Author´s note:

Getting more and more into fanfics about the ww2-satire/comedy Hogan´s Heroes, I started wondering how my favourite fanfic-characters from The Flying Doctors would do if placed in a totally different situation like Nazi Germany.

This is the result. It´s actually a piece of a Hogan´s Heroes fanfic for which I explored David and Magda in Nazi Germany for a background story.

Previous knowledge of the TV-series Hogan´s Heroes is not necessary, but for proper crediting´s sake: this story is a mild crossover between The Flying Doctors and Hogan´s Heroes, borrowing a bit from the Hogan´s Heroes fanfics Theater of War (by Eva Seifert) and Chameleon Fever (my own) as well.

***

Situation: Hamelburg, near Düsseldorf, March 1945.

The secret has got out that Hitler has ordered an all-destroying bombing-raid

on the small German town of Hamelburg tonight.

The town is getting ready to evacuate within a few hours.

At the orphanage, the following scene unfolds:

.

"I´m not going." Very determined.

The ladies gasped. And father Geisler gently took her by the arm, to talk some sense into her: "Magdalena, you can not stay here."

"But I am. I am leaving Rosemarie in your care, father. Please make sure she gets to safety. But I am staying here; I can´t leave. David would never find me."

.

Followed by a long flashback,

telling the story of David and Magda

in Nazi-Germany:

.

Against All Odds

.

David Nowak had only just graduated from the Dresden medical college when Adolf Hitler came to power. Which meant his medical degree, his studies turned instantly useless: he was Jewish. His father advised him to leave the country; elsewhere his degree would be more accepted than here in the fatherland.

But David refused. He figured the success of the NSDAP was hardly more than an accident. Once the hype would have quieted down, once the German people would realize what a fool that Hitler was, it would all be over. And it wouldn´t take long: German governments in the Weimar Republic had a devastating tendency of succeeding one another at a rapid pace.

He had yet another reason for staying put in Germany. A female reason named Fräulein Magdalena Kirchhoffs. They had met – how conventional – at the birthday-party of a mutual friend a few years ago. This lady of course was as much a matchmaker as any of her sex. She immediately rated his shy admiring glances and her blushing smiles at their true value, and innocently arranged independent meetings of herself with both Magda and David at a cosy café in town, the following Saturday at 8 p.m. Where she herself didn´t show up until 10.30 of course. But from that night on, David Nowak and Magdalena Kirchhoffs were officially an item.

Their carefully started infatuation had steadily grown into a sturdy love. They even started to talk about marriage once in a while, and David quietly planned to officially ask for her hand as soon as he would have graduated and found a decent job.

Unfortunately he couldn´t be so sure about the reception though. For neither of their families was very happy about their relationship. Magda came from a catholic home, where Jews at best rated as heathens. And her family was quite open in their abhorrence of their daughter and sister being involved with such a pagan; they´d much rather see her marry into a good catholic family. As a result, David hardly ever entered the Kirchhoffs´s house in order to avoid unpleasantries that would undoubtedly affect the both of them.

The Kirchhoffs´s didn´t exactly make a secret of their sentiments towards their daughter´s beau, and consequently David´s family was bound to hear about it even if David himself had kept quiet about it to his parents. And as it goes, they decided on the infamous strategy of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and declared that they would not want to see their son get involved with a family that had no respect for his background. And all this before David had even considered proposing to her...

Still, their families connived at their ongoing dates and meetings. But both David and Magda were aware that a marriage between them would probably force one or both of them to completely break with their family. And whether they were up to that...?

The years dragged on after David´s graduation. As expected, he could not possibly find a job as a doctor. Not even in all of Germany: Jews were forbidden to practice medicine altogether. And they would be as long as Hitler was in power. And despite David´s earliest expectations, it seemed more and more unlikely that this madman was soon to be replaced.

In the end, the once so promising and ambitious young doctor was lucky to be granted a severely underpaid black job at an assembly line. The work there was so horridly monotonous that he felt sure he wouldn´t survive if he wouldn´t have his dearest Magdalena to come home to after work. So he gathered his courage and proposed to her. And found her crying in his arms.

She didn´t dare to. She didn´t dare to, not in the present situation. She was scared. Scared of the certain poverty they would have to live in – a standard of living she was not accustomed to. And scared of a society that was becoming more and more threatening towards the group of people her David belonged to as well. She just didn´t dare.

Their relationship almost ended that day. But in the end David´s anger subsided and he was able to find some understanding for her fears. And once again, they decided to wait. Wait till things would get better.

