“All right, sir. After Hennig and I met with Irmela and persuaded her to send the unencrypted signal—which was more difficult than might have been thought—he lent me a car and I drove her from Königsberg to Gotenhafen, a distance of about two hundred kilometers, along a road that was sometimes jammed with civilians trying to escape from the Red Army. Some even chose to take a shortcut across the frozen sea, often with disastrous results. Meanwhile, the weather grew steadily worse with strong winds, snow, and below-freezing temperatures. Conditions on the road were so bad we almost didn’t reach the ship before it set sail, so there was little time for a proper good-bye. I wish I’d said more to her. You always do. I suppose given the speed with which we coupled, it makes just as much sense that we should have uncoupled so quickly. Everything we did back then was done in a hurry. A last-minute thing. She kissed me quickly and then bounded up the gangway of the Wilhelm Gustloff while I stood there like a useless capstan feeling a horrible mixture of relief that she was on board and real fear that I might never see her again.