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Karsten Blog Entry |
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January 17, 2025, 12:00:09 AM 1/17/25: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." Imgur's being weird for me, couldn't get it to work in any browser ("header overflow"?) even after clearing my cache and all, and the app wasn't showing my recent uploads. Finally selected "All" and copied the link, tried it in my browser, it asked me to sign in, and NOW it works...? 😒 I don't get it. Anyway. Hope my link works... (EDIT: I think I figured it out...adding "www" at the start messes it up. Which is just bizarre, it's always worked before, including yesterday.) ...This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Herr Karsten (last name never given). He's Katharina von Thiel's chief of help staff and is fully on board helping her with the resistance; he aids in hiding Inga Dobermann until she can reunite with her family. There'll be more about him later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se. Regarding his design, he's a Jagdterrier. TUMBLR EDIT: Firstly--for anyone who might check this blog for these character portrait entries and can't access the archive, I've finally finished copying these entries over to my NeoCities website. You can find the main page HERE and the Trench Rats page HERE. I'll still be making some edits to the individual pages to update links and basic character bios, but all the entries prior to this one are now viewable there, and THIS PAGE will show newest entries in chronological order at the bottom. I'll do my best to get new entries like this one up over there as soon as possible after they appear here. Additionally, if you want to see all my art (not just the portraits), you can find it on FLICKR (my art collections page is HERE, though collections seem a bit buggy, can't edit it on mobile) though it doesn't include entry writeups. Now the entry (sorry it's all over the place, yikes): Katharina von Thiel's chief of help staff is a character who's been around, unnamed, for a while; I believe he's referred to in an entry, I forget which, where Inga Dobermann first approaches Katharina to get in touch with the Diamond Network, and Katharina instructs him to contact Josef Diamant--he might also appear in the scenario where Katharina herself is first helping an escaped prisoner, though I could always be misremembering some details (EDIT, I've found all this in Katharina's entry and it pretty much matches my memory). My original intent was that he was an older man who'd served the von Thiel household for a long time, including Katharina's parents, but I now envision him as younger, not far from Katharina's age, and he has actually taken up the job following the death of the previous chief of the help staff, his father. Some additional details have fallen into place though he's still largely a WIP. I've gone over previously how the von Thiel house catches fire one night and teenaged Katharina manages to escape to the neighboring von Dobermann estate for help, though her parents and some members of the help staff succumb to the smoke. The von Dobermanns contact the city fire department, though it's quite far--and the fire truck is horse drawn--so the other neighboring Junker men converge on the house to combat the flames until they can arrive. The house is spared, but needs repairs, and the suddenly orphaned Katharina is invited to remain at the von Dobermann estate as a guest in the meantime. The surviving members of the help staff are asked to stay as well, and Herr Karsten is among them. The von Dobermanns' younger son, Louis, is a longtime friend of Katharina's--their parents once unsuccessfully tried to pair them off--and he offers what condolences and support he can. The night of the fire is chaotic and Katharina ends up falling asleep with her head on Louis's lap; when she wakes he's gone, which is a bit of a relief, considering the inappropriateness of the situation. When she ventures into the hallways Ilse von Dobermann greets her with a hug and profuse apologies and offers of anything she needs. She says the surviving help staff are in the house as well, and Katharina is reunited with Herr Karsten, the son of the chief of the help staff. The two are quite close, being around the same age and having grown up together; despite the difference in their social status (Karsten is working class, Katharina's family is minor nobility), they even used to play together when they were little, at least, before their respective parents would catch and scold them and take them their separate ways. Katharina is relieved that Herr Karsten made it out, and disregards propriety a second time, hugging him. Herr Karsten offers condolences for the loss of her parents, his eyes growing wet; he swallows it down (he and his father are stoic sorts who try not to show too much emotion), but it's obvious he shares her grief. His clothing is quite smudged and still smells of smoke; he assisted in putting out the fire and searching the house for survivors the previous night. He apologizes that he couldn't do anything to save the von Thiels; Katharina tells him they were already gone when she found