Interrogation III

Werner was suprised and alarmed to see Wojciechowski in the room he was led too. It made sense to put them together; both had recounted the same story and had stayed stong in their innocence. But Werner was still confused as to why the polish doctor and himself were now going to be questioned together.

He was led behind the wooden desk where he sat an arms length away from Wojciechowski. The pole smiled at him, and Werner smiled back. Their friendly exchange seemed to disgust Rickenbach, but the Lagerführers eyes lit up. Both suspects were too kind; had they not smiled at each other they would have met a different, easier fate. But the smile made the Lagerführer suspect their cooperation, it was an indication that they had worked together more than admitted. 

"The charges against Igor. F. Wojciechowski read; planned murder of a state official or assistant murder of a state official. The charges agaianst Killian Werner read; planned murder of a state official or assisted murder of a state official and cooperation with an enemy of the state." 

Neither Werner nor Wojciechowski knew what to say so they said nothing and simply dissapeared into the collars of their shirts. The Lagerführer stepped forwards, and signaled that Rickenbach follow. 

"We need to get to the bottom of this, boys. Either you're going to cooperate, or we're going to have to use other means to make you speak." 

"I didn't do it." Werner said as a response.

"We need evidence."

"You don't have evidence that I did do it." Werner retorted. The Lagerführer's expression remained emotionless. 

"Every arrow points in your direction, Werner. And those that don't, point to Wojciechowski."

"I didn't do it either." The polish doctor added, repeating Werner's words. Werner thought it funny that he did that; he felt as if he was slowly connecting with Wojciechowski. "Have you ever considered suicide?" Wojciechowski asked. 

"Dr. Ziegler was doing fine." 

"No he wasn't actually." Wojciechowski replied. "Let me talk!" He added as the Lagerführer opened his mouth. "Give me a few minutes, I am a trained psychologist, I can make an evalutation."

"Go ahead." The Lagerführer agreed after a second of silence. The silence was heavy in the room; then Wojciechowskis voice broke it. 

"Dr. Ziegler's wife is dead, she died a while ago. If you don't believe me; look it up, there are certificates. The death was a great blow to our victim, he was never the same again. I overheard a chemist say that to one of his friends in the lab. They kept looking at us and whispering. When I asked him about it, he naturally didn't answer for he didn't speak with me, his hands became shaky. Some people never get over the loss of a lover. Secondly, Auschwitz is a dark and bleak place, and the darkness finds a way to get under your skin. Surely, all of you know what I mean. No matter how efficient it made be for the Deutsche Reich, it is still a terrible and mentally challenging place to be. In addition to the passing of his wife and his direct surroundings, war also affects a person's state of mind. We are constantly paranoid, we seek warmth and friendship, things we do not have. We are afraid of death, constantly, and the feeling that it could come unexpectadly confuses and freightens us even more; we wished we knew when. How do any of us in this room not know, if maybe, the soviets will push forward and free this camp soon? We cannot know; it is war. This uncertainty also could have impacted his mental health." Wojciecchowski was on a roll. Everyone listened intentlly, but none of it had really convinced the interrogators yet. 

"But all of us go through this, most of it, and we have not commited suicide." Rickenbach said. "Why would he?"

"As I said, his wife plays a big roll. Your wife is still alive Rickenbach, she probably still eats chicken for dinner." He regarded him in a stern fashion. "And there are types of people who are more prone to suicide, others to homicide." He went on. "And Dr. Ziegler is a doctor; he couldn't harm another person, not in such a violent way. He managed to convince himself that experiments would be alright, but he could never murder a man in cold blood. He's simply not that kind of man. And maybe his guilt caught up with him; for having used some Russians and jews as gineau pigs. Who knows? Maybe he couldn't live with that." 

"Is there anything else you wish to stress?" The Lagerführer asked, since Wojciechowski had paused.

"Just one more thing; Herr Lagerführer. He was having headaches, and I suggested we do an X-Ray. Dr. Ziegler was, unfortunatly, suffering from a terminal illness. He had brain cancer."