#like. the single figure of an empty west reshaping the world

[gothic-chicanery]

I just realized if I want to write about Oppenheimer for my final paper for my west class I probably have to rewatch it and it is So Damn Long. I’m also writing about it in comparison to a production I saw of Doctor atomic (the Oppenheimer opera (yes there’s an Oppenheimer opera)) but that will be a little bit easier bc I’m pretty sure no footage exists of that production so like at least I don’t have to rewatch that

[jgfiles]

Joker Game Novel Translations: Book 4, Chapter 1 "Valkyrie" - Part 3 of 13

All right, since it’s weekend time I can stress google translate a little more so you can enjoy another of my attempts at making sense of how it translates @great-blaster transcription of the Japanese text of Valkyrie (you can find the link in the notes of this message if you’re interested).

As usual I remember you all translators engine don’t really do a great work in regard to translating things perfectly, and that even if I tried to at least smooth the English a bit and to fix the sentences that were really impossible to understand, my knowledge of Japanese is really so low it’s not worth mentioning so I might have messed up more often than not…

Still, if you feel like enjoying Yukimura Kōichi doing some spy work in the Germany of December 1939 (yes, the one in which Miyoshi was working as well!) please enjoy this chapter and, please, if you spot mistakes you’re free to come hit me in the head with the right translation. I don’t mind.

Again a lot of thanks to @great-blaster who provided the original transcription and to @unnagi whose summary helped me to figure where this was going when Google translate was being particularly uncooperative.

2 ちょっとした冗談ね―――。 A little joke ---. 新たに発見した盗聴器の配線を慎重に切断した後、雪村は微かに苦笑した。 After carefully cutting the wire of the newly discovered wiretap, Yukimura made a small laugh. 明かりを消した無人の部屋。辺りにはまだ乾き切らないペンキの臭いが漂っている。 An empty room with the lights turned off. Inside it there is a smell of still fresh paint. 〝ベルリンを新世界の首都に相応しく作り替える″べくナチス政権が推し進める大規模都市整備計画《ゲルマニア》。その一環として、在ベルリン日本大使館は現在建て替え中だった。 "Germania" [1] a large-scale urban development plan promoted by the Nazi regime "to reshape Berlin as the capital of the new world." As part of that, the Japanese Embassy in Berlin is now under construction. ベルリンの中心部ティーアガルテン広場近く。鉄筋コンクリート造り、四階建て、第三帝国様式と呼ばれる独特の壮麗なファサードをもつ新日本大使館の建築費用は全額ドイツ側が負担してくれることになっている。 Close to the square in Tiergarten [2], in the centre of Berlin. The construction cost of the new Japanese Embassy, a three store building in reinforced concrete with a distinctive magnificent facade in what’s called Third Imperial Style is to be sustained by the German side in full. 一見、悪くない話だ。 At first glance it wasn’t bad. が、設計者も施工業者もすべてドイツ任せ。事前に承認さえ求めないとあっては、日本政府もさすがにその建物を〝大使館としてそのまま使用する″わけにはいかなかった。 However it left the choice of the designer and the manufacture construction to Germany. Even if they had asked for approval beforehand, the Japanese government surely couldn’t use the building “as it was as an embassy”. 〝新大使館の防諜体制を整えること″ "Preparing the new embassy's counterintelligence regime" それがドイツに派遣された日本のスパイ、雪村に与えられた任務の一つだった。 That was one of the duties given to Yukimura, a Japanese spy sent to Germany. 旅券（パスポート）の名義は〝雪村幸一″—-無論、偽名だ。 The name on his passport is "Yukimura Kōichi" - Of course, it’s a fake name. 二ヵ月前、本部に呼ばれて旅券と一緒に雪村幸一の〝偽の経歴（カーバー）″を渡された。当人の生まれ、育ち、学歴、といった表面上のものだけではなく、家族や友人知人との関係、服装の趣味、口癖、食べ物の好き嫌い、立ち居振る舞いから、本人も気づかないようなちょっとした性癖に至るまで、雪村幸一なる人物のプロフィールが事細かに記された分厚いファイルだ。 