Ludwig and Matilda:
A Love Story

A Ducktales Fanfic

(Inspired in part by Don Rosa’s The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck)

Disclaimer: Ludwig von Drake, etc. are (c) Disney. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck is (c) by Don Rosa and Gladstone Publications. The cartoon Education For Death is (c) 1943 by Walt Disney Productions. This story is (c) by me. Please don’t copy, link, or use it in any wise without my permission.

A/N (please read): This latest chapter of Ludwig and Matilda deals with a sensitive historical topic which is still argued about today. In no way is it meant to hurt or offend anyone of German or Austrian descent, and I certainly hope it won’t. That being said, it would be just as wrong to try to sanitize history, especially where crimes against humanity are involved. However---and as parts of this chapter will point out---there were Germans, Austrians and other Europeans during WWII who did not support Adolf Hitler or his actions, and in fact many denounce him today. Some even gave their lives defying him, as you know if you’ve seen the 2008 film Valkyrie.

The classroom scene coming up was adapted from Disney’s 1943 cartoon Education For Death. Some of Rolf’s words are direct quotes from the film. Considered “banned” today because of its propaganda quality, this cartoon is featured in the Walt Disney Treasures DVD set Disney On The Front Lines, and can (so far) also be seen over at YouTube.

One last thing: “The Loon Ranger” is not a typo.

Chapter VIII:
The Approaching Storm

Once I had a lovely fatherland.
The oak
Grew there so high, the violets gently swayed.
It was a dream.

---Heinrich Heine, German poet

“Happy Anniversary!” exclaimed everyone as champagne glasses clinked around the table.

It was early spring of 1933, exactly one year since Ludwig and Matilda were married, and they were celebrating with a dinner party at their home. Hortense and her family had come to stay with them just in time for the couple’s anniversary; Dr. Vogel and his wife joined the Von Drakes for dinner as well.

“I can’t believe it’s been a year for you two already,” said Hortense over coffee and dessert. “It doesn’t seem that long ago when we were here for your wedding!”

“And we’re looking forward to even more years,” Matilda replied, smiling warmly at Ludwig, who chuckled and kissed his wife’s hand.

“Can we have some more chocolate cake, Uncle Ludwig?” begged Donald and Della, who had long since learned that Ludwig was inclined to pamper his nephew and niece.

“Those two are bottomless pits when it comes to dessert,” Quackmore declared with a grin.

“Dat is all right!” Ludwig said, smiling as he cut two more slices from the rich Sachertorte and gave them to the eagerly awaiting twins. Never one to pass up sweets, he allowed himself a second slice as well---and even some of his guests decided on another helping.

“You spoil the twins so much, Ludwig,” Hortense remarked, though she was laughing.

“I am not minding,” the professor insisted. “I am always glad to see da kiddies.”

“And we’re still hoping for some of our own,” Matilda added wistfully.

“Give it time,” Hortense advised her gently. “It’s just the two of you right now, with nobody having to get up during the night to change a diaper or get the kid a drink of water. You’d better enjoy that while you still can!” Everyone laughed at that, even the children.

“Frau Von Drake, thank you for this wonderful meal,” said Dr. Vogel’s wife. “The Schnitzel and Sachertorte were scrumptious!”

“Thank you,” replied Matilda, blushing a little.

“Matrimony has suited you nicely, Herr Professor,” Dr. Vogel declared to Ludwig. “You proved yourself a genius when you married both a pretty lady and a fine cook.”

“I can not argue wit’ dat!” Ludwig said happily.

After dinner everyone went to the parlor, where Donald spotted the Von Drakes’ console radio and quickly rushed over to turn it on.

“Donald, ask your aunt and uncle first,” warned Hortense.

“But I wanna listen to The Loon Ranger,” said the duckling.

Matilda laughed. “I don’t think we have that program over here, Donald.”

“Aw, gee!” pouted her nephew.

“But we can lissen to da radio anyways,” Ludwig said cheerfully. “Why don’t ya turn ta some nice class’cal musics, Donald?”

“Yuk! Okay,” Donald sighed. But as he searched for a music station, he happened across a news program being broadcast from Berlin, Germany. He listened open-mouthed as a man’s voice screamed angrily in German to a cheering crowd, and each time the man bellowed something the crowd cheered even louder.

