Page 14 - Fanget I Tiden oversættelse - caught in time (komplet)-converted

Victor Schneider did not dare do anything other than reply. He had almost finished typing up the

report, which point for point explained the details in Hahn’s plan. When the report was finished, it
would be distributed to two other majors who, besides Hahn, had to organise the removal of the

valuable works of art and send them on out of Russia and on to Germany.
"Operation Hermitage.”

The second radio-operator, Magnus Uterdalh, sat beside Victor Schneider. He struggled to

maintain radio contact while at the same time needing to go outside at intervals to knock ice off
the antenna which was set up outside in order to receive the best signal. Jürgen Hahn’s presence

always entailed a combination of enthusiasm and violent outbursts of rage.

Every now and again Victor Schneider nervously cast a sidelong glance over his shoulder
so as to hone into the volatile Hahn’s mood.

Hahn was a tall man with a thickset face that had become round and ruddy in time. He had been
agile and athletic, but now he was anything but. Now he was rather stout and podgy. He was well

aware of this but he could not be bothered to do anything about it and he became aggressive if

any of his comrades commented on his increasing stomach size when they had been drinking. His
hair was short and black with grey flecks at the sides, his eyes were blue and were deep-set

behind his pointed, square nose. He looked like something between an over-fed fox and a

malevolent brown bear. Neither Victor nor Magnus had ever seen him smile through his narrow
pale lips. He spoke with a deep voice that had a strange rasp at the end when he completed a

sentence or gave orders.

“Yes, Herr major general. Let’s hope things improve soon."
Victor Schneider had worked for Jürgen Hahn for a long time and he knew his moods, he thought.

But for Magnus, who had only been at the Eastern Front for a few months, Hahn came across as

formidable.
Jürgen Hahn positioned himself at one of the four windows of the hut. It was iced up, but when he

breathed on it the ice melted in the middle, and he could just about see outside. The sky was

almost black and it was snowing, but not like it did at home. By contrast, this type of snowstorm
was hard and constant, and when on occasions it stopped snowing, the temperature fell. The

coldest he had seen was minus 40 degrees.
Hahn stuck his hand under his coat and heaved out his drinking flask from his inner pocket. He

then turned round towards the two radio-operators who were sitting with their backs turned

away from him and sneered: "How in the devil’s name can one person get things so wrong?"
He took a huge gulp from his drinking flask, walked a couple of paces through the room and

shoved it towards Victor Schneider who had promptly turned round towards him when he

started to speak.