April 30, 1937
The massive crane's engine finally rumbled to a stop as he released the lever and the steel girders dropped to the ground. The construction was hard work but the projected results were amazing and, as Paul's unit commander constantly reminded the boys, vital to the defense of the Reich. It was impossible to block out the longing for his family but most days if he tried he could escape into the rhythm of his crane's machinery. Just as he was about to pick up another load the noon break whistle blew.
He swung out of the cab to the dusty earth below and grabbed his lunch pail. He had just sat down to eat when his squad-mate Rolf Blaskowitz came running up with a newspaper. He was already announcing the news before Paul could even inquire.
"The Magyars swallowed half of the Czech's country! They asked and that cowardly Benes just rolled over, no fighting or nothing!"
A wave of Hungarian sympathy had rolled over the German populace after several high-profile diplomatic envoys. Admiral Horthy was meeting with the Führer on a monthly basis and the media was heralding it as a renewal of the brotherhood broken after the Great War. Most people were eating it up, Paul included. One older boy though, Frederick Stein, refused to buy into the rhetoric. "Let me see that..." As one of the oldest, nearly 18, he was obeyed.
He scanned the document for a minute or so and then turned it around to show the celebrating laborers. "That isn't the half of it, I reckon they just embellished it to overshadow
this. Mark my words, this is where the real action is." He pointed to a smaller headline below the fold of the front page.
Foreign Minister von Neurath rebuffs conservative calls for an 'Anti-Comintern Pact'
and below it the smaller information text:
Führer himself adds, 'Fascist and Communist alike are both held in poverty by the warmongering democracies in France and Britain'; Goes on to urge stronger ties with Moscow
