Chapter 164
Blossoming of Evil (3)
The moment it was confirmed that I’d be spending both the year’s end and the new year in this damned, swastika-soaked Berlin, I completely lost my motivation.
Those mustache-wearing bastards actually managed to keep me away from my family. I swear I’ll kill them. Just wait ten years—I’ll show them exactly what the rage of a “goose father” looks like.
From the moment they seized power, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party went into overdrive.
No—could you even call that “overdrive”?
Political parties campaign and gather votes to fulfill their promises. Watching them execute exactly what the German people who elected them wanted—at terrifying speed—was… diligence? Yes. Pure, relentless diligence.
I’d already given up on the idea of a vacation and was mentally hypnotizing myself into thinking I’d been appointed a diplomat, preparing to attend a year-end party—
“General Kim! Are you there?!”
“Yes. What is it?”
“The party has been canceled. Please remain in your room.”
Before I could ask why, the driver spoke in a trembling voice.
“The parliament… the Reichstag is burning.”
December 31, 1932.
The Reichstag Fire engulfed the German parliament in flames.
Even when Sungnyemun burned in my previous life, it caused chaos. So imagine what happens when a parliament burns.
Everyone who saw it fell into collective hysteria.
“The Reds! The Jews are finally mobilizing the Reds!”
“This must be a plot to block the awakening of the Aryan people!”
“Kill them all! Göring, mobilize the police and military right now and tear every last red apart!”
It wasn’t just the Nazi leadership foaming at the mouth. Established politicians, foreigners, ordinary citizens—everyone was shocked.
Even I, who had nothing to do with Germany, felt uneasy watching that massive building burn. What must the Germans have felt?
No one believed it was an accident or the act of a lone madman.
Seeing the parliament reduced to a skeleton of ash—it was only natural to take it as a declaration of war against the system.
“Ah… has it finally come? The moment of Ragnarök—”
“At the very moment Germany is awakening as the white knight to protect Western civilization, the parliament burns? Coincidence? Impossible! We must act before the Reds rise across the nation and hand the country over to the Soviets!”
With presidential approval, Hitler went to the temporary parliament and boldly demanded “emergency measures.”
His claim—that communist forces might rise up as soon as tonight to overthrow the nation—won the support of anti-communists and conservative military leaders. Right-wing politicians couldn’t oppose his call for unity in the name of “efficient decision-making.”
Thus passed the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State.
With it, the Nazi cabinet gained new powers:
- The right to arrest “Reds” at will
- The right to define who counts as a “Red”
- The right to override local governments
- The right to restrict freedom of speech, assembly, privacy, and the press
- The right to conduct searches without warrants and seize property without limit
And the German people…
…cheered.
“WAAAAAAAH!!”
“Defeat the Reds!”
“We want peace!”
“No more blood! Reds, stop your rebellion!”
After decades of chaos, they had finally gained peace.
Now it was framed as a battle:
those who would destroy peace versus those who would defend it.
The outcome? Obvious.
“People of Germany! The time of judgment has come! To make this nation a country for Germans alone—to defeat communism—only one final step remains!!”
“Heil! Heil!!”
Right before the election, this chaos became a massive advantage for the Nazis.
- About 30% of Germans had completely lost faith in politics
- About 20% supported the communists
- About 30% supported the Nazis
With the rest fragmented among smaller parties, the Nazis adopted a simple strategy:
Label 20% as traitors—and unite the remaining 80%.
Stormtroopers swarmed the homes and workplaces of Social Democratic leaders—figures of the Weimar Republic—and beat them with clubs.
Resistance was meaningless. Police either stood by or helped punish the “Reds.”
Communists weren’t much better off.
They had numbers, at least—but that meant little when facing someone like Hermann Göring, who now controlled the Prussian police.
“Fire! Wipe out these vermin Reds!”
Tat-tat-tat! Bang!
Even when communists fought back, the Nazis twisted it:
“See? The Reds were plotting all along!”
They used it as campaign propaganda.
Not debate—but obedience.
Not argument—but stability.
“Fourteen years.
For fourteen years, the German people have been deceived. Since 1918, politicians have done their best to ruin this nation. Now President Paul von Hindenburg has entrusted me with rebuilding this land of ashes.
I can do it. I promise you—within four years, we will rebuild our ruined countryside and provide stable jobs—”
“How is it?”
“Bullshit.”
Ezel, staring blankly at the radio, downed his wine.
“Is that a political platform or a preacher’s sermon? It’s just ‘I’ll try hard’ and ‘I can do it’—nothing concrete.”
“…Huh.”
“I don’t get it. Even with a big incident like this, can someone with no real policies win a majority? He’s asking for four years—but at this rate, he’d be humiliated and thrown out in the next election.”
That’s true.
But… will there even be a next election?
