Life in the camp was harsh, but at least the worst of the winter was over.
“The Ivan has no right to treat us this way,” one of the German prisoners complained.
Johann glowered at him but kept his mouth shut. The complainer was a former SS man and only alive because he’d given the captors a false identity, claiming to be an ordinary Wehrmacht soldier.
“Yes, how about the Geneva Convention?” another converted SS man asked.
Johann scoffed and now it was the other men’s turn to glower at him. He wanted to give them a piece of his mind, tell them the kind of despicable cowards they were. But he kept his mouth shut, since he didn’t want trouble. The Russians never asked who started arguments, but punished both parties indiscriminately.
After some more complaints, Helmut raised his voice an
