The Trains

Introduction
          In the first quarter of the twentieth century, Europe was in the process of recovery. They were recovering form the idealism of the Victorian Era , and the violence and disillusionment of the Great War. The devastated cities were still being rebuilt. Most will agree it was, an age of uncertainty. Perhaps a rare time in history, where people were not sure about what tomorrow will bring, or maybe even if they would be alive tomorrow. It was certainly a good “reality check” for humans. The war showed how little human behavior has changed over thousands of years. It showed how they can kill millions of their own species. Of course, a lot of people predicted that in the future there would be even more devastating wars. So, how does a young man survive in this age of uncertainty? How can one think about the future if you can still see resemblance of the deadly past? How can one think about college, if millions of young men of your father’s generation have died not so long ago? They were just about his age, they never got to see college, some did not even finish school. How can you think about a job, when your country is in a great economic depression, and there are millions of unemployed? Those are the kind of questions that Hermann Muller is always thinking about. He tries to make a good future in a bad time. Only time will show whether he will be successful or not.

I. The Town

         Hermann grew up in a small town in Austria. Yes, it was indeed a very small and pathetic town. He and his parents knew that the town was not suited for a talented boy like him. He was doing great in school. By the time he finished school, he had already read major works of the greatest philosophers.He was interested in German and Greek philosophies. He read Plato, Aristotle, Marx, Hegel… He was mostly interested in political-economic philosophy. Actually , his father was an active Marxist. He was the chief editor of a radical newspaper. So Hermann also became a Marxist. It is also worth mentioning that both of his parents were Germans , just like many of the people in Austria.
         In the year 1932, just after celebrating his eighteenth birthday, he came to an important realization. He came to understand that after finishing secondary school, he needed to move out of town. We all know how hard it is to move away from home. The reason for this decision was a statement by Karl Marx : “Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways, but the point is to change it.” As a communist , he wanted to fight and destroy the oppressive bourgeoisie class. After all, they are constantly oppressing the workers. Basically the workers are constantly selling their labor, they are just given barely enough money to survive. This kind of an injustice is very unnecessary. He knew that you cannot unite the proletarians, and start a worldwide revolution from a small town. So, where would he go? His father wanted him to go to a university in Vienna, the best in the country. There he would study political science and bring his communist theory to perfection.
         During his last year in the town he made some important achievements. One was at his father’s newspaper. Since Hermann was almost an adult and had his own mind, ideas, and theories , his father let him write articles for the newspaper. He wrote usually small insignificant articles. Although, one time his article became very important. As you know both Germany and Austria, along with most other countries, were in a great economic depression. In the town there is a factory that does all kinds of metal works, they supply almost half of the country. For some time now Hermann has been hearing about the angry workers, who were upset because of lack of salary and unsafe working conditions. Most of them got their wages decreased by almost fifty percent. As you might already guess, the owners blamed this on the bad economy in the country. But Hermann saw a different side of the story, he saw a perfect model of Marx’s theory. He went and wrote an article. It was about how the workers are oppressed and always will be oppressed. It was about how the owners are the bourgeoisie , they control the workers by owning the instruments of production. He also said that as the capitalists get more powerful , in other words richer, they increase the number of workers. Eventually these workers will come and overthrow the current bourgeoisie class. All he did was summarize the “Communist Manifesto” , but it had a tremendous effect on the people. The factory workers started one of the greatest strikes in Austrian history. The strike had to be broken by federal troops. The government made the owners increase the salary and comply with the other demands of the workers. So in way, Hermann created a small “revolution” in his town.
         You can probably imagine the happiness and pride that his parents felt, especially his father. Just think about it, if he started this “revolution” in a town at eighteen, then at thirty he could do it in the country. At forty he could do it in the world. So Vienna was on the way. There was a great celebration, a gathering of family and friends. Everyone was sad because he was leaving , while at the same time feeling indescribable happiness, knowing how great his future will be. When he was about to get on the train his father pulled him over to the side and told him two important statements. The first is: “Never be the oppressor, but always help the oppressed”, and the other:” Be yourself, think like yourself, have you own philosophy. NEVER let others do your thinking for you, or make your decisions for you.” The young man knew that these great words will become of great help to him on his journey. Now he got on the train. He knew that his future was in the socialist philosophy, that his path was clear and was leading straight ahead. In just couple of hours he would be in Vienna

