When You Could Only See Red

Hitlerjugend

"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." -Isaiah 40:31 

There wasn't anything peaceful about the meeting Felix went to. It was April, meaning that it was getting warmer, but it also meant that the training he would undergo would be during the summer, which was going to be unbearable. The air was practically burning in his lungs as he marched behind his leader, Baldur von Schriach. The man was fairly tall, with dark hair and eyes, that seemed to pierce into Felix's soul as he oversaw their schooling. It was an understatement to say that he was not enjoying this. 

But that didn't matter now. He and the rest of his group were marching up a horrid hill, finding to breathe properly after running ten miles up and down Amsterdam less than a half hour ago. All that mattered was that after this "camping trip", he'd be able to go home to Margeit, and hopefully tell Mr. Fischer about what was really happening behind the red flags and badges. Usually, Felix liked the color red, but this red, the darkest and bloodiest kind, haunted him in his dreams. 

Another boy, Ivo, was marching beside Felix with the straightest posture he had ever seen. Ivo, a beach blond with olive green eyes, was seventeen years old and had been a part of the Hitler Youth from the age of twelve. In Germany during 1938, boys were not expected to join the program unless they wanted to. Felix didn't want to, but that wasn't his choice. According to his older brother, Drik, German boys were going to be forced to join at the age of ten, and had to stay within the control of the leaders until they were twenty-one, then told to enlist in the army to fight for the Fuhrer. Ivo's father was a Nazi Sympathizer, and possibly an SS Officer who worked side by side with von Schriach since the beginning. 

So of course, Ivo was the prize of the bunch. 

"Come on boys, keep on!" Ivo shouted as he ran up the hill to meet up with the leader. The two were talking in German- which Felix did understand. But as he tried to listen in on the conversation, another boy, Alexei, came up beside him. 

"Do you think we're going to shoot anything?" Alexei said excitedly. Felix really hoped they didn't have to shoot anything. Felix had horrible aim and also hated the idea of ending something else's life. But yet again, being a soldier meant shooting. Margeit told Felix that she wouldn't be offended if he became a soldier, but she warned him about what being in war could do to someone. 

Mr. Fischer fought in the First World War and was a commander in the Dutch Army. Margeit said that her father never fully recovered from what happened, and still had problems sleeping, eating, and even holding a gun at times. One time, when someone was talking to him in English at a meeting, he was so shaken up by the way the man was talking, that her father had to leave the room to get away from him. Margeit explained that her father had to attack English-speaking soldiers during the war, and people even saying "hello" would upset him. it also caused Mr. Fischer to become more outspoken with those around him, being nicknamed "Professor Wreed" at the university. The thing that shocked Felix the most was the fact that he had never seen Mr. Fischer get angry once. He was always increbibily kind and gentle towards Felix, but maybe that was because Felix never picked a fight with him. 

Many of the students are the University would agrue with Mr. Fischer because he taught History hardheadedly. He got into such a heated arguement according to Mergeit that he and the students starting flipping tables and scared a innocent secratary by threatening her. It was the last time Mr. Fischer taught history again. Now he teaches Literature, where there are not a lot of arguments being made. Mr. Fischer was a man of presicion- he liked things a very specific way. Especially when it came to his family. Which was going to get him in a lot of trouble one of these days.