Winfred

104

Official Report

British Intelligence

Code: 3986                                                                                                                                    

Kathleen Winfred

As 1943 began to draw to a close, it became clear that the war was beginning to favor the allies. Germany had taken some hard blows in the recent months. October saw Italy declaring war on Germany. November saw a large air raid on Berlin. In the aftermath of the air raid, I had to say goodbye to Freidrich for a few weeks while he returned to Berlin to assist clean-up efforts there.

Where we were, in our little part of occupied France, seemed relatively safe. We had seen few air raids of late, because the allies were concentrating their efforts on larger German cities, like Berlin and Hamburg.

Days passed by as normal. Work details were sent out in the morning. Work details came back in the evening. I filed papers and looked over reports.

The feeling of tension was almost palpable, however. Isolated from the main part of the German forces as we were, I could see that the soldiers in the prison were becoming anxious and irritable. Everyone’s mind was focused on what would happen next, and what would happen to us. Everyone waited for news.

Freidrich returned from Berlin in December, just before Christmas, greatly frustrated. He explained to me that, in short, the future of the prison was unsure. We were in a situation where our fate could go either way. We could stay here, and remain a prison camp, or all prisoners and soldiers could be withdrawn and pulled back farther towards the center of Germany.

I stood behind Freidrich’s chair while he told me all of this, attempting to massage some of the tension from his shoulders as he spoke.

“It doesn’t look good, Kathleen,” he said, tiredly. “I mean…in a way, I see no problem with the allies making advances towards winning the war. On the other hand, I look at all the lives here at the prison that I feel responsible for, and think how unsure and fraught with possible danger their futures are. If our orders are to begin to fall back, the prisoners will have to be transferred. To make sure that the concentration camps are occupying at their correct capacity, any person deemed ‘not necessary’ will be executed. Soldiers here will be sent off to the frontlines to fight; a lot of them will die…” He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, before speaking again. “You need to be ready, though. If the decision is made, if we have to move, you’ll need to be prepared to leave. I’ve been putting a plan in place to help you escape and return to Britain…Hopefully, in the meantime, we can gather as much information as we can that might be helpful to the allies.”

I was still concentrating on the part where I had to leave. “Freidrich…” I said. “If I leave…We might never see one another again…”

He remained silent, his shoulders slumped.

“I…I don’t know if I can bear that…”

“I know,” he finally said. “I don’t know if I can bear it either. But we have to do it. If you remain here, you risk your life. If the time comes, you must return to Britain.”

I did not respond, just wrapped my arms around Freidrich’s neck and leaned my head against his, closing my eyes.