---------------------------
If we reach 15 comments. You have five hours from the time this chapter is posted. If we reach the goal, the next chapter will be posted in eight hours.(Valid comments must include information about what you like or dislike about the story, what you would like to see about the story, or any questions you may have about the story,Only one comment per person will be accepted, as the devil is in the details.)
-----------------------------
Pov of Gottfried von Posen
15-March-1921
When I was reviewing the company's accounting books with Wilhelm, someone did not take long to interrupt us just as we were comparing income and expenses with those of the previous year.
''Mein Herr, there are men from the League of Nations who have come to the factory and are asking to speak with you'' one of my workers said, looking quite nervous because of the situation we seemed to have on our hands.
''It seems those fellows have nothing better to do than look for trouble'' Wilhelm said, shaking his head while running a hand over his face and fixing the hair that had slipped out of place.
''Come on. It seems we will lose the entire day'' I said while getting up from the chair and beginning to walk.
My son advanced beside me through the factory corridors until we reached the entrance, where we found ourselves facing a group of about twenty armed men accompanying several bureaucrats who stared at us fixedly.
''Again?'' I asked after sighing audibly while looking at those Britons who had once again come to cause us problems.
''What is the problem? We must verify that your factory continues to comply with the regulations established to guarantee the mandatory quality standard for canned foods. Or do our inspections prevent you from ignoring those regulations?'' one of the bureaucrats asked while smiling and looking at me with eyes that awakened in me an enormous desire to punch him.
''The last inspection was three days ago and you completely stopped production while you inspected the machines and working conditions. Exactly the same happened during the other five inspections you have carried out on me this year'' I replied in a severe tone while looking at the official.
''They are completely random inspections, you understand, Gottfried. Nothing personal. We simply have to do our job'' the other bureaucrat replied with that shitty smile.
I breathed deeply while observing those men.
''And is it necessary to bring an armed escort to carry out these inspections? We have no weapons. This is not an arms factory. The ones my… the ones the Herzog of the Baltic used to run left Germany when he decided he could not remain here'' I said, stopping for a few seconds as I thought of Karl before continuing.
''Well, it is mainly for our safety. You understand that you remain the father of that murderer and you were also a soldier, so perhaps you have the same homicidal instincts as your son. And, well, what can one even say about the other one of yours? He seems made from the same mixture as that murderer. I bet you would stick a knife in me the moment you had the chance, eh? How do you control those urges to kill?'' the first bureaucrat said while looking alternately at my son and me.
The guards accompanying them took their rifles off their straps and looked at one another, apparently unsure whether they should intervene.
It was quite evident that the only members of the group who spoke German were those bureaucrats who would not stop coming to bother us.
''What a man you are… Eh… I suppose your wife must not care too much that you leave her bed either. Surely one of those Indians or blacks will be…'' I tried to answer.
''Shut your stupid mouth! We have come to do our job. Order your workers to stop production. We will take all the time we consider necessary to ensure these facilities are safe'' the bureaucrat replied before beginning to walk inside.
Several of the guards followed him, without ceasing to watch us.
I made sure to comply with his instructions. Refusing would achieve nothing except getting the factory shut down, and that would have been the worst possible scenario.
''Problems because of Karl again… Those fellows know quite well how to bother us without giving us a single moment of rest. A nice way they found to take revenge'' Wilhelm said while angrily gripping his accounting book and continuing to write down some figures. ''I am going to consider the day lost. It does not seem we can do anything else.''
''Yes, I understand. We will have to compensate by working more during the next few days. Fortunately, the prices of canned products are relatively high. Otherwise, we would truly have problems with so many days without production because of these constant inspections'' I said while placing the ledger on top of the other accounting records.
''All of this because of Karl… Damned bastard'' Wilhelm murmured with obvious annoyance.
''This is mainly my fault… Karl offered me the chance to move the factories to the Baltic. Now we would probably have a good business there and would not be enduring all this pressure from the local administration simply for being the father and brother of the Devil of Masuria. Perhaps, if I had agreed to listen to him that time, our situation would be very different'' I said while slowly shaking my head.
''Father… I know the situation is bad, but do not say that. How could committing treason have been a good idea? Karl rebelled against the authority of the OHL and then against the Kaiser himself. He rose against the Empire to continue a war that no longer had to be fought. He could even have caused the entire conflict to begin again'' Wilhelm replied while slamming the book shut, visibly angry.
''I said the same thing and look at him now… Hindenburg lied. He sabotaged the war. Karl had access to privileged information from Abteilung IIIb when… he was supposedly massacring socialists and trade unionists in Berlin… and it was nothing more than Hindenburg himself keeping him away from the front lines so he could shine. And now look at him… a Herzog… regent of Ruthenia'' I said with a certain melancholy as I remembered the stupid decision I had made, blinded by the lies of the press and the OHL… to the point of not believing my own son.
''Come on, Father, you cannot be believing those lies, especially coming from Karl. He is a damned liar. He always lies, always. He never had any problem lying to get out of a dilemma or blaming someone else for his own mistakes. That book must be full of lies. Do you remember that time he lied, saying one of the servants had stolen some jewelry so he could continue with his damned gambling at the academy?'' Wilhelm said while standing up.
