The Haircut Story Site

The Occupation, Chapter 6 by Andrew Smith

The Occupation
(This chapter is part of a series titled "The Occupation". Please read the earlier chapters for proper context and background. However, this chapter can be read independently as well.)

CHAPTER 6

(This is a work of historical fiction. It is not meant to hurt anyone's feelings or support any agenda. Please view it as a haircut story with a different background.)

Robert eyed Marcel playfully and spanked him. "Alright, Marcel! Get to work. Those towels are not going to wash themselves. The razor needs to be honed. The combs need to be washed. And hey, before that, my boots need to be polished well. Get going!" Marcel was surprised with Robert's instructions. Before he could comprehend what was happening, Robert barked, "NOW!"

"Umm, okay!"

"That should be a 'Yes, Sir!' Get it?" ordered Robert. "Yes, Sir!" was Marcel's quick response.

"Good. I see that you are a quick-learner."

Marcel picked up Robert's boots and started shining them. 'What was up with Robert!' he wondered. Suddenly, Robert had become very aggressive. Marcel liked that. Robert �" with his perfect 'flattop', chiseled and strong muscles and a warm smile - commanded authority. And this man would be his lover. He finished shining Robert's shoes and returned them to Robert to his satisfaction.

Just then, the barbershop door opened. Three young soldiers, about Marcel's age, in their early- to mid-20s walked in behind an older Nazi commanding officer in a single file. The officer was impeccably dressed and had a towering personality. His uniform shone with many medals and the silver epaulette he wore on his shoulders spoke, "I am an officer in the Wehrmacht." He wore a hat out of which peeped what seemed to be a regular businessman's haircut. He was clean-shaven, in contrast with the three young soldiers who wore overgrown beards. The first soldier's mustache was more unruly. It seemed that he had gone a whole week without grooming his facial hair.

"These lazy asses reported to my regiment with such sloppy unshaved beards. I, personally, want to see them disciplined for such careless behavior. Serving in the military is a privilege that is earned. I never entertain such civilian attitudes."

The young soldier, first in line, tried to protest, "But Sir, with due respect, we were summoned immediately from our vacations. I know that I did not have time to groom myself..."

Hearing this, the officer's face shone red with anger. He interrupted the soldier, "Excuses! Excuses! Do you think that our Wehrmacht was able to conquer all this territory and emerge victorious with excuses? Dedication and hard work; that's what we run on."

The young officer realized it was in his best interests to not protest any further. He spoke with a clear, calm voice, "Jawohl! Entschuldigen Sie. Sorry. I would accept any punishment that you deem fit for my behavior. And so would the others. Danke!"

"Sehr gut! Bitte." The officer turned his attention to Robert. "Good that there's two of you barbers in this shop. These men badly need a shave. Clean them up!"

The first soldier dashed to the first chair in the barbershop. The soldier behind him followed and seated himself in the only other barber chair.

Robert gave his warm smile and spoke, "Yes, sir! But Marcel here is an assistant. He can't do proper shaves, but will certainly help me serve you and your men. When you said you wanted me to 'clean' them, did you mean you want me to just shave off their beards? Because that is what they were supposed to do before showing up to your regiment. It won't be a punishment then."

The officer raised an eyebrow. He nodded in appreciation. "This one here is a smart one!" he said pointing at Robert. Robert gave a full smile. "So, barber, as you pointed out, just shaving them would not be disciplining them. Since you are the smart man who noticed this, what do you suggest we do with them?"

Robert was loving this. He decided to fake some humility. He said, "Sir, thank you for your kind words. However, I am a mere barber here to serve you. But since you asked for my suggestion, I would suggest that in addition to shaving their faces, please allow me to shave their heads as well. That would remind them to never report sloppily in your regiment. Until their hair grows back, every day when they look in the mirror, they will realize they need to shave."

The officer raised his chin and considered the barber's words. Robert liked how easy it was to reel in the officer. He wanted to give them what he considered was the ultimate insult. A forced barbershop headshave for these criminals who occupied his country would be his silent attack. The officer looked at his soldiers one by one and remarked, "Sehr gut! Very well then! Rasiere sie kahl. Shave them bald."

The soldiers in the barber chairs gulped in unison but continued staring straight at the mirror. The third soldier, who was standing behind the officer, looked at his reflection in the mirror and instinctively ran his hand through his shaggy, dirty blonde hair.

Robert turned to Marcel. It was clear to him that Marcel was trying hard to control his excitement. He spoke softly to Marcel, "Please start with the left chair. Cape him up, while I cape the other soldier. Then, take these clippers and clip his beard and head bald. Meanwhile, I will hone the razor and prepare some hot lather for shaving all three men. After you are done with him, I will take over and shave him with a razor. You move on to the second chair. And then back to the first for the third soldier." He asked with a wink, "Got it?"

Marcel picked up the barber cape and tied it snugly around the soldier's neck with a flourish. The soldier was visibly uncomfortable. Marcel proceeded to pick up the manual clippers from the barber station. He had used them before to annihilate another Nazi officer's sideburns. But this would be more exciting �" a full buzzcut.

He pushed the soldier's head down causing the chin to touch his chest. Before there could be any protest, Marcel placed the clippers at the base of the nape and with a quick motion, ran them all the way up to the crown and flicked the dark brown hair which fell immediately to the floor. The soldier seated in the other chair looked at the pile of hair on the floor and then stared at the stripe of clean white skin in the forest of dark brown on his fellow soldier's head contemplating the fate of the black locks on his own head.

