Occupation Read online




  About the Author

  Mr. Dawson, the father of three children and three grandchildren, attended college at Oklahoma State University majoring in Construction Management. He moved to Texas, married and divorced. He spent twenty-five years in the industry. It was fulfilling but something was missing. He lost his best friend to a heart attack in 2001. He wrote a small short story about their adventures and travails. The loss awakened something he had always wanted to do which was to write. In 2010 back surgery opened the door for him to pursue writing. His first book covered one of his true passions, baseball. Since then he has written other stories covering many different genres. He currently resides in the DFW area spending time with family and friends.

  Mr. Dawson has published several other books available through LDDJ Enterprises Publishing:

  Love's True Second Chance 2011

  Why did Everything Happen? Cancer, Death and Recovery 2011

  The Baseball Coaching Manual Little League to High School 2010

  The Baseball Coaching Manual Little League to High School Edition II 2011

  Goober and Bill: How to Raise Vegetables a series 2011

  Mr. Dawson can be reached at mailto:[email protected]

  Acknowledgments

  Without the help of a host of individuals this work would have never happened. Debbie Wright and Jessica Larson's input of combining World War II and vampires was an arena I would have never contemplated. Thanks to Sarah Adams for drawing the initial sketch, and Bobbie-Lee Hunt Healey of Bobbi-Lee's Art (British Columbia) for adding the graphics and excellent details.

  Editing congratulations to: Bev Harrison

  Book trailer thanks go to Shirley (Mountain Momma) Hicks.

  Occupation

  Copyright © 2011 by: LDDJ Enterprises Publishing

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the author. All inquiries should be addressed to LDDJ Enterprises Publishing, 1055 Regal Row #704, Dallas, Tx. 75247.

  Third Edition

  ISBN: 978-0-9839740-2-4 printed version

  978-1-4524-7912-5 e-book version

  Table of Contents

  The Clans

  Preface

  Chapter 1 Rail Traffic

  Chapter 2 Occupation

  Chapter 3 Assisting

  Chapter 4 Hunting

  Chapter 5 Skirmishes

  Chapter 6 Truce

  Chapter 7 The Meeting

  Chapter 8 Betrayal

  Chapter 9 The Trap

  Chapter 10 Melding the Clans

  Chapter 11 The Plan

  Chapter 12 Conversions

  Chapter 13 Svetlana

  Chapter 14 General Von DerGraff

  Chapter 15 Nicole and Dmitri

  Chapter 16 Raiding

  Chapter 17 Patrol

  Chapter 18 Capture

  Chapter 19 Attack

  Chapter 20 Warning

  Chapter 21 Himmler

  Chapter 22 Berlin

  Chapter 23 Return Flight

  Chapter 24 Withdrawal

  Chapter 25 Beginnings

  Glossary

  THE CLANS

  BOIRARSKY

  Gregori-Ravina

  Galina-Josif

  Kirilli-Sasha

  Dmitri-Roman-Sergei-Darya-Eva-Zoya

  ROMANOV

  Marco

  Ivan-Paulina

  Nikoli-Svetlana

  Stephan-Nicole-Yakov-Taras-Natashia-Dina

  Preface

  For centuries, the Romanovs and Boirarskys fought each other not just for territorial and domination rites in Southern Poland, but also for the local food supply. After many brief but extremely brutal bloody battles between the clans, which achieved only scars and death, the leaders of the clans, Gregori Boirarsky and Ivan Romanov sat down and agreed to end their fruitless battles. They also approached the governors of the local villages they fed on and proposed a treaty. The clans would share feeding rights on a monthly basis. No member of either clan would be in any of the villages at the same time. The governors agreed they would give up their sick, dying, infirmed, and criminal elements. In exchange, the children and the healthy individuals would be left alone to live fruitful productive lives in peace.

  The agreement allowed for peace to reign in the region for centuries. But something very unsettling was occurring in Germany. Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist Party had come to power and were preparing to wage war on any and all countries or peoples who did not buy into his warped dream of a Thousand Year Reich.

  The village people spoke of what would become of their lands if the Germans declared war and invaded their country. Poland was a thorn in the side to both Germany and Russia. The country was a nagging reminder to Germany of the infamous Versailles Treaty which the Allies imposed after WWI, a treaty that had taken away land, money, and men. To ensure success and avoid a confrontation with Russia, Hitler informed his Foreign Minister, Joachim Von Ribbentrop, to contact his Soviet counterpart, Vyacheslev Molotov. They hammered out an economic and non-aggression pact. Hitler was willing (for the moment) to cede lands to Russia. Stalin was very receptive to the deal; for not only would the Soviet Union gain the Baltic States, it would also provide a buffer for Russia if Hitler ever decided to turn his attentions to the east.

  Thus, the Polish people were caught in a terrible vise. How could they stand up to either country? Yes, the Allies swore up and down they would come to Poland's aid if they were ever attacked, but how would the British and French be able to deploy forces in their homeland to counter an invasion? All they could do was sit, wait, and hope that calmer heads would prevail and war could be avoided at all costs.