them, if she couldn't wake them, he couldn't either. She makes it clear he has no blame in anything; this news seems to ease his burden a little bit, though he does insist on returning to her home to continue with the cleanup effort. It isn't until later that day that Katharina learns from Ilse that the chief of her help staff, Herr Karsten's father, is among the dead, having succumbed to the smoke just like her parents. When Herr Karsten and the others return to the von Dobermann estate late that evening, Katharina confronts him--"Herr Karsten, your father...? And you didn't say a word? You just wanted to know I was all right." She hugs him even harder this time--"I'm so sorry, Herr Karsten"--and when he tentatively hugs her back she can hear him sniffle. He wipes his eyes and takes a breath when they let go--"Sorry"--but she reassures him it's all right to grieve, she won't tell anyone. Katharina--and the von Dobermanns--offer to cover the expenses for Karsten's father's funeral, and to pay for a burial plot, but Herr Karsten demurs, saying his father wished to be interred next to his mother, in another city. Katharina attends the tiny funeral and clasps Herr Karsten's hand throughout. She asks what his plans are now, and is a bit surprised when he says he'd like to keep on with the von Thiel household, in his father's place. "You could go anywhere else, do anything you like," she says, "you have the whole world." Replies Herr Karsten, "Your family's home is all I've ever known." Katharina and the survivors of her household remain with the von Dobermanns until repairs are finished, then head back home. It's nearly overwhelming being back there, and being now the sole person in charge of the estate, but she feels obligated to pick up where her parents left off. Herr Karsten assumes his father's job; the presence of a familiar face is a great comfort for Katharina, and Karsten proves to be just as reliable and steadfast as his father was. Louis leaves home to fight in the Great War, a decision he explains was inspired by Katharina herself. Due to his job and the influence of the von Thiel family, Herr Karsten is exempt from the draft, yet asks to be temporarily relieved of his duties to join the effort; it breaks Katharina's heart to let him go, though she grants his request. Every day the two are gone she agonizes over their potential fates. Herr Karsten proves to be a much more reliable letter writer than Louis is, and keeps her relatively up to date on developments; he's the one to first hint to her that the war is not going in Germany's favor. He writes to inform her he's been wounded and declared no longer fit for combat, so he'll be returning soon. Katharina personally straightens up his room and takes the family car to the train station to pick him up; she ignores the glances of passersby when she throws her arms around Herr Karsten after he exits the train, and loops her arm through his to walk him back to the car. Herr Karsten's arm has been injured so he can't handle a gun or do much of anything else for the time being, so Katharina orders that he rest until he's fully recuperated; he obeys, though being without any job to do leaves him fidgety and fussy, and more than once she has to remind him he's supposed to be taking it easy. Katharina returns from a visit to the von Dobermann estate one day, pensive and unsettled; a haggard servant had greeted her, refusing her entry, explaining that many in the household, including the von Dobermanns, had fallen ill and she didn't wish to risk Katharina getting sick as well. Herr Karsten offers to go to the city for news; he takes the car and departs. A few hours later he returns, looking just as unsettled as Katharina feels. Despite the war, the city has remained a vibrant, bustling place...though it definitely isn't so, now. Herr Karsten describes largely empty streets, the city square practically abandoned, what few vendors who remain in public wearing masks over their lower faces; a police officer even accosted him for not wearing one himself, and gave him one to wear while in public. A nasty flu has been spreading like wildfire, and the hospitals--and morgue--are overwhelmed. "Flu?" Katharina exclaims, "What nonsense is this? Hardly anyone dies of the flu!" She wonders if it's some sort of propaganda. Herr Karsten simply repeats a story the police officer shared with him: "He said he knew a man, a healthy adult man, heading off to work with a tickle in his throat in the morning, and falling dead coughing his lungs out by that evening." Whatever this bug is, it has the city populace badly rattled, and word says it's been spreading everywhere--not just through the urban areas, but out into the countryside, and among the troops on the front as well. Not even their enemies are being spared; although the papers say little of the outbreak in their own country ("Morale," Karsten muses), they do report outbreaks across the ocean in the United States. "I think it's best if we trade with the neighbors for anything we need, keep away from the city for now," Herr Karsten suggests, "and try to minimize contact with them when possible, too"--pointing out what's happening at the von Dobermann estate. Katharina