Two months ago, he was called by the headquarters and he was handed, along with Yukimura Kōichi's passport also his "fake career". It was a thick file in which the profile of Yukimura Kōichi was recorded in details, and that contained not only the surface data, such as his birth, where he was raised, and his educational background, but also the data about the relationship with his family and friends, his acquaintance, the preferences in clothes, habits, likes and dislikes in regards to food, from manners to sexual tastes. 書類はすべて、現地に到着する前に海上で破棄した。 All the documents were tossed in the sea before arriving at his destination. 内容は完璧に頭に入っている。ドイツ滞在中、日本から来た民間の内装業者、雪村幸一として振る舞うのはさほど困難ではない。実直だが、目立たない男。それが雪村だ。他人に与える印象は、姿勢や発言の間の取り方、人との距離感、表情の作り方で、いくらでもコントロールできる。だが、まさかそのせいで本物のスパイだと指摘されるとは予想外だった―――たとえ酒の上の冗談（パーティージョーク）だったとしても、だ。 The content (of the file) had been perfectly memorized. During staying in Germany, it wasn’t difficult to act as the civilian interior trade dealer, Yukimura Kōichi, coming from Japan. A frank but inconspicuous man. That was Yukimura. The impression he would make on others could be controlled easily controlled by how he would act in regards to posture and speech, sense of distance he would give to people, facial expressions. However, it was unexpected that it would end up being pointed out as a real spy --- even if it had merely been a joke caused by the alcohol drunk at the party. 検知装置が、また反応を示した。今度は照明器具だ。 The detecting device also showed a reaction. This time it was in a lighting fixture. いったい幾つ盗聴器を仕掛ければ気が済むんだ？ How many tapping devices do you place in order to be satisfied? 雪村は眉を寄せ、トラップの存在に注意を払いながら、照明器具のネジを慎重に外しにかかった……。 Yukimura furrowed his eyebrows and, taking care there were no traps, carefully removed the screws of the lighting fixtures ... 〝ドイツ側には絶対にこちらの動きを気取られるな″ "The German side must not become aware of our movements." 日本を出る際、上からそう強く念を押された。 When he left Japan, that’s what he was strongly ordered by his superior officers. 本来は言わずもがなの台詞である。 Originally this shouldn’t be said. 敢えて念を押されたのには、埋由があった。 There was a secret reason, due to which he was pressed so much. 日本はこの数年、情報戦において完全にドイツの後手に回ってきた。〝いいように振り回されてきた″と言っても過言ではない。 In recent years, Japan was completely behind Germany in the information warfare. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that "They were being completely manipulated." 先の〝世界大戦″において異なる陣営で戦った日独両国は、その後さまざまな確執を乗り越え、三年前に日独防共協定を締結した。 The two countries, which fought in different sides in the previous "World War II", then overcome various obstacles and concluded a Japan-Germany co-operation agreement three years ago [3]. 防共。 An anticommunist one. 即ち〝共通の敵はソ連″の認識の下、日本とドイツはユーラシア大陸の東と酉で手を結び、ソ連の脅威に対して共闘することを決意した―――少なくとも日本政府はそう考えていたはずだ。 Under the recognition of how "their common enemy is the Soviet Union", Japan and Germany decided to join hands from their places in the East and the West of the Eurasian Continent in order to fight against the Soviet threat - at least the Japanese government thought that was how it should have been. ところが今年八月、ドイツ・ヒトラー政権は、〝共に闘う″はずだった日本には��前に一言の説明も、何の連絡もなしに、突如、ソ連との間に不可侵条約を締結した。不可侵条約。〝敵ではない″という宣言だ。 However, in August of that year, the German-Hitler regime signed a non-aggression treaty with the Soviet Union [4] suddenly without a single word of explanation, nor a message in advance to Japan with whom they were supposed to "fight together". A non-aggression treaty. It was a declaration that Russia "wasn’t an enemy". 日本の政府、ならびに政治家たちは、この不測の事態―――ドイツの裏切り―――に混乱するばかりで、何ら打つ手を持たなかった。結局「欧州の天地は複雑怪奇」の迷言を残して、時の内閣は総辞職に至る。他国の条約締結を理由に政権を投げ出す。国際政治上類を見ない、まさに珍事だ。そればかりではない―――。 The Japanese government and politicians just got confused by this unexpected situation - Germany’s betrayal - and didn’t take any action. In the end, due to the remaining misunderstanding that "Europe is complex and mysterious from top to bottom", this leaded to a total resignation of the cabinet in charge. The government of that time was discharged according to how a treaty with another country was concluded. It is rather uncommon, to not pay attention to international politics. Not only that ---. 