  September 1, 1939, the unimaginable happened-WAR! Germany invaded Poland from the west. Two weeks later, Russia honored her agreement with Germany and invaded from the east.

  The German Wehrmacht and Russian hordes swept through Poland as a sickle cuts through the golden heads of grain during the fall harvest. The Polish army had held strong where they could, but the weight of two giants gobbling up their country was more than the poorly trained army could withstand. Horses against tanks: swords against air power. The outcome had been decided on the first day of the invasion. By the end of September, Poland had been conquered. Or had it?

  With victory complete, it was time for the occupation forces to start implementing the new policies of the Third Reich that were being funneled out of Berlin, and like all things German, the tasks were being implemented with punctual precision. Southern Poland was now firmly in the grasp of the Third Reich. Krakow became the capital for the new general protectorate region the Germans were setting up.

  The regular army troops were directed back to Germany to refit and rearm. They were replaced by SS troops under General Reinhardt Heidrick, a true symbol of Nazi Germany. He stood over two meters tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. He had a strong distaste for anyone not German and especially if they were not a member of the party. His facial features were of a well-chiseled piece of marble. His eyes were bright steely blue but they lacked one human characteristic, emotion. His eyes were harbingers of death. He invoked what Hitler kept screaming, blond hair, blue eyes, physically daunting. He was a poster boy for the Master Race! Heidrick was a true Aryan in every aspect of the new gospel.

  In the towns of Siepraw (twenty kilometers South of Krakow) and Tarnow (sixty kilometers east of Krakow) all was still business as usual. While the villagers feared for their lives, the Romanovs and Boirarskys worried little of the new flags hoisted in their respective areas. They had seen many empires come and go-The Czars, Napoleon, Lenin, H
indenburg and others. They never cared who was in power as long as the food supply was intact. But that was about to change. The Germans had plans for all races deemed sub-human, relocation. If one wasn't of true Nordic Aryan genealogy, then they considered those individuals a drag on the new order and its limited resources.

  The plan of relocation was going to awaken an opponent that only resided in the "occupier’s" darkest nightmares.

  Chapter 1

  Train Station

  April 1940

  Kirilli and his wife Sasha were enjoying the ride into town. The cool, misty, morning air invigorated their soulless bodies. The smell of the rich oak trees filled their lungs to capacity. Suddenly, the serenity of the morning was blasted away by a loudspeaker coming from the direction of the depot. The words, "Achtung! Achtung!" broke the silence of the morning ride, scattering the birds from the forests. The voice shattered the serene morning setting, igniting a sense of foreboding and dread.

  They winced at the sound of the high pressured steam whistles. The engine's large wheels slowly started grinding and clawing at the rails generating the proper friction to start its trek west. As the train slowly left the station, another one took its place. The rail yard had never seen this much activity even during a good harvest season. All four tracks were packed with engines and boxcars waiting to be loaded. The smell of wood and coal coming from the beasts replaced those of the local forest. In the distance they could see steam belching out of smoke stacks from other trains waiting to enter the station.

  Normally, all of this activity wouldn't have bothered them, but the cargo being transported wasn't from the grain harvest this year. The cargo was human. They were being loaded into boxcars like cattle. Kirilli kept his thoughts to himself. Why would the Germans be transporting the local inhabitants to the far reaches of Germany? These people could just as easily contribute to a stronger Reich from their own hamlets. His thoughts were interrupted by the harsh words pouring out of the strategically placed loudspeakers. The voice on the microphone was shrill and most annoying;

  “Achtung! Achtung! Women and children next. Stand in line and be quick about it. You have been chosen to join the Third Reich in its rightful place in the world. You have the honor of being shipped back to the Fatherland to work and toil for the greater good."

  The crowd milled about confused and dejected. Most of them had only been allowed a few minutes to collect what possessions they could carry before being directed to the depot. These people knew of war and the spoils it produced for the victor. Poland had succumbed in four weeks to the weight of the Panzer armies and the Russian hordes. Now they were being herded to Germany to work in the factories. Kirilli could read the thoughts of the downtrodden men and women. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe the Germans would let them live their lives out peacefully and productively.

  Kirilli noticed a small skirmish halfway down the station. Some German guards were rousting one of the civilians. Must be a man resisting the move, thought Kirilli. The crowd started to slowly part. Kirilli noticed it was a woman and child who were garnering all of the attention.

