches with Master Sergeant Schulte whenever they run into each other, then they amicably trade cigarettes and chocolate and whatnot before parting ways.) Although they're voluntarily recruited for the project, they aren't told the ENTIRE truth about what they're getting involved in. The experimental serum, which near the war's end has at last successfully been modified enough to work on all blood types regardless of mutation, is described to the Waffen-SS members as merely something similar to the Pervitin many of them already take. (I'm not sure if Franke uses meth or not; I don't think he does, as he's rather a purist type, though perhaps that's just early on and eventually as the job wears on him he might start taking it, however never to the point he becomes a hopeless addict like Klemper.) They aren't aware, and are deliberately not told, that it's not simply a mood-boosting drug but a highly experimental concoction that alters their physical makeup and whose efficacy and safety are still quite conjectural. (Well...not TOO different from Pervitin, maybe?) Basically they're human guinea pigs, not far removed from the Jews and "mental defectives" the original serum was tested on. They might perhaps have not been so willing to go along had they known this, yet it's late in the war, Germany is beginning to lose the fight, and they desperately need something far stronger than methamphetamine to keep them going. SS officials (and the Wehrmacht as well) decide it's prudent to shield their fighting men from the truth. It can't hurt them...too much. Franke, unnamed guy, and their fellows are filled in on the situation by a character I've since tentatively decided, despite their previous background/uninvolved status, is actually a very much involved party in all this (there'll be more in that character's upcoming entry); it's a confusing, hazy situation, but this person is such a motivated speaker, and the battle has become so dire, that they hang on every word and immediately after pledge their loyalty to the new project, unaware of its relation to the old. Whatever it takes to save the faltering Reich from the threat of the Red Army. Franke and the others end up going to the Alpine Fortress and make a surprise appearance in the final story; it's possible they're not even aware that by then the Third Reich has already long fallen and they're fighting in a war that ended a year or so previously. An equally perplexed Lt. Hesse, of the Allgemeine-SS, shows up in the Fortress as well, along with Wehrmacht private Konrad Helmstadt; both had been killed in the previous story, then secretly revived with the serum, which has more than one use. While Hesse, who had been questioning his SS loyalties and planning to quit the organization before abruptly deciding to aid the resistance-allied Dobermann family in their escape (a decision that cost him his life), turns on the Reich yet again, Helmstadt remains loyal, and so do the Waffen-SS members; Hesse and the remaining Allies are pitted against them in the last story, and it's quite a jarring situation for everyone involved. Like I said, this story arc is still being ironed out; although it's certain that Franke and the rest don't survive the final showdown, the specific details of what role they play, and what exactly happens to them, need to be figured out. That's for another day. [Lars Franke 2023 [Friday, June 23, 2023, 4:00:15 AM]] [Lars Franke 2023 2 [Friday, June 23, 2023, 4:00:26 AM]] [Lars Franke 2023 3 [Friday, June 23, 2023, 4:00:36 AM]] [Lars Franke 2023 4 [Friday, June 23, 2023, 4:00:47 AM]] |