「日本は情報が漏れやすいので困る」 "Japan is in trouble because information leaks easily" それが、釈明を求めた日本政府に対するドイツ側の言い分だった。彼らは平然と、この数年、ドイツが日本の外交機密情報を把握していた状況を暴露し、その上で、 「このとおり、われわれが容易につかむことができるくらいだから、敵方にも流出するおそれがある。だから日本には事前に情報を与えることができなかったのだ」 This was said, when the Japanese government went to the German side seeking clarification. They unexpectedly exposed how Germany had known Japanese diplomatic confidential information for the past few years, so "As you can see, since we can easily discover them, there is a danger of secret info spilling out to our enemies, so we could not give information in advance to Japan." と、あたかも〝悪いのは日本だ″と言わんばかりの一言い草だ。 And, it was as if to say that "Japan is at fault". これを聞いた日本の政治家の中には、〝友好国″〝共闘を誓った″はずのナチス・ドイツのやり方に憤慨し、顔に朱を注いで怒鳴り散らす者も少なくなかったが―――。 Among Japanese politicians who heard this, a lot of them scowled, got red in the face and shouted, resentful of how Nazi Germany instead should have been a "friendly country" who "pledged to fight" with them-- -. 怒る方が間違っている。 The ones who got angry were under a wrong belief. 国際社合における情報戦とは、何も敵国との間でのみ行われるのではない。平時において情報は、むしろ友好国間でこそ重要な意味をもつ。公の場でにこやかに握手を交わす政治家の背後で、合法（外交官）・違法（スパイ）双方の手段を用いて、少しでも自国に有利な情報を得るべく鎬を削る情報戦が行われている―――少なくとも欧州の長い歴史において、それが〝外交″の名で呼ばれてきたものの実体だ。 Information warfare in international affairs is not something that is done only with enemy countries. In peacetime, collecting information is rather important even if it’s from friendly countries. Behind the politician who shakes hands sharply in public places, information warfare is taking place using legal (diplomats) and illegal (spies) means of both sides, competing ruthlessly in order to gain information that is advantageous to your country even if only a little --- At least in Europe's long history, this is the substance of what was called with the name of "diplomacy". ナチス・ドイツは〝友好国″日本の外交方針及び機密情報を、かなりの正確さで把握していた。一方で、ドイツの対ソ、対英戦略の真意が奈辺にあるのか、日本にとては依然として藪の中だった。 Nazi Germany had grasped the foreign policy and confidential information of the "friendly country" Japan with considerable accuracy. On the other hand, Japan was still in the dark about Germany and their true intentions in regard to the anti-British strategy [5]. 情報戦に於ける完膚無きまでの敗北。 A perfect defeat in information warfare. だが、なぜこんな一方的な事態に系ったのか？ But why did they ended up in such unilateral circumstances? 説明を求めるべく、直ちに駐独日本大使に帰朝命令が下った。 To seek for an explanation they instantly ordered the Japanese ambassador to return back to Japan immediately. 今頃は本国に於いて、大使本人から聞き取り調査が行われているはずだ―――。 By this time in Japan, the ambassador himself should be interviewed---. 発見した盗聴器の回線を切断し、機能を殺す。 He disconnected the line of the eavesdropping device he found, killing its function. その後で盗聴器を机に広げたシートの上に置き、銀色の粉を振りかけた。粉を払い落とすと、盗聴器の表面に渦巻き様の文様が浮かび上がってきた……。 He then placed the eavesdropping device on a spread sheet on the desk, and sprinkled it with silver powder. When he removed the powder, a spiral pattern appeared on the surface of the wiretap.... 今回雪村がベルリンに派遣された目的は、単に大使館建物の〝清掃″だけではない。 The purpose due to which Yukimura was sent to Berlin this time is not merely "cleaning" the embassy building. 任務には〝情報漏れのルートを確認し、遮断すること″―――つまり、誰が機密漏洩に関与しているのか〝ドイツ側のスパイは誰なのか″を特定し、無力化することも含まれている。 The mission is "Confirming and blocking the route of information leakage" --- In other words, it includes identifying who is involved in confidentiality leaks, "who is the spy on the German side", and neutralizing that person. 大使室から盗聴器が発見された時点で、雪村は大使室に出入りする者全員の指紋を密かに採取した。大使館職員は無論、出入りの業者や頻繁に大使館を訪れるすべての人物が対象だ。