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Fiction. © Copyright 1997, Jim Loy
When America entered World War II, Hans had just turned 19. He wanted to make films, documentary films. In fact, his big dream was to make a film about the life of Hans Christian Andersen. Hans' parents had come from Denmark. And they had named Hans after Hans Christian Andersen, who became a hero to Hans.
Hans had few friends. As a child, he had broken his leg, and it was never set. As a result, he walked with a severe limp. And other children made fun of him, and shunned him as a freak. As a young adult, he still had his limp. And people still shunned him. But now, with the war going on, many people thought that with a name like Hans, that he was German. People wouldn't listen to him when he said that he was Danish, and that Denmark was a bitter enemy of Hitler. And he refused to change his name, because he was named after Hans Christian Andersen.
Hans became more and more interested in making a film about Hans Christian Andersen. But, he knew that he couldn't travel to Denmark, to make his film. Denmark was in the clutches of Hitler.
One night, he dreamed of the perfect plan. Only one man could help him get to Denmark. And he thought he knew how to get to that one man.
Hans applied to the War Department, to do documentary films about the fighting in Yugoslavia. They were not very interested in Yugoslavia, but they gave in just to get him out of their hair. They sent him to Greece, and supplied him with a small film crew.
From Greece, Hans and his crew drove into Yugoslavia. And he filmed the action between the Yugoslavs and the Italians. While in Yugoslavia, Hans interviewed a couple of Yugoslav Generals. And he told these men about his plans to cross the enemy lines, so that he could make a documentary of the life of Hans Christian Andersen. And he told them of his plan, of how he could get to Denmark to make this film.
One of these Generals was delighted with the idea. What a great trick on the Germans! He supplied Hans with a German uniform (from a dead tail gunner from a Stuka dive-bomber which had crashed), and helped him sneak across the front lines, to the Italian side.
When Hans was captured by the Italians, he told them that he was a tail-gunner on a Stuka dive-bomber, which had been shot down behind enemy lines. He told about how the Yugoslavs hadn't even set his broken leg. He had sat in prison, while his leg healed enough so that he could walk. And then he had escaped, and walked for hundreds of miles, to the front lines.
The Italians turned him over to the local German officials, telling them what a hero Hans was. Hans was flown to Berlin, where Hitler pinned the Iron Cross on his chest. Hitler inquired about his plans, since he had to leave the military, due to his disability. Hans told Hitler that he was of Danish descent, and that his parents had named him after Hans Christian Andersen. And he told Hitler about his dream of making a film about Hans Christian Andersen. And he said that Hitler was the only man in the world who could help him fulfill his dream.
Hitler sent Hans and a film crew to Denmark, to make his film. Hans spent most of a year there, filming and researching. He had the help of the Germans, by Hitler's orders. And he had the help of many Danes, who were delighted that something that would help preserve Danish culture could be done in the middle of this war.
During the filming, Hans had made contact with the Danish underground. And, when the film was complete, they flew him, and a copy of his film, to England. From there, he sailed to the United States.
Hans' film won a small amount of critical acclaim, but was not seen by many Americans. The German language version was fairly popular in Denmark. Hitler liked it, too. The Germans never figured out what happened to their film-maker/hero, who had simply disappeared.
Author's note: This story was a dream that I had one night. It was the most elaborate dream that I have ever actually remembered. The dream was mostly what you see above, except that Hans wore a German fighter pilot's uniform.