“Why is that guy yelling?” asked Donald, but before anyone could answer Ludwig rushed up and immediately changed the station. The duckling looked up to ask why, but was surprised to see his normally cheerful uncle looking somewhat disturbed.

“Whatsa matter, Uncle Ludwig?”

“Ach, it iss not’ing. I just do not like ta hear peoples yellin’,” Ludwig explained with a stiff smile as he sat back down.

“But who was that?” insisted Donald, whose curiosity would not go unsatisfied.

“It sounded like Hitler,” Hortense suggested, remembering the voice from newsreels.

“Dat iss him,” the professor said darkly. “An’ he iss now Chanc’llor of Germany.”

Donald wanted to know what a ‘chanc’llor’ was, and why that particular one was yelling, but Ludwig seemed uncomfortable with the subject and waved away the question. Dr. Vogel chuckled mildly as he lit a pipe.

“Politics are one of very few subjects Professor Von Drake doesn’t care to talk about,” the director explained. “He seems to feel they have no intellectual value.”

“The same could be said for most politicians,” Quackmore put in with a laugh.

“What you both are sayin’ iss true,” Ludwig declared, as he listened with relief to a Mozart piece playing over the airwaves.

Sensing that her husband was anxious to change the subject, Matilda asked Hortense and Quackmore how things were going back in
America. Her sister and brother-in-law took the hint and talked about the family and life back in the States. In spite of the recent Depression, things were slowly improving and Quackmore had enough steady work to keep bread on the table. Moreover, he had long been interested in
the Navy and was thinking seriously of enlisting.

“You won’t have much to do out at sea, with no actual war going on,” Dr. Vogel declared.

“I could live with that,” Quackmore reasoned. “But people keep saying that if there is another war we’d better stay out. We’re still getting over the last war.”

“So is much of Europe, Mr. Duck,” the director admitted. “And sadly, some people more than others have been especially bitter about the outcome.”

“Oh, you men! Must you always talk about such things?” Frau Vogel scolded mildly.

“Perhaps they should be on everyone’s mind these days,” Dr. Vogel said pleasantly.

“I am glad not ta haf dem on my mind. Dere are better t’ings to think about,” Ludwig insisted, smiling up at Matilda as she slipped her arm around his shoulders.

“I don’t blame you, Herr Professor,” Frau Vogel said heartily. “Just enjoy your lives, you two!”

Later after the Vogels had gone home, the Von Drakes and their guests began settling down for the night. Suddenly there were sounds of stamping, yelling and cursing from the direction of the guest room, and Donald and Della came knocking at the door of Ludwig and Matilda’s bedroom.

“Aunt Matilda, Uncle Ludwig!” they sang out, “Mom and Pop are fighting again!”

“Surprise, surprise,” Matilda sighed as she huddled under her covers, and Ludwig popped his head out the door.

“Tell ‘em ta go ahead an’ kill each udder!” he exclaimed, and the twins squealed and ran off.

“Ludwig, that’s terrible!” Matilda laughingly scolded her husband.

“Well, da house would be quiet den, wouldn’t it?” Ludwig reasoned with a grin. “Exceptin’ for da kiddies.”

To his relief and Matilda’s, the Ducks soon settled down and the house was in fact quiet. “Danken Sie Gott,” the professor murmured as he arranged his pillows and snuggled down. He was just about to drift off to sleep when his wife turned to him with a sudden look of concern.

“Ludwig?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think you and I could ever quarrel like that?”

Ludwig blinked. “We haf done dat sometimes…a liddle bit, anyways. But dat is usual in a marry-age, no?”

“I guess so…but Hortense and Quackmore have honest-to-goodness fights, and you should see them when they’re really angry at each other,” Matilda insisted.

The professor laughed, remembering his stay with the Ducks back in the States. “I t’ink I haf seen dem. An’ Quackmore said dat’s just how dey are anyways.”

“But that’s their nature, not ours. I hope you and I could never act that way---with yelling and harsh, hateful words to one another.”

But Ludwig couldn’t even imagine that happening. “We don’t haf ta worry about dat, Schätzen,” he said tenderly, taking Matilda’s hand and kissing it. “You are da best t’ing dat has ever happened ta me.”

“Same here,” Matilda whispered as she snuggled close to him, and they fell asleep feeling that much was still right with the world. And so far, it was…at least in their own world.

