Colonel Berry

Chapter Fourteen

Cooking aromas caused David and Karl to end their meeting, and they entered the kitchen to find Georg grilling fresh cervelat under Rachel's guidance while Maria and Bethia watched and chatted. Rachel turned to greet the men as they entered. "We'll soon have George domesticated. Lunch should be another six or seven minutes."

David glanced at his watch and shook his head. "Twelve fifty already. Time seems to have flown by. Thank you for starting."

A few minutes later, while they all sat around the kitchen table enjoying the hot sausages in split bread rolls, David spoke as he dabbed more mustard from a small spoon. "Almost a year ago I first had these, and I'm still amazed by the flavours, Tante. So many changes since then."

"We were still in Germany then, weren't we?" Bethia looked at the roll in her hand as she smiled. "We had these shortly after you had arrived, and I still warm as I picture your enjoyment."

David finished savouring a bite. "These are better than I remember."

"I'm accustomed to the new smoker and the subtle differences made by the damper settings. I've more range available than with the old one."

"Georg was telling me that the house still hasn't sold."

"No, and the women who are renting it have fallen into arrears as they try to make the deli business profitable again."

David tilted his head. "Who are the women?"

"Two widows and a prisoner's wife. All three were regular customers before the war. Prosperous ones. Now they're struggling to feed their children."

After examining the details, the group carried on discussing the effects the war has had on those not involved in the fighting. Both David and Karl talked about the pre-war German economy, outlining its dependence on importing raw materials and food.

"Their main income came from applying innovation, clever engineering and skilled labour to add value. The products from this were exported to the world, and the country was among the most prosperous." David shrugged. "The key word here is was. They no longer are."

Karl shook his head. "No, they certainly aren't. The British naval blockade has severely limited their access to not only materials for offensive purposes, but also to food. Their industries have turned from making products for export at a tidy profit to producing munitions to send to France free of charge. And meanwhile, the people starve."

David added, "But not everywhere. In January and February, we saw relative prosperity in the area around Mannheim. Their auto industry is centred there, and it has now turned to producing vehicles for the Army and engines for the aircraft factories. There are huge chemical plants producing materials for explosives and poisonous gasses, and those not actively fighting are employed in war production."

"But that's only in the industrial heartland," Karl countered. "Away from there is massive idleness as markets for crafts and services have collapsed. The people had been told that France would quickly surrender, and the lives of all Germans would be even better. Now more than a year and a half later, the same old message does little but embitter the people, yet the stories in the newspapers remain essentially the same."

"Yesterday, I received a report of the assault on Verdun." David winced. "The Germans have suffered over ninety thousand casualties in the two months since they began, yet they continue to pour men into the way of the French artillery."

"Does the public know this," Maria asked.

"Seems very few know the scope. The newspapers are allowed to report only bits and pieces of it, and they are forced to publish propaganda stories masking the extent of the horror. Besides, the people are too focused on their own diminished circumstances to see the big picture."