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The end of 1941 - a map/narrative interlude
The end of 1941 - a map/narrative interlude
The state of play in 1941. Important to note that the colours include the 'leaner' countries that have granted military access but have no formal alliance. On the axis side, this includes Turkey, Persia and Afghanistan (formally neutral countries.) On the Entente side this includes Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Portugal.
Hans Zimmerman
Hans was happy this Christmas. The Herman Goering division had been withdrawn from the Western Front and allowed some time off Christmas. They were due east to be sent to assist Germany's most reluctant of allies - the Polish in training their army for the realities of modern warfare. The Goering Division was an ideal division to conduct the training, it was a panzer division with a heavy motorized component and was experienced in combined arms operation. Most importantly, it was staffed mostly of professional or conservative men - not the racial fanatics of the SS. They could be trusted to work well with the Poles and not damage the fragile relations between the two powers.
He took a sip from the schnapps he was sipping in the warm Hamburg tavern. It was cold outside but the warmth from the drink and the fireplace made him warm and happy. He looked around the empty tavern for officers. A lot of the men had gone home to their families, but Hans was career military. His parents had died in an English bombing raid two years ago, but he went to Hamburg to pay his respects since then.
This new war was brutal and uncivilized, he reflected. Civilians died in their homes. Although the bombing raids had abated since the Southern Front had opened up and British bombers had gone south to wreck their terror elsewhere, it was still a pity. But the war in the Far East made the happenings in the West like the quarrels of small toddlers. Chinese cities were being smashed to rubble by British airpower. Dark rumours of massacres of Chinese civilians in Japanese occupied territory and much worse - live experimentation on humans of horrific new weapons. Hans wasn't born yesterday. He knew that some of it had to be propaganda, but though Goebells was prone to distortion and exagerration, he hadn't outright made things up.
The memory made him sad. So he drank some more and he drank and he drank and he drank. In the morning he would regret it, but for now everything was going to be all right. For him and the Fatherland. And he hoped, for the human race.
Lewis K. Rockefeller
Congressman Lewis Rockefeller was nervous. 1941 was rolling around and his party hadn't made any more progress than last time. An economic boom was in full swing. American rearnament was proceeding apace and as the world wrecked itself, American peace and prosperity was magnified even more with images of a world in conflict.
All this boded poorly for his party's chances in the mid-term elections in November in a year, not to mention farther down the track. The Democrats seemed to be invincible in both domestic and foreign policy. His own seat, previously safe was even looking a little bit wobbly.
And so, amidst an opulent Christmas spent with family and friends in the upper crust of New York society, Congressman Lewis continued to worry.
Benjamin Murmelstein
Murmelstein was sick.
It was sickness born of the soul, not of the body.
That in itself was miraculous, conditions at the Kashgar Transition Camp was less than ideal.
Masses of humanity were huddled in overcrowded, ramshackle wooden buildings. Even Murmelstein, as one of the Camp's Eldest had to share his room with 12 other people.
There was enough food for everyone, that in itself was a minor miracle. It was oddly flavoured, generic gruel filled with a type of meat he couldn't identify, but it was food.
The Chinese guards treated the prisoners with pity and some small measure of compassion too. But in comparison to the fanaticism and cruelty of the SS guards, even the practised uncaringness of the Soviet guards was warm.
It wasn't deliberate. But something had to be done. So Murmelstein carefully lifted his typewriter in place and began to type. Leading his people out to exile had not been an easy job. But he would not his people down now.
The state of play in 1941. Important to note that the colours include the 'leaner' countries that have granted military access but have no formal alliance. On the axis side, this includes Turkey, Persia and Afghanistan (formally neutral countries.) On the Entente side this includes Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Portugal.
Hans Zimmerman
Hans was happy this Christmas. The Herman Goering division had been withdrawn from the Western Front and allowed some time off Christmas. They were due east to be sent to assist Germany's most reluctant of allies - the Polish in training their army for the realities of modern warfare. The Goering Division was an ideal division to conduct the training, it was a panzer division with a heavy motorized component and was experienced in combined arms operation. Most importantly, it was staffed mostly of professional or conservative men - not the racial fanatics of the SS. They could be trusted to work well with the Poles and not damage the fragile relations between the two powers.
He took a sip from the schnapps he was sipping in the warm Hamburg tavern. It was cold outside but the warmth from the drink and the fireplace made him warm and happy. He looked around the empty tavern for officers. A lot of the men had gone home to their families, but Hans was career military. His parents had died in an English bombing raid two years ago, but he went to Hamburg to pay his respects since then.
This new war was brutal and uncivilized, he reflected. Civilians died in their homes. Although the bombing raids had abated since the Southern Front had opened up and British bombers had gone south to wreck their terror elsewhere, it was still a pity. But the war in the Far East made the happenings in the West like the quarrels of small toddlers. Chinese cities were being smashed to rubble by British airpower. Dark rumours of massacres of Chinese civilians in Japanese occupied territory and much worse - live experimentation on humans of horrific new weapons. Hans wasn't born yesterday. He knew that some of it had to be propaganda, but though Goebells was prone to distortion and exagerration, he hadn't outright made things up.
The memory made him sad. So he drank some more and he drank and he drank and he drank. In the morning he would regret it, but for now everything was going to be all right. For him and the Fatherland. And he hoped, for the human race.
Lewis K. Rockefeller
Congressman Lewis Rockefeller was nervous. 1941 was rolling around and his party hadn't made any more progress than last time. An economic boom was in full swing. American rearnament was proceeding apace and as the world wrecked itself, American peace and prosperity was magnified even more with images of a world in conflict.
All this boded poorly for his party's chances in the mid-term elections in November in a year, not to mention farther down the track. The Democrats seemed to be invincible in both domestic and foreign policy. His own seat, previously safe was even looking a little bit wobbly.
And so, amidst an opulent Christmas spent with family and friends in the upper crust of New York society, Congressman Lewis continued to worry.
Benjamin Murmelstein
Murmelstein was sick.
It was sickness born of the soul, not of the body.
That in itself was miraculous, conditions at the Kashgar Transition Camp was less than ideal.
Masses of humanity were huddled in overcrowded, ramshackle wooden buildings. Even Murmelstein, as one of the Camp's Eldest had to share his room with 12 other people.
There was enough food for everyone, that in itself was a minor miracle. It was oddly flavoured, generic gruel filled with a type of meat he couldn't identify, but it was food.
The Chinese guards treated the prisoners with pity and some small measure of compassion too. But in comparison to the fanaticism and cruelty of the SS guards, even the practised uncaringness of the Soviet guards was warm.
It wasn't deliberate. But something had to be done. So Murmelstein carefully lifted his typewriter in place and began to type. Leading his people out to exile had not been an easy job. But he would not his people down now.
- CCA
- Word Count: 720