War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 366 Things Exiles Can Do

In the basement, which smelled like nicotine, before the cigarette in his hand was burned out, there was another knocking sound from the metal plate in the hole above his head.

"You should go up." Juliet was already starting to extinguish the kerosene lamp by the table while speaking, "Thank you for your help."

"nothing"

Wei Ran, who originally wanted to ask more questions, held back his curiosity temporarily, threw the cigarette butt into the fireplace not far away, and then covered the scarlet charcoal fire with a tin basin next to it.

When the kerosene lamp behind her was completely extinguished, and the metal plate above her head was also opened, Mia anxiously waved to Wei Ran to signal him to go up.

Putting on cowhide gloves, Wei Ran quickly climbed up the steel railing against the charcoal dust falling from his head, and Mia quickly restored the metal plate to its original shape and covered it with charcoal fire.

"Get out of the window"

Mia took off her gloves and said in a low voice, "Then go to Frank's house, remember not to be seen, and tell him that it was Montague who asked you to hide there. In addition, there are people guarding the door, and there may be some people on the side of the road." People are guarding, if...if you are found, find a way to leave the port of Kiel."

"Understood." Wei Ran nodded, and also took off his gloves and handed them to the other party.

"How is he?" Mia asked, opening the window.

"After the operation, whether he can survive depends on himself."

After Wei Ran finished speaking, he had already turned out along the window, and Mia also took away the blanket that was spread on the window sill, rolled it up and put it aside, then closed the window and drew the heavy curtains.

who are you working for
Wei Ran muttered to himself, took out the Soviet army cloak and those wet boots from the metal book and put them on, and under the cover of night, he made a detour to Frank's house.

Since the chain dog named Adam was thrown into the lake by him and Frank, the town has even arranged for patrolling soldiers, which was not there last night.Fortunately, because of the blackout, it is not difficult to avoid them as long as you are careful.

Following his memory, Wei Ran walked to the vicinity of Frank's wooden house without any risk. After putting away his cloak and boots, he put on the shoes he had been holding all along, and carefully knocked on the door.

Not long after, Frank asked vigilantly from the door, "Who?"

"It's me, Victor. It was Montague who let me." Frank opened the door before he finished speaking, and Wei Ran got in immediately.

"What's wrong?" Frank asked, frowning.

Wei Ran briefly described the situation in the tavern, and followed him into the house where he slept last night.

"You operated on him?" Frank looked at Wei Ran in surprise, "I didn't expect you to know this skill."

"I used to be a veterinarian." Wei Ran once again used the tried-and-tested excuse, "But his condition is not good, and it depends on himself whether he can make it through."

"It's better than procrastinating all the time," Frank said cheerfully, "Wait a minute, I'll get a bottle of wine, we must have a drink!"

When the other party came back with two glasses and a bottle of wine, Wei Ran tentatively asked, "Frank, can you tell me about Juliet and the others?"

Frank hesitated for a moment, then sighed, sat down against the wall, and whispered in the dim room while sipping the wine in his glass, "Do you know the Warsaw Secret University?"

"Warsaw Secret University? Yes, you want to say that Ms. Juliet is a professor at the Secret University?"

Wei Ran asked in surprise, the so-called Warsaw Secret University was a secret organization established by intellectuals after Poland was occupied by the German army.But how did this secret organization come to Germany?

Leaving aside Poland's natural skills that always choose the wrong team, during World War II, when Poland was occupied by the German army, the surviving Poles were also deprived of the right to education.Even the historic Warsaw University has become a German barracks.

Against this backdrop, many Polish professors organized the so-called Polish Secret University, where they conducted secret lectures in small groups in private apartments, basements, fields, and even various seemingly safe places.

The risks of these Polish secret universities are not lower than those of Jewish blood. Once they are discovered by the Germans, not only the teachers who teach, but also the students who attend the lectures will face the risk of being burned alive.

But even so, as of 1944, more than 300 professors and at least 3500 students have participated in various courses at the Warsaw Secret University, and how many of them were massacred by the Germans, I am afraid that even the Germans at the time Not sure.

"Do you know the Warsaw Secret University?" After Wei Ran gave an affirmative answer again, the surprised person became Frank instead.

"As far as I know, aren't they all organizing underground lectures in Poland? How did they come here?"