  Sasha stared on in horror as one of the guards was trying to pull the woman's young daughter from her clutches. The little girl couldn't be more than five years old. The woman was crouching on her knees pleading for them to let her daughter join her. The guard’s facial features were like monuments chiseled in stone. He, in no way, cared about the woman. The other members of the squad occasionally looked back and laughed at the spectacle as they held back the crowd with their gleaming Mauser rifles. No matter how hard the guard pulled on the child, the mother refused to let go of her daughter as she cried out and sobbed uncontrollably. A tall officer with the insignia of a Major of the SS emerged from the pack. He yelled a few words at the private, removed his polished 9 mm Luger, and without blinking an eye, (Sasha gasped as she watched the officer withdraw his pistol)…

  "Kirilli, we have to..." A shot rang out. The bullet went straight into the front of the mother's forehead. It exited the back of her head, spreading blood, brains, and gore on the ground. The other guards seemed uninterested in the events. The officer coolly re-holstered the pistol, shouted out a few more commands and walked away like nothing had happened. Kirilli was stunned. Why did they kill this woman? What had she done to deserve this? She was healthy and vibrant (her blood would have been like sugar when the time was right). There was no reason for her to die. "What is happening here?" he quietly whispered to Sasha.

  A loud piercing whistle shattered the air drowning out the commotion of the crowd and announcing the engineer had been instructed to release the wheel brakes, open the steam lines and start moving west. The doors to all of the cars were slammed shut and latched. The large locomotive's whistle blew again belching white hot steam. The massive steel drive wheels slowly started churning on the hard iron tracks as the wheels built up enough friction for the massive machine and its cargo to start trekking west. The resistance from the wheels and releasing of the brakes were discharging clouds of whitish black smoke, enveloping the locomotive as it slowly moved out. The signal arm turned green, and the thunderous monster spewed black smoke from its stack, as it slowly thundered out of the station leaving behind a dark black plume enveloping the rail yard, as if to announce impending doom.

  The train left and another took its place. The sound of the annoying bureaucrat crackled over the loud speakers,

  "Achtung! Achtung! The Third Reich is your master. Take your places in line immediately."

  The voices of the guards were barely audible over the loudspeaker, “Raush, raush swine. We don't have all day! Get in line or die where you stand." The crowd obediently followed the orders and commands.

  Kirilli turned towards his wife in bewilderment. She was still in shock from the senseless killing. "Sasha, we must leave this place. There is more evil in the air. We must return to Bezpieczenstwo and tell the others what we have seen here today.”

  She nodded slightly in agreement, her lips quivering from the sight ingrained in her mind.

  "Kirilli, should we inform Nikoli?"

  Nikoli was the patriarch and leader of the Romanov clan and sworn enemy of the Boirarskys. Their families had fought for centuries over the land and feeding grounds. No love was lost between these clans. There had been no major occurrences or conflicts between them for the last hundred years, but the current turn of events could change everything.

  "Not yet. Not until we know exactly what the Germans are planning. I do fear my dear, that our way of life is about to change to depths we have never experienced. I have never witnessed such barbarism. There was always a justifiable reason people died. Whether it was from our feeding, or being rebellious towards the conquerors, but never for trying to keep a child close. These Germans, and the new order of prosperity they speak of, doesn't seem likely. Only time will sort this out. Sasha, my dear, let us take our leave. There is nothing else we can do here."

  Sasha nodded in agreement then paused, "Dear husband, where are all of the old ones?" He took a few innocuous looks around and realized she was right. There were no old ones. Where had they gone?

  The wind that had been gently blowing out of the northwest briefly changed, sending it in from the north. The change brought with it a pungent odor that seared their nostrils. What is that? they both wondered.

  They turned away and started heading back to their carriage. Their son Dmitri had stood true to his assigned duty. He was the perfect son, young, strong and ever present. He would carry out any order or command his parents conveyed without a thought. That is what a good son does; everything that is asked of him. Yes, he wanted to go into the station and see what was going on, but Kirilli had insisted he stay to watch over their trusted steed. With all of the people in town, there was always the chance that someone might require the mare more than they, so reluctantly he stayed behind.

  Kirilli could tell his beloved wife was still in shock. Still, he couldn't help but stare at her beautiful featur
es. She had stood beside him for over a century. He was reminded of the night he took her from the living and made her his for life, a life of eternity. She was only twenty-one and full of life when he first saw her in Warsaw. He had been visiting the city on business. Actually he had been sent for the monthly hunt. He hated when it was his turn to bring others into the fold or lure them to the castle so the others could feed.

  She was in attendance with her parents for a formal dance at the Warsaw Theater. He had always wanted to attend one of the formal gatherings, but fate had dealt him a card that kept him from ever entering those thick oak doors. She had excused herself from the confines of the cavernous hall to collect some air and refresh herself. She despised all of the attention and primping her successful family demanded of her when attending such annoying performances. She was the pride of the family. They hoped she would find a man of like interests and standing in the community who would continue their storied blood line. She, on the other hand, was not about to let her free spirit be bartered or traded for a new title. She wanted to live and share the experiences of life her parents were refusing to let her participate in: hiking, hunting, equestrian rides, and sailing. She was convinced, if a man could engage in such activities, then a woman could also enjoy them and possibly be a man's equal.