hopes against hope that her neighbors will pull through just fine--the von Dobermanns are all relatively young and fit--but decides to take Herr Karsten's advice. Her estate has most of what it needs to get by for a while. She tries to focus on other things. Word comes finally from Herr Ehrhard, the von Dobermanns' chief of help staff: Horst, Louis's older brother, drove mother Ilse, father Rudolf, and uncle Ewald to the city, once Rudolf's and Ewald's symptoms grew dire. Ilse too was sick, yet still mobile, and Horst merely had a fever. Within days, however, all of them were dead. Herr Karsten spots Herr Ehrhard trudging up the dirt road to the von Thiel estate and, noticing the look on his face, goes out to meet him, where Herr Ehrhard shares the awful news. "Let me break it to her, bitte," says Herr Karsten, and offers to have him come in for a hot tea; Herr Ehrhard is haggard and exhausted, yet somehow managed to never catch the flu, and instructed the healthy members of the staff to mask up, likely saving their lives and preventing further spread. Herr Ehrhard declines, however, mumbling disconsolately that now he needs to write a letter to Louis: "Has Herrin Katharina gotten any word from him any time recently?" he asks with a note of hope, which is snuffed out the moment Karsten replies that she hasn't. "We haven't heard from him in months," he murmurs, "for all I know, he's dead as well." The two share farewells and part ways; Katharina breaks down weeping when Herr Karsten informs her of the von Dobermann family's fate, her heart broken. I've already covered what occurs next, in rapid succession. Herr Ehrhard sends out a telegram and his letter, not knowing where they'll end up. A while after, the family's attorneys contact him with news of monetary donations, intended to help combat the pandemic, made to city management and the hospital, in the name "L. DOBERMANN." Shortly after this, a telegram and a letter arrive at the von Dobermann estate: Louis was badly wounded in combat, but has been recovering in a military hospital, where Herr Ehrhard's message reached him. Shortly after that, Louis returns home...with a wife, Inga. The household is sent into a tizzy over the mysterious woman who Dobermann (he dropped the "von" while in the army) never even mentioned would be accompanying him. Katharina is suspicious of her at first, but after meeting her in person, returns home in good spirits. "As much as I hate admitting it," she confides in Herr Karsten, "I like that woman...I think she might be just what Louis needs." And this turns out to be accurate. Katharina turns out to have read Inga correctly in more than one way, as she finds out after Germany goes to war a second time. Dobermann privately shares his concerns about the new Nazi regime with her, and some time after, this hits close to home when Katharina finds an escaped Jewish prisoner hiding on her property. She hides him in her home, Herr Karsten blinking in surprise yet helping to find a secure spot in the cellar to conceal him. After the escapee is fed and tended to and dozes off from exhaustion, Katharina and Herr Karsten retreat to the parlor, where Herr Karsten requests the maid to bring Katharina a drink. Katharina puts her head in her hands wearily. Herr Karsten: "Herrin Katharina...?" Katharina: "Ja, Herr Karsten?" Herr Karsten: "Do you know what you're doing?" Katharina: *lifts head, blinks* "Oh." *sits upright* "Herr Karsten--I'm so sorry, I didn't ask you to get involved--" Herr Karsten: "That's not it, what you want me to do, I'll do it. But I need you to know the possible consequences. You do know what you're doing...?" Katharina: "I obviously have no idea! All I know is I can't let anyone harm that man for absolutely no reason. I don't know how I'd live with myself." *pause* "Herr Karsten...I know I pulled you into this without asking, and I'm sorry. You can step back now, and I won't hold it against you. I just ask, promise on our friendship, bitte, don't tell." Herr Karsten: "I serve your family same as Vater did. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do. If you need my help with this man, I'll give it. I just need you to know. This is dangerous, and you need to be very careful, especially who you talk with. Feind hört mit." Katharina isn't sure why, but Herr Karsten is completely willing to go along with whatever this is. He places the escapee in an even more secure hiding spot and feigns innocence when SS officials come to search Katharina's home, not for this particular escapee, but for suspects in a mass escape from the labor camp, where the commandant was killed. They must not be too suspicious of her, as they don't search that hard before departing--Katharina giving an enthusiastic "Sieg Heil!" as they go. Katharina knows she has to find a way to get the refugee to safety, yet has no idea how. Karsten promises to keep things secure until they figure something out. Knowing that she can trust him implicitly, Katharina confides in Karsten about whether she can ask her neighbor and friend, Dobermann, for help; some time previously, after a visit from the now-deceased commandant, the Dobermanns took in a new guest: a Jewish doctor who'd been