Cold Victory

He had always looked like something out of one of Goebbels’ propaganda posters: tall, tanned, blond, lean and muscular — in short, irresistibly good-looking. Now he also looked mature, weathered, and tested. Most striking, however, was his proud and upright bearing. Alix could feel the way it electrified the court. Here was a German who didn’t look defeated or humbled.

He took the oath, and Alix asked the routine questions that established who he was and how he knew the defendant. Then she asked him to describe the day Charlotte had asked him to kill her. This essentially concluded the earlier testimony, underlining the depth of Charlotte’s psychological wounds from the Russian rapes. Then Alix shifted the attention of the court to Fritz.

“Were you aware of Charlotte’s engagement to Fritz von Bredow?”

“Of course! We’re cousins. I attended a couple of the engagement parties because I was still recovering from wounds received in aerial combat against England.”

Alix smiled at him for that. She knew that by establishing himself as a Luftwaffe veteran he’d just scored with the court, the press and the public.

“How would you describe the young couple?”

“Ridiculously happy. They were both gaga for one another.”

“How did you and the rest of the family feel about that?”

“We were very pleased. Charlotte was shy and had not had any suitors before. My brother was in the cavalry, and several of his closer friends vouched for Fritz, saying he was a good and decent man.” Their eyes met. During the Nazi era, ‘decent’ was a code word for anti-Nazi, but Alix doubted if anyone else in the courtroom beyond Christian and herself knew that. Or did David? She glanced in his direction, and he nodded very slightly. Yes, he understood, and knowing that Fritz had not been a Nazi appeared to have helped him to accept Charlotte’s affection for her one-time fiancé.

Alix turned back to Christian and resumed her line of questioning, “Graefin Walmsdorf must have been devastated when Fritz went missing.”

“As far as I know she was, but I cannot testify to that as I was then leading a squadron in Rommel’s Afrika Korps.”

God, he was good, Alix thought gratefully. With this answer, he established himself as a rock-solid witness who would not speculate, while cleverly reminding the court of his service to one of their few remaining heroes. Mentioning Rommel pulled them all subconsciously on his side.

“When you moved into the family apartment after the war, would you say that Graefin Walmsdorf was still grieving for Fritz?”

“No.” The rustling among the spectators suggested they thought he had hurt her case, but Alix was pleased with the answer. It increased his credibility. He expanded. “I did not arrive in Berlin until January 1948. By then she had exhausted all the various means of trying to track missing persons and had resigned herself to her fate. Furthermore, as I described when recounting how she pleaded with me to kill her, part of the reason the Russian rapes had wounded her so deeply was her belief that, even if Fritz had miraculously survived, he would reject her because she had been polluted by sexual abuse.”

“How did she respond to Fritz’s return?”

“She was absolutely horrified by the state he was in — as any human with a heart would have been.” For the court, Alix asked Christian to describe Fritz’s state, which Christian did in a straightforward, blunt manner. The teenagers in the gallery seemed particularly horrified and started whispering amongst themselves until their teacher hushed them.

“But Graefin Walmsdorf took him in?” Alix pursued her line of questioning.

“Without hesitation, and thereafter she devoted herself solely to looking after him. She left her job. She told Mr Goldman they should not see each other again. She lived only for Fritz.”

“Was he grateful?”

“Not in the least! He did nothing but complain and whine and demand more attention and care.” The youthful observers grew restless again and had to be reined in.

“Were plans made for Fritz and Charlotte to marry?”

“Not that I heard about.”

“You moved out of the apartment roughly a month after Fritz returned. Why was that?”

“Because I couldn’t stomach seeing the way Fritz insulted and bullied Charlotte — or the way she submitted to it. Charlotte and I argued a lot because I told her to stand up to Fritz or leave him.” More loud whispers reached her from the gallery.

“You suggested she abandon a disabled veteran so utterly dependent on her?”

“Fritz von Bredow has plenty of family, starting with his sister who testified before this court just a few days ago. Fritz did not need Charlotte and was not dependent on her. If his intentions had been honourable and he had intended to make her his wife, then he would have treated her as a lady — not a slave. Fritz von Bredow’s behaviour was unworthy of a German nobleman. It was utterly despicable. But Charlotte always made excuses for him, defended him against my outrage and made it clear that she was prepared to sacrifice her happiness and dignity to try to please him. So, I left.”

“You left her at the mercies of a man you considered dishonourable and despicable?”

