yesterdays war

by gerald hall

  “Maybe he bought the newspapers too, Mate?” “Maybe he did. I don’t know. But whatever else he is doing, Mister Cavill is making a lot of money and hiring a lot of people to work for him.”

  “How much is he worth?”

  “I have heard that he has well over one hundred million Australian Dollars in personal assets. Someone with that much wealth, can certainly wield tremendous power, if he wishes.”

  “It seems that he wants to become an industrialist now. I understand that he is constructing several factories in the Western Territories near a town named Derby.”

  “What could he possibly manufacture out there and for whom? There’s hardly any people living there.”

  “I don’t know for sure what is happening there. But I have received reports that several large steamers have unloaded heavy equipment there at Derby in addition to whole shiploads of lumber imported from French Indochina that is being used to build houses and other structures. There have been significant numbers of Aborigines moving there from elsewhere in the territories. He has also been bringing in skilled Americans, Britons and possibly even Germans to set up the factories.”

  “I have heard the same reports. At least he hasn’t tried to bring in any Asians. He has to be aware of our laws restricting who can come here.

  In any event, all of this activity has meant that the town has more than tripled in size from what I understand. What the bloody hell is that man up to? He’s already one of the wealthiest men in all of Australia.”

  “I don’t know about that. But I do know one thing for certain. Our Mister Cavill does not like socialists of any sort.”

  “Why do you say that?” Nigel asked.

  “Because someone from the local Labor Party office went to visit Mister Cavill to try to enlist his support. Apparently, he thought that because Cavill was hiring aborigines to work for him, that Cavill would be inclined to support liberal politicians. Cavill called him a ‘damned Bolshevik’ and had his personal armed policemen run the Labor Party man out of town at gunpoint.”

  “So you think that his political views are conservative?”

  “I’m not sure yet. He hasn’t taken a public stance although he may have contributed some money to certain conservative-leaning candidates, especially ones who were particularly keen on increasing our military spending.”

  “Maybe if someone would use the right approach while approaching him, Mister Cavill might be convinced to be a little more flexible.”

  “Perhaps we will send someone to talk to him in the future. We can always use someone with wealth on our political side. He can help us pay the bills around here.” Howard noted with a smile.

  Lipshitz’ Kosher Shop Sydney, Australia February 28, 1923

  Harold had started his work here in this old-new history with certain ideas that were at the time of his arrival very clearly defined. First, he needed to legally acquire as much wealth as possible in a short period of time so that he could begin the process of changing certain historical events. His ultimate goal was to prevent the detonation of thousands of nuclear weapons in the year 2040 and to therefore save humanity’s future.

  But Harold still did not know exactly how he was going to be able to accomplish this, even with all of the wealth that he would soon possess. Yes, he was already building industries that will help Australia when the Second World War began sixteen years in the future. But what about all of the other possibilities? Could the world be changed for the better if just one man died, one of the evil ones like Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin or Mao Tse Tung? Harold had pondered the question along with many other subjects ever since arriving in 1918 from the devastated world of 2040. ‘What would Judith have done?’ Harold often asked himself.

  Harold was thinking about his late wife Judith once again and how she would have changed the world when he encountered an older man wearing a dark coat and trousers in addition to a yarmulke at a local kosher shop during a business visit to Sydney. It was obvious from the little cap and the rest of his attire, that the man was Jewish, just as Judith had been. Harold still liked to eat kosher food, so he frequently shopped at that shop. While looking for a few particular items of food to purchase, Harold decided to start a conversation with the older Jewish man.

  “Hello, Sir. How are you doing today? My name is Harold.”

  “Good day to you, Sir. My name is Ezekiel.” The older man said while standing in line next to Harold.

  “What do you do around here, Ezekiel?”

  “I work as a physician here in the community. I have seen you shopping here before, but never

  attending synagogue. We have a very small Jewish community here, I’m afraid. But that also means that I know all of the Jews in our area. Are you Jewish?” “No, Sir. I am a Christian. I do visit Sydney for business from time to time. But I live in Western Australia now. My late wife Judith was Jewish however. I still like to eat kosher foods, partly in honor of her and partly because I like that kosher food is prepared with great care. The quality of the food that I eat is very important to me.”

  “That is very thoughtful, Harold. What happened to your wife, may I ask?” Ezekiel asked with a note of compassion in his voice.

  “She died unexpectedly some years ago. But she saved many innocent lives at the same time through her sacrifice.” Harold replied. He didn’t want to reveal that Judith had died in a terrorist attack while visiting her hometown of Tel Aviv in Israel. This was because her death wouldn’t actually happen for more than a hundred years in a nation that didn’t even exist yet. Even so, the pain of her loss continued to haunt Harold.

  “You must be very proud of her. I am sure that God is now protecting her in His loving arms. I have lost loved ones also, more than I can count, I am sad to say. I hope that I will be able to return to my peoples’ homeland before I do to meet my heavenly Father.”