imprisoned in the camp. Surely this means he's sympathetic...? Herr Karsten occasionally drops by the Dobermann estate to share news and such with Dobermann's staff, and he reminds her that Dobermann has another long-term guest: an SS officer named Hesse, who is apparently Inga's friend. He advises her against confiding in Dobermann for now. He does think that the rest of her own staff are trustworthy, however, and believes it'd be best to let them in on things, because he's had to make sure all this time to keep them away from their guest in the cellar. Katharina has only a small help staff, under a dozen people, and Karsten gathers them late one night to fill them in on the situation; they're surprised, and want to see the escapee for themselves. The man is extremely anxious meeting them, yet the help staff immediately vow to join Karsten in concealing him from the Nazis. Katharina speaks with each of them privately to gauge their opinions. Every member of her staff admits that they despise the Nazi regime, they miss the old days, and as for why they never said anything, "Well...the way you Sieg Heil! 'em every time they stop by, meine Herrin," says the maid, "we kinda thought you made your bed with 'em!" Katharina is rather aghast to learn of just how convincing her act is, though obviously it's for the best. "You never really thought I'm one of those brutes, did you...?" she nonetheless asks Karsten, "I have to bend the knee, of course, but I never gave any sign to you that I agree with them?" She's genuinely wounded that anyone might think so, and he has to remind her that she should WANT people to think so. "If we hadn't grown up together," he says, "I'd believe the act myself. But I know you, Herrin, and I know you'd never think such things of your fellow men." Katharina asks him why it is he's so sympathetic toward people with whom he has so little in common; Herr Karsten replies, "Vater told me, when I was little, about the neighborhood he spent his childhood in. They had a synagogue there, his family were poor, yet the Jews helped out when they were in need. They weren't his family's blood but they offered all they had anyway. He never forgot how they never went hungry, because of the kindness of those strangers. He told me over and over to never forget, either, and if ever possible, to try to pay it back somehow. That's why he devoted his life to service. In a way..." he pauses, swallows "...in a way...I'm rather glad he's not here anymore, so he doesn't have to see all this, all we've become. Anyway...I'm not a praying man, I don't believe in signs...but you taking in this fellow, I don't know, it's almost like a sign?...a way to do what Vater told me to do, and pay it back. If I had any son of my own I'd teach him the same lesson, as it is, helping these people now is all I can do. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do." As described in Katharina's entry, she ends up connecting with a network of disaffected Junkers who help shuttle her refugee to safety. Some time later she connects with a man named Josef Diamant, the ringleader of the camp escape, who's since formed his own expanding resistance network. Herr Karsten insists on meeting with him first, just to be safe--"He's already killed a man, Herrin, a terrible man but a man nonetheless"--and this is for the best, as Diamant arrives wearing an SS uniform. Karsten warns Katharina that he won't look quite like how she'd expect. Diamant says she can refer to him as the Jack of Diamonds, gives her a playing card, and says she can contact him via Karsten and his own trusted connections if she needs to. He requests permission for his own group, the Diamond Network, to utilize the passages in her house in their efforts to move refugees to safety; although a bit rattled, she grants it, and the two shake hands. One evening, Herr Karsten approaches Katharina with the news that Inga Dobermann has come to visit with a gift of eggs from their farm; "She seems upset," he says, looking pensive himself. He lets Inga in to speak privately with Katharina; after Inga departs some time later, Katharina calls him back. "I need you to speak with Herr Diamant," she whispers, "about a new contact." Karsten is dumbfounded--"Frau Dobermann??" he exclaims. Katharina doesn't go into a lot of detail just then, simply saying that Inga was tipped off--via Tobias Schäfer, the Jewish doctor Dobermann rescued from the camp--that she could turn to Katharina for aid regarding "the Jack of Diamonds." Katharina instructed her to return in two days to meet him. Inga seemed genuinely surprised to learn that the Jack of Diamonds is a person. Katharina, for her part, is surprised to learn of how this was set in motion: "That man from the camp! This means either he's some sort of spy--maybe working with that abominable Hesse--or else he's been in touch with Herr Diamant himself! I refuse to believe the first. They have a contact in the von Dobermann home already! And from what Frau Inga says, Herr Louis has no idea." Inga has expressed interest in getting involved in the resistance. Karsten goes through his private channels, requests Diamant to appear in two days. This is a major development: Although the Network has already clandestinely been making occasional use of the Dobermann property, to have the permission and involvement of the woman of the house would be a big boost. Dobermann is well known and well liked by both the Nazis and the general population, and he's very influential; it's just too bad that he himself isn't in on what his wife is doing, but Inga too is popular, her involvement is nothing to sniff at. Karsten can hardly suppress a rebuke when he meets Diamant and finds him in his SS uniform; Katharina rebukes him instead. Of course Inga, upon meeting him, immediately panics, thinking she's been betrayed; it takes a bit to calm her down. Karsten hovers nearby, giving them their privacy while fighting the urge to listen in, though he does learn afterward that Diamant managed to secure access to her home, and Inga will not only allow the Network on her family property, she'll actively aid in the effort by pointing out accessible passages and deflecting attention from Network activities. Karsten wonders why she's suddenly interested in endangering herself. Katharina hesitates before saying, "I suppose you've more than proven it's all right for me to tell you...she has a good personal reason to be concerned." Inga is Jewish--she's never gone to synagogue, never practiced, wasn't even raised in the faith, but such things don't matter much to the Nazis, it's in her blood--and as with her collusion with the Network, her husband has no idea. "If anyone finds out now, it doesn't matter that she's never said a word about it before," Katharina murmurs, "her entire family would be in danger--Louis for marrying her illegally, and poor Adelina (the Dobermanns' daughter) for being Mischling"--half Jewish. Karsten is stunned by the news, but doubles down on his promise to provide what aid he can. Herr Karsten stays steadfast at Katharina's side throughout the war, playing the part of dutiful servant, keeping his head down, being polite and respectful to visiting SS officials such as Hesse. He never gives any of them reason to suspect him, though in private--in his usual subdued manner--he seethes when he learns of a fire that destroyed the house of a neighbor named Gesine von Gustedt. "I just know it was that Arschloch Herr Hesse!" he hisses as he and Katharina sit in the parlor late one night, "She wouldn't say anything to me about it when I paid her a visit, probably thinks everyone's in on it, but I know the SD had her father under their boot, they've been harassing the von Gustedts for ages over nothing. There's rumor that's why he killed himself, to try to spare her. Yet they're just harassing her, now!" He catches his own phrasing and has to pause, blink, and swallow. "Were harassing...I guess it's not necessary anymore, nein?" "There's no proof yet she was even at home," Katharina, rattled by the fire for obvious reasons, tries to protest, yet Karsten replies, "Just wait, meine Herrin...they'll find her there...and I'm betting it won't be the fire that killed her. I hope I'm wrong, but I would place money on it being so." And indeed, a few days later, the news spreads among the Junkers that the SS investigation has found Gesine's remains within the house, barely recognizable; she had no family left, so volunteers are requested to identify her. Karsten and Dobermann both confirm that it's her. Katharina breaks down weeping; she was never close to Gesine, the von Gustedts mostly kept to themselves, yet the news is both heartbreaking and terrifying. Karsten has to wait for her to settle down before describing an additional, horrible detail: During a moment when he and Dobermann were left alone with the charred body, Dobermann took the opportunity to take a closer look, gently brushing aside some blackened strands of hair that somehow survived. "Look," he whispered to Herr Karsten, who leaned close to do so; the bullet hole in Gesine's forehead was pretty obvious, now. "This was a warning," Dobermann whispered to him; "Warning what?" Karsten asked, to which Dobermann replied, "That not even we Junkers are safe." Dobermann stops by not long after to confide in Katharina about the same thing, and urges her to be extra cautious what she says and does. After he leaves, Katharina frets--"Should I have warned him about Herr Hesse?--this monster right under his own roof!" Karsten tries to calm her down: "Nein, no good can come of it, especially with Frau Inga involved. I know Herr Dobermann is your friend, but we have no way of knowing if he's truly our ally." Although Katharina agonizes over holding out on him again, she agrees it's the only way to ensure Inga's--and, by extension, Dobermann's and Adelina's--safety, and remains quiet. She's as pleasant and loyal to the Reich as ever when Hesse visits to ask if she has any information about who might be responsible for what happened to Gesine, but following his exit seethes just as much as Karsten: "The...just the sheer NERVE of him, asking all innocently like that...when he probably put the bullet in her head himself! Verdammtes Schwein! Gott how I wish I could return the favor!" "I suppose it's a good thing you're as convincing an actor as he is, then," Karsten says, at which Katharina gets quite an