パーティーで逸見五郎に近づき、色紙にサインをもらったのもそのためだった。派手好きで知られる日本大使は、〝ナチスに招かれた映画スター″逸見五郎と昵懇の仲で、しばしば大使室にも出入りさせていたという。 When an eavesdropping device was found in the ambassador's room, Yukimura secretly collected fingerprints of all those entering and leaving the ambassador's office. His targets were the embassy officials, of course, but also the contractors who came and went from the embassy and the people who frequently visited it. That was why he approached Itsumi Gorō at the party and received a signature on the coloured paper. The Japanese Ambassador, who is known for being flashy, often allowed the "Movie star invited with the Nazis" Itsumi Gorō, who was a close friend of his, to come and go from the ambassador's office. 逸見にサインを書かせた色紙の表面には特殊なフィルムが貼ってあった。 A special film was affixed on the surface of the coloured paper on which he let Itsumi write his signature. 採取した逸見の指紋と、盗聴器の表面の指紋とを見比べる―――。 He then compared Itsumi’s fingerprints to the fingerprints he collected on the surface of the eavesdropping device ---. 違う。別人のものだ。 Wrong. They belonged to another person. 事実をすばやく確認した後で、雪村は唇の端を歪めた。 After quickly confirming this, Yukimura’s lips curled. 正直なところ、逸見がドイツのスパイだとは―――少なくとも自ら盗聴器を仕掛けるほどの積極的なスパイだとは―――最初から考えていなかった。なるほど新作映画で逸見は、優秀な日本軍のスパイ〝ゼン・トーゴ―″を演じている。だが、本人がパーティーの席上発言していたとおり、本物のスパイは映画の中のスパイとは正反対の存在だ。灰色の小さな男（グレイ・リトル・マン）。誰にも気づかれない影のような存在。それがスパイの理想だ。逸見のようにスクリーンで堂々と顔を晒している人物が、現実のスパイを務めることは、事実上不可能―――。 To be honest, he didn’t think from the beginning that Itsumi could be a German spy --- at least one so aggressive that he would set a wiretap. Indeed, in his new movie Itsumi played an excellent Japanese spy "Zen Togo"---. However, as he said at the party, a real spy is the opposite of the spies in the movie. A gray little man. He is like a shadow not noticed by anyone. That's the ideal spy. It’s virtually impossible to work as a real spy for a person like Itsumi, whose face is shown the screen---. 雪村は顔をしかめた。 Yukimura frowned. そもそも、本国との暗号電文をやり取りする大使室に映画関係者を出入りさせること自体、どうかしているのだ。 In the first place, to let a filmmaker in and out of the ambassador room, in which are exchanged encrypted telegrams with the home country itself, is foolish. 盗聴器が仕掛けられているとしたら、後はどこだ？ If a wiretap had been set up, where was the rest? 目を細め、新大使館の見取り図を頭の中に広げた。 He narrowed his eyes and mentally reviewed the floor plan of the new embassy into his head. ふと、違和感を覚えた。 Suddenly, he felt as if something was wrong. 何か違っている。そんな気がした。だが、いったい何が……？ Something was wrong. He got that feeling. But what was it exactly...? かすかな物音に我に返った。 He turned when he heard a faint sound. 建て替え中とはいえ、業務は順次移されており、日中の大使館機能はすでにほぼこの新建物が担っている。だが、日付が変わってしばらく経つこの時間ともなれば、守衛を除く職員全員が帰宅しているはずだった。 Although the reconstruction was in progress, the work has started being transferred there sequentially, and the daytime embassy work was already almost completely carried out by this new building. However, at this time just after midnight, all the staff except for the guards should have returned home. 守衛の定時の見回り？いや、まだ時間ではない。それにこの足音は？ Was this due to a guardian's regular roundtrip? No, it wasn’t the time for that yet. And are these footsteps? 館内の気配を探るために、作業中も部屋のドアは開け放したままだ。 To keep under control if there were presences inside the hall, he left open the door even while he was working. 足音が近づき、暗い戸口に人影が現れた。 The footsteps approached and a figure appeared in the dark doorway. ダブルのトレンチコートに中折れ帽、前を開けたコートの中には杉綾織りの三つ揃いが覗いてる。恰も映画に出てくる登場人物さながら一分の隙もない服装―――。 Double trench coat, a fedora, and a cedar three piece suit in wool appearing from the open front of the coat. Pitch perfect clothes just like the one of a character appearing in a movie ---. 油断なく身構え、目を細めていた雪村は、相手に気づいて肩の力を抜いた。 Yukimura, who had been standing in alert, narrowed his eyes, noticed who was his opponent and let the tension out of his shoulders. 