Shadow Read Free Page B

do exactly as he liked. The privilege of success. The more confidence he had, the more charisma.
    He shifted his gaze and let his eyes meet hers. He had made his choice. She was the one who would carry him through the evening, and he made it obvious enough that she would notice. That she had been chosen. And he felt the longed-for tingling sensation that came from standing there on stage and having the power to choose, while all she could do was acquiesce.
    ‘After a short march they realise that the day’s mission is something different from what they’re used to, because suddenly Joseph Schultz and his detachment are stopped by a command.’
    She lowered her eyes, but too late. She had given herself away. A stray smile had showed she was enjoying his attention. Like all the women he met, she had fallen for his position of power.
    The game had begun.
    ‘The local people are busy bringing in the hay. Provisions for the winter must be stored away, because even in wartime people have to eat. Daily activities must go on. In front of one of the haystacks, fourteen civilian men have been lined up. All of them are blindfolded, with their hands tied behind their backs. Schultz and his seven comrades realise that they are about to become an execution squad.’
    She was resisting, not wanting to seem too easy. Instead of looking him in the eye she fixed her gaze on something off to the side.
    ‘Eight young men who, legitimised by the law of their uniforms, receive orders to kill fourteen innocent fellow human beings.’
    Someone coughed. Irritated, he saw that the spell he had created was momentarily broken. Some of the audience had begun shifting in their seats. Then her eyes were back on him. More assured this time, the bond established. In a hall of three hundred people they both felt it. Anticipation was aroused. A frisson.
    Which could never be satisfied.
    ‘Seven of the eight in the patrol do not hesitate. They are ready to follow orders and raise their rifles. But Joseph Schultz suddenly feels that he has had enough. In the silence that ensues he drops his weapon on the ground and slowly walks over to the haystack. There he takes up position next to the line of the condemned.’
    He clicked on his PowerPoint. The black-and-white photograph of the event that took place sixty-five years before was projected onto the screen behind the stage.
    ‘No one would remember Joseph Schultz and his heroic decision if one of his comrades had not taken a photograph of the event. How was it possible for a human being to make the choice that Joseph Schultz made? What was it that separated him from the rest of the patrol? The ones who were not only ready to execute fourteen unknown civilians, but also their comrade Joseph Schultz.’
    He let the question sink in as he took a sip of water. Her eyes were on him the whole time, and he felt himself grow. There was no man sitting next to her, but that didn’t necessarily mean there was no man in her life. The audiences who came to the literary evenings out in the countryside were always predominantly women, and they tended to come in groups, leaving their husbands at home. His experience whispered that a spouse ensconced at home need not present a problem. The power of the stage worked wonders, opening doors that had never before been opened.Her gaze revealed that the lecture would be worth the effort.
    ‘This was the question to which my father devoted his whole body of work, trying to depict it. And notice that I do not say “answer”, but merely “depict”. My father’s sole driving force as an author consisted of an attempt to disseminate the essence of Joseph Schultz’s action – what it was that made Joseph refuse to be blinded by the despair inherent in the idea that our choices are without meaning, and instead recognise that it is precisely our choices that make all the difference. Refusing to be cowed by the fear and selfishness we all detest but which continually seem to