unpleasant look but says nothing. Katharina has someone she needs to fill in on these recent developments: Inga Dobermann. Because for quite a while now, Inga's been residing at her house, hidden in plain sight. Some time prior to Gesine's death, Karsten woke Katharina late one night to breathlessly inform her that visitors had arrived via a passage through her house: Josef Diamant, with Inga in tow. Inga was bleeding and terrified; Diamant urged Karsten to fetch Katharina, that she needed a place to hide immediately, as she'd just shot and killed a Nazi in the Dobermann home. Katharina promptly took Inga in and tended to her wound, which was minor. Inga's grief at being torn so suddenly from her family was much deeper, however, and Katharina needed to soothe her repeatedly as she cut and bleached her hair and fetched a maid outfit for her to wear. She was instructed to remain quiet and keep her head down around visitors, retreating when possible, and to keep away from all windows, though she broke this command one time, following a visit from Dobermann the next day. Dobermann, Katharina was surprised to learn, was the one to order Diamant to shuttle his wife to safety; he stumbled upon the scene and now is aware of Inga's involvement in the resistance. Inga couldn't be consoled until he saw her in the window and used sign language to tell her he loved her before departing. Despite it being obvious now that he's accepted and forgiven her--he even knows now that she's Jewish--Karsten urges Katharina to be cautious, they can't know how far Dobermann's tolerance extends. For a time Katharina abides by this, but news from Diamant that Dobermann has (rather reluctantly) granted the Network continued access to his property, in Inga's absence, is proof to Katharina that he can be trusted. (Diamant added that the sole party Dobermann was most upset with was he himself, for breaking apart his family.) The one big thorn in all this is SD officer Hesse, who still lives under Dobermann's roof. Ironically, Hesse was the one most responsible for getting the investigation into Inga's shooting quietly and quickly resolved...but Gesine's death shows he's no ally. Inga is struck mute when Katharina implicates Hesse in the murder; she knows Hesse isn't innocent, but just can't bring herself to believe he's responsible, he's been a good friend to her and especially to Adelina for so long, how and why would he do such a thing? And even if he's involved, she wonders if maybe she's to blame for not trying harder to get through to him as he was being radicalized by the Nazi Party. "He's a good person," she insists, "he just went the wrong way." It takes everything Katharina has not to lose her temper; she vents at Karsten instead, in private. "She just refuses to think MAYBE he could be a horrible, horrible human being!" she exclaims in exasperation. "Even after everything she'd rather blame herself than think he could be a monster who'd want her dead if he knew who she is." "I know it sounds insane, meine Herrin," Karsten replies, "but take a look at you and Herr Dobermann. You could barely bring yourself to keep anything from him. He could never do any wrong. How is this any different? Herr Dobermann is your blind spot, and Herr Hesse is Frau Inga's. Keep her informed, but don't push or she'll just dig in deeper. She needs to realize it for herself, and when she does, it's going to hurt, so you should be there for her." The end comes just as abruptly as everything began. Not long before it, Diamant requests to stage a meeting at Katharina's house: Sgt. Stephen Gerhardt, an undercover operative on Dobermann's estate, says he's bringing Adelina Dobermann over to meet the Jack of Diamonds and find out the truth that everyone's been withholding from her. Inga can barely contain herself at this news--she hasn't talked to her daughter in years, and Adelina was never let in on the plot to fake her death--yet she's also anxious; Adelina is extremely close with Hesse, so much so that she even started to pick up on some of his nationalist beliefs despite him attempting to discourage her. "What if she hates me?" Inga asks. She doesn't have long to mull it over, as Gerhardt and Adelina arrive to meet Diamant, and in the middle of a heated discussion, Inga tentatively calls out, "Lina...?" Adelina is stunned to learn her mother is still alive...and is Jewish. (Inga rebukes Diamant for not informing her of this already.) The meeting ends unexpectedly when Adelina flees back home, leaving Inga heartbroken, yet the others agree that Adelina's loyalty to Hesse is wavering. Diamant feels that all it will take is one more nudge and she'll choose a side. Karsten again wakes Katharina late one night: "Meine Herrin! Something's going on at the Dobermann house!" They look out the windows; the Dobermann manor is about a mile away, but they can still see when its lights are on at night; Inga and Dobermann even made a habit of turning their own lights off around the same time to communicate goodnight. Tonight, the place is surrounded by lights, with more visible traveling up the road to the estate. "What could it be...?" Katharina whispers, uneasy. "Looks like military," Karsten muses, also tense. Somehow, somebody must have found out about the family's connection to Diamant, but how?