Chapter 39: Vorsorge und Fürsorge
"You look sick, Alistair." Joseph Goebbels said with an empathetic frown on his face. "Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm doing just fine, thank you." He answered with a broken smile. "Just didn't catch the ride of sleep last night. That's all."
"Happens to the best of us." Joseph said with a nod. "Adolf has a diffecult time sleeping as well. His mind won't let him rest." He poured himself a drink and offered one to Alistair who gently refused, the last thing he needed was something that altered his judgement. "How was Dachau?" The dreaded question had surfaced. Alistair was surprised to find that his heart didn't start to pound wildly, that he didn't start to sweat exessivly.
"It was interesting to see, although I cannot say I agree with the way they're treated. I'm American, we're big on freedom and...human rights." Joseph laughed at Alistair's words and Adolf, who had just entered the room, laughed as well.
"Your own history proves you wrong Mr. Bowmore." He said with an evil grin. "What is the USA as it is today? Isn't it the product of slavery?"
"No, it isn't. We abolished slavery, we're working in a good direction. Aiming for equality."
"The men who came to America enslaved the natives, didn't they? And when those 'ran out' they shipped in the blacks." Adolf smiled again. "Let me ask you this, Alistair, if you could change the past, would you? America wouldn't be in the place it is today; perhaps it wouldn't even be of significent global importance. Sometimes it is better to leave the dead behind and move forwards."
"I disagree." Alistair responded firmly. "You can build an economy - and a strong one - on-."
"Even the communists who are the most 'left' possible use slavery to build their economy!Look at their plans! They're enslaving their own people, you cannot tell me that the gulag isn't a kind of slavery. They are even worse than us, far worse. They enslave their own people, we do not do this-."
"With all due respect, Adolf, Jews can be German. And their are German communists and German political opponents, and their in the concentration camps-."
"We do not use our camps to build our economy; not like the gulag is used to mine. We use them to cleanse our country."
Alistair was fuming. Adolf looked almost amused. He knew he had the upper-hand, no matter what the American said, he'd be the one to laugh last, even if that meant his aquaintance and asset would take a longer visit to Dachau.
Joseph watched in amusement, carefull to not mix himself into the argument. His respect for the American increased, the man was treading the line, and one wrong word could tip him over, yet he still kept going. Alistair had overlooked the fact that he was currently under Hitler's power, but the second he realized it he stepped back.
"It doesn't matter if we disagree," he said, "what you say is what goes through."
"Yes, you're entitled to your opinion as I am to mine." Adolf agreed. "But pay a little more attention, if you ever argue with me in public I'll sign you off to Dachau. How did you like it, anyways?" His threat was legitimate and he was being serious. Alistair stared at him for a long second and then replied.
"It was wonderful. A good place to be, especially for people who can't find their place in our society."
"I couldn't agree more." Adolf said with a cheery and untroubled smile. "Perhaps you'd like to expand your profession? Instead of just translating for me inofficially you could start to organize things in the camps? I'm having more camps built, maybe you could take one of them into your hands? I have frightfully little that needs to be translated and I'm sure the ammount will lessen still."
"I've been contemplating returning to the United States." Alistair said stiffly.
"When exactly?" Adolf asked. And his raised eyebrows, the fierce look in his eyes, the slight tone that signaled to Alistair that this was not the time and place to make a run for it, and his hand, which had slipped into his jacket, all screamed that Alistair could say nothing expect that one thing, or he'd find himself in Dachau the very night.
"After the war, of course."
"The war that hasn't started yet." Joseph added with a smile. "Very good planning." He smiled at his Führer, who smiled back. And then they both looked at Alistair. "You better be worth you're trouble, Alistair."
The American president simply smiled at his German counterparts. He raised and lowered one shoulder and then he poured himself a drink. He raised the glass. "To a concentration camp bearing my name, and to my new job!" He clinked glasses with Goebbels and Hitler, then took a sip of the sweet whiskey. "KZ Bowmore. Doesn't sound half-bad."
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