Eva B page 16

Eva B page 16 by ric gustafson


A young private wearing a spiked helmet interrupted Adi and I. " Mein Fuhrer, the Zoo has been hit".
Adi frowns.
" Animals are running wild in the streets".
Adi slams a closed fist on a table. " We will hold Berlin at all costs". The sight of the young runner brought back war memories for Adi. He remembered when he was a young soldier himself in the List Regiment during the First World War. He was awarded the Iron Cross for bravery.
I find out the young soldier has the same name as my cousin. Adi hands him three potato dumplings that were to be his afternoon snack.
We smile as little Helmut Goebbels rides his little bike around the room.
The young soldier asks if I would like to see the Zoo from the top of the Bunker. Adi agrees and we climb the thirty eight steps to the top of the spiral staircase. As we enter the Chancellery garden. my eyes blink in the sunlight. I noticed that the vegetable garden I had planted was now pitted with bomb craters. The area around the Bunker entrance was now churned up and charred.
The young soldier leads me to a lookout tower that Goebbels had built.
As I stare out over a bombed but once beautiful city, I cry.
" Please walk with me to the Zoo".


research help: ' The Patient Ecstasy of Fraulein Braun' by Lavonne Mueller


Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric