The Butterfly Boy

by Tony Klinger

  “I don’t think I want to know whatever it is you’re about to tell me,” was his response. “We shouldn’t have involved you without your agreement, but the less people that knew the safer it would be for everyone. You understand?”

  Helmut tried to force a smile, but it was not easy for him, he was as scared as the rest of us. “Just tell me its someone that is terribly important, someone you can’t do without. I’d hate to be risking my skin for a smell bloody sewage worker, or even worse, a Communist!”

  “It’s my mother.” Helmut nodded his understanding, “Of course, we have no choice. God help her.” He concluded, “God help us all.” Said Marlene, realizing better than any of us the terrible danger we were facing.

  At that moment a military staff car pulled up alongside us. In it were four SS men and our old friend Ratwerller. The SS men looked calm and assured, and they were soon chatting with the border guards as the Rat walked slowly over to our car, his smile doing nothing to conceal his deadly menace. “Oh shit!” said Helmut, but not loud enough for anyone outside the car to hear.

  Marlene turned to me, “I thought we had a deal with him?” “And we do, let me do the talking.” I answered. “And if you can answer his questions you’ll have more from me later!” interjected Helmut.

  Ratwerller leaned in through the open window of the car. He smiled as pleasantly as his feral, narrow face would allow. “Good day my old friends!” None of us replied. “ Very moody, but we can soon change people’s moods. We have ways to cheer people up. I am told I can be very amusing. What do you say we do a little old fashioned search of your nice shiny vehicle.”?

  Ratwerller called over to his men. “You know what we’re looking for, come on, get on with it.”

  Two of the soldiers previously guarding the convoy were ordered by the SS men to unload the contents of their truck. I watched the search with Rat standing right next to me. “What’s this all about?” I whispered urgently to him, “Who knows what we might find?”

  I looked at him, “You never ask a question to which you don’t already know the answer.”

  As I was talking to him I could sense Marlene doing something in the back of our car. I couldn’t hear, but I knew she was hushing my mother. From my position I could see the contents of the first truck on the road and the SS men were now inside poking around. Ratwerller opened the door for me and ushered me outside, where Helmut joined us.

  “You people issued us with these bloody papers so even you must know they’re genuine. We have an official German art exhibition to mount inside our neutral neighboring country and you are about to ruin all those arrangements. You’re behaving as normal, like the school bully you always were. You are an idiot and I am going to report you to a superior.” Helmut finished, but he hadn’t succeeded in wiping the smirk from Ratwerller’s face.

  “Oh come on, don’t you want to see what we’re going to find, aren’t you just the tiniest bit curious?” Rat mocked us, “Humor him,” I said to Helmut, “He’s a very sick man.”

  “Yes, humor me, I am very sick.” The Rat confirmed. Two of the SS men pulled the contents out of a long thick cardboard tube. Very carefully and deliberately they unwound a canvas, exchanging loud sarcastic comments about the abstract art. They held it up for Ratwerller to look at, but he shook his head.

  Another soldier poked around the seemingly empty shell of the truck with his bayonet whilst a Gestapo officer crawled like an inverted crab under another one of the trucks, examining it minutely with a torch.

  We all watched the search progress. Ratwerller moved closer to me, “Where is the merchandise?” I knew what he meant but I didn’t want to look at him, the effort at appearing cool and unflustered was proving too much for my self-control. “What so you can cancel the deal? No you find the merchandise yourself, if there is anything to find”

  He looked at me with disgust etched on his face, “Idiot, I am not trying to find the merchandise!” He hissed in my ear, “this isn’t my doing, I have superiors and they don’t trust a half Jew whatever the Fuhrer says, and they won’t you nailed on a cross, just like the Jew doctor who looks after him.”

  “So what happens now?” We watched the various soldiers continue their search. “I can’t rely on anything other than your greed, that’s always been reliable. How do we fix this problem?” I probed him, but he was clearly agitated and not in control of this situation. He dragged on his cigarette; smoking was a habit that he had adopted more and more over the last few years.

  “I can’t rely on you or your word, only your greed.” I observed, “Just this once, we don’t have to love one another, but, we do have to trust each other, we both have much to lose.”

  I said, “Yes, if she’s caught, we’re questioned, we talk, you’re implicated and...” “We’re all dead.” He finished my thought, “Now tell me where she is so I can misdirect my friends away from the scent.” Helmut, who was standing nearby, shook his head, as if to say don’t tell him anything. I raised my eyes to heaven in mute reply, meaning what choice do I have? “Under the back seat.” I said, trusting my instinct rather than my brain, which was shouting at me not to tell him anything. Rat sneaked a quick look at the SS and Gestapo men crawling all over the trucks and then turned back to me. “I thought that’s where she would be.” Having said this he marched towards the trucks without looking back.

  The area around the stationary convoy was littered with hundreds of pieces of artwork, most of which had been already thoroughly searched. Ratwerller arrived at the nearest group of searching men. “What have you found, anything interesting?” A Gestapo man in the back of the truck facing Ratwerller shook his head, “You’ve searched every truck, every exhibit?” asked Ratwerller.

  The leading SS man, now perspiring heavily from his efforts removed his cap and wiped his brow, “Every single thing has been looked at twice, at least twice, sir, every bloody centimeter sir.” Ratwerller snarled, “ Then search for a third time until we find something!”

  The Rat stood overseeing his men as they redoubled their efforts. Eventually the men had clearly exhausted every possible hiding place and had discovered nothing not already written on our customs declaration forms.

  Helmut and Marlene now lounged on our car’s back seat having opened the picnic hamper and spread its fare across the rug now covering the leather. If you listened carefully, and I did, you could hear the sound of a woman quietly whimpering and crying. “Not too much longer, keep strong for a little bit longer, we’ll be there soon.” Marlene said quietly and soothingly, inelegantly wedged into the tiny crawl space we had created beneath the seat.

  Below the seat it was very dark and hot, too claustrophobic for one person, we had stuffed two women into this tiny space, and neither was my mother. These were two younger women.

  My smile of relief faded when Ratwerller and his men walked towards our car. “Are you satisfied, can we continue on our journey now?” I asked, “We haven’t quite finished yet sir, we would like you and your companions to all step from the car so that we can search you.”

  Helmut and Marlene scurried from the car to join us next to the car. We stood in a loose semi circle around Ratwerller and his men. He eyed Marlene like a man assessing some horse he was thinking of purchasing. She averted her gaze, aware of his intention. “Please, madam, remove your coat.” Marlene removed her coat as asked, which she handed to Helmut. Her fine body was emphasized by the static electricity making her dress cling to her every curve. Rat looked at her from head to foot. She looked vulnerable and undeniably desirable. Ratwerller looked at her with a mixture of desire and contempt. The SS men almost drooled with appreciation but were restrained by the presence of their strange but dangerous boss. “You,” Ratwerller said to the first SS man, “Search her, very carefully.” The SS man was surprised, “Sir, regulations, shouldn’t a female officer undertake such a body search?”

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p; Ratwerller looked away from Marlene for a moment and snapped at the man, “Scared of what’s there, just do it man!” Helmut stepped between the SS man and Marlene, blocking his path. I looked on knowing there was nothing I could do at this moment, the other men under Rat’s orders all raised their rifles and aimed them at Helmut who spoke urgently to Ratwerller, “What could she possibly be hiding under that dress?”

  Ratwerller looked at Helmut but spoke directly to the first SS man, “Find out everything she has got under that dress, NOW!” he shouted, but Helmut determinedly stood his ground but before the situation could deteriorate any more Marlene stepped in front of her friend and protector, she raised her hands. “Go on, if you must, search me. But all I have under my dress is the same as any woman.” The soldiers almost schoolboy lust turned to ash when confronted with Marlene’s overpowering female assertiveness. Almost apologetically the SS man starts to touch her as he searches, but being cautious not to offend her or exacerbate the already volatile situation.

  Ratwerller’s anger turned to fury, his imagined sexual degradation and humiliation over his enemies was publicly backfiring. “You call that a search you oaf?” He shouted and pushed the SS man aside. Now he and Marlene faced each other. “You will remove all your clothes, including your under garments, at once.” He instructed her, “Here, out in the cold sir?” she teased him.

  Ratwerller thought for a moment and then smiled. “No, of course not, where are my manners, we shall continue this in the nice warm hut, if that would be more convenient?” The question was, of course, an order. She nodded and followed Ratwerller into the hut, the guards aiming their guns at Helmut and me. There was nothing I could do as Marlene turned at the door of the hut as she followed the Rat inside, she smiled bravely and then vanished. “Your woman likes to play a bit doesn’t she mate, what can we do?” said the SS man, “Follow orders!” I spat at him.

  Inside the hut Marlene and Ratwerller stood facing each other. “Now madam, disrobe, please.” She tugged at the zip in the side of her dress, “The blinds?” she asked, and he released the blinds, the room went dark as the sexual electricity mounted as she let her dress fall to the floor in a silky sheath. She faced him in her black satin knickers; a brief brassiere held her generous breasts and her black seamed stockings were held up on her shapely legs by her matching suspender belt. Ratwerller was fascinated and repelled by her. “And the rest.” He said huskily, for the first time facing a mature and sexually attractive woman. “You want to see everything you’ve bought? OK, I will show you everything.” She undid her bra and let it fall to the floor. After a moment when she hid her rose tipped breasts from his view she decided it was hopeless so she let him see her and she placed an elegant foot on the desk in front of her, and unclasped one suspender and pulled down a stocking, then repeated this with the other leg. “Am I the first woman you’ve seen?” she asked him, he didn’t ask, he just wanted to see her, every inch. She removed her knickers slowly, letting him see her full womanhood.

  Ratwerller grunted something unintelligible, and came over to be close to her, to breathe in her aroma. “Bend over the table.” He instructed, “You’ll find me better than any of your little boys.” She teased him. Ratwerller was now inches behind her, looking at her very closely, “This is a search, what are you talking about?”

  He used his hand to search her intimately, and then as he wiped his hand on his handkerchief she spoke again, “You’re stopping now?” she thought she had mastered him, but she had misjudged his sexuality. Without warning he unzipped his trousers and holding her hips in place he forcefully penetrated her. There was nothing she could do, he was using her for his pleasure and he was merciless as he used her in every way until she was unable to bear the pounding, her legs turning to jelly and her breasts sore from the vicious mauling he gave them, twisting and pinching her nipples until she screamed for her to stop. He stuffed his handkerchief into her mouth to quieten her. “How do you like to be ridden like the bitch you are?”

  Marlene hated him, but her body reacted involuntarily to the stimulation and this encouraged Ratwerller even further. She cried with the pain, humiliation and powerlessness of her situation and this excited his perversity further.

  Outside the hut we could hear her muffled screams and crying and occasionally his grunts, shouts and exultation. Even the SS men were embarrassed by this situation. Helmut tried to lead me away from the hut but I had to be as close as I was allowed. The tears streamed down my face unbidden. My humiliation was abject and total, and at this moment I swore quietly that I would wreak my revenge on Ratwerller, not just for me, but also for Marlene.

  It was about thirty of the longest minutes of my life before they came out of the hut and walked towards us. Marlene managed to keep a neutral expression on her face but the Rat was beaming with pleasure. I couldn’t face Marlene when she tried to kiss me. “Remember what we said, whatever he did, I am yours forever?” I tried to smile at her, but I wasn’t as brave or strong as she was.

  “You slut.” Said Helmut, he slapped her face hard; “I do that for my friend because he cannot.” One of the SS men moved menacingly towards Helmut but Ratwerller held up his hand, “Surely that was just an observation rather than a criticism?” He turned to me. “I must say the good lady was co-operative, most open and co-operative.” He smiled at me, encouraging me to ask questions, but I wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. “Can we leave now?”

  “Yes, of course you can, but remember we want to see precisely the same goods returned to the Fatherland when this exhibition is over. Understood, precisely the same goods.” Ratwerller emphasized. We got back into the car as the trucks, now re-loaded with their contents, all started their engines. Ratwerller waved his arm towards the crossing point and the barrier was raised. We passed into Switzerland leaving behind the hell that was our country.

  We pulled to a halt after crossing no mans land at the Swiss Customs Post. The German drivers and guards left and filed back toward Germany, still gossiping about the extraordinary events they’d just been ordered never to discuss with anyone. Swiss guards and drivers replaced the departing Germans. A Swiss customs officer examined the documents Helmut handed to him. “What was the hold up sir, we heard you arrived at their end a long while back?” the customs man asked him, “Just some formalities, you know how we Germans like our papers to be perfect.” Replied Helmut, “We have that in common sir, well this all appears to be in good order, have a nice stay in Switzerland.”

  We were trying to regain an air of normalcy in the car as we pulled into the countryside of Switzerland, but it was impossible, the tension crackled between us all.

  About half an hour later we pulled into a dark forest clearing. Several of the guards rushed back to the edge of the road and blocked off the entrance to the clearing with trees that had been prepared for the task, but it would look to the untrained eye as if some trees and rocks had fallen onto the road, blocking it, from the mountainside.

  This was the one moment when I could assume command, and it was a relief for me to do so. Marlene had been quiet and withdrawn and Helmut was also seemingly delighted to be active. “Open the back up.” I commanded him, and he rushed to comply. “There’s a catch underneath the centre of the seat.” I told him. He pressed the catch and the bottom of the seat sprang open. He looked down and was astonished by what he saw. He found, instead of my mother, two teenage girls who breathed deeply and smiled at him as he helped them out of their hiding place. Helmut was unable to understand who these girls were, and he looked at me for guidance. For the first time that day I smiled with genuine happiness.

  Marlene supervised the guards who were scrambling beneath each of the trucks. They quickly unscrewed the panels holding the big petrol tanks in place that revealed more hiding places next to the real and smaller petrol tanks. They reveal Bertha Hessel suspended upside down by webbing belts to the chassis of the truck, her position hav
ing been cushioned by a great deal of rubber and sponge. “Get me out of here for pity’s sake!” she spluttered, “I feel like a bloody old bat!” Although her face was lined with fatigue I was thrilled to see she was otherwise well.

  The guards very carefully released her from her confinement and lifted her to shaky feet. I rushed over to her and she embraced me as I kissed her face. It was nearly all worth the price. Helmut was totally perplexed as another eight escaping refugees were freed from their ingenious and virtually undetectable hiding places. Marlene had, by now, assumed total control over this operation. One of the guards, a dark swarthy man wearing a black beret, walked over to my mother and me. I was never to learn his or the other names of the men who had risked everything that day. “Come on, we have to go now, there’s no time to stand here.” He insisted. “Just one minute young man.” She insisted, “Marlene come here a minute,” Marlene smiled at my mother and hurried over. Helmut and the man with the black beret backed away a few paces, aware that they were intruding on family business.

  Bertha spoke to my wife and me, “You know my son, that the work Marlene does is more important than you or your vanity, and a woman is physically weaker than a man so she has to use every weapon at her disposal. Arnie you understand you will have to grow a great deal to be as big as your wife, because she’s a giant.” Marlene burst into tears, but tried to hide them in front of the people relying on her, and I felt totally inadequate and small minded. Marlene and my mother hugged, each comforting the other. Bertha continued, “If you learned anything from me my son its that what counts is the person from the inside out. Remember what I tell you now, it’s still the same.”