Ein Fenster mit Blick auf den Hügel

      Eric was born in Birmingham in 1928. The Coverdales were a Catholic family; his father was a baker, and his mother was a nurse. They attended church every Sunday, and under this influence, Eric grew into a kind and well-mannered boy. He did reasonably well in school, developed a love for history and physics, and dreamed of becoming an engineer. In 1933, upon hearing Churchill speak about the NSDAP's rise to power, his parents grew anxious. His mother’s sister lived in Belgium, so the family travelled there to persuade her to relocate to Britain, as the threat of occupation loomed. Once they arrived, the Coverdales settled in and ended up staying for five long years—Eric's aunt was hesitant to leave. During this time, Eric learned everything he could about Germany, devouring every article he could find. He discovered a world of new ideas and mastered the German language to perfection. He despised that gang of thugs now leading the country, and the boy understood it would only end in ruin. The year was 1940. On the tenth of May, like a bolt from the blue, German troops invaded and occupied Belgium. It was too late to flee. Just over two weeks later, the Belgian armed forces capitulated on the orders of King Leopold III, and the Germans began forming SS divisions on captured soil from local volunteers. Eric’s parents refused to be drawn into this madness. They declined to swear allegiance to Germany, remaining faithful to their ideals and their homeland. The boy was not at home when his parents were taken away in a truck and shot in a nearby forest alongside his aunt and her husband. The Germans had little patience for English sympathizers. Eric only found their bodies five days later, while searching the surrounding area. There they lay, in a row—bloated, deathly pale, half-eaten by worms, and caked in dirt. He did not cry. He did not scream. In silence, he began to dig a grave for them. He knew who had done this, and he knew he would never forgive those Nazi bastards. Eric Coverdale was determined to find a way into the Third Reich itself. He thought long and hard, and finally, his chance came: a convoy of trucks carrying uniforms for Wehrmacht soldiers. Without a second thought, he leaped into one of them, buried himself deep in the clothing, and lay in wait. He arrived in Munich at precisely noon, slipped out of the truck unnoticed, and wandered the city in search of shelter. He was taken in without papers, a rare occurrence. The kind mother superior, seeing a hungry, gaunt child, accepted him without a word. And so, Eric began his life in Germany, studying its structure and systems. The idea of organizing underground resistance came to him only after a month in the country. He was cautious, contemplating and planning carefully, but for now, he recruited no one—it was too dangerous. He lived like this until he met Maurice Katz, a small Jewish boy hiding on the outskirts of the city; Diego Cervantes, a bold Spaniard; and finally, Paolo Carbone, a boy wise beyond his years. Together, they resolved to convince people that it was all a lie. That these were the actions of true monsters.