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.Nulli Secundus -
'Second to None'
by Terence Cardwell Chapter
Twenty Three - Totem and taboo
Professor Klaus Mueller was in an animated discussion
with his psychology students about some of the theories
of Sigmund Freud and his latest book Totem and Taboo,
a study of incest in modern society. The title alone was
enough to stir interest and Freud’s theory evoked a lot
of discussion.
It was a mild summer’s day, August 3, in Stuttgart,
Germany. The sun was shining through the open windows of
the classroom and a light breeze blew, stirring the
loose papers on the students’ desks.
Below in the town square a large crowd had gathered,
milling around a group of soldiers. The captain in
charge of the troops unrolled a paper read it loudly to
the crowd. They listened in silence. When he finished,
the crowd cheered loudly and started singing the German
national anthem, and waved their hats in the air. The
noise reverberated in the classroom and the Professor
stopped speaking in mid-word as the students rose en
masse and rushed to the windows.
‘What the devil is going on?’ Professor Mueller asked
crossly.
‘Sir, there are soldiers in the square and there are
people everywhere, waving and shouting,’ Dieter Hoffman
replied, leaning out of the window,
The cheering from the courtyard increased and the
soldiers marched to the far end of the town square.
‘Well, gentlemen, it looks as if our little war has
started,’ Professor Mueller announced.
‘Let’s all go down and join up— do our duty as good
German citizens to defend our fatherland against those
warmongers and aggressors that surround us and would
destroy us,’ Dieter Hoffman, a student, urged excitedly.
‘There is plenty of time for that. I think we should
finish our studies. After our exams, maybe then you can
join up,’ the Professor answered.
‘But sir, it will be too late by then. The Kaiser has a
plan which will sweep away the Frenchies and the
Russians in six weeks,’ Dieter Hoffman pleaded.
‘Yes, that’s right, he said we will have a greater
Germanic empire as long as we move swiftly and
forcefully,’ Max Hemmler said, his face flushed and his
eyes wide.
There was a general shout of agreement from the other
students.
‘Well, we would not want to miss the war, would we?’ the
Professor agreed. ‘We had better do what our Kaiser
Wilhelm wishes.’ He walked to the doorway. ‘Form two
rows and we will march down to enlist like real
soldiers.’
The students quickly formed into two lines with
Professor Mueller leading the way. They marched out the
door, down the stairs and out into the town square. They
tried their best to march in step, but with little
success. They were in high spirits as they stumbled
across the courtyard, eager to join this new and
exciting grand adventure.
‘It is going to be a great pleasure putting those
Frenchies in their place,’ Carl Lenz laughed as he
matched his steps to his comrades’.
‘We can be in Paris in a month, trying all the delights
of those French women,’ added Max Hemmler, with a smirk.
‘Yes— whether they like it or not,’ another student
added. ‘That would be fantastic. I’ve never had a woman.
It would be even better with a Frenchie.’ He sniggered.
As they arrived at the far side of the square the
soldiers had formed a circle and an officer had
commenced reading again. The officer was a captain, and
looked very smart in his uniform and highly polished,
long leather boots.
‘This message was handed by our Ambassador to the French
Ambassador this morning,’ he announced, holding the
message at the top and bottom as he read.
The
German administrative and military authorities have
noted a certain number of flagrantly hostile acts
committed on German territory by French military
aviators.
Several of these have openly violated the neutrality of
Belgium by flying over the territory of that country;
one has attempted to destroy buildings near Wesel;
others have been seen in the district of the Eifel; one
has thrown bombs on the railway near Carlsruhe and
Nuremberg.
The
captain paused and looked around at the crowd, who had
gone very quiet. He observed all eyes were watching him
with hardly a word spoken.
He
continued;
I
am instructed, and I have the honour to inform your
Excellency, that in the presence of these acts of
aggression the German Empire considers itself in a state
of war with France in consequence of the acts of this
latter Power.
At
the same time, I have the honour to bring to the
knowledge of your Excellency that the German authorities
will retain French merchant vessels in
German ports, but they will be released if
within forty eight hours, they are assured of complete
reciprocity.
The captain lowered the message and the crowd cheered
and waved their hats again.
‘Excuse me,’ Max Hemmler asked one of the soldiers.
‘Where do we sign up?’
The soldier pointed to a corner of the square where
there were a number of tables were set out with soldiers
behind them. Queues were already forming in front of
them. Men and a few women were rushing to get in the
lines. The students abandoned all thought of marching
and hurried across to join the queue.
Max was one of the first there and after signing the
necessary form asked excitedly, ‘Where do you want me to
go now?’
‘Nowhere,’ replied the corporal. ‘Just come back here
tomorrow with your basic needs and we will pick you all
up in army trucks.’
‘Tomorrow! We thought we would be joining today.’
‘Sorry, but you’ll have plenty of time to kill
yourself,’ replied the corporal, shaking his head.
‘Kill myself? I’m not going to do that. We’re only
fighting Frenchies, that shouldn’t be hard,’ Max
answered, amazed that the corporal would suggest such a
thing.
‘Move along,’ the corporal pointed over his shoulder.
‘Next. Name?’ he snapped, becoming irate with these
fools who didn’t know what they were getting into.
‘Mueller, Klaus Mueller.’
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