For all his quirks, Ludwig had proved to be a loving and devoted husband. Despite their differences in nationality, culture and character, he and Matilda were well matched in more than their love of music. Anxious to please her spouse and adjust to her new homeland as well, Matilda taught herself about Viennese cooking and culture, and learned more than enough German to get by in the city. But she did not have to work hard to make Ludwig happy---she had already done so by sharing her life with him.

It hadn’t been a “perfect” marriage, of course. They were too sensible and mature to expect such as that. There were disagreements and the normal marital spats, and even occasional nights when Ludwig found himself exiled to the couch. But Matilda’s temperament was milder than her sister’s and she was quick to forgive, so all would be well by morning.

They had pledged their lives for better or for worse, and were confident that their love could weather any storm. It was well that they thought so, for indeed a storm was coming---only the first of many that would test their faith and devotion to one another.

The next day Matilda and Hortense went out shopping with Della, while Donald and the men preferred to stay home. It was Saturday, and now that the professor was a married drake he could comfortably settle into home life, without fretting about no classes to run that day.

He still liked to spend time in his basement laboratory, working on various little inventions or some type of experiment. Donald hadn’t forgotten the Bunsen burner fiasco and now watched his uncle’s research from a safe distance---though years later, he would come to feel that the safest distance was far away from the professor.

Ludwig’s latest project appeared harmless enough, though. He had taken several pots of variously-colored roses from the greenhouse and set them up on his work table, and Donald watched curiously as the professor poked around in the roses with some wooden sticks. Ludwig explained that he was cross-pollinating them, hoping to make a special hybrid rose.

“A liddle surprise for Matilda,” he said with a smile.

“She’s still crazy about flowers, eh?” Quackmore asked.

“She sure iss!” the professor answered proudly. “She iss always in da greenhouse or da garden.”

He then noticed with some surprise that Quackmore was looking over the latest issue of the Neue Freie Presse (New Free Press).

“Can ya read any of dat?” Ludwig asked his brother-in-law.

“Bits of it,” admitted Quackmore. “Since we’ve come over here now and then, it made sense to learn a little German. And once I join the Navy, it’ll be a good idea to know some foreign languages.”

“So ya really are goin’ ta join da Navy, Quackmore?”

“I’ve been thinking about it. Hortense isn’t too happy with the idea, though.”

“Iss dat why you two was fightin’ last night?” the professor suggested with a sympathetic smile.

“Part of it. Otherwise, it was the usual thing,” Quackmore replied, rolling his eyes.

Just then, Donald noticed a large photo on the back of the newspaper, depicting a scruffy-looking wolf wearing a military uniform and a little mustache. The figure stood with his arm raised stiffly and appeared to be yelling.

“Who’s that, Pop?” Donald asked, pointing to the photo.

“Oh, that’s Hitler,” Quackmore replied with a stiff smile. “That guy who was hollering on the radio last night.”

“He’s got a funny-looking mustache,” Donald said with a smirk.

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t say it to his face.”

Ludwig shook his head. “Again wit’ da Hitler?” he said in disgust.

“You really don’t like him, do you?” Quackmore suggested, laughing.

“I do not.”

Quackmore then grew serious as he recalled last night’s conversation with Dr. Vogel. “You know, he did have a point, Ludwig. Politics should be on everyone’s mind these days---including yours.”

“But why? What do da politics haf ta do wit’ me?” asked Ludwig, stopping his work. “I do not t’ink they haf any int’llectual value---Dr. Vogel had a point about dat, too.”

“Well, you professors keep up with world events, don’t you?” insisted Quackmore. “Don’t you know what’s going on up in Germany, what’s been happening to people up there?”

“Ja…I do know dat,” Ludwig admitted sadly. “An’ off course Matilda an’ I hate it. But what do ya want me ta do about it, Quackmore? Go over dere an’ say to dat Hitler guy, ‘Hey, ya gotta stop all dat’? As if he would lissen to me!”

“What I think you should do---what everyone should do here---is try to make sure none of that rubs off on your own country, Ludwig. A lot of this is happening because of all the anger and hate that people felt after the Great War. Austria came out of that war pretty badly too; and you know, Hitler was born here. What’s to stop him from spreading his hate in this country, too?”

“I am hopin’ an’ prayin’ it will not happen. But Austria iss not Germ’ny,” Ludwig insisted firmly.