逸見五郎だ。 It was Itsumi Gorō. 逸見は真っ赤な顔をして、足下がおぼつかない感じだった。ペンキの臭いに、アルコールの匂いが混じる。すでに相当飲んできたようだ。守衛とは顔なじみ。そうだとしても、深夜に酔っ払った民間人が機密情報を扱う大使室に自由に入ってこられる状況は、やはりどこか狂っている。 Itsumi had a bright red face, and his feet were unsteady. The odor of paint mixed with the smell of alcohol. It seemed that he had already drunk considerably. He was a familiar face for the security guards. Even so, a situation in which at midnight a drunk civilian could freely enter in the ambassador room in which were handled confidential information was still somewhat insane. 逸見は部屋の入口で足を止め、壁に手をついた。部屋の中を覗き込み、訝しげな顔で首を傾げている。すぐに何か思い出したらしく、口の中で独り言を呟いた。 Itsumi stopped at the entrance of the room and touched the wall. He looked inside the room and tilted his head with a wondering face. As soon as he remembered something, he murmured to himself. 「そうか。大使はいま日本に帰っているんだったな……」 "Oh, yes. The Ambassador is now back in Japan ..." 逸見は雪村に顔を向け、焦点を合わせるように、二、三度強く目をしばたたいた。一つしゃっくりをした後で、 Itsumi blinked two or three times then his face turned to Yukimura and studied him. After one hiccup, 「雪村さん、といったっけ？こんな遅くまで仕事とは、ご苦労なことだな。ひっく。ま、あんたでも良いや。これから一緒に一杯飲まないか」 "Yukimura-san, is that right? Working until this late should be troublesome. A big deal. Well, you seem to be doing fine. Would you like to have a drink together with me?" 片手にぶら下げた茶色の紙袋を持ち上げると、苦労して片目をつむってみせた。 He lifted up a brown paper bag which he was holding with one hand, and struggled to keep his eyes open. アルコールは配給制のはずだが、つてさえあれば何とでもなる。あるいは大使秘蔵のサクランボ酒（キルシュヴァッサー）が目当てだったか―――。 Alcohol should have been included in the rationing system, so it would be hard to find some. Or was he planning to target the ambassador’s cherry liquor (the Kirschwasser [6]) ---. 「いいですね。僕で良ければ、是非ご一緒させてください」 "It’s a nice idea. If you do not mind, please let me join you." 雪村はにこりと笑って答えた。 Yukimura answered with a smile. 〝清掃中″の現場を酔っ払いに荒らされてはたまらない。 It was irksome to get rid of the drunk man from the site that was "under cleaning". 雪村は逸見の背中を押すようにして部屋から追い出すと、そのまま大使館建物を出て、表通りにまで連れ出した。 As Yukimura pushed Itsumi's back and drove him out of the room, they left the building of the embassy as it was and took off to the main street. 十二月のベルリン。しかも灯火管制中だ。 Berlin in December. Moreover, the city was under lighting control. 恐ろしく寒い―――ばかりでなく、明かりの消えた暗い通りには人影もほとんど見えず、あたかも廃墟の中を歩いているようだ。だが、酔っ払っている逸見は周囲のことなどまるで気にならない様子で、終始ご機嫌だった。雪村と腕を組み、千鳥足で、さっきから《ワルキューレの騎行》冒頭のメロディーを繰り返し口ずさんでいる。 Not only is was horribly cold --- but also, in the dark streets where the light disappeared, it seemed almost impossible to see people, as if walking among ruins. However, Itsumi, who was drunk, didn’t look worried about their surroundings, and was in a good mood all along. Going arm in arm with Yukimura, with staggering feet, he kept on repeating the melody at the beginning of "Ride of the Valkyries" by a while.[7] 「ヌッタララーラ、タッタララーラひっく、タッタララーラ……」 "Nuttararara, tattararara hikku, tattararara……" 作曲者のワーグナー本人でさえ識別できるかどうか、怪しいものだ。 It was however doubtful if Wagner [8], the composer himself would have been able to recognize it. 路面が凍って足下が滑りやすい。腕にぶら下がる逸見の重い体を支えた雪村は内心うんざりしながら歩みを進めた。ひとまず逸見を宿泊しているホテルに送り届けること。それから戻って確認作業の続きだ……。 The surface of the road was frozen and slippery under their feet. Yukimura who supported Itsumi’s heavy body of gloom hanging on his arm advanced while feeling disgusted. He would deliver Itsumi to the hotel and remain with him for a while. Then he would return and continue working.... ふいに何者かの視線を感じて、足を止めた。 He stopped as he felt as if someone was watching him. 左右に目をやる―――。 He looked left and right---. 上か！ Over them! 振り仰いだ視界の隅、歩道に面したビルの屋上で人影らしきものがちらりと動いた。 When he looked around he saw with the corners of his eye, a shape resembling a person on the roof of a building facing the sidewalk. 