It was tough, on both of them, but after nearly three dark and prospectless years, their patience was finally rewarded. By January 1938, the tide finally turned. David´s obstinacy in continuing to apply for a position more suited to his education finally paid off: he was offered a share in the practice of a Dr. Ernst Bauer in Hamelburg, a small country-town just outside Düsseldorf.

His felicity knew no bounds: he had raced over to the Kirchhoffs, fell down on his knees as soon as Magda had opened the door and totally surprised her with a beaming marriage proposal.

Magda had accepted before she realized what she said, and by then she was already being whirled around the wintergarden in his arms.

"Why, what´s happened? Have you won the lottery or something?"

He laughed; the carefree laugh that had been locked up inside for years. A quick kiss on her nose, and then he finally spilled the great news: "I´ve been offered a share in a medical practice!"

A cry of joy and Magda hugged him so tight he nearly choked. "Oh David, I´m so happy for you..." She felt tears gathering in her eyes. She, and she alone had known the horrible sacrifice David had faced in working at the assembly-line for over three years. She had noted the growing differences between the gentle, friendly David she had grown to love so much, and the quiet, depressed, explosive shadow of him from the past years. This news, this job had brought the old, the real David Nowak back to the living, and she was sure they could now face whatever problems there were to arise concerning their marriage and the threatening society they were living in.

The problems were closer than she realized. When she released her hug just enough to be able to look in his beaming eyes, and he whispered a heartfelt ´I love you, Magda´, as a sure prelude to what would have been their first real kiss, they were roughly jerked apart by a seething father´s hand.

Magda cried out with the force her father had pulled her away.

"You dirty Judehund! Get your paws off my daughter!"

David paled, and stiffened visibly.

"And don´t you ever get near my daughter again! Is that understood?"

And David, for the first time in years feeling strong and confident thanks to his newfound job, David chose to finally defy his father-in-law-to-be. Not that he uttered a word, nor that he made a move. No. He only looked the man straight in the eye, with his jaw set, his mouth a thin line, and his eyes black with barely contained anger and disdain.

"Is that understood?" the man in front of him roared in his face.

And David just looked at him, refusing to give in or to answer the question.

"Hmpf," Mr. Kirchhoffs finally humphed. And he turned on his heel, dragging his daughter with him.

"Tonight. Am Bahnhof," Magda managed to say sottovoce over her shoulder just before her father closed the door behind her. But she had seen David´s nod; he had understood.

xxx

David went home to his parents first. The excited felicity about his job had been crushed by Mr. Kirchhoffs´s interference, but fortunately it regained some of its glamour when he saw how happy the news made his parents. His father had dozens of questions, of which he could answer but a few.

"And what about Magda?" his mother quietly inquired when his father´s curiosity had finally reached its limits.

David bit his lip. He felt tears gathering in his eyes, and impatiently he blinked them away. "We´re eloping. Tonight," he confessed hoarsely.

His announcement was met by silence.

"Believe me, I´d rather do it any other way!" he groaned tormentedly. "But Mr. Kirchhoffs doesn´t leave us any other choice! I..." He hesitated. "I went to see her this afternoon with the good news. And I proposed. And she accepted. For a few moments we were in seventh heaven. But then her father caught on to us, and told me never to get near her again. She just managed to mention a place to meet tonight before he hauled her off inside. And... I´m going."

A sigh from his father. "Funny how we never seem to learn from the past. Kind of tragic actually."

David looked at him questioningly, and his father chuckled. "I´m beginning to suspect that parents are but lousy judges in what would give their children happiness. No matter how well they mean." Another sigh. "Your mother´s family and mine weren´t too keen on us marrying either. A question of social standing. Well, you know the result."

"We´ve been happily married for over thirty years now," his mother added quietly.

"Therefore," his father stood and placed his hands heavily on the shoulders of his only son: "Now that you two have made the decision, I will give you my blessing, my son. I hope you and your wife will be as happy – or even happier – in your life together as your mother and I."

David swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. "Thank you, father."

"And I hope you two are going to provide us with heaps of grandchildren!" his father added with a beaming grin.

To this, David had but a smile. He then went quietly to his room to pack his meager belongings: his medical books and tools, the few not too worn pieces of clothing he could call his own, a few dear keepsakes...

Then his father entered the room with two of his best shirts and a jacket. "Here, son. I´d like you to have these. I know we´re not exactly of the same size, but hopefully Magda will be able to alter them. We can´t have you start your new job in nothing but rags, can we now."