II. Vienna

         He was on the train now, on his way to a better life. The green hills of the Austrian countryside oscillated in the horizon. He sat next to the window, and stared into the distance. The people around him had no effect on him, he was busy thinking. What he was feeling can be described as bitter-sweet. The city is obviously a better place to live, it is after all the capital. On the other hand he was leaving the place that he grew up in, the place that he knew all of his life, and it had known him. He was a hero in there, he was somebody. And what will he be in Vienna? Just an ordinary “town-boy” who has come to the city in order to have some better opportunities.
          Only two more hours left! He thought about many things. Of course, his mind was always on politics. Was it worth to leave the town just for Marxism? After all, it is just a theory. Although in his opinion it is the best theory ever developed. Also worth mentioning , is that he did not agree with ALL of the aspects of communism, especially the theory of atheism. His father never enforced this doctrine, he never even mentioned it. The idea of God not existing was incomprehensible to Hermann. He, just like his family and friends around him, could not be considered your ideal Christians. They did not read the Bible, and mostly did not follow the teaching, although they did try to live a moral life. But the believed that God existed, and so did Heaven and Hell. Hermann thought: ”Hopefully , my career will not require me to be an atheist. I do not see myself ever denying the existence of God. After all , what are we driven by? Who created all of this? Who created the people, the sky, the trees outside? I completely reject, the idea of humanists , that human are the ruling force in the universe. Alright, so I do not agree with one thing. I agree with EVERYTHING else that Marx said, anything from the economics to politics, just not atheism. So does this make me not a good communist? Or am I a “semi-communist”. All I know is that this is what I am doing, there is no doubt that this is the point and purpose of my life.”
         As he was finishing his profound thoughts, the scenery outside changed. It was not the tranquil country anymore. Instead there were a lot of buildings, and even a greater number of people. The beautiful mansions, the shops, an other buildings were all around him. It was the long awaited arrival in Vienna.

* * *

         His first days in the great city were not as bad as he thought they would be. He found himself a small apartment, that was all he could afford now. It was in a decent neighborhood. It was quiet there , although it was not “in the middle of nowhere” , the commercial center was just couple of miles away. So he kind of got both of the two worlds.
         Whether it was by chance or by fate, he made a good friend after the first week in his new apartment. This young gentlemen by the name of Heinrich. He and Hermann had a lot in common. They were both students of Marxism, shared the same ideas. They were ,actually, applying to the same university. Hermann took the entrance exams and passed them with high honors. His new friend had similar results. Also he got a job. Actually, to be more accurate, it was his dream job. He had the same occupation as he did for the last couple of years. He was writing articles for another radical newspaper. This one was actually more high-profile then his father’s. Heinrich had worked as an editor for some time now. So he made sure that Hermann got hired. In reality, Vienna was not as bad as he predicted.
         There were no real developments in his life. He lived in the city for two years now. Worked at the newspaper. He was always successful at writing, as always. No, he did not start an Austrian Revolution yet, as a lot of you might expect. He was also successful at the university. He was in the middle of his second year. He and Heinrich took a lot of courses in philosophy and political science. They had just started a new political science class. The professor was younger and more energetic then the others. It was a very good class , both by content and the way it was taught. Soon it became the favorite class of many students, including the two young Marxists.
         Reinhard Heydrich, that was the name of the professor of political science. He was a very good teacher, considered the best by many. Hermann enjoyed his teaching style. Heydrich put philosophy into politics. He discussed the different political movements in a philosophical sense. He would question an idea , develop counterexample for different theories. Hermann also thought that he was the best person to teach politics. Speaking of politics, Hermann and Heinrich got into more radical political groups. In the mid-thirties in Europe there were two radical groups, there were the communists and their counterpart, the new radical nationalism movement called fascism. Reinhard Heydrich belonged to the later one. He came from Germany, where the National Socialism movement was getting more powerful. Obviously the National Socialists despised communists. But for some reason Heydrich, did not show that. This is why Hermann still enjoyed his lectures, even though he knew that Heydrich’s ideas were the antithesis of his own theories. Hermann really liked the way the professor thought, he had this sort of pure objective approach to problems. Which in , Hermann’s opinion is a very useful tool in life. A question that he sometimes asked himself was: “I wonder what father would say if he found out that I am being taught by an ultra-conservative nationalist.”

