The life and times of Heinrich von Faehlmann

Member 238.

Heinrich's 15th birthday was a day with consequences that would be felt over the whole world for the next forty years. Heinrich, like the rest of the world, had no way of knowing that at the time. It was a strange day in Hamburg. News of the Armistice was mixed with stories of a major mutiny in the fleet at Kiel. Germany had never lost a war in living memory and no one knew what would happen. Later that November order had been re-established in the fleet and it sailed for internment. The British blockade continued however for the next months till the Treaty of Versailles was concluded and food was still scarce.  By the end of the year the first soldiers were returning from the Western Front.

The return of the troops saw a dramatic change in the fortunes of the gang of youths  which Heinrich now considered to be his only family. With no work, no food and a firm belief that while they were undefeated on the field of battle and had been betrayed by the civilian government  the soldiers formed into armed, cohesive and disciplined groups that would not be subservient to the civil power, never mind a bunch of kids. Progressively, and surprisingly rapidly, the soldiers polarised into two groups. One was communist and the other was extreme right wing. With the help of sailors the communists surprisingly quickly came out on top in Hamburg. They rapidly extended their influence progressively displacing Heinrich's gang. Within a matter of only a few weeks the gang lost control of over 50% of its territory and by mid February 1919 had to make a stand or go under without a fight. Heinrich's instinct was to make a stand.

When the 'boss' vanished, never to be seen again, the Kapos had a meeting. Clearly in a pitched battle they would have no prospect of success and so opportunities to re-establish their power base would be hard to identify. 'We must strike back and make sure these damned soldiers stop taking over our territory', said one of Heinrich's colleagues. 'What can we do? These bastards always turn up in groups of 5 or 6 with rifles and we can do nothing.', said another. 'What do we know about them? Can we get hold of their leader? ', asked a third. Eventually a plan was worked out that the Kapos believed would give them a chance to capture the communist leader who they knew as 'Hauptmann' Meir. They had found out where his mother and sister lived and knew that he went to visit them every week. They would capture him there, where he felt safe. What they would do after that no one had worked out.

At first the plan went well.  Just after dark at 4 pm. one of the gang members called at the front door of their target's house. When it was answered he brandished his pistol and forced his way in followed by Heinrich and five more members of the gang. They stormed through the house and  in a couple of minutes they had tied up both the mother and daughter and kept them separated in different rooms. Apart from these two the house was empty. Their intelligence was that the soldier's leader always called before 5 pm.. When no one had called by 5.30 some of the gang were getting jumpy and two of them left to try to find out what had happened. Heinrich proposed that they should question the women to find out if they knew anything. When no one opposed the idea or seemed able to suggest anything else Heinrich effectively took over.

The house was a substantial one with a large entrance hall and an impressive stairwell which led to an open upstairs landing which in turn gave access to four bedrooms. Obviously this communist leader came from a wealthy family. Heinrich first went to the room where the daughter was being kept. 'Gag her, blindfold her and tie ropes to each of  this younger bitch's hands and ankles.' ordered Heinrich.

He then went to where the gang had the mother. 'Take the old cow out into the hall and tie her to a chair. Have her sitting facing the back of the chair with her knees tied to the back legs and her ankles tied to the front legs. Tie her forearms together behind her back. Gag her, blindfold her and have her facing the kitchen door at the back of house.' he told the three who were looking after the mother. 'Let me know when you have her in position.'  These preparations only took five minutes and the group in the hall soon shouted, much to Heinrich's delight, 'Ready here boss.' 

The daughter was then taken out into the hall. They pulled her along by the ropes tied to her hands then passed them up to gang members on the landing who hauled her up by them till her feet were off the ground. The ropes tied to her ankles were also passed up to the landing but her whole weight was kept on her arms. 'O.K. Now we're ready. Take the gag of the old cow.' said Heinrich.

'Frau Meir' , said Heinrich in a quiet and controlled voice which surprised everyone , 'My friends and I should be most grateful if you would tell us where your son is today.'

'Go to hell you swine and get out of my home.' was her reply. 

'Come now. Madam, that sort of language and attitude can only get you into trouble. I have asked politely and I really must press you for an answer. You should be aware that I am not known for my civility or forbearance and am prepared to insist on  your immediate reply.'  said Heinrich, again using his measured voice.

'You'll never make me tell you and when my son finds out what you've done here he'll teach you manners you pig dogs.' screamed Frau Meir.

'Hans, gag that bitch then take off her blindfold,' said Heinrich to one of his colleagues. 'O. K. now strip both of the tarts and lets see what we've got to work on.' Neither woman was fat, there hadn't been enough food in Germany in recent years for that, but both were fairly chunky. They were dark haired and had sallow skin. Without any clothes on they shivered in the cold. 'Don't worry ladies I'll soon warm you up,' said Heinrich. He made sure that Frau Meir could see what he was doing by instructing one of the gang to pull her head back by her hair. He then got a metre of the rope his gang had used to tie up the women and carefully tied a knot about 75 mm from the end. Then, looking directly at Frau Meir, he drew his arm back and lashed her daughter across the back. The unsuspecting daughter had been sobbing at the discomfort of hanging with her weight on her wrists and the shame of being naked in front of these youths. Now, however, she convulsed with the pain of the blow and her legs jerked about uncontrollably. After five more stripes she became less demonstrative and had, from a peak of responding to each blow of the lash with a fresh shriek which the gang clearly heard in spite of her gag, descended to a series of howls and sobs. 'Frau Meir,' said Heinrich, 'Now look what you've made me do to your daughter. You can prevent me from getting more persuasive by telling me all about your son and where he is just now. Just nod when you are ready to tell me all I want to know.' Unfortunately, for the Meirs, he had not told his lackey to relax his grip on the mother's hair and no matter what she tried she was unable to nod.

'Pull up on the ankle ropes lads', was Heinrich's next command. This raised the daughters legs behind her but also separated them because the ankle ropes were taken up on the  opposite sides of the upstairs landing. When they were fully tensioned Heinrich ordered that the wrist ropes be lowered by 150 mm. Heinrich took up position to one side of the young woman's body and swung his rope end to impact on her inner thigh. Again she shrieked with agony and, in spite of the gag, the anguish in the mother's  face was there to be seen by all. He  lashed each  of her thighs with every blow getting nearer and nearer to the  patch of dense black pubic hair between her legs. At each blow the daughter's body twitched and shook. As he drew back his arm for another blow Frau Meir jerked her head free by tearing a lump of hair off her scalp and nodded vigorously. That did not stop Heinrich and his blow to the daughter's labia was precise and vicious. The daughter's head dropped forward onto her chest as she passed out with the pain.

'Ah, Frau Meir. I believe you are ready now to tell me what I want to know.' said Heinrich. 'Take off the...'. At that point he was interrupted by the two gang members who had gone to see what had happened to 'Hauptmann' Meir. Breathlessly they babbled, 'It's over. Nothing is left. That bastard Meir and about 15 of his men marched into our quarter and kicked our men out of everything. We've nothing left to go back to. The communists are all busy celebrating now but they've sent out messages that everyone who was in our gang had better get the hell out.' 

After a quick meeting in the kitchen all the Kapos except Heinrich decided to cut and run immediately. There was nothing that Heinrich could do or say that would change their minds so he watched them leave. Heinrich decided to see what he could get from the house but also to leave a message that 'Hauptmann' Meir would never forget.  He quickly ransacked the house and found several items of interest. The most significant were a Menorah, a Parabellum Pistole '08, some jewellery, a stash of about three thousand Marks and a set of identification papers. He also found items in the kitchen that would help him leave his 'message'. He had already decided that he could not return to his lodgings and that he would have to abandon his previous existence. From Heinrich's viewpoint in many ways life had become comparatively comfortable. He had experienced power and had been able to do virtually whatever he wanted. In his mind it was the Meirs who had robbed him of this. He might not be able to get to 'Hauptmann' but for sure the two bitches would pay. He knew that he could not take too much time.

When he got downstairs one of the lower grade gang members was still there watching the women. 'Hans', said Heinrich 'I knew I could rely on you. Here's a thousand Marks. Stay outside the door and if any of these bloody communists come throw in a brick and scarper. Will you do that?' 'Yes boss' said Hans. 'No more of that Hans. The gang's done. Once I'm finished here we all go our own ways and the best of luck to you.' replied Heinrich. Boss for 20 minutes he mused to himself. Now to sort out these bloody Meirs.

Heinrich walked into the hallway. The daughter had regained consciousness and was moaning through her gag. The mother was shivering still tied to the chair. Heinrich started by addressing the mother. 'I am about to remove your gag. You will say nothing except in direct answer to any questions I put to you. If you say anything else your daughter will suffer first. Nod if you understand.'

She nodded and Heinrich untied the gag. 'My son is' was all she got out before Heinrich shouted at her 'I know bloody well where you son has been. I didn't ask you anything you pig. Shut up.' With that he took the three steps over to where her daughter hung and drawing back his knotted rope he lashed the woman across the left tit. He drew back his arm again and was about to swing again when Frau Meir shouted out 'Please, please don't hit her any more. I'll do anything you want but please stop hurting Sarah.'  Heinrich slowly shook his head and almost under his breath said, 'You Jewish bitches never listen' as he unleashed another blow this time across the unfortunate Sarah's right tit. Sarah obligingly let out a shriek and her whole body resumed its spasmodic twitching.

'Frau Meir you were told only to speak in response to my questions. Now shut up or Sarah here will start to know what pain really is.' said Heinrich.

Heinrich moved over behind Frau Meir, to where she could not see him, and allowed his knotted rope to trail down her naked back. 'Now that you've introduced me to your daughter tell me what your first name is Frau.' he said. 'My name is Rebecca. Please do not hurt my daughter any more. I'll do anything you want.' she blurted out.

'Rebecca, Rebecca. Yes you will do anything ,,, except you don't know when to shut up. Poor Sarah.' said Heinrich. He then marched over to the whimpering woman, who could hear all that was being said, and drawing back his rope swung his arm forward and landed a blow with the knot precisely on Sarah's right nipple. Blood started to ooze from the ruined flesh and Sarah's muted scream was matched by her mother's. 'Quiet Rebecca', said Heinrich, 'You'll have your own reasons to squeal like a stuck pig later.' With that he drew his arm back again but this time the blow of the lash missed Sarah's left nipple by a few millimetres, though it did produce a perfectly satisfactory scream and writhing body response from the tortured woman. By this time Heinrich's penis was fully erect since  he found the spasmodic movements of the suspended woman's body as he laid the lash on her to  be extremely erotic and arousing.

Heinrich again moved behind Rebecca's chair and again let his rope trail down her spine. 'What's your son's first name, whore?' he demanded. Startled by the change of tone Frau Meir did not respond quickly enough to satisfy Heinrich and he disciplined her with a blow of his rope end across her back. A second almost immediately thereafter drew a scream from the older woman. Before she could catch her breath a third landed across her rib cage and the knot wrapped round her side and sunk into her right tit. Only after a fourth blow to the other side which also wrapped round and into her breast did Heinrich relent. 'Answer me Jew.' he barked.

Through her sobs she managed to say 'My son's name is David'.  'Well', said Heinrich 'we don't have that much more time together and I must leave David a clear message so first we'll get you into position then I'll bugger Sarah over there and leave. Don't forget to let your son know what taking over our territory has cost you.' With that he tied the gag back around Rebecca's mouth and replaced the blindfold.

Heinrich's erection was increasingly demanding and when he reached round from behind Frau Meir's back to tie a rope round her waist her dangling tits which were swaying in rhythm to her sobs rubbed against the back of his hands and he could contain himself no longer. Her bare arse was sticking over the back of the chair and he dropped his trousers and pulled her arse cheeks apart. He then began to push the tip of his penis into her anus. The rope round her waist afforded him excellent purchase as he forced his way up her virgin arse.  When he was fully home he moved from the rope to grab her tits then using them as handles, twisting and pulling as he thrust in and out he satiated himself, for the first time. In the kitchen he had found several potentially useful items one of which was a pastry rolling pin. Made of wood this was effectively a cylinder 300 mm (12”) long by about 50 mm (2”) in diameter. Heinrich finished his anal rape by hammering this 'toy' a good 200 mm (8”) into the unfortunate woman's rear passage. He then tied her upper body to the back of the chair. Reaching through between the spokes of the chair he pulled her tits through and, to keep each in place, drove meat skewers through the exposed flesh. He was intrigued by the extent that skin could deform before the point of the skewers pierced the flesh. The screams as he pushed each of the steel rods through Rebecca's breast meat then out the far side reached a new intensity. Two skewers were embedded in each tit at right angles to each other. The screams of agony from the suffering body were so loud that Heinrich felt he had to check that the gag was properly tied. It was.

He then got a second chair out of the kitchen and, leaning the tortured woman's chair forward, he rested its back onto this second chair. Getting the menorah he carefully placed two candles in it so that they were placed directly beneath her breasts. Once he had the candles nicely lit he removed her blindfold and showed the distraught woman what was in store for her. Her screams started before he placed the candelabra beneath her then rose to a crescendo as the flames of the candles began to burn her nipples.

'Ah Sarah,' said Heinrich 'now its your turn for my goodbye. I hope you are refreshed from your rest. First I'll let you see your mother. She has been quite entertaining.' With that he removed the blindfold from Sarah. It took her longer to appreciate and understand the sight before her than it took for her eyes to adjusted to the light. When she realised the severity of the treatment that Heinrich had inflicted on her mother and that she was totally at the whim of this perverted youth she moaned uncontrollably. Heinrich now busied himself with trying to inflict the maximum pain and damage he could on her exposed and vulnerable body without letting his victim lapse into unconsciousness.  He took pleasure in looking into her eyes as he caused her extreme pain. The sight of the depths of the anguish into which he could plunge the unfortunate woman excited him. He looked straight into her eyes and as he saw her descend into the unfathomable depths of complete despair it was strangely intoxicating to him. He  lashed her with his knotted rope across her belly and laughed as she lost control of her bladder. Next more than a dozen times he laid his lash across each breast revelling in the fresh spasm of pain which each blow generated. Blow after blow of the knotted ropes end  landed on the soft flesh of her breasts as he lashed then in a frenzy of hate. It was only when he had succeeded in reducing her tits to little more than a series of red weals oozing blood that he noticed that she had passed out and his penis was again demanding relief. Heinrich got a bucket of water and threw it in Sarah's face.

Sarah came to with the sensation of brutal anal rape as Heinrich made good his promise to Rebecca.  The combination of the pain of the rape and the mauling of her abused tits, which Heinrich used as handholds to pull her down and onto his penis, made her again nearly pass out. Once Heinrich was finished he took another candle from those he had found in the  menorah and, having lit it he slowly and deliberately used the flame to burn off her pubic hair. At this she again passed out and in spite of another bucket of cold water in the face he could not bring her round.  He got two more straight backed chairs from the kitchen and placed them back to back directly beneath her cunt. Then taking the two largest candles he could find he inserted as far as could one into  her vagina and the other her anus. Next he released the wrist ropes tied to the upper banisters and let her whole body drop and force  her crotch down onto the chair backs. The two candles were also forced deeper into her anus and vagina. The pain of this brought her back to consciousness and Heinrich retied the ropes to the banisters so that she could not use her hands to support herself but left all her weight bearing down on her cunt.

For the next few minutes he tried to flay the skin off Rebecca's back and arse using his ropes end. The pain from her burning tits was so severe that she barely noticed the lashes of his rope and only when he changed to battering her arse cheeks with a meat tenderiser, which he had found in the kitchen, did he manage to satisfactorily modulate her screams.  It seemed to Heinrich that only a few minutes had elapsed when he heard the clatter of a brick against the outside door. He gave the rolling pin one last blow on its exposed end with the meat tenderiser, said nothing and left.

When he left Hamburg all that Heinrich had in the world was what he carried with him. From the moment that the warning brick clattered into the front door of the Meir’s home till he was out of the back door was less than 30 seconds. He was out of the street in 3 minutes and out of Hamburg in less than an hour. He carried with him the Pistol, the 2000 marks which were left of the money, some rings, the clothes on his back and the knowledge he had picked up in the Hamburg streets. Beyond that he knew only that he could not return to where had grown up. Heinrich decided to make for Munich only because his mother had said that was where she was going when she left those many years ago. He had no idea what direction it was in or how far away it was but that did not matter. He could barely read at this time and at first he travelled mostly by foot. When he needed money he often stole using his skills as a pick pocket. On several occasions he was accused by his victims but he always had already got rid of their wallets or purses into a concealed stash. He developed an air of shocked disappointment and disbelief which he would put on whenever he was accused. More than once the local police demanded that his accuser apologise to the ‘blameless young man’. He never stayed in a town after being accused and he steadily moved south.

The journey had progressed to Schweinfurt about 100 kilometres north west of Nurnberg when he had an exceptionally good day picking pockets. He was sitting in a beer cellar and had picked out a stash in the coal scuttle when three young toffs walked in. They were behaving as if they owned the place and immediately Heinrich took a dislike to them.  In particular one, who shared Heinrich’s first name, offended him. They were a noisy bunch that demanded instant attention from the bar staff and Heinrich’s namesake was the worst of the lot. It was with great pleasure that our Heinrich removed the wallet from the loud-mouthed youth’s jacket. It went into the coal scuttle immediately. He need not have worried since the three soon left as noisily as they had arrived.

Heinrich had by now cultivated a seemingly caring persona which was serving him well. When he bought another drink and said to the barmaid that he wasn’t sad to see that rowdy group leave she started talking to him about the toffs. Since Heinrich had only had three years schooling and had difficulty in reading he had learned to be an attentive listener. This skill especially endeared him to women and it was simple to get the barmaid to give him a potted history of the rowdy youth’s family. They came from a large estate 25 kilometres north. Heinrich bade her farewell, retrieved his stash of wallets from the coal scuttle and left the beer cellar. Up till now he had been Heinrich Brandt. He boarded a train to Nurnberg and when it arrived he got off it as Heinrich von Faehlmann.

This transformation was enabled by the contents of the wallet he had dipped. As well as a substantial sum of money there was a full set of identification and travel documents. Somewhere in the back of his mind Heinrich had been possessed by a nagging fear that the condition of the Meir women might have been so serious that the police would be involved and, without truly realising it, had been looking to establish a new identity for some time. The speed that he had been forced to leave Hamburg had also been on his mind and he had resolved that whenever he set down roots and had more wealth than he would normally carry about with him he would establish a 'fall back' box. One day while walking along a road on his journey he had spent some time deciding in his mind just what he needed in such a box. He decided that there were really only three contents that were essential. First money, as much as he could spare at the time (events during the next few years were to change this to jewels and gold but his initial resolve was cash) since, after being deposited, he could only return once either to retrieve the box or to use it for a getaway. Secondly a gun with ammunition and third a full set of identity and travel documents. Anything else was unnecessary or would make the cache too bulky. He reasoned that all this would be able to be accommodated in a box no bigger than a biscuit tin and it could be sealed to make sure that, even if it were buried for a couple of years, the contents would remain usable.

The von Faehlmann wallet contents, together with what he had accumulated from other thefts, gave Heinrich time to rest up and regroup. He found that he still had some way to go to get to Munich and it almost by accident that he fell into a different method of getting a living while making his way the Munich. In Nurnberg he bought himself new clothes and smartened himself up. He reasoned that a new person needs a new image so it was off with the Brandt and in with the von Faehlmann. He was near to the railway station when a lady in mourning clothes carrying several parcels dropped one. ‘Please allow me to assist you, madam’, said the smartly dressed young man with the northern accent. Heinrich picked up the parcel that had been dropped, insisted on being allowed to carry most of the others and escorted the lady to the taxi rank. The petrol shortages were so severe that there were only horse drawn cabs available in Nurnberg. Most of the horses had been killed for food however so cabs were few and far between and there was a lengthy queue in front of them. Heinrich started talking with the lady who was soon pouring out her life story to him. In half an hour there were still no taxis available and Heinrich asked if it was far to her home. He suggested that she might be better off using public transport but that, in conscience, it was unthinkable for him to allow a lady of her obvious quality to travel in that fashion unescorted. Half an hour later they were outside the ladies door and, after politely refusing her first invitation to share a cup of coffee, he allowed himself to be persuaded to accept her invitation.

He had already found out that she was a widow who had lost both her husband and only son on the Western front. When Heinrich spun her a tale of a mother who had died at his birth and a father killed at the front in 1916 her mothering instincts took over and she insisted that he stay, at least till he was settled and knew what he wanted to do next in his life. With few variations this approach saw Heinrich all the way to Munich. Sometimes the women just wanted to mother Heinrich but, in others, within 48 hours they were fucking like rabbits.

Always Heinrich was given free run of the house, and used this to identify everything of potential value to him. In seven to ten days took what he wanted and moved on. By the time he reached Munich he had a suitcase with three guns, a spare full set of identification papers and assorted valuables. He never took everything of value in any one  house and thought, rightly, that the women would be too embarrassed to approach the police. However, just to be sure, he made the last step to Munich by train from Regensburg a distance of almost 80 kilometres.

It had taken Heinrich three months to reach Munich. During that time he had relied completely on himself and lived by,his wits alone. Life was pretty much as it had been in Hamburg in many ways but he missed having people on whom he could rely. Once he had only avoided being the victim of a theft rather than the perpetrator only by firing three rounds from the Parabellum. This reduced his ammunition supply to less than 20 rounds and once he had arranged somewhere to stay Heinrich resolved that the next thing he must do was to try to get more ammunition. He wandered round the beer cellars trying to buy 9 mm ammunition.  Eventually he got a supply of 200 rounds but unknowingly in so doing he had attracted the attention of the Munich Army Command. There had recently been a major communist uprising in Bavaria and the military needed to know if Heinrich was connected with any revolutionary threat. Also the supply of  9 mm parabellum ammunition in Germany was proscribed by the Treaty of Versailles. The Munich military decided not to take any chances and put Heinrich on the list of individuals whose movements would be tracked.

On his travels through the underworld and beer cellars of Munich in search of an ammunition supplier Heinrich had been attracted to the rantings of Anton Drexler. Drexler was an extreme anti communist and anti Semite and these convictions were both close to Heinrich's heart. When he approached Drexler he was invited to become a member of his political party, the German Workers Party. Heinrich paid his membership fee and he become party member number 238. Only later did he learn that, to inflate apparent membership, numbers started at 200. The Munich Army Command became aware of his membership and decided that it would be better to know of what was happening in Drexler's party and if it posed any real threat.

In their employment they had an Austrian who had volunteered and served in a Bavarian Regiment who operated as a low grade informer or spy. He had lived in Vienna and had views which could fit in well with the GWP so they decided to send him to keep an eye on Heinrich and Drexler.

So was taken a seemingly inconsequential, trivial decision but it would cost the  lives of millions!