"They used to be professors at the University of Warsaw"

Frank explained in a low voice, "After Poland was occupied, they became teachers at the Secret University in Warsaw."

"Wait, you said them."

"The Two in the Basement"

Flack showed a bleak smile, "Juliet, let's call her Juliet. She used to be a professor in the Department of Mathematics. The injured man, we call him Romeo. He used to be a professor in the Department of Philosophy. Artur used to be a professor at the University of Warsaw. My German teacher, Dumb Papa used to be a professor in the law department. Mia is Artur's student, and I am Dumb Papa's student."

"You...how did you come here?" Wei Ran was more and more surprised.

"Our secret university was discovered by Nuggets"

Frank raised his head and said in a low voice, "You must know Erich, the son of the original owner of Siren Tavern, right? You must know, after all, you worked in that tavern before we came here."

"I know" Wei Ran responded cautiously, and he finally knew the origin of his identity as a bartender.

"He was Juliet's student, a math genius. My sister and I, and Mia, were from Szczecin, on the border between Germany and Poland."

"And then?" Wei Ran asked.

"Then?"

Frank drank the wine in the glass, "With the help of Erich and his father, your previous boss, we managed to escape to Denmark, but it didn't take long before the Germans invaded Denmark."

"You really know where to choose."

Wei Ran secretly slandered that it was only the Poles who could choose a country to take refuge in a country that resisted the Germans for only four hours during World War II and then surrendered.

Frank didn't notice Wei Ran's weird expression in the dark, and continued to pour himself a drink, "No way, we changed our identities again under the suggestion of Erich and his son, and fled to the port of Kiel in batches. But Shortly after that, Erich and his father were taken away for being Jewish.

You must have guessed what happened later. Mr. Artur took over the Kraken Tavern and the basement that was originally used as a wine cellar as a wine merchant. Later, with the help of some people, we tried to rescue Eli. Xi, and sent him and his mother to Switzerland for asylum. "

Having said that, Frank sighed, "In the beginning we just wanted to survive, but later, we felt that we should do something."

"Where are those dancing girls?" Wei Ran asked abruptly.

"They...they are all our classmates"

Frank murmured gloomily, "Accompany those Germans to bed, and collect their information about going to sea and returning to Hong Kong by the way. This is the only thing they can do."

Wei Ran was stunned, and couldn't help but ask, "But what's the use of this information even if you get it?"

"It will always be useful," Frank said as if comforting himself, "Romeo said that the information will be of great use."

Wei Ran opened his mouth, wisely, he didn't continue to ask, but picked up the glass and touched the other party, then poured the wine into his mouth with his head raised.

At this time, he no longer had the idea of ​​teasing the other party.

For these students and teachers in exile, for these Poles who have lost their country and their families, what these people have done is enough to be called a hero.As for not being able to stand in line, how can these people decide those things?

"Is there anything else you want to know?" Frank asked, holding his glass.

Wei Ran thought for a while and asked, "The man in the basement, Romeo, how did he get injured?"

"He was discovered by the chain dog Adam when he was passing the information, and we took a lot of effort to rescue him."

"Send the information? To whom? Forget it, pretend I didn't ask." Wei Ran forcibly held back his curiosity.

"Probably British"

Frank gave an ambiguous answer, "He is the only one of us who can speak English. He usually acts alone, relying on my identity as a postman to contact him one-way. Only those teachers know that the information we collect will eventually be sent to the In whose hands."

"Do you need me to do anything?" Wei Ran asked, "I can help you."

"Look at Artur's arrangement," Frank said ambiguously, "but luckily Adam is dead, we just need to find a way to keep the secret of the basement."

Having said that, Frank glanced at the night outside the window, poured Wei Ran another glass of wine and said, "Okay, let's go to bed early after drinking this glass of wine."

Wei Ran nodded when he heard the words, picked up the cup and touched the other party, then drank it in one gulp, and watched the other party leave the room.

"It turned out to be a Pole."

Looking at the night outside, Wei Ran murmured in disbelief, really not knowing whether this is good news or bad news.After all, it was only 1941 after all, long before the end of World War II.

Whether these people can persist until the end of the war, or how many people can persist until the end of World War II, is really a desperate unknown.But like the math professor code-named Juliet in the basement said, someone has to do these things.

(End of this chapter)