* * *

         As time went on , Hermann became good friends with the teacher. They went to different political functions together, had many philosophical discussions together. Mr. Heydrich was one of the leading figures of a radical nationalist group called “Free Austria”, which was basically a branch of the German National Socialists. It shared the same ideology as the fascists in Germany . The main ideas were extreme nationalism, the evils of the Treaty of Versailles, anti-Semitism… Reinhard knew that Hermann was a communist, and yet he never expressed any feeling of hatred toward the boy. They were becoming better friends, Hermann started to go to different political functions , he even went to some Free Austria meetings.
         Hermann and Reinhard had many discussions together. Reinhard told him about different political ideas: “You know I used to be a Marxists myself, when I was young. Then I realized that we do not need Marxism. I realized that the classless society cannot exist. You know why? Because people are greedy, they have been greedy, and always will be greedy. We do not need the idealism of a classless society, but we need classes to help us reach our goals. We need power to the nation, and the entire Aryan race, we need to get out of this bullshit that the peace treaty put us in, we need to get out this economic depression… Those are our goals. Under Nazism we will ALL benefit, including the workers, we will benefit as a nation.”
         It is strange but Hermann actually agreed with those ideas. He had noticed that over the past two or three years, he has been slowly developing a love for his country, a love for the ancient empire that was now destroyed. Also the love for the “superior race”. It started with him becoming slightly nationalistic. Then it progressed into a departure from the teachings of communism. Reinhard was returning to Germany,. At this time, the Nazi party was an unstoppable force. The party’s leader, Adolf Hitler has been chancellor for four years now. Reinhard promised Hermann a bright future in the party. Hermann was going to Nuremberg. Just before leaving Austria, Reinhard Heydrich said to him in a very caring and intelligent tone : “Get ready , Hermann. We have a world to take over.”

III.Nuremberg

         Once again, he was on a train. Once again, he was heading to a totally new and different place. He had the same feeling of doubt , a feeling of uncertainty. Just as before, he was leaving a place where he was "somebody", where he had established status. Right now all he had was a diploma, a suitcase and a small amount of cash in his pocket. As always, he was on his way to a better future.
         The fact that he was going to a new place, was not his main concern. What bothered him the most was the loss of the ideology that he has had for so long. He rejected all of those teachings that he had learned in his young age. On the political arena he went from extreme left to the extreme right. Why has this happened?
         "Maybe," he thought "we all need to reject our teachers at some point in our life. This is, after all, what my father told me. He told me to be myself, to think by myself, not to listen to someone else's teachings. I wonder what father will think when he hears about my change. Or maybe the ideas of my youth are no longer suitable for this time. The destruction of the classes seems no longer possible in current time. I just can't do it. I have just finished college, I cannot start a worldwide revolution. The only human being that could unite the proletarian class was Karl Marx of course, but he has been dead for some time now. It is over, communism is no longer an option" For whatever reason, he was no longer a student of Marx. His concern shifted from the workers of the world , regardless of nationality or race, to just the people of his nation. Actually , his nation was now Germany as well. Hitler annexed Austria just a two months ago. Although his path was now clear and straight ,and he knew that the future was with Nazism, he still felt some regret for the teachings that he left behind. Those were the ideas that he grew up with, the ideas of his family. And now they were abandoned, left behind on the train tracks. Left behind on the speeding train that we call: "life".

* * *

         In June of 1938, Hermann Muller arrived in Nuremberg. The atmosphere was certainly different from Austria. The swastika flags were everywhere,and so were the portraits of Hitler. After seeing a number of posters with the chancellor's image, Hermann realized something. He now knew that the man by the name of Adolf Hitler was the greatest leader that his nation could have. Also that Nuremberg was the greatest city in the world. It had the pleasant feeling of nationalism, pride, and culture of the German people. In this great city he found an apartment, and began his new life. In two weeks Reinhard returned to Germany , and the process of getting into the National Socialist party began.
         Unfortunately, he was not as successful as he thought he would be. He joined the party. And after six months passed, he made no progress what so ever. He was still nothing but a regular member of the party. After six months, he decided to follow another route. After becoming a Nazi, he was turning into a very militaristic person. Therefore, he decided to try elite troops of the Third Reich, the infamous, SS troops. At his new occupation he was very successful , perhaps his greatest success. In just another six months he earned the rank of Major. The SS job affected him a little. The new life hardened his, personality. After all, this was not a kid's game, he was part of the most elite , and the most feared troops in the world.
         In September of 1939 Germany successfully attacked Poland. There was a major rally and a conference of the party. Hermann put on his clean SS uniform and went to catch a taxi. It just happens to be, either entirely by coincidence or by the action of God, that on this same day seven years ago, he wrote the famous article for his father's newspaper.