--who tipped them off? Karsten gets ready to set out to find out what's going on, yet Katharina stops him--"Nein! Whatever this is, we can't stop it! We stay here at least for now and wait till morning. See if Herr Hesse or anyone comes. I have...I have a feeling this is the start of the end. And I can't bear to lose you, too." Karsten, chastened, obeys, though the von Thiel household spends a long, anxious night awaiting word, or someone coming through the passages, yet receives none. At daybreak, an officer--not Hesse, but a man from the Wehrmacht--arrives, and demands statements from everyone. Has anyone come to the house?--requested help?--been found in the passages? What do they know about the Dobermanns and their loyalty to the Reich? About the Jew terrorist Herr Diamant? About Herr Hesse? Katharina's entire household recites all the answers they've been instructed to give. The Dobermanns are good loyal citizens. Herr Diamant is a monster. Herr Hesse has always been honest and dutiful. Strangely, the officer wrinkles his nose in disgust at their praise of Hesse; it's only when Katharina ventures to ask, "Has something happened to the Dobermanns or Herr Hesse...?" that he explodes in wrath. "The Dobermanns are GONE!" he yells, gesticulating; "Fled!--like the filthy race traitors they are! Fooling us all that time! They're no good German citizens. Cowards through and through! That's expected from Jews and Jew lovers, though--what has no excuse is Herr Hesse HELPING them! Good riddance to a dirty traitor!" Throughout the following hours, Katharina and Karsten piece together the stunning details. Somebody indeed tipped off the authorities about Adelina's meeting with Diamant, though it was no one within Katharina's home, so they're not sure who it was. (Turns out Adelina unwittingly had a hand in this, mentioning her visit to Senta Werner, a Wehrmacht guard in Dobermann's household; Senta innocently mentioned it to her father, a Nazi sympathizer, who passed it along.) Wehrmacht officials sped to the Dobermann estate to question and arrest the Dobermanns (Inga had returned to the estate via the passage in Katharina's cellar); Hesse, notified of the raid, rushed back at the same time, as Diamant and an associate, Lukas Mettbach, also entered through the passageways. A confrontation between the raiding Wehrmacht troops and the non-Party Wehrmacht troops guarding Dobermann's property ensued, leading to violence during which Gerhardt and the Network members escaped, yet the Dobermanns were rounded up, and Hesse volunteered to take them into custody; Dr. Schäfer went with them. This is where the story takes a bizarre turn: Apparently, while driving the Dobermanns and Schäfer away from the estate, Hesse abruptly ditched his mixed SS/Wehrmacht detail and veered off course, losing contact briefly. By the time they caught back up with him, he was alone and the Dobermanns and Schäfer were gone. After an angry exchange, Hesse refused to reveal where the Dobermanns had gone, and was gunned down by his own men. As Katharina and Karsten stand stunned by this information, the official snarls, "Want to know what that Arschloch's last words were before the SS took him out like the trash he was? Long live the Jack of Diamonds." He spits on the ground and jerks a hand at the air. "Mistkerl! Good riddance!" Karsten sits by Katharina in the parlor for a long while afterward. "I can't believe it," she murmurs, "he actually died for them." Karsten hesitates before saying, "Perhaps Frau Inga saw a tiny grain of goodness left in him after all." The two learn later on that the Dobermanns and Schäfer made it to safety, escorted by Diamant and Gerhardt after reuniting, in a nearby mountain town Dobermann had helped out financially during the pandemic. Diamant was captured and placed on a train to a camp, but some months later is discovered to have escaped as well; he too moves to the mountain town. The Dobermanns, now resuming using their former name, never return to their estate, though it remains standing and the Soviets don't disturb it. Katharina keeps an eye on it from afar, while Karsten still cares for her household and life slowly returns to normal. Karsten does stop by the von Dobermann household to check in on the remaining help staff from time to time, and invites them to stop by Katharina's when they'd like; he returns to Katharina's parlor for lunch one day, fiddling his cap around in his hands with uncustomary nervousness, and introduces a woman who works in the von Dobermann kitchens. Katharina greets her warmly; after the woman leaves, she gently hits Karsten's arm, seeing how he's blushing. "You think I didn't notice how long you've been spending over there lately?" she inquires, and he turns even redder. The woman starts taking her lunches at Katharina's place, and Katharina can't help but echo the gesture whenever she and Karsten smile at each other. When Karsten asks if it would be all right for her to stay, Katharina replies, "Mein lieber Freund, I was just wondering what was taking you so long to ask." [Herr Karsten 2025 [Friday, January 17, 2025, 12:00:09 AM]] |