To the professor’s constant irritation, people often had the two countries confused. Yet even though German was its language and there was a slight similarity in its culture, Austria was still a separate nation and people.

It was true as well that Austria had taken part in World War I---though its last reigning emperor, the good Charles I, was outraged at Kaiser Wilhelm for his atrocities. But Charles died in 1922 and Austria was now a republic; yet in spite of certain civil and political tensions, it had managed to stay somewhat above the anarchy infecting its neighbor.

But as Ludwig would heartbreakingly discover, his beloved country was living on borrowed time.

The change came gradually at first. By 1934, news of Germany and the ever-growing National Socialist Party was appearing often in newspapers, magazines, newsreels and on the radio. The man with the funny mustache, the angry voice that screamed, would be more and more the topic in cafés and other public places---even the University of Vienna itself. Whether he cared or not what Ludwig von Drake thought of him, Adolf Hitler did not intend to be ignored.

There were other changes as well. People began arriving to Austria from Germany---some with glowing praise of the National Socialist party, others with sad reports of persecution and violent acts of hatred. The former had come hoping to spread the dark gospel of the new movement; the latter only sought refuge from its cruelty.

One of the latter was a Jewish art teacher named Nathan Taubmann. Because of growing political and social unrest back in his native Berlin, he had come to Vienna with his wife and ten-year old son, Benjamin. It was his hope that the city so famous for art and music would offer him both shelter and a livelihood. Fortunately, Nathan’s former employers had recommended him to the University and for the time being few there were concerned about his religious beliefs, so Dr. Vogel hired him with little trouble.

Ludwig met Nathan and liked him, both for his knowledge of art and his gentle personality. Noting that their latest instructor seemed just as lost and uneasy about his new country as Matilda had been, the professor took Nathan under his wing. He helped introduce him to the University and life in Vienna; he also invited the Taubmanns to his house for coffee and even took them to the Opera.

Ludwig’s kindness meant a lot to his new colleague, who was anxious to be accepted in society and to make a better life for his family, and the two soon became friends. Matilda knew how it felt to adjust to a new country, and so she quickly became friendly with Nathan’s wife Sarah. With still no children forthcoming in the Von Drake household, Benjamin’s presence was especially welcome. He was very bright for his age and loved the museums and concert halls in Vienna, and often visited the University where Nathan worked.

Seeing his own childhood in Benjamin, Ludwig quickly grew fond of him and encouraged him in his love of academics. He also gave him various tasks to do, such as helping to set up materials for music class, fetching art supplies, and putting away books, and he would reward Benjamin with a coin or some sweets. The boy took a special pleasure in helping out the professor; it was his hope to study at the University when he was older, perhaps even to teach there like his father.

But soon there was another new arrival to the University: Rolf Schweiner, a burly eighteen-year old from Munich. His father Augustus was a wealthy factory owner there, and had come to Vienna to expand his business. Deciding that his son should have the best education possible,
Herr Schweiner insisted that Rolf enroll in the University.

It didn’t take long for Ludwig to dislike the new student, who from the very beginning showed a poor attitude toward his lessons and the University itself. He took great delight in poking fun at some of the students and even his teachers, and unfortunately the professor was one of his favorite victims; on one occasion, Ludwig actually heard the boy mocking him. Worse, Rolf had brought over certain unpleasant ideas he had learned well in his former residence---ideas that he was far too eager to share.

One day, Ludwig happened to be teaching natural history. It was still his habit to help run the other classes at the University, though now as mainly a substitute for other teachers who were sick or on holiday.

The particular lesson that afternoon was about nature’s laws of survival; to illustrate, Ludwig drew a little story on the blackboard about a fox hunting a rabbit. He also noticed that Rolf seemed unusually interested in what was happening. That was unusual, since the young man normally ignored the lessons---or made fun of the professor behind his back.

When the fox had caught and eaten the rabbit in the story, and Ludwig turned to the class and asked what they had learned from that scenario, Rolf’s hand eagerly shot up. Against his better judgment, yet grateful his new student was paying attention for once, the professor declared:

“All right den, Herr Schweiner, what can ya tell us?”

The young man’s answer was both spontaneous and astonishing.

“The rabbit is a coward and deserves to die. The future belongs to the strong---and to the brutal!”

Ludwig was stunned, and even some of the other students were wide-eyed at Rolf’s answer. As for the professor, the response had nothing to do with nature that he knew of, yet there had been something ominously familiar about the boy’s words.