* * *

         Some people might say that the human language does not contain enough words to describe what took place at that rally in Nuremberg. Those people are right. There were so much people! It is impossible to describe the number of people that were there. No political conference, no sporting event , not even presentation's of famous Shakespearean plays , can gather that a larger crowd. And how about the flags, posters, and signs! I can guarantee you that those "environment-protection people" would have a heart-attack if they found out how much trees were used to produce the Nazi propaganda posters. There was music playing , related to the party of course, there were people yelling and cheering happily. There were the little orchestras of young kids of the Hitler Youth. Also there were people of military, all of the high ranking SS officers were there. But Hermann did not care about them. The two people who he had come to see were: Adolf Hitler and Reinhard Heydrich.
         He met up with Heydrich, who was now a very important person in the National Socialist party. He was the head of the political police. They talked , just like back in those days, that seemed so far away now. Reinhard congratulated Hermann on his success. He also told him some important ideas. He said that the Reich was now getting ready to conquer the world. He told Hermann to abandon all of his personal ideas and desires, and to follow the nation, the party and the Great Leader. Actually, for the past year, Hermann had done this , and now he was a "real Nazi." The world outside the SS or the Reich had died in his mind. Also Reihard mentioned to be strong since the war was now inevitable . Now Adolf came out, and the crowd roared. They roared, like the ocean in a great storm. They yelled, threw their hands in the air. "Heil Hitler!" , was all that can be heard.
          Hitler was making a speech, in Hermann's mind this was not just a regular speech. In his eyes, the charismatic leader possessed some quality that seemed out of this world. Hitler's words seemed like a beautiful melody. By his word choice he seemed to be guessing what was on the mind of the huge crowd. After the speech everyone started cheering. A girl, maybe fourteen years of age, came up to Hermann. Her face was radiant with happiness, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She smiled and said :" Heil Hitler, sir! I wish you luck in protecting our great nation in the war." Hermann froze, the girl's indescribable beauty, the happiness and feeling with which she uttered those words, was all that was on his mind. She actually truly believed in those words. The girl went away with the same happiness that she came. If she was a bit older, Hermann thought that he would take her and kiss her, then marry her.
         Hermann thought, "Maybe, in the future. Perhaps in 60 years from now, people will think of us Germans as a bunch of lunatics. They will think of us as crazy fanatics, as brainwashed robots. But I do not care! They were not here today, they did not see what I saw!. September 5,1939, may the world remember this day."

* * *

         After the fall of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Hermann Muller was getting ready for the greatest conflict in human history: World War II. He was sent out with an SS branch as part of the occupational forces for freshly conquered Poland.

IV. The War, Berlin , and Aftermath

         The first couple years of the war went very well for Hermann. By summer of 1941, he had advanced into the rank of Lieutenant General. His job was to administrate all the SS police in the region. In other words his job was to "keep order". In his opinion he was doing great. He had a great sum of money, not to mention a lot of power. He had a large estate in Poland's country, just as did all of the high ranking SS officers. He was seeing a woman. She was very rich and powerful aristocrat. He has achieved all of the things that he ever dreamed of. Well, actually, there was one thing that he has not achieved yet. The Reich was not ruling the world yet, this was his final goal, and his first step towards his downfall.
         The troubles started in the beginning of 1941. He was re-stationed and put in charge of a work-camp. This camp was mainly for the Jews in occupied Poland. It served as a prelude to the death camps that would later be used in the Third Reich. Here people were worked to death, and if they refused to work then they would be killed, which in turn produced the same outcome: death. Hermann thought that he was "hardened" enough to see and do anything, but he was wrong. No human being can see hundreds of innocent people get shot, with out a slight feeling of sadness or regret. The fact is that, some people bury this feeling very far in the deep abyss of their dark soul. For some reason, unknown even to himself, he was not able to do this. People started to see that sometimes he was not enjoying what he was doing. One day a woman was disobeying the guards by refusing to do the back-breaking labor. In order to demonstrate that this behavior was unacceptable, the guards gathered the entire family, including two small children. Then they lined them up and shot them with a sniper rifle, killing all four people with one bullet. Hermann's stomach turned, he could not stand this, he just walked away. During this period Hermann Muller gave orders of execution to about 300 workers.
         In May 1942, Hermann experienced the greatest tragedy of his life. Reinhard Heydrich was assassinated in a small village in Czechoslovakia. As response to this crime the village, where this took place, was leveled. Hermann felt horrible. To him Reinhard was more then just a general. He was his teacher, he was his inspiration, he was what got him here. And now he was dead. Hermann 's life would never be the same. He felt a great feeling of disillusionment. After this event Hermann started move away from the teachings of National Socialism and move towards a moral view of the world. His idea was
that Reinhard was the greatest National Socialist that there is, and look where he ended up. There must be something better out there.

