Somebody stop me:

[tree_and_leaf]

Their first meeting with the Professor had been frankly embarrassing, thought Peter, and that had been Ewald's fault, too. The old man had sent a cart to meet them at the railway station, so their first sight of him had been of a small figure waiting outside the house as they rattled up the stony hill road, past the vineyards and through the pastures and then through trees. "How lovely", Suse had whispered, "this is a bit better than stewing in Berlin all summer," and Lucie, wide eyed, had asked "Do you think there'll be bears?"

"There aren't any left in the Black Forest, silly," said Ewald. "I'd rather see a wolf."

The driver tugged at the reins, said something they couldn't quite understand. The horse stopped, and they got their first proper look at their host, a tall, thin, slightly forbidding man with a white beard. The children clambered down, all of them feeling rather uncertain. Then Lucie stepped forward, and made a hesitant curtsey.

"Good afternoon, Professor," she said politely. "Or – Gruß Gott, that's what you say down here, isn't it?"

He laughed, and suddenly seemed much less frightening, and took Lucie's hand with a surprisingly courtly gesture. "Quite right – you must be Lucie? Hello, children."

"Gruß Gott,"said Suse, a little self-consciously, and followed Lucy's example in curtseying. Peter, too, said, Gruß Gott, and stuck out his hand. "I'm Peter, this is Suse, and this is Ewald…"

Ewald, who had been regarding them all suspiciously, did not give the Professor his hand, but raised it in a crisp salute (much crisper, thought Peter, than he could have managed at Ewald's age). "Heil Hitler, Professor."

"Good afternoon," said the Professor, and his face shut down. "You must excuse me, Ewald, I'm afraid I'm a little old-fashioned." But his tone had not been apologetic in the least, and Ewald had turned white, as if he had been struck, and his eyes had grown hot.

Comments

[gramarye1971]

...you don't get to stop here. Oh, no.

[tree_and_leaf]

I don't think I can... Although that was probably the easy bit (you can say an awful lot with how people greet each other in that period).

[sacred-sarcasm.livejournal.com]

I've just had a flashback to Sound of Music, where he refuses to say Heil Hitler. You should add that in! Crossover AU of death, that'd be.

[tree_and_leaf]

I'm not entirely sure wher the nuns would fit in, but I suppose I can always make room for Christopher Plummer in a naval uniform...

... or maybe not. The not-saying-Heil-Hitler bit is a bit of a cliche, really, but I gather people genuinely did make points that way.

My father also did German at scholl; it was the first year they'd offered it after the war, and they were too cheap to but new text books (pathetic, given that this was Manchester Grammar in the late sixties). The advice on writing letters was somewhat misleading, as it instructed you that official and business letters were finished 'Heil Hitler!' and that many people now were adopting 'mit deutschen Grüßen' (with German greetings, as opposed to 'mit herzlichen Grüßen' or even 'lieben Grüßen' - heartfelt or affectionate). It's no wonder so many British people don't seem to have noticed that the war's over, really.

[owl]

LOL!

[azdak.livejournal.com]

That's extraordinary! I notice that when it comes to serving the needs of business there's none of this nampy-pamby stuff about refusing to cooperate with Nazism...

On the subject of publishing oddities, there was a review recently in (I think) the Guardian of a reprint of an early 1940s travel guide to occupied Poland (published by the Germans).

At last, he loved Big Brother

[tree_and_leaf]

I suppose they had to explain it at the time, but it's worrying...

I once came across a 'teach yourself conversational German' book from the thirties. It was about a German chap who had moved to London for work, and was very anti-Nazi, returning for a holiday with his wife and son, who weren't. Of course he was gradually won over by the way the trains ran on time, andthe clean cut young people, and decide this Hiter chap wasn't that bad, and it finished with him on he deck of the ferry leaving Hamburg and almost unthinkingly returning a Nazi salute. It was terrifying in its unintentional way - like the end of 1984 crossed with a Berlitz language course.

[azdak.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, that was exactly my reaction!

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

How remarkable. Yes. Please continue.

You're not the only one who writes dark AUs, you know. I had my AU-Beatles-fic-where-the-Germans-occupied-Liverpool, if that makes you feel any better...

[tree_and_leaf]

The idea began with a tangenital discussion on nineveh_uk's journal about how books get changed in translation (and, in particular, how translators of children's books change names in order to make things seem more comprehensible and less foreign).

I think this AU has the potential to make 'and then they died in a train crash and lived happily ever after' much easier to sell as a happy end than the original canon.

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

I think this AU has the potential to make 'and then they died in a train crash and lived happily ever after' much easier to sell as a happy end than the original canon.

It does indeed. And yes, I do hope that you go on with it...

[azdak.livejournal.com]

"...and then they were herded into a gas chamber and lived happily ever after".

