Minor Fictional Characters in In the Presence of Mine Enemies

This article lists the various minor fictional characters who appear in the novel In the Presence of Mine Enemies. These characters play at best a peripheral role in the novel. Most were simply mentioned once, or had a very brief, unimportant speaking role that did not impact the plot, and never appeared again. While some were identified by at least one name, others were not.

Frau Abetz
Frau Abetz's daughter Liselotte was a patient of Dr. Martin Dambach. Lisolotte had an ear infection, and Frau Abetz brought her to Dr. Dambach for antibiotics.

Liselotte Abetz
Liselotte Abetz (born c. 2008) was a patient of Dr. Martin Dambach. Lisolotte had an ear infection, and her mother brought her to Dr. Dambach for antibiotics.

Adolf
Adolf was a guard at Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. He greeted Heinrich Gimpel when Gimpel returned to work after being imprisoned by the Security Police on suspicion of being a Jew. Adolf greeted Gimpel by stating that "the Security Police couldn't grab their ass with both hands."

Dietrich Baumgartner
Dietrich Baumgartner (b. ca 2010) was the infant patient of Dr. Martin Dambach. Dietrich was teething, and his mother hoped that Dr. Dambach had something to make her son more comfortable.

Frau Baumgartner
Frau Baumgartner's infant son Dietrich Baumgartner was a patient of Dr. Martin Dambach. Dietrich was teething, and FrauBaumgarnter hoped that Dr. Dambach had something to make her son more comfortable.

Frau Bauriedl
Frau Bauriedl was a regular in Dr. Martin Dambach's office. She often believed her daughter, Wilhelmina, had some sort of affliction, a fact that exasperated Dambach and his employees, including Esther Stutzman. However, Frau Bauriedl always paid her bills promptly, and so her paranoia was tolerated. On one particularly busy day, however, Dambach ran out of patience, and Frau Bauriedl left, angrily announcing that she'd never return.

Wilhelmina Bauriedl
Wilhelmina Bauriedl (b. 2003) was the unfortunate daughter of Frau Bauriedl, a woman who was constantly convinced her daughter was being plagued by all manner of ailments. Thus, Wilhelmina was a frequent patient to Martin Dambach's office, a fact that irritated the doctor and his staff, Esther Stutzman included.

Blinky Bill
"Blinky Bill" was a member of the BUF and a supporter of Charlie Lynton. He earned his nick-name because of his squint.

Horace Buckingham
Horace Buckingham was a British professor of Medieval English studies. He spoke at the annual Medieval English Association meeting in London in 2010. Susanna Weiss spoke with him briefly. He fled when she expressed an interest in the BUF meeting also being held in London. As Weiss was a German citizen, Buckingham probably believed her interest was less-than-innocent.

Erna Buckliger
Erna Buckliger was the wife of Heinz Buckliger, fourth Führer of the Greater German Reich. She was a skinny blonde woman. She was held in captivity with her husband during the SS Putsch. Neither came to harm when the Putsch was stopped.

Mathilde Burchert
Mathilde Burchert was an undergraduate student of Susanna Weiss'. She was enthusiastic about Gauleiter Rolf Stolle's speech calling for immediate reform within the Greater German Reich. Weiss feared that Burchert might be an agent provocateur, and so did not voice an opinion.

Charlie Cox
Charlie Cox was a member of the United States Treasury Department, living in that nation's capital, Omaha. He called Heinrich Gimpel, the specialist for American affairs at Oberkommando der Wehrmacht on several occasions to get his opinion of Führer Heinz Buckliger's professed desire for reformation of the Greater German Reich. After Buckliger brought a division of German troops home from the U.S., Cox became more openly critical of the German occupation of his country, making snide remarks under his breath while speaking to Gimpel.

Dahrendorf
Herr Doktor Professor Dahrendorf was a colleague of Susanna Weiss'. He specialized in the Nibelungenlied and played the stock market on the side. The fact that he gave a report focused on salaries and budgets at a faculty meeting suggested that his efforts to play the market weren't successful.

Dietrich
Dietrich was a colonel stationed at Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. Heinrich Gimpel and Willi Dorsch overheard him and another colonel, Paul, arguing about the First Edition of Mein Kampf. Dietrich described the idea of a democratically selected Führer as described in the First Edition as "clap-trap".

Hans Dirlewanger
Hans Dirlewanger was a classmate of Alicia Gimpel's. They were in Herr Kessler's class. The day after Führer Heinz Buckliger's televised speech, Hans admitted he hadn't watched to a wrathful Kessler. Hans explained that his father was on leave from occupation duty in the United States, and that the family had gone to dinner and the cinema and thus missed the speech.

Kessler was mollified by this answer.

Joseph Dorsch
Joseph Dorsch was the son of Willi and Erika Dorsch, and the brother of Magda Dorsch. Although the Dorsches had been unhappy together for some time, they stayed together for their children's sake.

Magda Dorsch
Magda Dorsch was the daughter of Willi and Erika Dorsch, and the sister of Joseph Dorsch. Although her parents had been unhappy together for some time, they stayed together for the sake of Magda and her brother.

Drumont
Drumont was a French professor who attended the Medieval English Association meeting in London. Susanna Weiss had a brief conversation with him as they prepared to register, during which Susanna used her rusty French. Two British fascists overheard her speaking, and made a derisive remark about foreigners. Susanna switched to German, and demanded to see their papers. While she had no right to them, the two Englishmen presented their papers based solely on her use of German. After she "examined" them, the two men fled.

Both Drumont and Susanna found the registration desk.

Susanna speculated - though with no concrete evidence - that Drumont might be a secret Jew like herself, and reflected sadly that even if it were true, neither of them would dare take the risk of revealing it to the other.

Maximilian Ebert
Maximilian Ebert worked for the Greater German Reich's Genealogical Office. He investigated the discrepancy in Paul Klein's genealogical chart discovered by pediatrician Dr. Martin Dambach. The original chart suggested that the Kleins were purely Aryan, whereas a second chart suggested possible Jewish ancestors several generations back. This, coupled with Dambach's diagnosing Paul with Tay-Sachs disease led Ebert and Dambach to correctly suspect that the Kleins were secretly Jewish.

However, when it was learned that Reichsführer-SS Lothar Prützmann had a nephew also diagnosed with Tay-Sachs, the investigation was dropped, and Ebert reprimanded. Ebert attempted to lay blame at Dambach's feet, who refused to accept it.

Ebert was scrupulous about his duty, clicking his heels at Dambach's receptionist, Esther Stutzman, herself a secret Jew, and the person unwittingly responsible for the discrepancy in the charts. Ebert also came on to Esther, and saw no relevance in the fact that she was happily married with two children.

Ingeborg Fasold
Ingeborg Fasold was the principal of the Gimpel daughters' school. When the three girls were taken into custody as accused Mischlingen (half-Jews), the girls created such a fuss that Fasold appeared and castigated their captors for the level of force and the number of men brought to bear to detain the children. She did not believe they were Jews, and actually praised them for being excellent students (a fact that surprised Alicia Gimpel; Fasold never had a good word for any student).

Fasold then called Lise Gimpel and informed her that her children had been taken into custody. She actually wondered how a child, even a Mischlingen, could be a danger to the state.

Käthe Franks
Katarina "Käthe" Franks was the younger sister of Lise Gimpel, and the favorite aunt of the Gimpel daughters. She was quite a bit younger than her sister. Like Lise and the Gimpel family, Käthe was a secret Jew living in Berlin.

Käthe and Lise's parents were killed in an automobile accident with a drunk driver some years before Alicia Gimpel turned ten.

Käthe frequently baby-sat the Gimpel girls. She was well loved by her nieces because of her lax, easy-going manner.

Klaus Frick
Klaus Frick (b. 2001) was a classmate of Francesca Gimpel. One day, when her mother asked her what she learned in school that day, Francesca announced that Klaus Frick ate bugs and that she had seen him do it.

Lotte Friedl
Lotte Friedl was a patient of Martin Dambach's.

Engelbert Hackmann
Engelbert Hackmann was a building contractor in Berlin, Greater German Reich. In 2011, he was the conservative opponent of Gauleiter Rolf Stolle for a seat in the Reichstag. Hackmann lost in a 6-1 margin.

Adela Handrick
Adela Handrick was the mother of Emma Handrick. When Heinrich Gimpel and his daughters were arrested by the Security Police the suspicion of being Jews. Emma was good friends with Alicia Gimpel. Adela Handrick visited Alicia's mother, Lise, after the arrest, and conveyed her family's sympathies.

Lise Gimpel was touched by the gesture.

Emma Handrick
Emma Handrick (b. 2000) was a classmate of Alicia Gimpel's. She was not particularly bright or studious, often having to copy Alicia's math homework. She received many paddlings from her fourth-grade teacher, Herr Kessler, and developed a crush on her fifth-grade teacher, Herr Peukert.

Stefan Handrick
Stefan Handrick was the husband of Adela Handrick and the father of Emma Handrick. After Heinrich Gimpel and his daughters were arrested by the Security Police on suspicion of being Jews, Adela Handrick brought her and Stefan's condolences to Lise Gimpel.

Hans
Hans was one of several men who interrogated Alicia Gimpel about whether or not she, her sisters, and her father were Jews. He suggested that Heinrich Gimpel and Erika Dorsch (the person who denounced them) were playing more than just bridge.

Henry IX of Britain
Henry IX was the Monarch of the United Kingdom in 2010, although real power rested in the hands of the German-backed Parliament. Although a figurehead, Henry's opinion did count for a great deal among his subjects. Thus, when he wrote a letter supporting BUF chairman Charlie Lynton's demand for greater democratic practices within Britain, it lent substantial legitimacy to Lynton's efforts.

Literary comment
There is a readers' rumour identifying this king with the OTL figure Prince Henry ("Harry") of Wales (b. 1984). This website used to endorse this idea, but has since determined that there is no textual basis for this supposition. Nor is there is any clue as to whether Henry IX is related to any House of Windsor royal.

Ilse
Ilse was a secretary at the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. When Willi Dorsch's marriage went bad, he initiated an affair with Ilse. Ilse was rather fickle, however. After Führer Heinz Buckliger consulted with Heinrich Gimpel about cutting monetary tribute from the United States, Ilse hinted at an attraction to the office's newest celebrity.

Ilse had one "lunch-date" with Berlin's Gauleiter, Rolf Stolle. When he didn't call her again, she went back to Willi.

Konrad Jahnke
Konrad Jahnke was a doctor from Breslau. In 2011, he "wrote" an op-ed piece entitled Enough is Enough, which was published in the Völkischer Beobachter. The op-ed was a rebuttal to German Führer Heinz Buckliger's call for reform, published while Buckliger was in Norway. Jahnke took issue with Buckliger's characterizations of the history of the Reich as being built on conquest and criminality.

In truth, Jahnke's article was probably published instigation of Lothar Prützmann, Reichsführer-SS, who was already showing his willingness to oppose the new Führer.

Jewish Security Police Major
A major of the Security Police was directly responsible for the release of Heinrich Gimpel and his three daughters, as well as quashing the charges that they were Jews. The major met with Gimpel once, and strongly intimated that he was also a Jew, remarking that "You find us in the oddest places" before ushering Gimpel out the door.

Kallmeyer
Kallmeyer was the immediate supervisor of Heinrich Gimpel and Willi Dorsch at Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. Dorsch used the excuse that Kallmeyer wanted to explain depreciation to Dorsch as a way to hide his infidelity from Dorsch's wife, Erika.

Fräulein Knopp
Fräulein Knopp was a clerk at the Gimpel girls' school. She escorted Alicia Gimpel to the office so that she and her sisters could be taken into custody after their father was accused of being a Jew.

She stared at Alicia as they walked down the hall, and at one point cryptically asked the girl "Are you really?"

Trudi Krebs
Trudi Krebs (b. 2000) was a fellow student of Alicia Gimpel's in Herr Kessler's class. She inquired about the First Edition of Mein Kampf. When pressed by Kessler, she admitted that her parents had been talking about it. Kessler noted her name in his roll book, but did not answer her question. The whole class understood that the Krebs family would be in trouble with the authorities, and treated her as an outcast. However, as this incident coincided with the rise of Heinz Buckliger, the authorities did not take action, and Trudi quickly stopped being an outcast. She graduated to the next grade along with Alicia Gimpel.

Werner Krupke
Werner Krupke (b. 2001) was a student in Frau Koch's fourth grade class. He asked her about the inconsistency of her position supporting Konrad Jahnke's op-ed criticizing Führer Heinz Buckliger one day and her absolute support for Buckliger and his calls for change on another. Frau Koch simply stared at him, and refused to answer. None of the other students asked any more questions.

Helmut von Kupferstein
Helmut von Kupferstein was Goethe scholar at the Friedrich Wilhelm University, and a colleague of Susanna Weiss'. At a New Year's Eve party held at the University, von Kupferstein drunkenly proclaimed that the system had "grit in its gears", but that it could be "clean[ed] up" and lubricated to get it working right. While Weiss thought him a pompous ass, she did agree with him in his support for Führer Heinz Buckliger. However, Weiss did not appreciate the fact that von Kupferstein very nearly had dropped cigarette ashes into her drink.

Leader of the Unity Party
A white-haired playwright from the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia led a delegation to Berlin to push for more autonomy for his country in 2010-2011 within the Greater German Reich. Afterward, the playwright told the press that the meeting was a good beginning, and that if German Führer Heinz Buckliger didn't realize that it was only a beginning, the Czech nationalists would show him. To the surprise of nearly everyone, the playwright was not arrested.

The playwright later became leader of the Unity party, which declared independence for the Protectorate when the SS Putsch against Buckliger was launched. Although the Putsch was defeated and Buckliger reinstalled, the declaration remained an issue. Many suspected that the playwright would be able to secure independence for the Protectorate in the long run, given his ability to appeal to people's conscience.

Literary Comment
While the playwright is not named, his description matches the historical Václav Havel, an author and playwright who helped lead Czechoslovakia out from under Soviet influence and into democracy in the 1980s, and then became the first president of the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution.

However, as Harry Turtledove chose to represent then-living historical figures with altered identities such as Kurt Haldweim and Charlie Lynton, the wiki administrators have chosen to regard this character as an analog rather than naming him as Havel.

Leonore
Leonore was Erika Dorsch's sister. In 2011, she'd separated from her husband, an SS officer. Erika Dorsch convinced Heinrich Gimpel to meet her at Leonore's home to discuss some matters. She allowed him to think that Leonore would be there. Leonore was not, as Erika was determined to seduce Gimpel.

Konrad Lutze
Konrad Lutze was a professor in the Department of Germanic Studies at Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin. Initially, he was favored by department chairman, Franz Oppenhoff, who intended to send Lutz to the Medieval English Association's annual meeting in London alone, until Susanna Weiss convinced Oppenhoff to send her, too.

When Führer Heinz Buckliger set elections for the Reichstag by the end of 2011, Oppenhoff publicly argued against change during a faculty meeting. He was shocked and dismayed when Lutze, generally seen as apolitical, defended the value of democratic institutions.

In 2011, Lutze invited Susanna on a date. As she was a secret Jew, she declined.

Klaus Menzel
Klaus Menzel was an attorney working in Berlin. He was engaged by the Kleins when the SS investigated them as possible Jews. Later, when Heinrich Gimpel and his daughters were taken into custody as Jews, Lise Gimpel hired Menzel to secure their release. While it appeared that Menzel's efforts had been responsible for the Gimpels' release, in truth, it was the actions of an Security Police major who was also secretly a Jew.

In their first meeting, Gimpel found Menzel to be "cheerfully mercenary", as Menzel promised he would do his best to get Gimpel out of prison, but noted it was a billable hours whether he succeeded or not.

Herr Mistele
Herr Mistele was the teacher who replaced Frau Koch after the latter was removed from her teaching position in the wake of the failed Putsch of 2011. Unlike Koch, Mistele was sincerely pleasant to his students.

Hans Natzmer
Hans Natzmer was a class-mate of Alicia Gimpel's. Both were in Herr Kessler's class. Natzmer was called upon to define the word exploiting. He could not, and was paddled as a result.

Nick
Nick was a member of the British Union of Fascists in London, and a supporter of Charlie Lynton at their annual convention. Susanna Weiss found his company more interesting than her that of her fellow academics at the Medieval English Association meeting she was in London to attend. She was with Nick and a few other BUF members when Lynton became the party leader democratically. She was so thrilled, she kissed Nick on the cheek.

Norbert
Norbert was a Berlin police officer. During the 2011 Putsch lead by Reichsführer-SS Lothar Prützmann, Norbert brought information that alerted Gauleiter Rolf Stolle to rumors that Prützmann was a Jew.

Paul
Paul was a colonel in the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. Heinrich Gimpel and Willi Dorsch overheard him and another colonel, Dietrich, arguing about the First Edition of Mein Kampf. Paul was in favor of the democratic selection of the Führer as described in the First Edition.

Paula
Paula was a juvenile arsonist. Alicia Gimpel encountered her in the Juvenile Detention Center. Paula was incredibly cynical about the system, believing that all reforms made by Führer Heinz Buckliger would be stopped and undone by Reichsführer-SS Lothar Prützmann.

Nonetheless, she and Alicia shared a pleasant relationship while Alicia was held at the Center. Paula didn't seem to particularly care that Alicia might be a Jew. In fact, she enjoyed the possibility that the all-mighty system could have failed. When Alicia missed a meal because she was being interrogated, Paula saved some food for her.

Gustav Priepke
Gustav Priepke was Walther Stutzman's supervisor at Zeiss, the Greater German Reich's main computer company. He did not know that Stutzman was Jewish. He was impressed with Stutzman's work ethic, and embraced Stutzman's idea for incorporating Japanese technology into German computers.

Priepke was overweight and loved to eat. He was a supporter of Führer Heinz Buckliger and Rolf Stolle, and was disappointed when Stutzman acted indifferently to the SS' Putsch.

Wolfgang Priller
Wolfgang "Wolf" Priller (b. 2000) was a classmate of Alicia Gimpel's in Herr Kessler's fourth-grade class. He was thoroughly indoctrinated with the principles of Nazism, and enthusiastically participated in class discussions that affirmed the greatness of Germany over all other countries. He frequently supported the status quo (insofar as a child his age could do).

When Alicia Gimpel and her sisters were arrested on the suspicion of being Jewish, Priller was surprised when Alicia was subsequently released, and teased her a bit about being Jewish.

Irma Ritter
Irma Ritter was the afternoon receptionist in Martin Dambach's office.

Rosa
Rosa was Franz Oppenhoff's secretary. She was a traditional Nazi, and disliked Susanna Weiss. She was initially quite celebratory when the Committee for the Salvation of the Greater German Reich launched its Putsch in 2011, gleeful that "that stinking Führer Heinz Buckliger" was out of the way.

Sauer
Sauer was a soldier in the Wehrmacht of the Greater German Reich. When the Committee for the Salvation of the Greater German Reich launched a Putsch against Führer Heinz Buckliger, a colonel at Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ordered Sauer to take two companies of men to hold a Berlin televisor station against the Security Police. Sauer acted quickly.

Otto Schachtman
Otto Schachtman (b. 2000) was a student in Alicia Gimpel's class. He could not find Serbia on a map, and received a paddling from his teacher, Herr Kessler.

Frau Schreckengost
Frau Schreckengost's son Sebastian was a patient of Dr. Martin Dambach's. While waiting for her appointment, Frau Schreckengost commented that the Security Police were still a necessity, citing the arrest of Heinrich Gimpel on the suspicion of being a Jew as an example. She was not aware that Gimpel had been cleared.