* * *

         After that he was sent to the USSR, as a part of an invading SS army. Shortly after arriving deep in the Soviet Union, his group was ambushed by the Russian partisans. He was shot in the leg and taken prisoner. There was a very sharp pain in his leg, because of this pain he became unconscious. When he woke up , he was being attended by a very familiar person. After couple of seconds Hermann recognized him as Heinrich, his old friend from Vienna. Heinrich was also taken prisoner.
         The two young men talked, for a long time. They talked about the good-old times in Vienna, about what they did after the university, about this horrific war. Heinrich introduced a new idea into Hermann's mind. Actually it was not a "new" idea, it was just forgotten over time. That was the idea of God. The war had a devastating effect on Heinrich, he had lost all of his family. Also he shook hands with Death couple of times. He decided to give up politics and the military. As of now he was becoming a Christian. Hermann noticed a change in him, he had this undesirable pleasant atmosphere around him, you can almost see the bright light and the warmth that comes from his virtue. Heinrich's life is now guided by moral principles. Hermann would do his best to follow this path. He would devout the rest of his life to God.
         By the summer of 1945, it was obvious to every human being on Earth, that Germany would lose the war. The Soviet troops were on a great offensive now, liberating countries from the deadly hold of the Third Reich. Hermann and Heinrich were released, the Russian had no use for them. Heinrich decided to stay here until things quiet down. Hermann was going to the epicenter of this great earthquake: the city of Berlin.

* * *

         His train is arriving in Berlin. He was thinking about his life up to this point. He has realized all of the mistakes that he has made. He was disgusted with everything. He now disliked the atheistic communism , and blood stained Nazism, the deceitful democracy, the selfish liberalism… He has finally come to an understanding that you will not find happiness in politics, or other worldly matters. The only truth in this universe is God. God was always there with him. While people were not. Marx was not with him, he died. So did Reinhard, and probably so will Hitler, and with him the Third Reich and Nazism.
         Berlin has been under attack by the Soviets, and now the once great city stood in ruins. Where are the achievements of Nazism ? Where are the great achievements of the "Aryan race" ? It was all destroyed. The world , and everything in it is temporary, it will never last. On the other hand God is everlasting. Hermann felt regretful for all the people that he killed. His hands were in dipped deep in blood. He did not want to wear the SS uniform , which reminded him of the sins that he committed while wearing that uniform. Those were his thoughts as the train finally arrived at the station.
         Hermann got off the train and just started walking. He had no where to go. The world that used to be his own , was now as distant to him as the stars in the night sky. He was passing by police station, when he saw a familiar person. A young lady was taken out of a car by two police men, and brought into the station. It was the young girl from the rally in Nuremberg! Yes, it was her. He would never forget her face, even though years passed. It was still as beautiful as it was on the sunny day in 1939. Although it seemed that she was not as happy.
         Hermann came up to the driver of the police car.
         "What was that girl taken in for?" he asked
         "She was disobeying the government orders. She will be jail for a while, maybe even die" was the careless reply of the policemen.
         "Free her!"
         "What are you crazy!? If I even try something like that, the SS officer will shoot her, then me, then you."
         "I AM an SS officer!!( or at least I was). Here you go, this is for you and other people it might involve", he handed the policemen all of the cash from his wallet and pockets. It was a good sum of money. At that time it could buy you a very good car."
         "Alright, she will be free. What is your name, sir? Who would I say freed her? Should I give her a message?"
         "Just, say an old friend from the Nuremberg rally in '39. Tell her to get a new, better life. Wish her luck! "
         The girl was freed the next morning. She actually remembered, the "old friend from the Nuremberg". She wanted to find Hermann and thank him, but she never found him.

* * *

         Finally, Germany surrendered, and the nightmare was over. Hermann went into hiding the first couple of years after the war. Come on, we all know what those crazy UN people did to SS generals and other Nazi officials. Eventually he ended up at his hometown. Before his father died, Hermann talked about his life, and the Truth that he discovered. His father approved of him, and said that it was good that Hermann learned from his mistakes. Hermann got married to a girl that he used to know from childhood. They had two kids, a boy and a girl. He became a Catholic priest in a local church.
         Hermann Muller, died on May 9,1967. Upon the request in his will, his body was buried in Vienna, Austria.