  “Where is that?” Harold asked.

  “I was born in Russia, but the place that I am speaking of going home to is the ancient lands of Judea and Samaria. This is now under the control of the British in the land that they call Palestine. The British and the French promised that our land would be returned to us after the war. But we have seen little progress, especially with the Arabs creating such violent resistance out there.

  I have long dreamed of our people returning to our true home in the Promised Land and living our lives as Jews without being subject to the cruel whims of our enemies. But alas, for Israel and the Jewish people to return home, it will take a miracle from God or a horrible tragedy, perhaps even both, I’m afraid.

  There are many people in the West who politely say nothing unkind in public about the Jewish people. But in private, these same people are no less hateful of the Jewish people than the people who wish us to be wiped from the face of the Earth. This includes many very influential people in the West who still wear the veneer of civility like a cloak and hat.

  I fear that something terrible will have to happen to my people to shame the West enough to force those quiet bigots to relinquish their objections to the Jewish people returning to their ancestral home in Judea and Samaria. We need a place where Jews can once again control their own destiny and worship God exactly as Abraham and Moses ordained. The only place that can truly be home for us is the land that the God of Abraham, the one true God, gave to the Jewish people so long ago.” The old Jewish doctor sadly explained.

  It was at that point that Harold relinquished any thoughts of having Hitler assassinated as part of his plan to reshape the future. He realized that act would not serve to change the world that he wanted, nor would it have helped save his beloved Judith. He understood that for Israel to come to exist, Hitler must also exist to play his role, at least for a while. Hitler was not the only person who slaughtered the Jews during that period either. Josef Stalin had killed many as well and had planned his own ‘Final Solution’ for the Jews also.

  Only after the horrors of the Holocaust had begun, could the shame of what had been allowed happ
en move the West into endorsing the creation of the State of Israel. Harold would certainly try to find a way to mitigate the death toll of Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’. But Hitler’s death prior to the beginning of the Second World War would not have stopped it. Harold already knew from historical records that Josef Stalin had planned a similar fate for the Jewish people, but had been prevented by Stalin’s own death a few years after the end of the war.

  “Ezekiel, I hope that you will get a chance to go back to the Holy Lands. I am sure that within a generation or two, the Promised Land will be returned to its rightful owners. The one true God is always faithful to His promises to the children of Abraham.”

  “I pray that you are right, Harold. My people have been waiting to return from the Diaspora for more than a thousand years.”

  Harold quietly nodded in agreement as he continued his shopping. What Harold had learned from Ezekiel would certainly influence his views about the means that Harold would use in changing that particular aspect of history. Harold felt that he owned that to the memory of Judith and the country where she was both born and died.

  Besides, Josef Stalin and Mao Tse Tung killed even more people than Adolf Hitler. It would do well for humanity to prematurely end the reign of terror and death that these two monsters of Marxism inflicted upon the world. Harold was confident that Hitler would be dealt with as well at the appropriate time, hopefully before the Holocaust took as brutal a death toll as was the case in the original timeline.

  Derby Township

  Western Territories, Australia March 17, 1923

  Harold was looking over a pile of invoices and other documents on his desk when his aborigine assistant Thomas knocked on Harold’s office door.

  “Sir, I have a Mister Allen Summersby here who wants to speak with you. He says that he is from Sydney and represents the Federal government.

  “Does he have credentials, Thomas?” Harold asked. There had been a couple of incidents earlier where confidence men came to him attempting to obtain money under the auspices of being government representatives. The fraudsters found themselves behind bars after their ruses were quickly uncovered by Harold and his people.

  “Yes, Sir. He has papers that say that he works for the Federals. The papers do appear to have all of the correct stamps and markings.”

  “Send him in then, please.”

  A well-dressed portly white man with a grey beard and thinning hair walked into Harold’s office.

  “Please take a seat, Mister Summersby. How may I help you?” Harold politely asked.

  “I’ve come from the Government House in Sydney to have a little chat with you at the behest of the State government there.”

  “I am always happy to talk with our government officials.” Harold responded, not truly pleased about this man’s visit. Unless they wanted to buy some from his factories, politicians, past, present or future, always seemed to be more interested in unnecessary meddling or asking for money than anything else.

  “Mister Cavill, may I ask you what you are doing with the Aborigines?” The politician from Sydney asked pointedly.

  “I am employing them to work in my mines and other business concerns, Sir.”

  “I know of this. But what about this school and the hospital that you have built for them to use? Are you afraid of what they might lead to?”

  “What about them? The school, hospital, even the church are good business decisions for me. I need more than just strong backs to do physical labor at my companies. I need workers who can think and make good decisions. When I teach them how to read, write and other skills, these people are of far greater use to me. If they are kept healthy, their productivity is much higher as well. As far as the church goes, wouldn’t you agree that when the aborigines learn about the Good News of Jesus Christ that they will be far more peaceful and less likely to resort to alcohol or other intoxicants?”