[tree_and_leaf]

:(

There are a number of extremely nasty possibilities, yes.

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

More applause here. Excellent last sentence.

[tree_and_leaf]

Thank you - I think it's a little clumsy, but the basic idea is sound....

[themolesmother.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, intriguing. Please don't stop.

MM

[tree_and_leaf]

I'll see what I can do!

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Hurray! Do keep going... (I like Ewald's "I'd rather see a wolf". Very Edmund.)

[tree_and_leaf]

The difficulty in this is going to be stopping Ewald being too much of a flat out bastard, really.

[carlanime.livejournal.com]

Yes, well, Lewis' problem as well, really. ;)

I'm intrigued, and hoping for more.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I suppose he could have a keen appreciation for beautiful landscapes? No, that doesn't convince me, either.

[tree_and_leaf]

Young and gullible and never having been confronted with consequences before is about the best that can be hoped for, I'm afraid.

[azdak.livejournal.com]

But that's canon!Edmund, too - he thinks the White Witch is cool because she likes him, and he doesn't really care about what she does to anyone else because he can't properly imagine it. Once he actually sees her victims, he starts to feel differently. I don't think HJ!Edmund necessarily has to be inherently less likeable than canon!Edmund (who is a poisonous little beast). Besides, he could be clinging to a Nazi ideology of service and heroism and devotion to the Volk for all kinds of rather pathetic personal reasons.

[mk-tortie.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes! You have to carry this on...

[tree_and_leaf]

I'll do what I can...

[sacred-sarcasm.livejournal.com]

Oh, how amazing! I didn't think you'd acually write it. You are going to continue, aren't you?

(I must admit that early exposure to EBD means I find it very odd to see Gruss Gott - sorry, not sure how to do characters - without some wittering about it being charmingly courteous)

[tree_and_leaf]

(I must admit that early exposure to EBD means I find it very odd to see Gruss Gott - sorry, not sure how to do characters - without some wittering about it being charmingly courteous)

Ahahaha. I had forgotten that, having heard and indeed said it to often in RL - but this indicates a scene in which EdmundEwald moans about it being weird and unpatriotic, and Suse says how pretty she thinks it is....

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I must admit to being instantly charmed on holiday the other week when someone said "Gruss Gott, may we share your table" (the second bit in German, but I'm not going to look it up - it was obvious in context!). It was an odd "Ooh! proper foreign country" moment - like an American shop assistant saying "Have a nice day"!

[tree_and_leaf]

I love the way the regional forms of greeting still stubbornly persist in Germany, though my real favourite is the North German 'Moin!'

Unfortunately most of the regional forms of 'Goodbye' seem to have been devoured by 'Tschuß', though I have heard 'Ade' in rural parts of the South-West, where the French influence was strongest.

[azdak.livejournal.com]

Here in Vienna Tschuess appears to be being driven out by Ciao (spelled, thanks to the Reform, Tschau) amongst the younger generation. But I suspect it will end up as one of a number of options that coexist peacefully (including pfia' di, servas and wiederschaun).

[angevin2.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to see where this goes. *shudder*

[tree_and_leaf]

I'm finding out myself.

All will be well, and all will be well - but I fear it may require a Julian-esque perspective.

[owl]

Oh, this is really good :)

[tree_and_leaf]

Thank you - I'm not entirely sure where it's going, but it wanted to be written...

[scionofgrace.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow.

Hate to say it, but I'd love to read the rest.

[tree_and_leaf]

I'm not entirely sure where to go next, but we'll see...

[scionofgrace.livejournal.com]

Think of it though: the kind of redemption a Hitler Youth Edmund could undergo! The darker you start, the bigger contrast the happy ending is. At least, I hope it would have a happy ending.

[tree_and_leaf]

At least, I hope it would have a happy ending.

Oh yes. At least from the standpoint of eternity....

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

What a beginning! I don't want to wreck your academic prospects or anything, but I would love to see more of this!

[tree_and_leaf]

It's going to require some careful thought, but it is an awfully interesting (if potentially extremely bleak) idea.

[ms-wanderlust.livejournal.com]

Oh good grief....you have to go on! That last sentence is painfully "leading on to the next thing", if you see what I mean.

[tree_and_leaf]

Well, it's going to take careful thought, but I can't very well leave it there....

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

How on earth did I miss this? One way or another, I did, and I'm so glad you linked to it. I'm afraid I'm incredibly fascinated and must beg you to write more. :)

[tree_and_leaf]

Well, you know what my productivity is like... but I'm glad you liked it.

I think it might end up being more a series of vignettes than a coherent story, because otherwise you end up having to retread quite a lot of canon.

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

Vignettes might even work better, since everyone already knows the basic outlines of the story.

As for productivity, apparently mine only kicks into gear when I have deadlines -- and even then, not all the time, much as I wish it did. ;)