Sebastian Schreckengost
Sebastian Schreckengost was a patient of Doctor Martin Dambach's. His mother expressed the opinion that the Security Police were still needed in the Greater German Reich.

Frau Stransky
Frau Stransky's son Rudolf was a patient of Dr. Martin Dambach's. Shortly after Heinz Buckliger was installed as Führer of the Greater German Reich, Frau Stransky brought Rudolf in to Dambach's office with an ear infection.

Rudolf Stransky
Rudolf Stransky was a patient of Dr. Martin Dambach's. Shortly after Heinz Buckliger was installed as Führer of the Greater German Reich, Rudolf's mother brought him in to Dambach's office with an ear infection.

Strauss
Strauss was the Gauleiter of Bavaria until 2010, when he was asked to resign by newly appointed Führer Heinz Buckliger. Buckliger stressed that the elderly Strauss was to be commended for his years of service, but also stressed the inevitability of new blood.

Karl Stuckart
Karl Stuckart was an undergraduate student of Susanna Weiss. He was enthusiastic about Rolf Stolle's speech calling for immediate reforms, and pressed Susanna for her opinion. Susanna tried to be neutral, in case Stuckart was an agent provocateur.

Tennfelde
Professor Tennfelde was a colleague of Susanna Weiss. During a faculty meeting, Tennfelde provided department chairman Franz Oppenhoff with a report on the department's impressive publication record. Although three of the articles he noted were by Susanna Weiss, she was nonetheless bored.

Tetzlaff
Field Marshall Tetzlaff served in Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. In 2010, Führer Heinz Buckliger visited Tetzlaff after he met with Heinrich Gimpel. This amused Gimpel's co-worker, Willi Dorsch, who teased Gimpel about being more important than the field marshal.

Tinnacher
Tinnacher (b. c. a 1945) owned a grocery in Berlin. The Gimpels shopped there frequently. On a trip to buy onions, Heinrich Gimpel ran into Erika Dorsch, a person he desperately wanted to avoid.

Ulf
Ulf was one of the men who interrogated Alicia Gimpel. After their session was done, Ulf was ordered to take Alicia back to her cell.

Umberto III of Italy
Umberto III was the king of Italy in 2010. The king was a figurehead, and the real power rested in the hands of the Duce. Nonetheless, Umberto carried enormous prestige, and so the Duce and the Italian government did heed Umberto's advice.

Umberto and the Duce were both supportive of Führer Heinz Buckliger's reforms, such as the withdrawal of a German division from the United States.

Literary Comment
The text does not give King Umberto a numeral. In OTL there was an exiled king named Umberto II, who logically was a reigning king in the Presence timeline, but he died in 1983 and there is no reason to think he would be alive in 2010 in Presence. Therefore, this fictional king would have to be Umberto III at the very least. It is not clear whether he is from Umberto II's House of Savoy or a replacement dynasty.

Matthias Walbeck
Matthias Walbeck was a student in Herr Kessler's class. Shortly after Führer Heinz Buckliger's secret speech, Kessler called on Matthias Walbeck to explain how Buckliger was changing the Reich. Walbeck couldn't, and was paddled.

Herr Wasserstein
Herr Wasserstein's son Luther was a patient of Dr. Martin Dambach's. Shortly after Heinz Buckliger was installed as Führer of the Greater German Reich, Herr Wasserstein brought Luther in to Dambach's office.

Luther Wasserstein
Luther Wasserstein was a patient of Dr. Martin Dambach's. Shortly after Heinz Buckliger was installed as Führer of the Greater German Reich, Luther's father brought him in to Dambach's office.

Frau Zoglmann
Frau Zoglmann (d. between 2005 and 2009) was a teacher at Alicia Gimpel's school. She was killed when she stepped into the path of an oncoming bus.

After she learned she was a Jew, Alicia Gimpel focused on Zoglmann as a vivid example of the permanence of death.