“Oh, well, the night is long
The beads of time pass slow
Tired eyes on the sunrise
Waiting for the eastern glow…”
~ Led Zeppelin.
May & June 1941.
Kurt’s recon unit is bivouacked just southeast of Zamość, Poland, with Kurt making occasional scouting patrols to the border of Soviet-occupied Poland. After making a visit to battalion headquarters in Zamość, Kurt meets Zandra, a Romanian woman living in town, outside of a cafe. Meanwhile, back in Berlin Elisabeth experiences the first symptoms of morning sickness.
Wilhelm, as a member of the 15th Panzer Division, fights on the outskirts of Tobruk in Libya. During a failed offensive to take the fortress, he is mortally wounded and dies in a field hospital. In Berlin, Elisabeth’s suspected pregnancy is confirmed and she tells the news to her grandmother, but isn’t sure she wants to share the news with Kurt. Adele tells her to follow her heart, and Elisabeth, expecting Kurt to return home on leave soon, postpones telling him the news.
Kurt makes another visit to battalion headquarters in town and receives his orders for the upcoming invasion. At the same cafe where he met Zandra a couple of weeks earlier, he writes a letter to Elisabeth that no one is allowed home on leave until further notice but doesn’t provide more details. As he finishes the letter, Zandra spots him outside of the cafe and asks to join him. Kurt agrees, and during their conversation, spoken in French, learns of her disdain both for Germans and Communists and why she moved to Poland following the military coup in November 1940.
At 3:45 am the next morning, Kurt’s recon unit crosses the border into Soviet controlled Poland and spearheads an assault north of Lvov. In Berlin, Elisabeth and Adele are disturbed by news of the offensive broadcast on the radio.
