Quick to the End

       Quick to the End

Suzanne Marsh

His hard cold steel blue eyes darted around the cafe den Engel. Worry was etched on his face as he noted the men sitting at tables waiting for their lunches to be served. He was here waiting for either the Gestapo or a traitor, he wasn’t sure which. He knew there was a traitor in his group of resistance fighters, the question was who. He deliberately sat in open area of the cafe, despite the owners' protests. The resistance could ill afford to lose someone as daring and intelligent as he was. He had just graduated from university when the war broke out. He had watched his family simply disappear. He hoped their disappearance had nothing to do with his activities in the resistance, he hoped that had gotten out of Holland before all this madness took hold. Men, women and children were being rounded up and sent to death camps.

The short squat man entered the cafe, his dark eyes scanning the entire room. He noted the cold steel eyed man. He strode over to the table:

“Ah good afternoon, have you seen my green scarf?”

‘Good, this is my contact’:

“Yes, I found it yesterday.”

The short squat man sat down quietly, he reached into his jacket pocket, slipped a note into the palm of the steel eyed man. He then stood up and left. Once his contact left the tall steel eyed blond man walked out of the cafe, his eyes once again darting in every direction. His cell was definitely compromised. The short squat man was a Dutch informant and double agent. His note told the man that the Gestapo were very close to finding his hideout and he would need to find a new one for himself and his cell. He questioned the wisdom of moving his operations, he had been very effective in blowing up trains and bridges and eluding the Gestapo. He had to discover who was actually the traitor of his cell.

He moved quickly as he put his brain into motion. Who of the nine was the traitor? There was himself Max Van Den, Willem, Daan, Lucas, Anna, Hendrick, Alexander, Emma and Andrist. Out of the nine eight he could say with almost certainty that they were not Nazi collaborators. Andrist, had appeared one afternoon seemingly out of nowhere. He had the password; he had the papers, but something seemed off to Max. He thought maybe he was just weary from being awake for twenty-four hours. Whatever it was, would have to wait until he at least got a few hours of sleep.

Max, steel cold blue eyes was tall and blond, a typical Dutchman. He was stocky but powerful. He had been leading his cell for over two years. Suddenly a cold fear took over his mind, he quickly got up, motioned his brother Willem, to get out of the safe house with the rest of the cell, he would follow. He barely escaped the Gestapo, he could hear the sirens screeching, tires halting. He ran down the stairs in back of the safe house heading south as the Gestapo broke into the safe house. He noted no sign of Andrist with them, but he also wondered where the young man had been. He observed the Gestapo destroying the safe house, he then noted a woman, her dark hair hidden under a green scarf. A Gestapo captain, walked over to her:

“Good afternoon fraulein, why are you here at this moment.”

Max’s cold steel blue eyes flew open, his mouth dropped it was Emma, what in the hell was she doing here? Max felt his blood run cold, was she the traitor. The captain grabbed Emma’s arm:

“I asked you a question fraulein, I expect an answer.”

Emma, had been trained not to reveal any valuable information, no matter what the cost:

“I am taking some bread and wine to my grandmother; she lives two streets over.”

The captain, his dark eyes calculating whether she was telling the truth:

“Where are your papers fraulein?”

Emma took them from her purse and handed them over to the Gestapo captain. He scanned the papers quickly:

“Very well, fraulein, be on your way and stay away from this area.”

Emma, walked quickly, turned the block, out of sight of the SS. She turned down an alley and into another safe house. Max was waiting for her there:

“Emma, that was to close. You must be more cautious now that one safe house is compromised. The entire cell is in danger. The cell will disappear for a few weeks while I scope out a new

safe house. I will be in touch.”

Emma nodded and returned to her home on Prinsengracht, where she lived with her widowed mother and sister Anna. Emma was the sole support of the small family, she was also a resistance fighter with a grudge, the Gestapo had murdered her father in plain daylight. They had hauled him out of his home and shot him before the entire neighborhood. Emma would pay them back she had decided that the best way was to work with the resistance, she knew Max from university. She also knew that Max’s family had been sent to one of the death camps. Max had changed his identity, and with his blond hair and blue eyes appeared Aryan, he was Jewish. He was also fighting the Gestapo in any way he possibly could. Max, hid in the alley until the Gestapo were completely convinced, they had the wrong address, the house was like any other Dutch home, except for the hidden back staircase and the trap door that led out into the front of the house.

Max was more determined than ever to discover the identity of the traitor. His thoughts turned to Andrist once again. How did he know about their cell? Why had he disappeared when the Gestapo came to the safe house? Max had to have the answers before he could even consider another safe house. He took his bicycle riding it toward where Willem was hiding, an annex of a house in Amsterdam. He saw a roadblock far enough ahead, so he veered to his left staying out of sight. Max, finally arrived around nine o’clock in the evening, exhausted he tapped three times on the door. The wooden door opened slowly; Willem motioned his brother in:

“What brings you here so late Max, has something happened?”

“Willem, we have a traitor in the cell, I think it could be Andrist.”

“Max, that is not possible, Andrist has been here with me for four days.”

“He did not leave at any time. Our safe house was discovered by the Gestapo, we barely

got away before they ransacked the safe house.”

“What do we do? We can’t hide here in Amsterdam forever.”

“I am scoping out a new safe house, but we cannot move the cell without at least one of us

being captured. The odds are not in our favor.”

“Max, why not set a trap for the traitor? Maybe a message saying we have a new safe house

in Amsterdam. Give the message to everyone in the cell. That would be enough to encourage

the Gestapo into investigating. We will trap the Gestapo and our traitor all at once.”

“You know Willem, that is a very good idea. Let’s get that message out today. Make sure you

get the message to Anna and Emma, they are both vital.”

Willem nodded, he quickly wrote the message in code, he waited until late evening before he sent the message. Willem, Andrist and Max made their way back to where Max had been hiding. Max also had the stash of rifles for use during raids. He also had accumulated some dynamite, which would help hold off the Gestapo.

Late that night they arrived at their destination on Prinsengracht, not far down the street from

Emma and Anna’s apartment. Slowly the resistance fighters began to appear, first Hendrick, followed by Lucas and Daan. Andrist watched the street from an upstairs window. They waited; Alexander finally arrived out of breath:

“The Gestapo…” he rasped out.

“Are not more than five minutes behind me.”

Anna, came in the back door, where was Emma they wondered. Max knew now who the traitor was, Anna’s eyes, flooded with tears, her blond hair hidden under her scarf, she began:

“Dear God, Max, Emma betrayed all of us. They are on their way, I heard Emma talking to

the captain she has been seeing. She is a collaborator.”

Anna barely got the words out before they heard the sirens, the trucks screeching to a halt. Max’s first thoughts were to try comforting Anna. Her body betrayed her as she asked what Max would do to Emma. Max had only moments to think about that before the Gestapo arrived and began to close in on the house. Rifles appeared in windows, Max lite dynamite fuses tossing them out the windows. The Gestapo had only come with a small force. The captain immediately ordered them to pull out, they would get them some other time.

Emma, arrived shortly after, her eyes darting from one fighter to another, to her sister Anna:

“What has happened here? Why have you all gathered here?”

Max stepped forward:

“Emma, you betrayed us for what a few pieces of bread?”

In his hand Max had a pair of scissors, he moved toward Emma. Emma began to quake, she knew she had been caught. They could kill her or brand her as a traitor. Emma saw the scissors:

“No, Max... please...don’t”

Max knew he had to make an example of Emma as a warning to others. He motioned Daan and Lucas to grab her. Grabbing her dark hair in his huge hands he began to cut her hair down to her scalp:

“Emma, I was going to shoot you, but I think it is better we brand you as the traitor you are.”