War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 371 Karen's Diary

When the glaring white light faded, Wei Ran had returned to the basement again, looked at the light bulbs hanging on the ceiling above his head, and then looked at the metal book on the table, he was a little relaxed after confirming that he had returned to his own world He took a breath, and thoughtfully focused on the subsequent experiences of those people written by the metal quill.

"Hope and Despair in the Eternal Night"

Artur, dancer Petra and others were sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp on March 1941, 3 due to exposure of their identities. From August 8 to January 1941, they died successively in the gas chamber, shooting and hard labor of the concentration camp .

Postman Frank, on March 1941, 3, after completing the task of delivering information and killing the traitors, he returned to the Siren Tavern, where he rescued Karen, mathematics professor Juliet and others.After sending Karen to Switzerland to meet Erich, the son of the former owner of the Siren Tavern, he joined the resistance movement and established an underground post office. On April 8, 1945, he was accidentally bombed and killed during the Battle of Berlin.

Singer Mia, on March 1941, 3, was shot dead by a chain dog for covering Karen and the secret basement. Frank hid her body in the secret basement.

Karen, since September 1940, as a waiter at the Siren Tavern, assisted Frank, Artur and others in delivering information. After the incident at the Siren Tavern Information Station, he was sent to Switzerland for temporary refuge. In late May 9, he returned to the port of Kiel with Erich and started rebuilding the Kraken Tavern.

In 1950, married Erich and had a son after marriage.There are several letters from Frank during his lifetime. After rebuilding the Siren Tavern, they are hidden in the dark compartment of the desk in Mia's room.

Juliet, on March 1941, 3, after the Siren Tavern intelligence station incident, chose to join the British intelligence personnel to continue to crack the German radio encryption system. In the summer of the same year, she joined the British Bletchley Park Telecommunications Department.After the war, Juliet returned to the port of Kiel, met Karen and Erich and committed suicide by jumping into the sea. Her remains were buried in the family cemetery by Erich's mother.

In the midst of Wei Ran's sigh, the metal quill continued to write in a new line, "As exiles, even if all our efforts only kill one enemy, then all the things we do and all the sacrifices we make have changed. It is of great significance. But the pain and shame of betrayal from compatriots is far greater than the wanton trampling of the motherland by the aggressors."

At this point, after the metal quill wrote a new line, it actually listed the detailed address of the cemetery in Ferm Village, and the page slowly turned to the back.

"Ferm Village is Erich's mother's family cemetery?"

Amidst Wei Ran's exclamation, the metal quill paused for a while, and then continued to write the last line of words under the red swirl, "Mathematics can break the most complicated encryption system, but it can never calculate the filth in the traitor's heart."

With a soft clang, the metal quill fell onto the wooden table where Juliet had been busy at her desk.

Probing his hand into the red vortex, Wei Ran shook his head helplessly after taking out the contents. This may be the smallest gain in history - there is only a pen that was used as an identity certificate at the beginning.

Taking a look at the pen cap, he sent it back to the red vortex and put away the metal book.Taking a last look at Mia's bones, Wei Ran left the basement, put on rubber gloves, and took out the drawers of Mia's desk one by one, and began to examine them carefully.

It doesn't matter after this inspection, the secret hidden in this desk is far beyond his expectation!In addition to a few letters signed by Karen in the bottom of one drawer, he also found a thin diary in the bottom of another drawer.

Regardless of the family letters with some water stains and dried marks on the envelopes, Wei Ran carefully opened the diary that was not signed or marked with time.

After only reading a few pages, a knowing smile appeared on his face.It can be seen from the lines that the time span of this diary is extremely large. The first page records Karen's hesitation when she was just sent to Switzerland by her brother Frank and her worries about Frank returning to Germany.

The record on the second page is Erich's despair and grief after learning the sad news of Mia's death, as well as Karen, the little girl's inner self-blame and uneasiness.

By the third page, the above content has become the joy of knowing the end of the war, and the expectation of returning to the Kraken Tavern to meet his brother.

The content on the fourth page records the despair when the Kraken Tavern has been rebuilt, but her brother has not returned.

Continuing the content of the next few pages, it becomes the life details of Erich, who lost his lover, and Karen, who lost his brother, two decadent young people, comforting and encouraging each other in the reconstructed Kraken Tavern.

When he turned to the eighth page of the diary, Karen expressed his admiration for Erich, as well as his repentance and shame for the dead singer Mia in neat handwriting.

On the tenth page and later, it records the scene when she, Erich and Erich's mother buried Juliet's relics in the cemetery, and her shock to the history of Erich's family.