Christian looked sober. “In retrospect, I recognise that I was wrong. At the time, however, I thought it was for the best.”

“Why was that?”

“Because Fritz and I did nothing but shout at one another, causing Charlotte more distress.”

“Were you surprised to hear she had killed Bredow?”

“I was flabbergasted. When inspector Sperl told me he’d heard shots, my first thought was that Bredow had killed her, not the other way around.” He paused to let that sink in and then added. “When Sperl told me Charlotte had killed Fritz, I immediately grasped that he must have done something unfathomably horrible to her to provoke such a response. I shudder to think what it was because she had already accepted and absorbed so much abuse. But one thing was clear: if Charlotte had finally been pushed to the point of self-defence, then whatever Fritz had done, he deserved to die.”

Alix allowed the shocked rustle that gripped the courtroom to settle down before turning to Steinbrueck with, “Your witness, Herr Kollege.”

Collecting his black robes like a fussy priest, Steinbrueck approached the witness stand. “Did I hear you correctly just now? Did you just suggest that a splendid young man, an Olympic rider, a courageous officer, a man who had suffered so long and so hard at the hands of our enemies, deserved to die?”

“I concede that for someone like you,” Christian replied with an undertone of disdain, “who never served on the front and did not regularly witness the death of friends and comrades--” Hoots of approval erupted from the teenagers, “Such a judgement may sound harsh.” Isolated clapping broke out and then died away. “However, I have seen far better men than Fritz von Bredow die.” He paused and then added almost flippantly, “Bredow certainly deserved to die more than someone who did nothing more than own copies of Social Democratic newspapers printed in Czechoslovakia, or someone who told jokes about a certain Austrian corporal with a silly moustache. Deaths for which you, Herr Staatsanwalt Dr Steinbrueck, are responsible.”

Steinbrueck’s face flushed red, and his eyes flashed. “I applied the law! You — in contrast — are nothing but an ordinary citizen and have no right to decide what crimes warrant the death sentence!”

Christian’s silent smirk made Steinbrueck turn away furiously, and some of the teenagers giggled at his discomfort. He returned to his table to collect his nerves and thoughts. After covering his agitation by taking a drink of water, he returned to face Christian again. “You said that you and Bredow fought frequently. What did you fight about?”

“How he treated my cousin.”

“Really? Is that all? Didn’t you fight about politics?”

Alix tensed; Steinbrueck was trying to drag her husband’s role in the plot against Hitler into the trial to discredit Christian.

Christian astonished her. “Politics? Why would Fritz and I squabble about politics? We both hated the Ivans and supported the Western Allies.”

“Yes, but surely you fought about wartime politics? After all—”

In a tone of voice that sounded like nothing more than zeal to respond to questioning, Christian cut the prosecutor off before he could raise the 20th of July. “Why should you think that? You never heard one word exchanged between us! Herr Inspector Sperl testified that although he heard loud shouting between us he couldn’t hear what was being said. Frau Liebherr is still here. Recall her if you like.” He nodded in her direction.

Horrified at the prospect of being recalled, Frau Liebherr protested loud enough to be heard on the bench “I heard nothing but loud voices.”

While she wasn’t currently under oath, given Sperl’s earlier testimony, this sounded plausible. Steinbrueck chose not to force the issue.

Christian meanwhile continued in a coldly aggressive tone, “In short, Herr Staatsanwalt, there is no one left alive who could have heard what Bredow and I fought about in the confines of my apartment — except Charlotte herself.”

Alix almost had heart failure. Charlotte had already told her that Christian and Fritz frequently fought about the Nazis, their inhumane policies and the justification for tyrannicide and regime change that motivated the German Resistance to Hitler. If she was called to testify on this issue, she would either undermine her case — or have to perjure herself.

But Christian’s gamble paid off.

Judge Nuss intervened with a stern admonishment, “Herr Dr Steinbrueck! Do not attempt to lead the witness.”

Frowning in frustration, Steinbrueck excused the witness. As Christian stepped down from the stand he was met by applause that was not confined to the excited high school girls.

Alix had planned to call Charlotte next, and she looked at Alix expectantly, her hand already gripping the back of the chair to get to her feet. They had rehearsed the dialogue dozens of times, adjusting and refining it until Charlotte sounded confident. Alix knew Charlotte viewed this as her chance to tell her side of the story and vindicate herself. Charlotte, having decided to fight for her life, wanted to testify. Alix, however, was afraid of what Steinbrueck would do to her. She hesitated and then against her instincts, called Charlotte to the witness stand.

