Part 35, Chapter 427
Chapter Four Hundred Twenty-Seven
2nd October 1944
Puyallup, Washington
Over the Summer Nancy had gone into Seattle to a documentary film festival and had watched a series of hour long films about a range of topics revolving around the German-Soviet War. The first film was fairly dry. It detailed how food found its way from the field to your plate. In the end encouraged everyone watching to contribute to the war effort and listed all the ways to do that.
The second film, titled “Armored Cavalry” was about the Panzer Corps and included interviews with a Field Marshal Manfred von Wolvogle who had lit up the screen with a manic energy. He had talked about his concept of lighting war and shock tactics. He had then described his understudies and how they had put his ideas into practice. They had shown them, all stern looking men and the commanders of the various armies. One General, named Horst, had glowered at the camera and refused to answer questions. The film said that he had been the first Panzer Dragoon and they showed what they looked like. What had struck Nancy was that they looked like what her father had described as the fearsome stormtroopers from when he’d been in France. Finally, they had shown a Captain Kurt Knispel who wore tattered coveralls and apparently hadn’t seen soap or a razor in weeks. Apparently, he was the leading Panzer Ace. The Captain had explained about life in the Panzers and what it was like in the Russian Winter. They showed a photo of him being decorated. When cleaned up he looked like he was fifteen and all the men surrounding him were at least half a head taller. Small wonder he preferred to have that goatee and spend his time in the turret of a tank.
The third film, which was the one that Nancy had really come for was about the SKA. It detailed how they only selected the best to train, only a few of them completed training and only then might they be selected to join the ranks of the SKA. Nancy had known it was coming but there were people in the theater who had not been expecting a woman to turn up among the instructors. There were also others featured who Kat considered friends. A Staff Sergeant Matthias Schmied had the camera linger on him frequently. Kat had written about that, apparently the film’s Director was a woman who fancied young athletic men. Nancy had to keep herself from laughing about that. A Sergeant Major Fritz Schafer was interviewed. Kat had said that he was the one who had given her the karambit she’d made famous and taught her to fight with it. Finally, was the interview with Kat. Her voice was not what Nancy was expecting, it was softer, the way she talked was almost musical. That was in direct contradiction to what had been film earlier of her yelling at men who were about to fall over while they were running up a steep hill. Kat wasn’t even winded.
Then came the interview of Captain Emrich Lichtenfeld, the man who had been credited with capturing Stalin and Molotov. He had explained that he taught unarmed combat in a style he called Contact-Combat and the film had shown a demonstration of what he had taught. It was Lichtenfeld, Kat and several others. He had explained that size and strength wouldn’t always win out over a smart opponent. What had followed was of Kat moving like quicksilver, blows couldn’t really connect or were deflected harmlessly, to actually grab her was to invite calamity and when she went on the offensive things got really bad. Nancy had been mesmerized and knew from the letters that Kat actually enjoyed doing that. The film had concluded with an interview with a Colonel Koch and mentioned that it was dedicated to the memories of those of the 28th Fallschirmjäger Regiment who had fallen in combat. Several hundred of them, including their former commander.
The fourth and final film of the night was about the Pacific War had been extraordinary. The introduction had been by an Admiral von Schmidt who sat behind a desk explaining the Mission in the South China Sea. A severe man with close cropped gray hair and dozens of medals pinned to his dark blue uniform that was covered in gold piping. Nancy had watched as young men not much older than her worked on an aircraft carrier. Finally came the air battle over Vietnam which was all vivid green. It was mixed in with newsreel footage of soldiers on the ground. Then had come the battle at sea, flashes of light, the firing of ship’s guns. There came a shot of a battleship that was glowing red as it was engulfed in fire from one end to the other. Then the final sequence was a torpedo run from the inside.
Nancy was finding it hard to reconcile what she’d seen in those films with what she had learned the following Autumn.
We don’t talk about things like that. It was something that Nancy had been told by her parents whenever certain topics came up. The other was to always be careful. When the Weekly News had arrived in the newsstand Nancy had seen that there was an article about Kat Mischner in it and had bought a copy of it. As she read the article she was reminded of her parent’s words and how they were in fact trying to protect her. Nancy had read the article with growing horror. This strong woman who Nancy admired so much had survived some of the worst things imaginable. And because her detractors had someone break into her Doctor’s office looking for confirmation of that Kat had her friend Maria Holz-Acker break the story. She done that to prevent it from being told in a selective manner that would have destroyed her.