雪村はとっさに逸見を建物の陰に突き飛ばし、自分はそのまま身を捻るようにして反対側に転がった。 Yukimura quickly tossed Itsumi toward the shadow of a building, as he twisted himself and rolled on the other side. たったいま二人が立っていた場所に、何か黒い物体が凄まじい勢いで落下した。 Something dark fell with tremendous force in the place where two people were standing by previously. 石畳の歩道にぶつかり、粉々に砕ける。 It hit the stone pavement and broke into pieces. 目を向けると、建物の上の人影はすでに見えなくなっていた。 When he turned his eyes, the shadows above the building had already disappeared. 低いうめき声に、雪村はハッとして振り返った。 Hearing a low moan, Yukimura looked back quickly. 逸見が建物の陰に仰向けに倒れていた。慌てて駆け寄り、尋ねた。 Itsumi was lying face down behind the building. He hurried up and questioned him. 「逸見さん、大丈夫でしたか？逸見さん……」 "Itsumi-san, are you all right? Itsumi-san...." 途中で、息を呑んだ。 As he spoke, his breath was cut away. 逸見のトレンチコートの胸の辺りに黒い染みが広がってゆく。逸見を抱き起こした雪村の手が、いつのまにか真っ赤に染まっていた。 Dark stains spread around the chest area of Itsumi's trench coat. Yukimura’s hands with which he had picked up Itsumi were dyed in red. NOTES: [1] Germania (city) or Welthauptstadt Germania ("World Capital Germania"), the name Adolf Hitler gave to a projected rebuilding of Third Reich capital Berlin. Albert Speer, the "first architect of the Third Reich", produced many of the plans for the rebuilt city in his capacity as overseer of the project, only a small portion of which was realized between the years 1937 and 1943 when construction took place. [2] Tiergarten (“Animal Garden”) is a locality within the borough of Mitte, in central Berlin. Notable for the great and homonymous urban park and, until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, Tiergarten was also the name of a borough (Bezirk), consisting of the current locality (Ortsteil) of Tiergarten (formerly called Tiergarten-Süd) plus Hansaviertel and Moabit. The locality houses many parliamentary and governmental institutions, among others the Bundestag in the Reichstag building and the new German Chancellery. The residence of the German President, Schloss Bellevue and the Carillon are also located in the Tiergarten park. It contains several notable sculptures including the four-tiered Victory Column (Siegessäule), the Bismarck Memorial and several other memorials to prominent Prussian generals, all of which were located in the ceremonial park facing the Reichstag before they were moved to their present location by the Nazis. A site next to the Tiergarten park is the former location of a villa at Tiergartenstrasse 4 where more than 60 Nazi bureaucrats and doctors worked in secret under the "T4" program to organize the mass murder of sanatorium and psychiatric hospital patients deemed unworthy to live. [3] The Anti-Comintern Pact was an anti-Communist pact concluded between Germany and Japan (later to be joined by other, mainly fascist, governments) on November 25, 1936, and was directed against the Communist International. The pact was to be originally introduced in late November 1935 with invitations for China, Britain, Italy and Poland to join. However, concerns by the German Foreign Minister Baron Konstantin von Neurath and War Minister Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg that the pact might damage Sino–German relations and cause political disarray in Tokyo, following the failed military coup of February 26, 1936, led to the pact being shelved for a year. By the summer of 1936, the increased influence of the military in the Japanese government, concerns in Berlin and Tokyo about the Franco-Soviet alliance, and Hitler's desire for a dramatic anti-Communist foreign policy gesture that he believed might bring about an Anglo-German alliance led to the idea of the pact being