Charlotte was dressed conservatively in a grey woollen skirt that came to mid-calf, a long-sleeved, white blouse with a prim collar that buttoned at the base of her throat — no décolleté, no colour, panache or defiance, just a grey mouse. Her hair, cut short to make her look more masculine when she was out on the streets, had been pinned and clipped to look as if she were wearing a bun. The effect was to make her look old-fashioned and docile. Alix knew that her survival depended upon the court believing she was a ‘good’ woman driven to violence only in extremity.

Charlotte took the oath to tell the truth and waited, her eyes turned trustingly to Alix. Alix silently begged God for help and then asked Charlotte to state who she was and where she had grown up and gone to school. This biographical information was meant to establish that Charlotte had led a simple rural life right to the end of the war. Alix was fighting prejudices against aristocrats by highlighting that Charlotte had not travelled abroad, not gone to university, and not run in fast or glamorous company. Only after she had established this premise did she ask Charlotte to describe in her own words how she had met Fritz von Bredow and what she felt about him. Alix was relieved to see Charlotte’s face soften as she spoke of her first love. She delivered a flawless account of young love and devastating loss, providing without prompting examples of how she kept her memories and hopes for his return alive until the evidence of his death seemed overwhelming.

Alix asked the court if it was necessary to make Charlotte reiterate what she had experienced during her escape from the family estate to Berlin or at the hands of the Russians. Since this had been covered by earlier testimony, the judges agreed the defendant need not testify at this time.

Alix turned to the topic of Fritz’s return, asking Charlotte to describe Fritz. Charlotte echoed Christian’s description of his physical state. “But what about the man inside? Was he still the man you loved?”

Tears welled up in Charlotte’s eyes and she shook her head sharply.

“For the record, please answer the question verbally,” Alix pressed her gently.

“He was not the same. He was a different man.”

“In what way? Can you describe the differences?”

“Fritz — the Fritz I loved had been gentle. He cared about every living thing — the horses, the dogs, the cattle, even the sparrows in the barn!” Charlotte declared with astonishing feeling. “He never used crude language. He never made lewd remarks or jokes. He didn’t have a temper. He was easy-going and content with little things. Just the song of a bird or the colours of the sunset would make him happy.” She fell silent as if remembering something lovely.

Alix had to prompt her. “And what was he like after six years in Russian hands?”

“He was horrible!” Charlotte lifted her face, her eyes wet and her lips quivering slightly. “He used horrible, rude language, even when speaking directly to me. After Christian left, he hit me too, more and more frequently.”

“Why?”

Charlotte shrugged, “Because he was never satisfied with anything I did. He didn’t like the food I made, calling it — terrible things, but what can I cook with dehydrated potatoes and powdered eggs and without fat? He complained constantly about the cold, too — it was December. The temperature never rose above freezing, and the Airlift almost collapsed. He said I didn’t clean the apartment properly, not like a ‘good German woman’ — saying I had become ‘a Russian slut.’ But I cleaned as best as I could without soap or detergent.”

Alix could sense that people around the room, even some of the clerks and police, were nodding in understanding. Everyone in this court lived under the Soviet Blockade; they knew it meant bland, monotonous food, cold rooms, cold baths, darned clothes, stinking bodies and only half-cleaned apartments. She could feel that support among the public, if not the bench, was shifting in Charlotte’s favour.

“Given these grave personality changes — undeniably induced by the terrible things Fritz von Bredow had endured,” Alix stressed, “Why didn’t you end the engagement with him and throw him out of your apartment?”

“I thought about it. Once or twice, I hinted to Fritz that if he wasn’t satisfied, he could go, but he didn’t. More and more, he dragged me down, took away my self-respect, and destroyed my faith in a better future. You see,” she raised her head, holding it high, and spoke in a clear, vibrant voice, “after I had lost all hope of Fritz returning to me, I had met another man, a man who treated me with respect, courtesy and concern. He had made me feel human again — more than human. He made me feel like an attractive, young woman. He made me want to live again, and I had begun to hope that we could have a future together. I had started to believe he would propose to me, that we could marry. I even dared to dream of children.” She kept her eyes straight ahead. She did not turn to look at David, but with a glance, Alix confirmed that David’s eyes were fixed on Charlotte with burning intensity. The teenage girls, meanwhile, seemed to hold their breath, their eyes filled with excitement as if they were sharing Charlotte’s dream.