Encouraged by the reaction of his classmates, Rolf prattled on about his rather harsh views of nature, until Ludwig decided he’d heard all he cared to. Frowning sternly, he ordered:

“Dat iss enough, Herr Schweiner. You will please sit down now.”

He barely managed to hold back the horror and anger in his voice, but the look on his face said it all.

Bewildered and embarrassed, Rolf returned to his seat, and Ludwig continued the lesson as calmly as he could. He was quite relieved when the bell for dismissal rang, and after the students left he sat down at his desk with a heavy sigh. At first he had thought of calling Rolf back and demanding to know where he got such singular beliefs, but quickly thought better of it. He was too disturbed by the young man’s words to even look him in the eye for the time being; and besides, he could very well guess where Rolf got his “education”.

Recently, one of the other teachers had tried getting Ludwig to read Mein Kampf. He had not especially cared to, yet bought it anyway to shut his colleague up---though he had been somewhat curious as well. But after only looking at a few chapters, the professor tossed the book into the incinerator, declaring that the author was out of his mind.

Yet here in Ludwig’s own classroom, and out of the very mouth of one of his students, had come such pitiless words as Adolf Hitler wrote nearly a decade before.

The professor prayed this would only be an isolated incident, and not the start of a trend. But when he told Matilda about it that evening, she was just as troubled over the student’s words.

“What a dreadful thing for him to say!” she exclaimed. “I hope nothing like that happens again.”

“I am hopin' da same thing, Liebling,” her husband replied.

At the University the next day, Ludwig discussed the matter with Nathan; and while the art teacher was startled, he hardly seemed surprised. He had heard the same things from students in his former school.

“There were many like that boy,” he told the professor, “and some of their parents didn’t behave any better.”

Ludwig admitted that he never had really liked Rolf. “He is not a nice boy,” he said, “not like Benjamin. He is a good boy.”

The professor appreciated Benjamin’s manners and helpfulness all the more after that, and looked forward to having the boy as one of his own students someday. But a few days after the classroom incident, Ludwig noticed Benjamin acting somewhat nervous and even troubled.

“What’sa matter, Benny?” the professor asked kindly when the young man came up to hand him some music sheets.

“Oh…nothing, Herr Professor,” Benjamin answered with an uneasy smile. It was then that Ludwig noticed a bruise around the boy’s eye.

“Benny! Did ya get in a fight? Here, let me look at dat, I’ll put somet’in’ on it---” But when he reached out to touch the boy’s face, Benjamin drew back.

“It…itt’s nothing, Professor! I just ran into a door. It’s all right…please don’t tell Papa.”

He seemed unusually anxious to leave the music room then, which both surprised and troubled the professor. But perhaps Benjamin had been fighting, he assumed, and the boy simply hadn’t wanted his father to know of it. Truly this had been a strange week, and Ludwig would be glad when things got back to normal.

The next afternoon, however, he was leaving the University for the day, when he heard a commotion outside the building. There were sounds of someone being struck, a child’s crying, and a big boy’s taunts. Recognizing the older voice too well, Ludwig quickly followed the sounds and was shocked to discover Benjamin huddled up against a wall---with Rolf standing over the boy and viciously hitting him.

“What are you doing back here?” Rolf yelled at the child. “I told you to stay out of here, you filthy little Jew!” But before he could strike Benjamin again, he felt someone grab his arm and yank him back, and the young man turned in irritated surprise to find the professor glaring at him.

Ludwig was hardly a violent person; it was only righteous anger that made him do what he did next.

“You hateful young hoodlum!!” he blurted, shaking Rolf and giving him a sound slap in the face. The young man gasped and turned pale for a second, but his shocked expression quickly twisted into rage.

“You’ll be sorry for that, Von Drake!!” he snarled in an ugly voice.

“I am not sorry!” retorted Ludwig, outraged at both Rolf’s cruelty and the disrespectful use of his own surname. “How dare you ta hurt Benjamin like dat?”

“What do you care? He’s a---”

“I do not care what he iss! An’ don’t say dat again!” the professor warned. For once, he wished he had a cane to use on Rolf’s backside, after the custom of his own childhood schoolteachers. “I haf had it with you, Herr Schweiner,” he continued hotly. “I will report dis to Dr. Vogel---an’ I will personally see dat you are expelled!!”

“Do it, then!!” sneered Rolf. “I hate this place, and I hate you, Four-Eyes! You’re just another ‘thinker’, and your kind aren’t worth anything!”

As the youth furiously ran away, Ludwig stared after him in both astonishment and anger. But he quickly turned his attention to Benjamin, who was crying and trying to wipe the blood from his beak. The professor gently put an arm around him and wiped the boy’s face with his own handkerchief.

“It will be all right, Benj’min,” he said kindly. “You come home wit’ me, an’ I will call your father.” Nathan was still busy in his art class, but Ludwig was anxious to get Benjamin away from the building.

“Do you have to, Herr Professor?” the boy asked, sniffling.

“He has ta know what happened, Benny. Somet’ing has ta be done about dat bad boy…”

As soon as Ludwig brought Benjamin to his home, Matilda cleaned the child up and gave him a glass of milk, while the professor phoned Nathan. He came over immediately and comforted his son; yet while the art teacher was disturbed, he was hardly surprised.

“Benny, why didn’t you tell me that boy had been bothering you?” he asked quietly.

“I didn’t want to worry you, Papa,” Benjamin replied. “You got so upset that other time.”

“This has happened before,” Nathan explained to Ludwig and Matilda. “But not here…until now. We came over here to get away from that kind of thing. And now, it looks like it’s starting all over again…”

“But it was only dat Rolf,” Ludwig insisted. “He is a bad boy. I will see dat he’s punished for what he did to Benny.”

“Ludwig,” Nathan asked him gravely, “do you honestly believe it was only ‘that Rolf’? That there are not others who believe as he does, and that this insanity will end with him?”

Ludwig hoped he was wrong; yet he was deeply disturbed at both the incident and the terrible words Rolf had said.

“What did dat boy mean about ‘thinkers’ ?” he asked Nathan later that evening . “What iss wrong wit’ bein’ a thinker? It iss thinkin’ dat gets important stuff done in da world!”

“Not according to some, Ludwig. Remember what Rolf said about the rabbit? That’s what he’s been taught to think, and that’s what many like him believe now: that it is brute force, not intelligence or reason, that will conquer the world.”

“So,” Ludwig answered with dismay, “I am da ‘rabbit’?”

“People like you and I both, I’m afraid,” Nathan answered with a sad smile.

“But surely dat madness cannot happen here,” Ludwig insisted. Yet as he remembered his recent conversation with Quackmore, the professor wondered if he wasn’t clutching only a mere straw of hope.

Was it possible that there were others in his own country who believed as Rolf did, or worse? Were there not enough of his fellow Austrians who would reject such cruel ideas and stay loyal to the nobility and culture of their country’s better days?

Ludwig quickly reported the beating to Dr. Vogel. The director had long since been aware of Rolf’s behavior, and at first he considered suspending the new student. But with concern for Benjamin’s future safety, Ludwig insisted that Rolf should be expelled.

“He will surely do da same t’ing ta someone else,” the professor declared, “or worse. He iss a very cruel young man.”

But once word of the affair reached the young man’s father, Dr. Vogel was spared the trouble of taking further action. Augustus Schweiner was outraged---but at Ludwig and the director, rather than his son. To the professor’s surprise and disgust, Herr Schweiner actually seemed to defend Rolf’s attitude and actions. In addition, he removed Rolf from the University, angrily declaring that it was no fit place for his son.

There was at least the relief that Rolf would be no further trouble; but to Ludwig and Matilda’s dismay, the Taubmanns decided it would be too risky to stay in Austria any longer. When theycame over to the Von Drakes for coffee some evenings later, Nathan told them that he and his family would soon be leaving for America.

“I have relatives living there,” he explained, “and they’ll see we can find work and a place to live.”

It was hardly a week later that the Von Drakes stood at the train station with the Taubmanns,saying one last sad goodbye to their friends.

“It’s not right that you have to go,” Matilda said sorrowfully. “You‘ve been such wonderful friends to us!”

“We’ll always be friends, Matilda,” Sarah assured her. “We’ll write you and let you know where we are.”

“Please do dat,” Ludwig insisted. “An’ especially let me know how Benny iss doing. I will miss seein’ him at school. An’ Nathan, I will miss you too. You are a good man and a good friend.”

“Same here, Ludwig,” Nathan said warmly, shaking the professor’s hand as Sarah and Matilda hugged each other and cried.

“Be a good boy, Benny,” Ludwig said as he shook a tearful Benjamin’s hand. But he was astonished when the boy released his hand and
hugged him firmly before turning away to board the train with his parents; and as the Von Drakes sadly watched them leave, it was quite
some time before the lump in Ludwig’s throat went away.

But parting with their friends was only the beginning of the Von Drakes’ troubles. Less than a month later, a very grave-faced Dr. Vogel called Ludwig into his office.

“What iss da matter?” the professor asked, seeing the uncomfortable look on the director’s face. But he could guess right away this would be no typical friendly meeting.

Ever since the incident with Rolf Schweiner, Ludwig had noticed a certain change in the University’s atmosphere, and toward himself. Certain professors and other staff who had once been friendly now hardly spoke to him, and at times even avoided him. Certain of the students seemed to have changed toward Ludwig as well, and some of them asked to be transferred from his classes. Apparently word of the episode had gotten around elsewhere in Vienna, even at the Sacher coffee room; Greta was still her usual kindly self, but Ludwig and his wife would hear people whispering, and at times the professor actually caught a unfriendly glance from a neighboring table.

Sitting in Dr. Vogel’s office, Ludwig wondered now if the director had changed toward him as well.

“Professor Von Drake,” Dr. Vogel said slowly, “I’m not quite sure how to begin what I need to say. However, I think you have noticed that people around here have been behaving rather differently toward you…”

“Iss it because of what happened wit’ Rolf?” Ludwig asked anxiously. “Why should dey see ennyt’ing wrong about dat? He did a terrible thing, an’ he had ta be punished.”

“There are some here,” the director explained uncomfortably, “including some of my own superiors, who seem to feel that you should have left well enough alone.”

The professor blinked. “ ‘Left well enough alone’? Den you are sayin’ dat some people here are approvin’ of what Rolf did, an’ even think like him,” he said darkly. “So, because I do not feel dat way, because I defended poor little Benjamin, I am becomin’ da enemy , yes?”

“I’m afraid it would appear so,” Dr. Vogel said solemnly. “There’s no point in hiding that from you, Herr Professor. As a matter of fact, they are requesting that I terminate your position here, or at least convince you to resign.”

Ludwig was stunned. He could not believe the words he was hearing from Dr. Vogel, a man he considered friend as well as employer and who
had in fact attended the professor’s own wedding; but now, a man who seemed nothing more than a stranger. After years of faithful attendance and service, Ludwig was being asked---no, pressured to leave his beloved University, as if none of that had mattered---and all over the defense
of one boy and the discipline of another.

But was it only because of his actions? Was it true, then, what Nathan and Quackmore had said? Had the same evil now raging in Germany
finally entered his own country, even the University itself? If so, the hostility Ludwig was experiencing against himself was not merely because
of his actions, but only the symptom of a disease that was slowly infecting the country he had known and loved.

He stood up, almost shaking with indignation. “All right, den,” he said angrily, “if dat iss how dey feel about me, an’ how you feel too, Dr. Vogel...an’ if dey can think like dat Rolf an’ his father, den I do not want ta stay here another day. I am resignin’!”

He was heading for the door when the director stood up and gently took his arm.

“Ludwig---wait.”

The professor turned to him curiously, for this time Dr. Vogel’s tone was different and his face concerned. And never at any time---until now---had he ever called Ludwig by his first name.

“Please sit down, Ludwig,” the director insisted. The professor did so, watching as Dr. Vogel gave a cautious glance outside before sitting back down at his desk.

“Ludwig,” he said in a low voice, “you may think that I’ve become your enemy, but I haven’t. In fact, you will look back on this meeting and come to feel I was one of the few real friends you had in this place.

“You’ve read the papers and listened to the radio,” he went on. “You know what’s happening in Germany and elsewhere, and you can see signs that things are changing even here. But the change will not merely come from our neighbor in the north, Ludwig; it will also come from within. If Hitler succeeds in swaying our nation, it will be because those who believed his words allowed him to do so.”

“I can believe dat…already it iss happenin’,” the professor said unhappily.

“Then you must understand that I am actually trying to help you, Ludwig,” Dr. Vogel said sadly.“I have known you for many years; you have always been a good man and an excellent instructor,and you have been faithful to the ideals the University has long stood for. And that is why,
in the face of all that is happening, the University will no longer hold a place for you. It is also why I would strongly suggest that you and Frau
Von Drake leave the country as well.”

Ludwig was aghast. “Leave da country?"

“In some years---perhaps less---this will no longer be the Austria you knew and loved. The trouble you had with Rolf Schweiner was only
the beginning...truly, men of knowledge and culture, men of great heart and spirit, will be considered weak and worthless in the eyes of
the ‘New Order’. And in their eyes also, Ludwig, you for one will be considered a traitor.

“It is out of my respect and regard for you,” Dr. Vogel finished as Ludwig stared at him in disbelief, “that I am warning you of what is
happening. You and Frau Von Drake had best sell your house and find some more peaceful place to go to, far away from this madness.
Leave now, Ludwig, while there is still time.”

As Ludwig absorbed the whole speech, he shut his eyes and nodded solemnly, finally understanding what Dr. Vogel was trying to do.

“All right, den…I do not know where we will go, but I will think of somewheres.”

“Good luck, then.” Dr. Vogel shook his hand kindly. “My best to Frau Von Drake as well. And thank you for your years of service, Ludwig…
the University won’t be the same without you.”

Matilda was shocked and saddened at the news of Ludwig’s resignation and the prospect ofhaving to leave the beautiful country which had so shortly become her home. But true to her McDuck shrewdness, she had sensed for some time the winds of change in her husband’s homeland, and noted the growing unfriendliness towards him. Believing as well that things might only get worse for Ludwig and perhaps herself, she agreed that leaving the country was the best solution.

“But where can we go?” she asked. “Where would we be safe?”

“Switzerland, maybes? Or back ta da States?” the professor suggested.

Yet Matilda seemed uncertain about going back to America, even though she had been reluctant to leave it on the night of their proposal. Ludwig understood why; for some time he had noticed her looking at old photographs of her native Scotland with a certain wistfulness, and often heard her remarking how much the Alps reminded her of the Highlands, which he knew she missed. It would also be easier and less costly, he pondered, to go someplace further north of Europe…and it did his heart good to see the light in Matilda’s eyes when he asked her if she would like to return to her native country for a change.

After an appropriate last meal at the Sacher, with a small Sachertorte presented to them as a farewell gift by a weeping Greta (who, to Ludwig’s embarrassment and Matilda’s amusement, insisted on kissing the professor full on the beak), the Von Drakes went off to board their train. Each of the pair had his or her own thoughts as they looked out the window at the lovely country that had once been their home, with a silent prayer that somehow it might be kept safe.

“Remember when you and I said goodbye at this station after we first met?” Matilda asked gently. Ludwig smiled tenderly as he remembered that parting.

“Ja. I was so sad ta see you go, Liebchen...an’ now, here we are, together.”

“And I’ll stay right by your side, darling,” she assured him, “no matter where we have to go.”

She kissed him gently, and Ludwig gave one last look out the window at the Austria that he had loved so; the land of Mozart, the land of his ancestors…and now, a land that would need every prayer that Heaven might answer. When the train began to move, the professor closed
the blind and turned away.

This time, he was the one headed for a country strange to him; this time, he would be the foreigner, having to adjust to a land, language and customs so widely different from his own. But as the train rattled on through the Austrian night, Ludwig felt Matilda squeeze his hand…and he smiled at last knowing that no matter what happened in the future, at least he would not have to face it alone.

End Chapter VIII

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Historical Note: By the events of the previous chapters, the National Socialist Party had long been underway in Germany (though Adolf Hitler did not become dictator until 1934). The movement had gradually been taking root in Austria at that time, but not until the Anschluss in 1938 did that country become an actual part of the Nazi regime. Also, while Austria had no official policy of anti-Semitism until the late 1930s, hate crimes against the Jews were already taking place---and history tells us of the final and tragic outcome.

I'm afraid this had to be a rush job at the end, but I hope you all found this chapter worth the wait! But please do not pressure me for updates, because I’m afraid they’ll be a very long time in coming. As some of you are aware, a whole load of personal “junk” has been going down in my life lately, and right now I don’t know where my life path is going to lead. Hopefully things will soon get back to at least semi-normal for me and get me back in the game. Until then, thanks so much for your support, faithful readers! ---LuvvyDuck