revived. The pact was initiated on October 23, 1936, and later signed on November 25, 1936. In order to avoid damaging relations with the Soviet Union, the pact was supposedly directed only against the Comintern, but in fact contained a secret agreement that in the event of either signatory power becoming involved with a war with the Soviet Union, the other signatory power must maintain a benevolent neutrality. The agreement was that in case of an attack by the Soviet Union against Germany or Japan, the two countries agreed to consult on what measures to take "to safeguard their common interests". They also agreed that neither of them would make any political treaties with the Soviet Union, and Germany also agreed to recognize Manchukuo. [4] The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, (officially: Treaty of Non-aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics),was a neutrality pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed in Moscow on 23 August 1939 by foreign ministers Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov, respectively. The pact was followed by the German-Soviet Commercial Agreement in February 1940. The signing of the pact was in direct contrast with the agreements taken with the Anti-Comintern Pact, in which Germany agreed that it wouldn’t make any political treaties with the Soviet Union. What’s worse is that Japan hadn’t been informed beforehand of Germany's pact with the Soviets (nor was Italy who had joined the Anti-Comintern pact), demonstrating the constant subliminal mistrust between Nazi Germany and its partners. After all, the pact not only stipulated the division of Poland between both signatories in a secret protocol, but also rendered the Anti-Comintern Pact more or less irrelevant. [5] This novel takes place in December 1939, in short when WW2 was already started, though back then they were still in the Phoney War period. For who doesn’t remember it, The Phoney War was an eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front, when French troops invaded Germany's Saar district. It started on 3 September 1939, and ended with the German attack on France and the Low Countries on 10 May 1940. While there was no large-scale military action by Britain and France, they did begin economic warfare, and shut down the German surface raiders. [6] A kirschwasser or kirsch is a clear, colourless, not sweet, fruit brandy traditionally made from double distillation of morello cherries, a dark-coloured cultivar of the sour cherry. The best kirschwassers have a refined taste with subtle flavours of cherry and a slight bitter-almond taste that derives from the cherry seeds. [7] The "Ride of the Valkyries" (German: Walkürenritt or Ritt der Walküren) refers to the beginning of act 3 of "Die Walküre", the second of the four operas constituting Richard Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen". As a separate piece, the "Ride" is often heard in a purely instrumental version, which may be as short as three minutes. The "Ride of the Valkyries" is one of Wagner's best-known pieces. You can enjoy it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V92OBNsQgxU [8] Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas. Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works. Initially establishing his reputation as a composer of works in the romantic vein of Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer, Wagner revolutionised opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk ("total work of art"), by which he sought to synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. He described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).