***
January 8, 1933.
In the general election, the Nazis won 48%.
Forty-eight percent.
An unbelievable number.
The German people, who placed their trust in the Nazis, were finally rewarded.
Smack! Smack!
“Where do you think you’re going, you shameless Red bastard?! Move!”
“Ugh—p-please—”
“Shut up before I send you to Dachau!”
“You had your time. Now it’s ours.”
Germany had finally regained peace.
“You think a Jew can run a shop here?!”
“This store is Jewish-owned! Patriots, boycott it!”
“I’m a veteran of the Great War! I paid my taxes—why am I being treated like—gk!”
Germany had finally regained normalcy.
I sat at a café, sipping good coffee, watching this “beautiful” Berlin.
“Now the country might finally return to normal.”
“Indeed. Whether uneducated fools or intellectuals, that red poison infected them all…”
“We need more camps. Some people only learn after a beating.”
I had never held personal resentment toward the Germans I fought in the last war.
They were pitiful people ruled by Kaisers and Junkers, dragged into war for their rulers.
At least… that’s what I used to think.
Before coming to Berlin.
But look at the dignity of these democratic German citizens.
Years ago, the combined seats of anti-republic forces—the Nazis and communists—already exceeded half. German politics had been effectively paralyzed ever since.
After losing the Kaiser, the Germans wandered in confusion—until they chose a new master.
And finally, they handed their leash willingly to Hitler, clad in polished boots, a firm whip, and a sharp uniform.
At this point, shouldn’t we call German national character not diligence—but masochism?
“They had no choice under Nazi oppression”?
Nonsense. They had countless chances to crush them.
“They were deceived”?
Also nonsense. The Nazis never lied.
Extermination of Jews, rejection of communism, eastern expansion, breaking the Treaty of Versailles—they promised all of it openly.
As Chairman Henry Ford once said:
“Responsibility for a failed investment lies solely with the investor.”
My conclusion about Germany is the same.
If you went all-in on the Nazi coin—then you bear the consequences.
***
January 26.
Not long after the election, the German parliament passed the Enabling Act of 1933, handing almost all legislative power to Hitler and his cabinet.
The minor detail that thousands of armed stormtroopers were present? Let’s just ignore that.
And just like that, the Weimar Republic collapsed.
Nazi Germany raised its blood-red curtain.
***
“Ask again. Something must’ve gone wrong with the translation. Ask properly one more time.”
“Y-yes, sir.”
A grand party celebrating the passage of the Enabling Act…
The year 1933 became a monumental one in which the German people cast aside the hypocrisy, corruption, decadence, and decay of the Weimar Republic—a system likened to chains of slavery and the mark of Cain—and embraced the Nazi Party and National Socialism.
And at the banquet following a grand ceremony celebrating the dawn of the Nazi era—a regime they claimed would last a thousand years—the man before me, whom I had thought a comrade in fascism… drove a dagger straight into my back.
“C-Chancellor…”
“Translate.”
“Yujin Kim says… he has absolutely no interest whatsoever in Bolshevism, Marxism–Leninism, National Socialism, or fascism.”
…Of course.
There are many people with ability.
There are also many with will.
But those who possess both are rare.
Adolf Hitler suppressed a sigh and spoke.
“That is truly regrettable. I saw many weak men like you in the trenches! Men with ability, yet lacking the courage to act! Men who turned away from injustice and pursued only personal advancement!”
His roar flared again.
“General Kim, you are a man capable of greatness! The task of defeating Jew–capitalism and liberating humanity is the duty of natural-born superiors like us! So why—!”
“Chancellor, with all due respect, I have lived my entire life under the banner of freedom, democracy, and equality—and I wore this uniform to defend those values.”
The Asian officer looked at him with an unsettling smile.
“I frankly don’t care what choices the German people make. Every nation has the right to determine its own fate.”
“…And?”
“Likewise, I would appreciate it if my own choice were respected. Otherwise, how are you any different from the Reds who incited riots in the United States?”
How insolent.
To compare the sacred rise of the Nazi Party to those disgusting Bolsheviks—what was this defiance for?
“It seems you still do not understand the world, Colonel. What I speak of is not a destructive revolution like the Reds’, but a constructive method to advance a nation!
Think in terms of social Darwinism. A nation united under a strong leader, marching toward the future—and a nation consumed by factional strife and strikes! Which will survive is obvious, is it not?”
“…In my opinion, the latter will last longer.”
Kim answered without hesitation.
“Have you heard of lemmings? They follow the lead rat in a swarm. If the leader jumps into a river or off a cliff, they all follow to their deaths. Doesn’t that resemble… a nation united in marching toward destruction?”
Damn it.
No matter how strongly Aryan blood might shine, this yellow-skinned inferior was beyond saving—too contaminated to even recycle.