David could scarcely find the words to thank his father. And when his mother, too, slipped him seventy-three marks from her secret savings ("because you deserve it, my boy, if only for not giving up") and his grandmother´s silver ring ("better an old ring than no ring at all"), he knew for sure that Magda and he could count on the moral support from at least his family after all.

xxx

David arrived at the railway-station at a mere quarter past six. At first he headed for the booking-office, but on second thought he decided he´d better wait. After all, he had no idea what time Magda would get there. Instead, he sat down in the giant hall, facing the entrance from the square outside the station.

And facing the giant clock as well. Every minute was sixty times the slow tick of a second. And every next minute seemed to pass even slower than the one before. Six-thirty, six-forty-five, seven, quarter past, half past, quarter to... And all that time lots and lots of people entered the stationhall. But the one he was so anxiously waiting for was not among them.

Where was she? What could have happened?! Had they locked her up or something?

Half past eight, nine o´clock, nine-thirty... He was chewing his lower lip to shreds.

Ten o´clock, half past... The crowds had thinned significantly by now.

Eleven... What am I to do if she doesn´t show up?! Go and get her?

Finally! There she was! At ten past eleven a little figure with a small suitcase rushed into the hall, anxiously looking around.

"Magda!" David jumped up and ran to meet her. And there, in the middle of the stationhall, he caught her in his arms and hugged her tight. "I was getting worried that you couldn´t make it," he whispered in her hat.

"I was given house-arrest, and they locked me in my room. But I climbed out of the window," she told him matter-of-factly.

He couldn´t help laughing for relief. "My Magdali!

"Come on," he said then, "we might still make it to the night-train to Düsseldorf. Where´s your luggage?"

She pointed at the small cane suitcase at her feet.

"That´s all you could take with you??"

She shook her head. "And about five layers of clothes, and..." She waited a moment to add importance to her announcement: "My savings! We won´t have to starve until you´ll get your first salary!"

He smiled. "Great. My mother gave us some money, too. Well, let´s go and get tickets then, and then off to Hamelburg!"

David got his suitcase, they got their tickets – third class of course; for even if they would have been able to afford it, David as a Jew was not allowed to set foot in the more luxurious compartments – and they just made it to the platform in time.

And as they fell down on the wooden bench in the further empty compartment, and Magda rolled into David´s arms as the train took the sharp turn out of the station, they both felt a whole new life was opening up before them. A life as man and wife. Together. On top of the world.

xxx

It was halfway the following afternoon when they – stiffly but eagerly – climbed off the downtrain at Hamelburg station. They handed in their tickets, and a moment later they breathed in the cold, snowy air of the hills around Hamelburg.

Hamelburg! They were determined to find thorough happiness here!

After some asking around they found their way to Dr. Bauer´s. With a mischievous grin, David entered the large house at the patient´s entrance and reported to the nurse at the desk.

"I would like to see Dr. Bauer, please. But we´ve got all the time in the world, so you may book us in as the last patients of the day."

"There is no one before you, so you may as well be the first one," was the dry answer. "So if you take a seat, Dr. Bauer will come to see you in a moment."

They sat down in the empty waiting-room, and Magda whispered chidingly: "Is that a way to start your new job?"

But David smiled from ear to ear and took her hands in his. "I´m so excited; I just had to do something silly. I thought I kept it within reasonable bounds pretty well, didn´t you?"

She smiled, and he leaned over to kiss her.

At that moment a door was opened and an elderly man with a goatee appeared. "Ahem," he coughed discreetly, and David and Magda jumped.

"You wish to see me?" Dr. Bauer asked sternly. But the twinkle in his eyes was unmistakable, and David felt he could meet his employer openly.

"Yes, sir. I´m Dr. David Nowak, your..."

"Dr. Nowak?" Dr. Bauer interrupted him with surprise. "I had not expected you to arrive here so soon! Please, do come in. And this is your... wife?" He looked rather puzzled. "I had not gathered that you were married..."

David hesitated. "Is that a problem?" He had to swallow a sudden lump in his throat. "Well, we are not actually married. Not yet. It´s a long story..."

Dr. Bauer gave them an understanding smile. "Then why don´t you both come in and tell me that long story of yours."

A few minutes later they were comfortably seated in the office, sipping their steaming hot coffee. David told their story, and Dr. Bauer listened without interrupting him.

"I see," he said pensively when his young colleague finally fell silent.

A few minutes of silence ensued. Then, Dr. Bauer suddenly turned to Magda. "I hope I am not offending you by asking this question, but... are your family members of the nazi-party? Or sympathizing with them?"

