A Key to Treason
by
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Thad’s account of his capture by the Wehrmacht:
I don’t know how many weeks I was on the loose, picking my way across fields by night, filching carrots and apples, napping in the woods by day, hoping I could make it to Switzerland. Enemy convoys crowded the roads.
At a ravine I came to a narrow footbridge of weathered planks. I thought I could reach the other side in the early morning shadows. A sheltering forest beckoned. I was too dog-tired to try climbing into the gorge and up again. Many chasms are so deep the sunlight never penetrates. I should have realized a sniper with a telescopic sight would be watching.
The slug in my shoulder dropped me at the center of the bridge. I lay there until a motorcycle patrol came.
The troopers pounded me to pulp and threw me into the side-car of a three-wheeler. Soon they joined a convoy of trucks and paraded through villages exhibiting me as their trophy to intimidate the silent people --
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About the Book
A Key To Treason recounts the struggles of dedicated people in a small European country occupied by the Nazis. The young hero, Thad, holds a high rank which conspirators resent and maneuver to undermine.
Powerful elitists opposing him thwart his endeavors to unite factions and protect the nation's treasury before the Nazi invasion. Thad resorts to desperate measures, aware he is bending the law. He has custody of the keys and a loyal staff who obey him without question.
The reader is invited to speculate, 'What would I have done?' or 'What could anyone have done?'
Secrets of the underground are still coming to light today.
About the Author
The pen name 'Marvern' Wallace combines the names of Marj and Vernon, a Midwestern couple, typical 1940s-'80s suburbanites. During World War II, Vernon served in Europe with the Third Army and received a Bronze Star Medal in February 1945.
The courage he saw among ordinary civilians impressed him deeply. How they managed to cope suggested a fiction story about a family in a small country invaded by the Nazis.
Political corruption in Chicago seasoned the plot with Marj's observations as a poll watcher and precinct worker in the 1950s and 1960s. Vote frauds aroused her Irish and propelled her into reform efforts.
The battle goes on. A Key To Treason illustrates the desperation and self-sacrifice of those determined to make a difference.