“But when Fritz returned, that illusion shattered. It was as if Fritz were a mirror. I saw clearly how deformed and ugly I had become. I realised that that wonderful man who was so good to me would not marry me when he learned what the Russians had done to me. I realised I had been fooling myself.”

One of the girls in the gallery let out a little cry, and one of the others held her hand over her mouth in horror.

Charlotte continued, “I comforted myself with the thought that Fritz was still engaged to me and that he had returned to me. I told myself that because of what he had experienced, he would understand how helpless I had been in the hands of the Russians. I thought that precisely because Fritz, like me, had been degraded and abused by the Ivans, he would not blame me for what they had done, but rather understand my helplessness.” She stopped speaking.

“And did he?” Alix prompted.

Charlotte stared straight ahead as she answered leadenly. “No. He did not understand. He called me a whore and then he raped me. Since I’d already ‘put out’ for six Ivans, he said, I had no right to deny him, my fiancé.”

A loud gasp came from one of the teenagers and a flurry of whispers erupted among her friends, but more importantly, an uneasy rustling swept across the rest of the room as well. Alix sensed that they had scored. She let the effect sink in before continuing. “Did you resist?”

“I begged him to understand. I described what had happened, how I was trapped, overwhelmed and my arms were broken by their rifle butts. I swore over and over that I had not been willing. I begged him to understand. I was crying and grovelling at his feet, begging for understanding.”

Charlotte was starting to break down as the memories overwhelmed her. Alix tried to intercede, but Steinbrueck cut her off and insisted, “The defendant has not yet answered the question whether she resisted or not.”

“That is obvious from her answer,” Alix snapped back.

“There is a difference between pleading for understanding and saying ‘no.’ Resisting.”

“Is that how a brown rat like you justified forcing yourself on women sobbing at your feet?” David flung out furiously. “Just how many wives of defendants did you abuse before sending their husbands to their deaths?”

The court was in an uproar, and Alix dropped her head in her hands. She should not have shared all she knew about Steinbrueck with David.

“One more word, Herr Goldman, and I will have you removed from the court!” Judge Nuss warned David and then sternly turned to the prosecutor to admonish, “Herr Dr Steinbrueck, you can put your questions to the witness during cross-examination. You may proceed, Freifrau von Feldburg.”

“Graefin, can you tell the court when this first rape occurred?”

“Not exactly. My life had become a monotonous blur of trying to please Fritz and failing again and again. I had no sense of days or dates. I only know it was shortly before Christmas.”

“You didn’t shoot Fritz von Bredow until 10 January. Roughly three weeks later. What happened in between?”

“He raped me a dozen more times. Not every night, but once he assaulted me twice within about six hours.”

Behind her, Alix could hear the outraged and agitated voices of the schoolgirls and their teacher’s pleas for them to quieten down. She also heard Christian warn David to remain silent.

“Why didn’t you leave? Your cousin was living in an apartment on the Kurfuerstendamm. Or why not turn to the Liebherrs, who had taken you in after the Russian rapes? They lived just across the hall. Why didn’t you turn to them for help?”

“I was too ashamed,” Charlotte whispered and broke down entirely.

The uproar from the teenagers and shouts from other members of the public caused the judges to call for a half-hour break. They also instructed Alix to get her client under control. Alix took Charlotte to the nearest ladies’ room and washed her face in cold water. “Do you want me to end my questioning?”

Charlotte shook her head. “No, ask the last question. I want David to hear the answer.”

Alix sighed, understanding more fully why Charlotte insisted on going through with this.

When the court session resumed, the entire courtroom was tense. Many observers sat on the edge of their seats. Those at the front leaned forward on the railing. With internal trepidation, Alix posed the final question. “If Bredow had abused you more than once, what was different about the tenth of January? Why did you decide to shoot him then?”

“My cousin Christian had given me the pistol and bullets so I could defend myself from the Ivans. I kept the loaded pistol under my bed. If the Airlift failed and the Soviets took over Kreuzberg, I planned to shoot the first Ivan who broke in. I also planned to use the last bullet on myself. But Fritz took me by surprise the first time he raped me, and after that, I was stunned and lamed. I hated myself and felt worthless. I had no will of my own anymore.” Alix heard what sounded like a gasp of collective pain from the crowd of school girls.

