The Boy Who Dared

In October 1941, Germany is still trying to overtake Russia. Gerhard begins training as an officer and Hugo adopts Helmuth. Although Helmuth hates Hugo, he is hopeful that having the last name of a respected Nazi will help him fly under the radar. Every weekend, Helmuth, Rudi, and Karl listen to the BBC. Helmuth types pamphlets twice a week and the boys distribute them at night in places like phonebooths. Helmuth marks the pamphlets with a swastika stamp from work to give them an official look.

In December 1941, America joins the war against Germany after the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. Helmuth sees Brother Worbs in the street, emaciated and toothless. Brother Worbs tells Helmuth to leave him alone. Helmuth begs to know what happened at the concentration camp, but Brother Worbs will not speak. Helmuth escorts him to his unkempt home and makes tea. Brother Worbs’s hands are disfigured, and he cannot talk about what happened to him; he was forced to sign an agreement.

At Helmuth’s insistence, he whispers details about the deplorable treatment at the camp, including the time the guards froze his hands and broke all of his fingers. Helmuth has “never [...] witnessed such inhumanity” (133) as Brother Worbs’s hands and questions how this abuse is allowed. Brother Worbs warns that the Gestapo’s torture is so terrible it can make a person say anything. Helmuth is determined to stop them, but Brother Worbs does not share his resolve. Brother Worbs tells Helmuth to just pray for the Nazis because God loves them too. Helmuth concludes that “gone is Brother Worbs’s spirit” (134). He offers to come again but Brother Worbs tells him not to. Helmuth writes more leaflets that night and plans to involve new people in the distribution to stop the Nazis before things get worse.

Helmuth befriends a fellow apprentice at work, Gerhard Düwer. When Düwer is skeptical of an RRG report, Helmuth has him over to listen to the BBC. They listen together several more times and Helmuth trusts Düwer enough to show him his recent pamphlet. Düwer loves Helmuth’s work and says he has friends who can print the pamphlets on a printing press. Helmuth is thrilled; this will multiply the amount of pamphlets he can distribute.

Later that week, Helmuth notices another apprentice, Werner Kranz, writing in French. Helmuth wonders if Werner supports the French prisoners in Germany. He thinks it would be great to have pamphlets in French. If French prisoners could give pamphlets to the French Resistance, then word could spread that there are Germans pushing back against the Nazis. Helmuth asks Werner if he could translate something for him but will not show Werner what until Werner promises to keep it a secret. Werner refuses, so Helmuth leaves. Helmuth and Düwer approach Werner a couple days later. They show Werner a pamphlet, but he responds with hostility. Helmuth panics, thinking they may have made “a terrible mistake” (139). Their boss, Herr Mohns, appears and wants to know what they are doing. Helmuth lies and says that he is asking Werner about homework. He is uneasy the rest of the day, feeling like Herr Mohns is watching him.

On February 5, 1942, Helmuth is at work. Two Gestapo officers accost him. Werner will not make eye contact with him, but Herr Mohns appears thrilled. Helmuth realizes that “Herr Mohns is a man who has done his duty” (140). The Gestapo take Helmuth and Düwer away in black cars.

Helmuth’s mind returns to his present day. He listens to Herr Ranke read a statement: “‘On the eleventh of August 1942 the court found Helmuth Hübener guilty of listening to a foreign radio station and distributing the news heard in connection with conspiracy to commit high treason and treasonable support of the enemy” (140). Helmuth feels weak. He tries his best not to cry when Herr Ranke reads that Helmuth’s execution will be at eight that night. Helmuth’s last request is to write letters home. Herr Ranke agrees, and the officials leave Helmuth alone. He feels all hope leave his body.  

Helmuth recalls waiting at the police office after the Gestapo took him and Düwer. He is resolved to keep his promise to never mention Karl or Rudi but is afraid that the Gestapo will torture it out of him. The Gestapo agents, Wangemann and Müssner, enter the interrogation room. Müssner holds up Helmuth’s leaflets, stating “good citizens” found them and turned them in (143). He tells Helmuth that he is under arrest for “distributing enemy propaganda” (143). Helmuth interrupts to say he only “allegedly” did that, which sets Müssner into a rage (143). Müssner punches Helmuth in the face and repeatedly kicks him, making it difficult for Helmuth to stand or breathe. Müssner reads a statement from Düwer that denounces and solely blames Helmuth. Düwer claims he only had a pamphlet because he planned to turn it in, that he never helped Helmuth. Müssner praises Düwer for doing “his duty” (144). Helmuth is overwhelmed by the news. However, he knows that the Gestapo must have tortured Düwer, and to prevent his own torture and save his friends, he announces that he alone is guilty.

The Gestapo bring Helmuth home to Oma and Opa’s house to seize his leaflets. Oma is distraught. To prevent her further anguish, Helmuth tells the Gestapo where to look; this does not stop them from destroying the apartment. The Gestapo ridicule Helmuth and his writing, then bring him to a concentration camp outside the city. The camp is terrifying, and Helmuth’s cell is disgusting, but he is satisfied that he did not give up Karl and Rudi.