  “Maybe. But aren’t you worried that these primitives will become violent towards you and the whites that are in your employ? Some of these tribes have been very rebellious in the past, you know.”

  “Not in the least. The aborigines that work for me are very dedicated to their work and are quite peaceful. If you treat people with respect, compensate them properly and give them all of the tools that they need to do the job, they will do what you need for them to do for you. They are also not nearly as primitive as you might think.”

  “I don’t know, Mister Cavill. A lot of the Abos still live out there in caves and huts, don’t they? Most of them have no clue about how to read or write English either.”

  “The aborigines can certainly be taught all of these skills though. The results of my schools have proven this. My assistant Thomas here is an excellent example of this. He has learned to read, write and do mathematics at one of my schools. Now, he works as one of my assistants here in my main office.

  I am also building homes for the aborigines to live in when they come to work for me as well. I assure you that none of my employees live in a cave any longer. Instead, I build many of my factories inside of caves to make them more comfortable and secure. Perhaps my factories make my aborigine employees feel more at home there as a result.” Harold noted with a chuckle.

  “Certainly your Mister Thomas here is exceptional among the natives that you have working for you.” A still incredulous Summersby responded.

  “Not at all, Mister Thomas is only one of many of the aborigines who have performed very well at my schools. How do you think that I achieve such high productivity among my workers, many of whom are aborigine?”

  The politician sat there silently for a few moments pondering the question that Harold had posed to him.

  “I simply want to again caution you about the aborigines. We’ve had troubles with them in the past. The government simply feels that it is vital to protect the white population in Australia from any threats.”

  “On the general idea of protecting people, I would have to agree. But I want to protect all of our nation’s people from all threats, foreign and domestic. It just happens that danger isn’t simply based on the color of one’s skin. I trust the aborigines here and welcome all who want to come here and give me an honest day’s work for an honest day’s wages.

  “Well, Sir. I wish you luck there. I still think that what you are doing is a fool’s errand though.” Summersby replied with a note of sarcasm.

  “It is my money that I am spending though. I can do with it what I bloody well please. It is certainly far better than having them all on the dole and drunk. Don’t you agree, Sir?”

  “Well, it is the white man’s duty to take care of these natives while they still exist in this modern world.”

  “So you belong to the Labor Party. Don’t you, Mister Summersby?”

  “I actually belong to the Nationalist Party.” The surprised politician responded.

  “It happens that I have a completely different view on how the Aborigines can be best taken care of than that of the Labor Party or even many in the Nationalist Party. It is most certainly not by making the aborigines dependent on the State and our fellow taxpayers. They are not ‘children’ for condescending adults to look down upon and pat them on the head.

  The aborigines were here long before we were. They should be citizens with all of the rights and responsibilities of the rest of us. The time will come when we will need them to help defend our land, mark my words.”

  “Sir, it appears that you agree with us in that we must have a strong defense as well as economic freedom. I’m not so sure if everyone in any of the major parties feels quite the same way as you do about the native aborigines however.”

  “It doesn’t matter what they think. I’m going to educate, care for and employ them. I know that in the past, there have been attempts by some of the European settlers to exterminate the aborigines as though they were animals. You can be sure that no such activity will be tolerated here or anywhere else that I have business interests in this nation. My employees and the
ir families will also maintain the means to protect themselves, just in case we have any criminals or other unsavory groups who decide to prey upon my people.”

  “I see. Well, I must be going back to Government House. I do hope that you will support us in our efforts to lead Australia in these trying times.” Allen Summersby said, barely able to keep a frown from showing.

  “What I hope, Mister Summersby, is that you and your party will not get in the way of my work here. We all have a lot more to think about than our minor petty interests. Be assured, I am most definitely thinking of our nation’s best interests as well. So if you wouldn’t mind seeing yourself out, I have a great deal of work to do here.” Harold curtly requested.

  “Very well, Mister Cavill.” The politician said before he turned and left. The expression on Mister Summersby’s face made it clear that he was not happy about the meeting’s outcome at all.

  A few moments later, Thomas walked into Harold’s office.

  “They just don’t seem to understand, my friend.” Harold wryly commented.

  “That’s the third politician that has come here in as many months, Mister Cavill. They all ask just about the same questions too. I think that they seem to want to try to understand you since you are so much different than most white men in Australia.”

  “Yes. They want to understand me in order to try to control me. They’ve each come from a different political party too. But they will not control me or any of us any longer. It will not be so very long before we control these politicians and drive their policies. We will need that control if we are going to save the world for our descendants.

  We’ve already started influencing some of our nation’s political figures with the currency that they understand best; money. When we finally decide to talk to the politicians, it will completely be on our terms, not theirs.” Harold grimly commented.