“It wasn’t until the night of the tenth,” Charlotte continued, “that I realised I didn’t have to endure any more. I could end it all. I resolved to kill myself, but only after making sure Fritz would never abuse any other woman. When I heard him coming down the hall, calling out his insulting ‘endearments’ — ‘where’s my little Russian pussy?’ and saying bluntly, ‘I’m coming to fuck you, you ugly, old whore’ — I reached under the bed, pulled out the pistol, and stood facing the bedroom door with the pistol cocked and aimed. I steadied my right hand with my left, and I was looking down the barrel when he walked in. When I saw his face, I fired three times in quick succession.”

Someone in the audience started to clap slowly. Alix glanced over her shoulder and realised that Anna Savage had come to her feet and was applauding with a powerful, measured beat of her hands. As she watched, the teenage girls and their teacher also stood and clapped in unison. Then Christian, David and some of the journalists joined them. Clap. Clap. Clap.

“Order! Order in the courtroom!” Nuss called, hammering with his gavel. But the clapping only grew louder and faster. “Order! Or I will clear the courtroom!” Still, the clapping went on and on. Nuss shouted to the policemen and with obvious reluctance they started to approach the crowd. This caused some of the audience to sit down again, and gradually the clapping died away. David stopped last of all. The police returned to their stations at the door, and Alix declared, “No more questions,” and returned to her seat.

Steinbrueck gathered his robes about him and approached the witness stand. “Very dramatic,” he sneered at Alix, “Have you ever considered a film career, Frau Kollegin? I’m sure this kind of melodrama would play very well in Hollywood, but this being a German court of law, we should drop the theatrics and stick to the naked facts.” Turning to glare at Charlotte he demanded, “Did you at any time physically resist your fiancé’s advances?”

“I cried bitterly and begged him to stop.”

“But did you struggle?”

Charlotte shook her head, tears streaming down her face over her trembling lips.

Steinbrueck turned to the clerk and noted. “The defendant responded in the negative.” Then directing his remarks to Charlotte again, he asked, “Did you report Bredow’s alleged assaults to the police?”

Charlotte again shook her head, and the clerk was ordered to record a negative answer.

“Did you ever lock your door?”

“The lock was broken,” Charlotte whispered.

“For weeks? Why didn’t you call a locksmith and get it mended?”

“I don’t know…” Her voice faded out, inaudible to the court.

Steinbrueck did not bother to ask her to speak up or repeat her answer, he asked instead, “Did you warn Bredow that you had a gun and would use it if he sought to have intercourse with you again?”

Charlotte completely broke down into sobs. Holding her fists in front of her face, she pressed her eyes shut and swung her head from side to side.

Against a backdrop of hissing and unsettled rustling in the courtroom, Alix jumped to her feet. “This is enough, Your Honours! My coldblooded colleague can make his points in his closing remarks. The witness has said enough for the court to pass judgment.” Her remarks were met with isolated cheers and more clapping.

Frowning, Nuss conceded. “Sustained.” He slammed his gavel down and announced, “This court is adjourned until Friday 25 February, when closing statements will be heard.”

Although the judges filed out promptly and Steinbrueck with his entourage hurried away in an apparent huff, the journalists and visitors lingered longer, watching to see what would happen next. Alix went to the witness stand, handed Charlotte a handkerchief and helped her down. With her arm around Charlotte’s waist, she guided her to where David and Christian waited.

Before the police could intervene, David reached across the railing and pulled Charlotte into his arms. He kissed her wet face and stoked her hair, pulling out the hairpins. Despite the railing separating them, he held her defiantly, staring the police down when they approached to separate them. The policeman backed off, and when his female colleague reached out to yank Charlotte away, he told her to leave the couple alone.

David bent his face down to Charlotte and whispered. “I love you. I don’t blame you for anything. I should not have abandoned you to that monster. When this is over, I will take you away, and we will have a family, Mrs Goldman.” Then he released his grip and pulled back slightly.

Christian took advantage of the police’s passivity to give Charlotte a quick hug. “It’s all my fault. I should not have left you alone with Fritz. I’ll never forgive myself.”

Charlotte shook her head ambiguously and started crying again, but Alix realised these were tears of gratitude. After letting her cling to David for another few minutes, she gently pulled Charlotte away and made for the exit with the police escort trailing them.