''Damn it, Wilhelm!'' I said while striking the table, causing my son to straighten up and stop looking at me with that annoyed expression. ''He changed… He changed. I saw it with my own eyes. He had changed for the better. I know you did not see it because you were in the Navy all that time. Neither you nor Adalbert saw it, but he was different… Karl had changed.''
I breathed deeply before sitting down again.
''And I… I blinded myself with the answers I received about what Karl was doing. My contacts inside the army told me he had gone mad and the newspapers repeated the same thing. Everything led me to the conclusion that he really had returned to his old practices… But no, Wilhelm. I was the idiot'' I said while letting the weight of my body fall onto the chair.
Wilhelm remained standing for a while until finally, after swallowing, he lowered his head slightly.
''I will return home in the meantime, so they can begin preparing dinner'' Wilhelm said while leaving the books in front of me.
''Yes… that will be best'' I replied while settling into the chair and looking at the ceiling of my office inside the factory.
I heard the sound of my son's boots slowly moving away down the corridor.
I had been a complete imbecile.
Probably the greatest of them all for not having listened to my own son.
And now I had to get used to this: a hostile administration settled on German territory and controlling the regions preparing to hold the plebiscite.
Although my own son had managed to prevent Poland from annexing any territory because of the treaty that forced the Polish State to maintain complete neutrality, that had not meant the plebiscite would stop being applied.
The French and British were not exactly eager to allow that territory to return easily to Germany.
The question had gone from being:
Do you wish to belong to the German Empire or to the Polish Republic?
To practically becoming:
Do you wish to belong to the German Empire or become an independent State?
From what it seemed, the new plan was quite evident.
Since Poland could not directly incorporate the Polish population of those regions because of the restrictions imposed on its neutrality, now the French and British seemed to be studying the creation of a secondary and independent Polish State.
All of it in order to prevent Germany from easily recovering the fertile agricultural region of Posen.
And they were doing many things to ensure that this would happen, since the local administration that had remained under the government of the League of Nations had appointed a Polish nationalist as governor, one who had been in France, so he was most likely a French puppet.
That was making life impossible for the Germans of the region. A victory of the German population over the Polish one had been expected, since there was a large concentration of Germans in the main industrial cities and, in addition, the old policy of forced land purchases from Polish farmers had pushed many of them to leave for Poland.
But now that hostile administration had the streets full of policemen who seemed to be looking for any excuse to impose fines, raise taxes, obstruct inheritances and aggressively pressure the German population into leaving the area.
And several years of that policy still remained.
Since the administration was backed by the British and French, Germany did not want to intervene directly because of all the internal problems it was going through. At most, they sent formal protests and carried out some military mobilizations intended to exert pressure.
Normally, that was enough for the Polish nationalist government to temporarily moderate its actions out of fear of a possible German intervention. But now that there was once again instability in the streets of Germany, they had returned to their harsher policies.
And this was one of them.
Naturally, they also attacked me personally for being the father of the man they called Karl the murderer, blaming him for all the deaths caused during his rebellion.
But they also wanted to expel me for a much more practical reason.
I was one of the largest employers in Posen.
If they managed to drive me out of the region, an enormous number of jobs held by Germans would disappear with me, which would surely push many families to leave.
So all that remained for me was to continue enduring.
Since Karl's greenhouses had remained under my administration and were linked to the family properties, the State had not managed to confiscate them from me when it declared my son a traitor.
But I had to be extremely careful.
That was precisely why I had become an important target. My companies allowed a considerable part of the German community to continue living in Posen.
And I was not the only one.
Other Junkers, landowners and company owners were doing everything possible to keep our activities functioning and economically sustain the German population in order to prevent them from sabotaging the plebiscite through disguised expulsions.
In a certain way, I had found a purpose for my life again.
I could continue serving the Empire during peace, preventing a part of it from being torn away through those deceitful maneuvers.
But that never managed to remove the weight I carried on my shoulders.
If I had accepted Karl's proposal… or rather, if I had simply stopped to listen to him properly instead of acting while blinded by the Government's lies, I would now be peacefully in the Baltic.
I would not have to spend every day fighting to defend an Empire that had lied directly to my face about my own son.
And, even more importantly, I would have been able to attend Karl's wedding.
Wilhelm and Adalbert had married before and after the war, respectively, to women from good families in the region.
I had been able to be present for them, but I could not attend the marriage of my youngest son and that truly haunted me.
After everything that had happened, even after Karl proved he had been right to stand against the British and French, although they continued proclaiming that they had won, my son had never managed to forgive me for the knife I had driven into his back.
And I did not even want to imagine the pressure he had carried on his shoulders.
The entire Empire was against him, spreading lies about him.
His benefactors could barely help him.
And when he went to the only person who should have been willing to support him unconditionally…
I turned my back on him.
I did not know whether I would ever be able to forgive myself.
But I had to try.
-----------------------------
If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
-------------------------------
Hello everyone! If you'd like to read chapters in advance, you can support me on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Currently, there are 12 chapters available
without spaces
p atreon. com/Chill _ean_GUY
Thank you all for your support!