"Wannsen Castle Conference, Part I"

## Plot

Jonah and Hazel were escorted by SS officers to Wannsen Castle and brought to Kurt's office. Kurt, upon seeing them, immediately began interrogating them for information. Hazel, unimpressed by Kurt's appearance, made a comment likening him to a little donkey, which caused Kurt to become visibly upset. Jonah remained silent and offered no defense for Hazel's actions. Kurt then requested that Jonah tell Hazel to stop mocking him, and Hazel apologized, albeit in a joking manner. This only further annoyed Kurt, who ordered Sidi Hamza to move Hazel to another location. As Sidi agreed to move Hazel, Jonah and Kurt continued their conversation in the room. Kurt was especially interested in finding the location of Midgardland, which he had heard rumors about within the Nazi party. He believed that Midgardland held valuable treasures and key connections to the Aryan people. Jonah, however, had no knowledge of the location of Midgardland. He had only heard about it while he and Hazel were in Narvika with some Norwegians. One of the Norwegian generals had mentioned that Midgardland was not located in Scandinavia, but somewhere else entirely. This infuriated Kurt even more, as he desperately begged Jonah for the location of Midgardland. During their conversation, Kurt firmly expressed his belief in the significance of the English Channel or a comparable sea barrier, and discussed with Jonah the Canadian forces' discovery of an island that was thought to be Midgardland, expressing his curiosity to learn more about it and even extending an invitation to Jonah and his Black friend, Hazel, to join his regime if they shared his beliefs, citing his Norwegian allies' lack of commitment to the Third Reich and his conviction that Germany, with the assistance of Heinrich Himmler, could safeguard Europe, seek out the Aryan race, and recuperate from the Great Depression in Europe; however, Jonah declined his offer, which Kurt dismissed with a laugh.

Notwithstanding Kurt's seemingly nonchalant attitude, Jonah felt uneasy about his disturbing views and unwavering support for a regime that was responsible for the deaths of countless innocent citizens, and the Nazis committed mass deaths of citizens across Europe while they were in occupation. As Kurt spoke to Jonah and explained that individuals from various backgrounds, including Feminists, Jews, Roma, and even some Slavs, had joined the regime for various reasons, including communism, he highlighted that Germany had non-Aryan allied countries like Japan and Italy who supported their cause despite not being Aryan, and while they had different beliefs, they still supported their brothers. Kurt also added that the Japanese army included Chinese, Korean, and non-Japanese groups who often supported imperialism, and the Italian army had blacks and non-Italians in their Fascist regime, as the three had one thing in common: their fears of Communism, as they went after Russians who were responsible for spreading communism since the death of their Tsar Nicholas II, as communism was still on the rise in Europe and Asia.

As the conversation between Kurt and Jonah continued, Kurt revealed that he had heard rumors about the Nazi regime sparing certain groups of people, such as homosexuals and young mothers, as long as they identified as Aryan. However, Kurt also knew that people with disabilities and mental illnesses were not so lucky if they joined the regime. Despite these rumors, Jonah remained steadfast in his belief that the regime would ultimately harm the people, expressing sympathy for Kurt, who appeared to hold a negative view of his own kind. Kurt insisted that the Aryan settlers in Midgardland had vanished, a belief that Jonah found utterly perplexing. Moreover, Kurt believed that Jonah would eventually join the regime or face death, but Jonah continued to argue that the regime would have a detrimental impact on the populace. When Jonah mentioned the Führer and Kurt's father, Kurt grew angry and ordered Jonah to remain silent, warning him not to disrespect the final solution. As Kurt began to calm down, he confided in Jonah that he did not actually support the ideology of the Nazis. Kurt and his mother had miraculously survived the Holocaust, and he did not care about what happened to his fellow Jews. All he wanted was to be elected as the next Führer, succeeding his uncle. If he won the election in the next two years, or if the Führer died, Kurt would become the next super Nobel Jew of the Aryan country, ruling under his father's authority. This, he explained, was the reason for the final solution. Jonah still felt uneasy about Kurt's twisted logic, but he agreed to drink the wine that Kurt had offered him. The two men even shared a random joke about Jonah finding Kurt on his trek. As they laughed, Jonah could not shake the suspicion from his face. Finally, it was time for Jonah to leave. SS officers escorted him out of the room and down the hallway, where he was met by Hazel and Sidi Hamza. Jonah knew that he could never fully trust Kurt or the Nazi regime, and he was more determined than ever to find a way to resist their oppression.