I'm a Profiteer in Cold War Germany

Chapter 273: Chapter 56: Survival Under High Pressure

Werner was silent for a long time.

"I saw the true face of war," he finally said, his voice soft. "I saw a young man cut down by a bullet, his blood pooling on the ground. I saw an old woman clutching a body and weeping. I saw Erich take a bullet for me, nearly dying on the streets of Prague."

He paused, then continued, "I also saw... the despair of the idealists. They believed in reform, in freedom. Then the Soviet tanks rolled in and crushed it all."

Anna didn’t speak, just listened quietly.

"You know, Anna?" Werner turned to look at her. "I’ve made a lot of money over the years, gained power and status. I thought I was someone special, that I’d finally found my footing in this world."

He paused, his voice dropping even lower. "I always thought I was special, that I knew things other people didn’t, that I could make my moves in advance and control everything. I treated it like a game—a game I was destined to win."

"But in Prague, a bullet grazed my scalp. It was that close. Just a fraction of an inch, and I would’ve been dead."

"I suddenly realized I wasn’t playing a game. I’m *in* the game." He raised his glass and downed it in one gulp. "In the face of war, all of this is so fragile. A single bullet can make a person vanish. A single tank can crush every dream."

"I’m insignificant too. I can bleed, I can get hurt, I can die."

Anna reached out and held his hand.

"But you survived," she said softly. "And you saved Erich. That’s enough."

Werner looked at her, a complex expression in his eyes.

"Is it enough?"

"It is enough," Anna said firmly. "Werner, we’re all just ordinary people. All we can do is survive in this crazy world and protect the people we care about."

Werner was silent for a few seconds, then nodded.

Anna leaned against his shoulder. The two of them sat there in silence, gazing out the window at the East Berlin nightscape.

************

「October 1968, East Berlin.」

Werner sat in his office at Koko Headquarters, staring at the mountain of documents piled on his desk. The ashtray was already overflowing with cigarette butts.

Outside, East Berlin was a sea of gray. The October rain made the entire city feel even more oppressive.

Ever since the suppression of the Prague Spring, an unseen terror had descended upon all of East Germany.

"Comrade Werner." His secretary knocked and entered, a nervous look on her face. "Major von Braun is waiting for you in the conference room."

Werner looked up, stubbing out his cigarette. "Understood."

He stood up and straightened his suit.

His reflection in the mirror looked considerably more haggard than it had two months ago. The bullet in Prague may have missed him, but it had left a permanent scar on his soul.

The corridor was unusually quiet.

He used to hear the low murmur of his colleagues’ conversations, but now, everyone kept their heads buried in their files, cautiously avoiding even eye contact.

’This is what oppression feels like.’

Werner pushed open the conference room door.

Von Brown was sitting at one end of the long table with a thick file laid out before him.

He looked up and nodded at Werner.

"Sit."

Werner sat down across from him and noticed a new recording device in the corner of the room. ’So they’re even bugging Von Brown’s office now.’

"The fallout from the Prague Spring is ongoing," Von Brown said, getting straight to the point. He pulled a few sheets of paper from the file and slid them across the table. "This is the Stasi’s most recent list of suspicious persons. Take a look. See if you recognize anyone."

Werner picked up the papers.

The pages were densely covered with names: university professors, writers, journalists, even a few factory workers.

Next to each name, a "crime" was listed: listening to Western radio stations, spreading reformist ideas, sympathizing with the Czech reformists, criticizing the Soviet invasion...

Werner’s heart sank as he looked at these "crimes."

’A single sentence, a single book, was enough to make a person disappear.’

"I recognize a few," he said, placing the papers back on the table, his tone calm. "Former clients or partners."

"Good." Von Brown lit a cigarette. "I need you to provide more detailed intelligence—their social circles, financial resources, any contact with Westerners. The more detailed, the better."

Werner was silent for a few seconds.

He knew what Von Brown wanted to do.

Once these people were labeled "dangerous elements," they would be arrested and interrogated. At best, they would lose their jobs; at worst, they would end up in prison.

"Von Brown," Werner said, looking up at him. "Most of these are just ordinary people. They haven’t participated in any subversive activities."

"Ordinary people?" Von Brown exhaled a cloud of smoke, a cold sneer playing on his lips. "Werner, the Prague Spring began with ’ordinary people’ having their convictions shaken. Dubcek was also once an ’ordinary reformer.’ And the result? He nearly pulled the entire Czech Republic out of the socialist bloc."

He crushed his cigarette out in the ashtray, his voice turning even colder. "Comrade Ublis has made it perfectly clear—there will not be a second Prague Spring in East Germany. Any sign of ideological dissent must be stamped out in its infancy."

Werner clenched his fists.

He knew arguing was useless.

’This was a political assignment, not a business negotiation.’

"I understand," he said. "But I need time to investigate."

"As soon as possible." Von Brown stood and walked to the window, looking out at East Berlin. "Also, a number of people will be arrested during this purge. Some of them, despite their ’ideological problems,’ have not committed offenses worthy of execution."

He turned to face Werner. "The Stasi will hand their files over to Koko. The final decision on how to handle them rests with Minister Gunter. But I imagine you know what that means."

Werner nodded.

’Political prisoner exchanges.’

"When will the files be ready?"

"Next week." Von Brown returned to the table. "There will be about fifty to sixty of them. All were implicated in the wake of the Prague Spring—some are intellectuals who openly sympathized with the reforms, some are skilled workers who tried to flee to West Germany, and a few who have relatives in the Czech Republic and are suspected of passing information."

Werner made a quick mental calculation.

Fifty to sixty people, if handled correctly, could bring in at least five million West German Marks in foreign currency for East Germany.

"I’ll report this to Minister Gunter," he said.

Von Brown nodded and sat down again. "Werner, I know what you went through in Prague."

Werner said nothing.

"But I have to remind you," Von Brown’s voice grew serious, "sympathy is a fine quality, but in your position, it will get you killed. Do you understand?"

"Understood," Werner said.

After the meeting, Werner walked out of Stasi Headquarters and took a deep breath.

’The list of suspicious persons. The political prisoner files.’

’Von Brown is testing me.’

He lit a cigarette, standing on the street and watching the pedestrians pass by.

Everyone hurried along with their heads down, trying their best not to draw attention.

’East Berlin had changed—not on the surface, but in its atmosphere.’

The feeling of constant surveillance, of oppression, was like an invisible net trapping everyone inside.

’I have to be careful. Very careful.’

************

「Late night, Werner’s apartment, East Berlin.」

Werner sat at his desk, the "suspicious persons" list from Von Brown laid out before him.

He picked up a pen and began to make notes on the paper.

There were about ten people on the list whom he recognized.

Three of them were genuine dissidents—they were, in fact, spreading Western ideas and attempting to organize underground reading groups.

’Sooner or later, the Stasi would catch up to these people. Better that I’m the one to turn them in, rather than someone else.’

’At least this way, I can ensure the intelligence the Stasi receives is ’just right’—enough to satisfy Von Brown’s requirements, but not enough to get these people sentenced to death.’

The other seven were his rivals or people with whom he’d had conflicts in the past.

’Since Von Brown wants a list, I’ll give him one.’

’But *I* will decide who goes on it.’

Werner marked the names of those seven people, then took out a new notebook and began writing up the "detailed intelligence"—most of it fabricated, of course, but enough to satisfy Von Brown.

As for those who were truly innocent, Werner crossed their names off the list with his pen.

’I will not betray the innocent. Even if it means angering Von Brown.’

He placed the finished report into an envelope, ready to hand it over to Von Brown the next day.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!