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He made me take back the ten koruna At the door, his wife pressed a brown paper parcel into es so much…

I ate the sandwiches on the road into Pisek The breakfast had been a big one, but I was still hungry I found a twenty-koruna note in with the sandwiches I couldn’t think of a way to return it to them, so I put it in ht And I thought again, for perhaps the hundredth time, what a sha Janos Kotacek

Chapter 4

I didn’t begin looking for Neumann at once I walked into Pisek and asked first how to find the Gerhborhood The first clerk I approached becain, like the false boundaries of class lines, had crumbled under socialishborhood was dialectically obsolescent The next clerk I tried was less colorful but more helpful He told me that most of the Germans in Pisek lived in the northeast corner of the city, and told me approximately what streets to take if I cared to walk there

Whatever effect socialisin, Pisek very definitely had a Gerns of business establishe, and nine out of ten street conversations were conducted in it Here, I felt, they were more likely to know Neumann and less apt to becorocer and a druggist with no luck The butcher shop next door to the druggist proved

The butcher said, "Neumann? Neumann? Ah, little Kurt! Of course I know hiray house with the blue shutters Nuave me no chance to answer the question "Ahah! But your business is not with Kurt at all, is it?" He wiped his fat hands on his apron "The daughter, eh? Oh, they come from far to see that one And who can blame them?"

"Well, I… you know her?"

"Don’t be shy And who doesn’t know Neumann’s Greta? But a word to the wise-" He leaned forward, winked lewdly " – You’d better spout off with the old Nazi line, you understand? The old Hitler bullshit Instead of love andspace for the expanding German nation The old Aryan routine But take care that you only whisper or" – a throaty laugh – "or, by God you’ll have the da Neu out the first four notes of "Deutschland &Uu sound, and then the door opened, seely of its own accord I did not see theover his head

He was certainly no e, with straight black hair combed to the side in a partially successful attee bald spot His complexion was dark, his teeth pointed and yellow

"Herr Neumann?"

"Ja?"

"Heinz Moll told ent importance" I looked around furtively, a needless precaution, as I had alreadyme "May I come inside?"

He snapped erect and tried to click his heels together The effect was lost One of his thin legs was shorter than the other and ended in a clubfoot encased in a built-up shoe It did not lend itself to theto project

"You will followroom where he took me was clean and co chairs, a sht piano, dark draperies, and a worn i He motioned me to the couch, closed the drapes, and sat down in one of the chairs

"I suppose you wish to get out of the country," he said "You are too young to have served the Fuehrer, no? No matter It is not easy to move a man out of Czechoslovakia This filthy police state Between the Slavs and the Jews, a decent German has little freedom these days But it can be done, a man can be moved across any border And, in the meantime, you will be safe here"

"I don’t want to escape froally, with the police searching for ue"

"Most unusual"

"You know of Janos Kotacek?"

"The Slovak? The papers have been full of it The fool returned here and was captured"

"He did not return He was kidnapped in Portugal"

"The swine!"

"Yes It is my task to rescue hihtfully "It is a noble task," he said He got to his feet, took one of a pair of crossed dueling sabers from the wall over the piano "Of course, Kotacek is a Slovak A Slav He is in no sense a German But one cannot deny the work he has done for the cause"

"He is an important man"

"No doubt" Neumann slashed air with the sword "It is the mark of German maturity that we are able to o I heard a speaker explain that the Slovaks ht be considered the Slavic equivalent of the Germans It was at a rally to develop support for the Slovak Republic Such men can be very useful to us And I don’t have to tell you" – the sword sang viciously – "that after our ulti the inferior races will be suitably rewarded Men like Kotacek will be sterilized, of course, but there will be no need for actual exter to improve the racial characteristics of mankind It is quite another to reward valuable service"

"Of course"

"Though there will be no need to sterilize Kotacek himself, I suppose He must be very old"

"And an invalid"

"Ah And it is very important for him to be rescued?"