A Patriot (Micro Fiction)

I am going to be hanged tomorrow. For having been a patriot.

I was tried by the war crimes tribunal, and I was found guilty of killing unarmed civilians.

But I was ordered to kill them by my superiors. By my Government.

Being in the army and not obeying orders is equivalent to treason. We were trained not to listen to reason.

Is obeying orders, a crime?

There are soldiers who loot and rape. Did I do that? Did I kill people for my pleasure?

I just did what I was told. I did my job.

There is no one to testify for me. All my superiors are dead. There is no Government either.

I am not afraid of death. I just . . . I just don’t want to die as a criminal.

You tell me – Am I a criminal?

Last page from the dairy of a Nazi Soldier. (A work of fiction.)

Destination Infinity

Cross posted at Sharat’s Blog for this contest. You can participate too.

7 thoughts on “A Patriot (Micro Fiction)

  1. mahesh

    Good one Rajesh – a different take on the prompt! 🙂

  2. Amruta Bhave

    OMG! I daresay, this is one of your best posts ever ( of the ones I have read, of course)!
    Very deep, and very layered, just like the concept of patriotism!
    P.S. Please excuse the too many exclamation marks.

  3. Jeevan

    Excellent work, and with less words truly make sense.

  4. Avada Kedavra

    That was a different take. Good one DI.

  5. Ashwini C N

    Wonderful post. People in the Army are trained to obey the instructions of their seniors, without battling and eyelid. But in cases like this, when superiors exploit the loyalty, it is really a sad state. Was reminded of the film ‘A Few Good Men’.

  6. Anita

    Very true, though ‘fiction’. Well expressed.
    This independence day, I was contemplating that one land’s freedom-fighter is another land’s terrorist.
    But, in your story, it is the same Nazi soldier, only the timing of duty & trial is different.
    A lot depends on the ‘TIME’….

  7. Locomente

    Oh wow!
    This is truly good!!! 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *