Читаем Soldaten полностью

NIWIEM*: I must say, sometimes we didn’t behave too well in FRANCE. In PARIS I have seen our soldiers seize girls in the middle of a restaurant, lay them over the table and…! Married women too!³³⁸

MÖLLER: I, as “Gruppenkommandeur” sometimes have to take action in connection with venereal diseases. On the day I was shot down one of my best pilots reported sick with venereal diseases. This man had just returned to the “Gruppe” from 4 weeks marriage-leave. I said to him “you are a swine”! He’ll be glad that I did not return from the flight for I’d certainly have held him responsible.³³⁹

REIMBOLD: One thing I can tell you directly, there’s no rumor about it. In the first officers’ quarters where I was held prisoner, there was a very stupid young lieutenant from Frankfurt, a real snot-nose. Eight of us were sitting around a table talking about RUSSIA. And he said: “We got hold of a female spy who was running around in the area. We hit her on the noggin with a stick and then flayed her behind with an unsheathed bayonet. Then we fucked her, threw her out, shot at her and, while she was lying on her back, lobbed grenades. Every time we got one close, she screamed. In the end, she died, and we threw her body away.” And imagine this! There were eight German officers sitting at the table with me all laughing their heads off. I couldn’t stand it. I got up and said, “Gentlemen, this goes too far.”³⁴¹