Hasso Pemsel

Captain Hasso Pemsel was a career soldier with the Wehrmacht and fought for several years on the Eastern Front.

In April 1945 Pemsel and his company were making a last stand in Berlin's Old Museum. While taking cover from Soviet fire, Pemsel noticed a large stone artefact that had not been removed to a safer location. His curiosity peaked, he crawled over to it during a lull in fighting. He read the information placard which stated that it was the Omphalos from Zeus' temple in Delphi, a keystone and bridge between worlds.

He pointed it out to his top sergeant Karl Edelsheim who, with mild irony, suggested Pemsel sit down on it since any world he went to couldn't be any worse than the one they were in at the moment. On a fatalistic whim Pemsel did so. For a timeless moment, he seemed suspended and then the moment ended and he plunged a meter or two into a bog.