He reminded Hitler of Erich Ludendorff.
A man who adorned himself with achievements like a peacock with feathers—but inside, nothing but tasteless flesh.
Soldiers… were they all like this? No devotion to the nation, only mechanical obedience?
Ludendorff had been exposed by defeat.
This Asian simply hadn’t lost yet—that was the only difference.
Now Hitler understood.
This man was a seed of Satan prepared by the Jews to dominate the world.
A filthy obstacle meant to suppress Aryan expansion and block Germany’s purification.
Suppressing his fury, Hitler raised his voice sharply.
“How unfortunate. When you return home, think carefully about what true patriotism is! Watch and see how great the Germany we build will become!”
“I will. I’ll keep watching. But… listening to you, I get the feeling that someday, another great war will erupt in Europe.”
“I love peace. Nazism is not an ideology of bloodshed! It is a movement to reclaim our rightful place!”
“Is that so? I’m not sure what the British and French will think, but I hope peace lasts in Europe.”
“If they yield what rightfully belongs to the German people, peace will be maintained.”
Kim stood up, clearly fed up.
“I’m a soldier. I follow orders. So for the sake of our friendly relations, I sincerely hope Germany does not start a second war.”
“War is not something we choose. It is chosen by those who forced a leash upon us!”
“Just remember—my contributions are part of that leash too.”
At this point, there was no goodwill left between them.
To Hitler, Kim was nothing more than a servant of Jewish capitalism—a profiteer watching Europe burn while selling weapons.
Once, he had thought well of him.
But that had been before he rose to power.
Now he was the leader of all Germans—wielding absolute authority.
And so, he decided to grant this insolent man one final lesson.
“Do not be so arrogant, Colonel. If another war comes, it will be over before Americans even set foot in Europe.”
“Oh really? Even so, I’ll be the one rolling tanks into Berlin and blowing your heads off. Just wait for that day.”
Even to the end, the man spoke nothing but aggravating words.
***
Later…
“‘I have seen many weak men like you in the trenches…!’”
That mustached mad dog barked on, spitting as he spoke.
I’d already received clear instructions from back home. These lunatics—what kind of nerve do they have, trying to incite a coup in a foreign officer?
“Look, sorry to say this, but I grind my teeth even in my sleep at talk of dictators and supreme leaders. I’m the kind of man who’d plant the flag of freedom, democracy, and equality even where none exists.”
Translate properly, will you? I don’t care what happens to you.
“I don’t care if Germans commit political suicide. After all, President Woodrow Wilson proposed national self-determination.”
Wilson… that idiot.
Here in Germany, I learned something amusing.
The Nazis constantly attacked the Social Democrats for signing the Treaty of Versailles—selling out the nation.
But why did they sign it? Because Wilson insisted it be signed by a “legitimate German government.”
If you think about how much that helped the Nazis and shackled the republic… maybe Wilson could’ve been a minister in Nazi Germany.
“So please respect my own ‘self-determined’ choice as well. Otherwise, how are you any different from the Reds inciting riots in America?”
Hitler responded again, repeating his ideology of strong leadership.
I just wanted him to give up already.
Stop trying to recruit me, you psychopath.
“…Of course the latter survives longer,” I said again.
“Lemmings, you know? They follow a leader blindly—even into death. Sounds like a certain country picking fights everywhere without understanding its limits.”
Even after that insult, he didn’t budge.
Ah. The translator must’ve been softening my words to survive.
I leaned in and whispered, “If you change my words, you’ll be responsible.” His pupils shook. Got it.
The conversation repeated—Hitler preaching, me mocking.
Finally—
“Don’t be arrogant. If war comes, it will end before Americans arrive.”
“Oh really? I’ll still be the one driving tanks into Berlin and blowing your heads off. Just wait.”
1945.
Just wait.
At last—I was able to leave Berlin.
I wanted out of that hellish den of evil as soon as possible.
***
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
At the same time—
Tuskegee Alabama.
“Alright, this might sting.”
“Ah—does it… always hurt this much?”
“Yes. You’re suffering from what we call ‘bad blood,’ a condition common among Negroes. We need further examination.”
In this predominantly Black community, the U.S. Public Health Service was offering “free treatment.”
“Director…”
“What is it?”
“…Is this really okay?”
“Just like Russians are subversive and Irish are drunkards, it’s only natural that Negroes are promiscuous. So syphilis is a Negro disease.”
Scientific progress, after all, was built on reason—and a bit of sacrifice.
Even if a few died of disease, wasn’t it a fair trade for humanity’s advancement?
***
⚠️ Historical note:
This final section references events similar to the Tuskegee Syphilis Study—a real and deeply unethical study where treatment was deliberately withheld from Black patients. The views expressed by characters here reflect the period’s racism and are not factual or valid.