In his current cell on death row, Helmuth sits and listens to the loud sounds and crying from other cells. He “doesn’t want to be numb. Wants to think, to feel” (148). In a dreamlike state, he pictures Karl and Rudi. In his memory,  he is brought back to the police station after his first night in prison. The guard pummels him in the stomach when Helmuth asks why he has to go back. At the station, Helmuth and many other prisoners are forced to stand still with their noses an inch from the wall. Helmuth stands for hours until the Gestapo bring him to the interrogation room. When he refuses to admit that he had collaborators, they beat him severely. The guards at his prison call him “stubborn” because most prisoners break within a day; they suggest he will break tomorrow. Helmuth lays on his bed, his whole body burning in pain. He asks God to give him the fortitude to keep his promise to Rudi and Karl.

The next day the Gestapo torture him so badly that he gives Karl and Rudi’s full names. When it is over, he weeps with regret. He wishes he did not break; he wishes he was dead. He tries to stop breathing, seeing no other way to kill himself. He cannot do it but knows what he has to do instead: he will stay alive so he can retract the blame from Rudi and Karl. With his nose up against the wall once more, Helmuth waits for his next interrogation. He knows “the Gestapo don’t make mistakes” (152), so he cannot make any mistakes of his own. He will tell the Gestapo that Karl and Rudi did not distribute pamphlets, that he was the sole mastermind. He cannot believe his luck when the Gestapo misstep: they walk Karl through the hallway. As Karl passes, Helmuth gives him a nearly imperceptible smile and wink. Karl understands that Helmuth is warning him not to admit any guilt. Helmuth tries not to cry because he is unable to warn Rudi and does not want either friend to be tortured. The next time Helmuth sees Karl, Rudi, and Düwer, six months have passed; they are on trial at the terrifying Blood Tribunal.

Helmuth’s daydream about his friends ends when a guard brings him pen and paper to write his final letters. He considers writing that “he was foolish” for defying Hitler, but this would be untrue (154). He still believes what he did was right because “God needs people […] who will stand up. People who will dare to speak out” (154). The Bible teaches one not to focus on comfort and wealth in this life, but on one’s soul. Helmuth is at peace, proud of the meaningful life he has lived.

Helmuth looks back on a day in August 1942. He is placed in a van and is thrilled to see Karl, Rudi, and Düwer inside. Helmuth, Rudi, and Karl smile happily at each other. At first Düwer will not look at Helmuth; he then whispers an apology and Helmuth nods to show that he is sorry too. The boys are transferred to a train, where the guards allow them to talk so long as it is not about their trial. Helmuth emotionally apologizes to Rudi and Karl for naming them, but a guard barks at him to stop. The three boys instead hold their hands together in a pile until Karl begins to joke. They spend the ride telling funny stories from their past.

Helmuth is given a lawyer in Berlin who is obviously employed by the Nazis. In the courtroom, Helmuth knows he is in more trouble than his friends when the guard leaves his handcuffs on but not the others.’ He feels sick realizing he may be charged as an adult. He sees familiar faces in the spectator seats, including Heinrich Mohns and Werner Kranz, his boss and coworker who turned him in. He is glad his family is not there to watch.

There are seven justices and no jury, which means the justices alone will decide the boys’ fate. The boys are interrogated about Nazi facts and tenets. Helmuth gets tougher questions than his friends but answers them well. Werner Kranz and Heinrich Mohns testify about the day Helmuth showed Werner his pamphlet at work. Müssner, the Gestapo officer who tortured Helmuth, recounts Helmuth’s confession after “remonstrations and admonishments” (159). Justice Fikeis fires off the same questions the friends have been asked before; Helmuth panics when he realizes from the style of questioning that they are being tried as adults. He vows to himself that he will not let his friends receive the death penalty, that he will take all the attention and blame.

Justice Fikeis is furious when he looks at Helmuth’s pamphlets. He asks Helmuth why he wrote them, and Helmuth says he wanted to reveal the truth. Fikeis angrily questions Helmuth about whether he believes the BBC is correct and whether he has faith in Germany’s “ultimate victory” (160). Helmuth defiantly challenges Fikeis after each question and declares, “‘Jawohl, ihr lügt.’ Yes, you are all liars!” (160). The courtroom erupts and Fikeis jumps up to scream at Helmuth. Helmuth’s attorney asks for a lighter sentence in light of Helmuth’s youth. Fikeis uses Helmuth’s thesis paper to show that Helmuth is beyond his years. Fikeis says that Helmuth clearly thinks like an adult and sentences him “to death and the loss of his civil rights during his lifetime” (162). Helmuth nearly falls over. He hears Rudi receive ten years in jail, Karl receive five, and Düwer receive four. Fikeis asks Helmuth if he wants to say anything, and Helmuth stands by his decision to tell the truth. He warns: “My time is now but your time will come!” (163). He is confident that he made the right choice and saved his friends’ lives.

In a cell beneath the courtroom, Rudi asks Helmuth why he angered the justices. Helmuth gets choked up and explains that he told the truth, and he is glad he did. He disagrees with Karl that the court will change its mind, sensing that he will be executed as a warning to others. Karl, Rudi, and Düwer leave with a guard to return to Hamburg. The group hugs Helmuth and they promise to see each other again.

In his current time, Helmuth finishes his letters and waits for the executioner. He is saddened that his family will have to mourn him, but hopes his letters help. The guards come for him, and he follows them stoically. He enjoys the fresh air on his walk to the execution shed. He looks at the bright moon and remembers lying in bed with his brothers as Mutti tucked them in. Now he is floating.