Nancy had wanted to write Kat but had not even the first clue as to what to say.
2nd October 1944
Puyallup, Washington
Over the Summer Nancy had gone into Seattle to a documentary film festival and had watched a series of hour long films about a range of topics revolving around the German-Soviet War. The first film was fairly dry. It detailed how food found its way from the field to your plate. In the end encouraged everyone watching to contribute to the war effort and listed all the ways to do that.
The second film, titled “Armored Cavalry” was about the Panzer Corps and included interviews with a Field Marshal Manfred von Wolvogle who had lit up the screen with a manic energy. He had talked about his concept of lighting war and shock tactics. He had then described his understudies and how they had put his ideas into practice. They had shown them, all stern looking men and the commanders of the various armies. One General, named Horst, had glowered at the camera and refused to answer questions. The film said that he had been the first Panzer Dragoon and they showed what they looked like. What had struck Nancy was that they looked like what her father had described as the fearsome stormtroopers from when he’d been in France. Finally, they had shown a Captain Kurt Knispel who wore tattered coveralls and apparently hadn’t seen soap or a razor in weeks. Apparently, he was the leading Panzer Ace. The Captain had explained about life in the Panzers and what it was like in the Russian Winter. They showed a photo of him being decorated. When cleaned up he looked like he was fifteen and all the men surrounding him were at least half a head taller. Small wonder he preferred to have that goatee and spend his time in the turret of a tank.
The third film, which was the one that Nancy had really come for was about the SKA. It detailed how they only selected the best to train, only a few of them completed training and only then might they be selected to join the ranks of the SKA. Nancy had known it was coming but there were people in the theater who had not been expecting a woman to turn up among the instructors. There were also others featured who Kat considered friends. A Staff Sergeant Matthias Schmied had the camera linger on him frequently. Kat had written about that, apparently the film’s Director was a woman who fancied young athletic men. Nancy had to keep herself from laughing about that. A Sergeant Major Fritz Schafer was interviewed. Kat had said that he was the one who had given her the karambit she’d made famous and taught her to fight with it. Finally, was the interview with Kat. Her voice was not what Nancy was expecting, it was softer, the way she talked was almost musical. That was in direct contradiction to what had been film earlier of her yelling at men who were about to fall over while they were running up a steep hill. Kat wasn’t even winded.
Then came the interview of Captain Emrich Lichtenfeld, the man who had been credited with capturing Stalin and Molotov. He had explained that he taught unarmed combat in a style he called Contact-Combat and the film had shown a demonstration of what he had taught. It was Lichtenfeld, Kat and several others. He had explained that size and strength wouldn’t always win out over a smart opponent. What had followed was of Kat moving like quicksilver, blows couldn’t really connect or were deflected harmlessly, to actually grab her was to invite calamity and when she went on the offensive things got really bad. Nancy had been mesmerized and knew from the letters that Kat actually enjoyed doing that. The film had concluded with an interview with a Colonel Koch and mentioned that it was dedicated to the memories of those of the 28th Fallschirmjäger Regiment who had fallen in combat. Several hundred of them, including their former commander.
The fourth and final film of the night was about the Pacific War had been extraordinary. The introduction had been by an Admiral von Schmidt who sat behind a desk explaining the Mission in the South China Sea. A severe man with close cropped gray hair and dozens of medals pinned to his dark blue uniform that was covered in gold piping. Nancy had watched as young men not much older than her worked on an aircraft carrier. Finally came the air battle over Vietnam which was all vivid green. It was mixed in with newsreel footage of soldiers on the ground. Then had come the battle at sea, flashes of light, the firing of ship’s guns. There came a shot of a battleship that was glowing red as it was engulfed in fire from one end to the other. Then the final sequence was a torpedo run from the inside.
Nancy was finding it hard to reconcile what she’d seen in those films with what she had learned the following Autumn.
We don’t talk about things like that. It was something that Nancy had been told by her parents whenever certain topics came up. The other was to always be careful. When the Weekly News had arrived in the newsstand Nancy had seen that there was an article about Kat Mischner in it and had bought a copy of it. As she read the article she was reminded of her parent’s words and how they were in fact trying to protect her. Nancy had read the article with growing horror. This strong woman who Nancy admired so much had survived some of the worst things imaginable. And because her detractors had someone break into her Doctor’s office looking for confirmation of that Kat had her friend Maria Holz-Acker break the story. She done that to prevent it from being told in a selective manner that would have destroyed her.
Nancy had wanted to write Kat but had not even the first clue as to what to say.
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