According to Karen in the diary, Erich's maternal grandfather was not only a cavalryman in the Saxony [-]st Guards Heavy Cavalry Regiment, he was even barely considered a declining nobleman.

But Erich, who is half Jewish, dismisses this. Instead, he often complains to Karen that his mother always asks him according to the standards of the nobility, making him wish he was a real "pure-blood Jew."

And at this time, Karen is also the happiest, because only by talking about these little troubles, they can temporarily forget those relatives lost in the war.

At the same time, on this page, there is also the group photo they hurriedly took when they escaped from the Kraken Tavern, and a photo taken when Mia was singing on the stage.

On the 18th page of the diary, what Karen has recorded has become Erich's excitement, happiness and longing for the future when he accepted himself.

From here on, in just a few pages, the content of the record covers the marriage of the two of them, the birth and death of their first child, and the hesitation and hardships of life when the second child was born.

In addition, after Erich's mother passed away, they hesitated when they planned to sell the gold bars left by Frank to improve the family's living conditions, as well as her and Erich's quarrels, reconciliation, mutual forgiveness and other trivial things in life. .

When he turned to the last page, the handwriting on the page had changed significantly, and the content was also extremely short, with only one sentence, "Dear Karen, I have been peeking at your diary all the time, In fact, I know all these secrets. Finally, thank you for your lifelong companionship and the happiness you have given me. ——Your Erich".

Gently closing the thin diary, Wei Ran didn't touch those letters again, but sorted them out one by one, and placed them all on the desk that had been restored to its original state.

Leaving the room, Wei Ran stood at the door of the reconstructed Kraken Tavern, looked up at the blue sky, and after a long silence, took out his mobile phone and dialed the number of his employer, Sauron.

“I have already arranged the hotel for you”

As soon as the call was connected, the employer Sauron said enthusiastically, "Victor, do you want to take a look? If you are not satisfied, I can arrange another hotel for you."

"No need, Mr. Sauron, just return the room." Wei Ran said in a flat tone.

"What's wrong?" Sauron asked in surprise, "Wait, Victor, you didn't find out something so quickly, did you?"

Turning around and looking at Mia's room on the first floor of the tavern, Wei Ran did not answer the other party's question directly, but said in a different way, "If it's convenient, you can take a look."

"Wait for me, I'll be right there!" Before the words finished, Sauron hung up the phone.

Looking at the phone in his hand, and then at the tavern behind him, Wei Ran sat directly on the steps of the door, but never went in again.

According to his original plan, even if he finds the clues, he will not tell the other party until he returns to China for the New Year. After all, he needs to make the customer feel that the 30 euros are worth it.

But considering that Sauron, the employer who is in a hurry to do business, may renovate the house at any time, the desk that hides all the truth will be thrown away as garbage by the other party.

And that diary and those letters that he didn't plan to read can't be taken away and returned to the other party when he comes next time.If the rich and powerful Sauron turns this house into a rough house for a big renovation, then the fun will be great.

As for the disadvantage of finding out the truth in less than half an hour, at most it was just that the other party thought he was lucky and planned to renege on his debt.However, the income this time is already low enough, even if it loses again, where can it lose?Besides, didn't I learn a technique?

Before he could comfort himself, his employer, Sauron, rode a beach motorcycle and ran over along the windy beach.

"You found it so quickly? Did you find any key clues?" Sauron asked excitedly after stopping the beach motorcycle with a beautiful tail flick.

"That's right!" Wei Ran let the other party pull him up, patted the dust on his buttocks and said, "Let's go, I'll take you to see it."

After hearing the news, Sauron with a curious face immediately took out his mobile phone and made a video call to his father. After the video call was connected, Wei Ran also led Sauron to Mia's room, first pointing to He pointed to the letters and diaries on the table, and then pulled out another drawer, and gently pushed the innermost vertical plate of the drawer upward, revealing the hidden compartment on the bottom plate of the drawer.

"These things were all found in the hidden compartment of the desk drawer. This kind of hidden drawer compartment was very common in the last century, so I tried to look for it, but I didn't expect to find something." Wei Ran said Demonstrating the secret compartment of the desk, he said nonsense, "Also, that diary may have the answer you want."

"Quickly tell me what's in that diary." On the screen of the mobile phone, the old man who looked five or sixty years old urged with great interest.

Hearing this, Sauron, who was also full of curiosity, immediately leaned his phone against the flower pot on the window sill, picked up the thin diary and read it.

Seeing this, Wei Ran quietly exited the room, sat on the steps at the entrance of the tavern again, took out his portable flagon and took a big gulp, silently looking at the bay reflecting the setting sun in the distance, thinking about the end of the war Finally, what was the woman named Juliet thinking when she jumped into the sea from here.

(End of this chapter)