ALLIED SUPERMAN CHAP 2 [Hugo Stanz…]

ALLIED SUPERMAN CHAP 2 

[Hugo Stanz…]

The Desert Fox is put on trial.

His men  Including Hugo Stanz were sent to the Russian/German front to face the fierce winter, starvation and the enemy.

He remembered their time in the desert, when they would play tag with the enemy.

13 tanks captured in one instance, they would disobey orders to execute POW's and instead disabled their tanks and leave them tied up with apples in every tenth POW's mouth and in the shade.

Their notoriety for repeatedly doing this earned respect on both sides. Although it irritated Rommel's commanders.

50 men vs a pillbox entrenchment.

Hugo was arguing with his commander that he could climb up the side of the entrenchment as he had done at least half a dozen times. His brothers where ordered to face the pillbox head on. His men each taking Hugo's place in line, out of respect for Hugo, bravery and the fact that Hugo had a flare for destroying such machine gun entrenchments with a single charge.

Climbing on top and tossing in a charge with a short fuse.

His commander clear from enemy fire had made it a point of pride, although the little pick who was the same age as he had no combat experience to speak of and only gained the position with his fathers rank in the SS.

Hugo hated the party, He was called up to serve at 16, but took great pride in the fact that he and his brothers were enlisted men the lot. To serve under Rommel was an Honor, but here there was no honor in dying in vain.

5 at a time his brothers would charge the hill, each being cut down with short busts of machine gun fire.

This was suicidal madness. From 50 to 20, from 20 to 10, from 10 to just 5. all for a single mans pride.

Hugo lost his mind and with his bare fists beat the commander to death, for costing him his brothers lives.

His Trial was short. He had killed the wrong mans son, he was sent too

Dachau concentration camp, rumored to be a death camp.

It was there he met Rose. Everyone in the camp hated him, and hated her for taking to him. He had not seen a woman with a friendly face in years.

The smell of burning bodies told Hugo that their time was short. He knew that Rose was relying on him to get her out, if not all of her family.

Rose make no secret of this, and her mother had given her permission in the hopes of escape. She showed him a picture of her in her favorite outfit, surprisingly in color. Her parents where wealthy  before the war and could afford such things. She had crystal Blue eyes and short shoulder length Black hair with bangs. In the Picture it was snowy and she had a red coat on with black buttons and a red round furry hat. She was beautiful, was the only thing he could say. She pointed out that she was still a virgin and looking for a husband. Hugo loved her immediately.

They were waiting to gas Hugo. He suspected they where given orders that he was to wast away on the meager rations they were given, He had caught rabbits in the snow on the eastern front for him and his men, this had saved them from starvation. All there was now was moldy bread and stale cheese. He was young and of strong build, almost 6 feet tall. His men had often joked that he was built for war. His would serve him now.

He had approached a group of healthy new arrivals, young Jewish men. Not malnourished.

Isaac their oldest whom they looked up to was 22. They were working in the slave shops, and were destined to die later than most. Hugo had stood up to one of the guards who threatened to shoot Isaac for target practice for whatever reason. Hugo was sentenced to die but even the guards respected him for his service record In the desert and on the eastern front. This was the only reason they didn't outright machine gun them both to death.

Isaac and he talked afterwards. Isaac spoke mainly Yiddish and his Deutsche was poor. The guards hated that. But it mattered not to Hugo what language a man spoke as long as he was a man. Isaac had lost most of his family in the camp. Isaac disliked most Deutsche men. But Isaac took a liking to Hugo.

They decided on a plan of escape together. A tunnel past the north wall.

They striped the camp of any wood that was nailed down, all to shore up the sides and top of the tunnel. 10 feet below the ground and a 100 feet past the walls of the camp.

They constructed a bellows for a ventilation system, made of wood, cloth and oil. With tin cans locked together for airflow. Stolen wires and lights, for illumination. The digging was done  with plywood planks.

The dirt was hidden in sacks with holes in them under their trousers, this let out the dirt slowly as they walked around the camp.

The tunnel was unbearably hot, even with the makeshift ventilation. It was Hugo's turn to dig.

The tunnel had collapsed earlier that week burying two men, under two meters of dirt and sand. They pulled them out half dead and unconscious. Hugo and the remaining men were hiding them in the camp, least the guards question what happened to them before their time in the chambers. This and the guards would finish them off with a burst of machine gun fire, as they were prone to do.

The work was slow and tedious, but Hugo was known to move the most dirt and so he took his turn often. He wanted out, but more than that he wanted to get Rose and her family to safety. Driven by self preservation and love. He moved dirt like a machine.

They had done no more than hold each other. She was waiting until marriage and he respected that. She was his "Shern Frau". She kept making the darkest jokes to make him laugh almost out of tragedy. "Maybe when they make  us soap we can wash each other" she said with a smile and teary eyes. Hugo did't laugh this time. He pulled her close and kissed her. She told him she loved him no matter what happened.

Hugo was driven, one way or the other she was getting out.