Magda shook her head. "No. They´re not. They just... they just don´t like Jews."

"Very well. That means the chances of their turning David – and you – in to the Gestapo are considerably less. We can´t be sure, but at least there is hope." He sighed. "But the first thing to do is getting you two properly married. If only for social reasons: in a town this size, people consider everyone else´s business their own. A marriage between a Jew and a German will probably cause more than enough talk; no need to make it any harder by adding a juicy elopement scandal. That is: Fräulein Kirchhoffs, are you really sure you want to stir up a hornet´s nest by marrying Dr. Nowak? You do realize it is against the present law for a German to marry a Jew? I can´t predict the future, but chances are that in the end you may have to face the same social exclusion as your husband. Or worse, if the Nazi´s get their way."

Magda´s lips were a thin line. "I realize that. But I have made up my mind. I don´t care about what the world will say. I love David, and I want to be his wife. In good times and in bad."

A smile touched Dr. Bauer´s lips. "Fine. I suggest you two go and see father Geisler tonight then, so that the marriage may take place as soon as may be. I know him well; for him, God´s law is still the only law, so I doubt he will object to performing the ceremony."

David and Magda nodded. Relieved.

"Fräulein," Dr. Bauer continued, "I think it is best if you´d stay in my guest-room until the big day. Dr. Nowak, you may sleep on the divan tonight; we´ll see about other arrangements tomorrow."

Magda nodded her approval, but David suddenly said: "Speaking of hornet´s nests, Dr. Bauer... May I be so bold as to inquire why you chose to employ me? A Jew? I am very grateful for the opportunity you are giving me; I don´t think you´ll ever fully understand how grateful, but..."

Dr. Bauer sighed. "I don´t know if I did the right thing by that, but I wanted to make a statement. The Nazi´s have replaced so many excellent physicians, just because of their descent. And to replace them, they pulled kids out of medical school who hadn´t even taken their final exams yet, thus jeopardizing the entire medical corps as well as the people´s health. And since the nazi-party has relatively little support here in town, I thought I could combine practicality with ethics. There are hardly any qualified non-Jewish doctors left on the labour-market, and by choosing you, I hope to consolidate the Hamelburghians´ idea that Jews are ordinary people like you and me." Another sigh. "I want to give young, promising physicians like you a chance. A chance for a somewhat normal life in the madhouse that Germany has become. But whether it will work out the way I hope for...?"

xxx

Things were organized pretty much as Dr. Bauer had suggested. By courtesy of the old doc, David managed to get hold of a small house in the labourer´s district of the town. They had next to nothing to furnish it with of course, but at the local fleemarket the following Saturday they were fortunate enough to get the basic necessities. It was a large slice out of their budget, but oh, the pride they felt in creating their own little home...

David had started his work the Monday following, and even though it happened regularly that a patient refused to be treated by him, he loved practically every minute of it. Finally he was able to do the work he loved; to make his studies and his knowledge productive. Like in the factory, the hours were long here, too. But it was a totally different David Nowak from before who went up with Dr. Bauer every day after work to spend a few hours with his future wife. Happy, open, full of life, and in love.

The date for their wedding ceremony was set for two weeks after their arrival in Hamelburg. Father Geisler had readily agreed to marry them as they wished, though he did insist on a private talk with Magda to point out to her the many problems she may have to face by marrying a Jew. And not just with respect to the growing anti-semitic tendencies in today´s society, but in her personal religious life as well. However, when he found that the bride-to-be had long since considered these problems and was still determined to follow her heart, he decided to let it be and grant the couple his blessing.

The wedding was celebrated on a late Friday afternoon in early February 1938. It was a private celebration, and the only ones attending the matrimonial service besides the three leading figures were the two witnesses: Dr. Bauer, and a visiting nephew of father Geisler´s: a rather shy young man in his early twenties named Karl Langenscheidt.

Dr. Bauer beamed from ear to ear; almost as if he were the father of the bride. And when the ceremony was over, he clasped David´s hand and said: "And now you two go and enjoy your well-deserved weekend´s honeymoon!"

Money to go on a real honeymoon of course they had not. But the sensation of living together in their own house, with no one watching over them, and the opportunity to explore their contained passion from years made for a wonderful honeymoon anyway.

And so, under the darkening sky of Hitler´s nazi-Germany, the new Mr. and Mrs. Nowak lived the life of ´happily ever after´.

For a few weeks that is.

For one cold night in early March was to turn both their lives inside out and upside down. By courtesy of none other than – who else – the Gestapo.