The young soldier in the first chair couldn't see the exposed skin but knew pretty well what was happening to his hair. He fondly thought of the memories from his vacation the week before where he had met his mother after months and how she had remarked how her young boy had all grown up now and was sporting a "Schnurrbart", a mustache, even. He remembered how the young Erika living next door with whom he had grown up had playfully messed with his hair upon his return and said, "You look smart and dapper, Hans. You have grown into a handsome man." When he had reported to duty this morning, he never expected to go to bed with a shaved head and without the mustache he had sported for about half a year now. But now, it was happening and there was nothing he could do. Would Erika still think of her Hans as a handsome man without his hair and mustache, he wondered.

Marcel had already cleared all the hair in the back and proceeded to remove the hair on the sides. He was amazed how easy it was to take off all the hair. Only the hair on the top of the head remained. Marcel allowed Hans a quick glance in the mirror before proceeding to place the clippers at the hairline and plowing them through the thick hair. Large swaths of hair fell down onto Hans' shoulders and the floor. Within a few minutes, the damage was done; he was buzzed down with clippers, like a Nazi prisoner. And he knew that this wasn't the end of it; the main barber would shave him bald with a razor. There was no hope. Marcel reclined the barber chair to get a good view of Hans' bearded face. With the clippers, he proceeded from the chin and went up both cheeks and down his throat. "Can you please leave my mustache and not shave it?" pleaded Hans. There was a pause. Marcel admired the mustache in its full glory; no beard hair, no hair on his head, just the mustache. He himself had hopes of growing one like Hans. Marcel looked at the officer and then at Robert. No one spoke. To his surprise, Robert replied a moment later, "No!" Hans let out a deep sigh. He had learned that his protests were all futile. With a chuckle, Marcel proceeded to clip off Hans' beautiful glorious mustache. Gone were the months of growing it and grooming it. Never before had clippers moved over his upper lip. Marcel ran his fingers over Hans' denuded face, pretending to check for missed spots. He let his fingers trail slowly over Hans' upper lip where the mustache had once been. Pleased with his work, he raised the chair upright.

Hans was clearly dejected looking at his reflection in the mirror. No more mustache. No more hair. As if to make it evident, Marcel continued to stroke Hans' buzzed head. Marcel was getting excited by this whole transformation and had to restrain the excitement in his pants. "Alles gut!" he remarked in German.

Robert took over Hans' transformation while Marcel moved on to the soldier in the second chair. With the shaving brush, Robert applied hot lather to Hans' scalp. He wasn't going to waste time giving him a proper shave with a hot towel. He opened his straight razor and placed it on Hans' forehead. With clean gentle strokes, he proceeded straight down the middle. The razor cleared out the foam from the hairline to the crown, going against the grain. Robert had placed a clean towel on Hans' shoulder and he wiped the razor on the paper. Soon, the white towel was covered with shaving foam and bits of dark brown hair. Robert continued to shave the top. He moved on to the sides and back, going against the grain. After each stroke, he would rub his fingers over the freshly plowed scalp to examine his handiwork. Hans thought the headshave was over, but Robert reapplied a thin layer of shaving foam to his head and proceeded to shave him bald going with the grain. 'How long will it take to grow his hair to a proper haircut?' Hans wondered. He was thankful for the cap that was part of his uniform; it would help cover some part of the bald head. Robert grabbed the towel on Hans' shoulder which was, by now, completely covered with the remnants of Hans' hair after the brutal clipping administered by Marcel, and placed it on the barber station.

Robert reclined the barber chair that Hans was sitting in. He glanced over at Marcel. But Marcel was fully occupied in stroking the other soldier's head that he had buzzed moments ago. The cape was covered with tufts of long hair. He beamed with pride to see his lover working so diligently. Robert craved to make love with Marcel. He wanted to grab Marcel by his soft butt and gently kiss him on his nice pink lips. They would make love tonight, he thought. But first, they had to finish their work. Robert started applying lather to Hans' face and upper lip. His quick "No!" had ensured that the Nazi's thick mustache was history. The master barber quickly shaved Hans' face and upper lip. He ran his hand over Hans' face which felt soft like a baby's. He moved Hans' chair to the upright position. Hans saw himself bald and clean-shaven in the mirror. He was not impressed with what he saw and he knew that Erika wouldn't be a huge fan of this look either. It'll take some time to grow his hair back, but the mustache would take much longer.

Just when he was thinking of his mustache, Robert applied some more hot lather to Hans' upper lip. 'What is this man doing? He has already shaved my beautiful mustache with a razor! What now?' he wondered. Robert had evil intentions. To add insult to injury, Robert wanted to shave Hans' upper lip again and he wanted Hans to watch it and that's why had kept the chair upright. "Let me just ensure there is no hair left here on the upper lip where you have your mustache. I am sorry, I mean, where you once had your mustache!" quipped Robert. Hans was enraged but he knew it was smart not to utter a word. Robert brought his face in line with Hans' and tried to look at him straight in the eye. But Hans' eyes were glued to the mirror. With short slow strokes, Robert shaved Hans' upper lip. "Bald and clean-shaven," declared Robert once he was done. "I hope I have met your instructions, Sir!" he addressed the officer. The officer nodded approvingly.

Robert yanked the cape off of Hans and looked over at the third soldier. Without delay, the third soldier sat in the seat warmed by Hans. Marcel had already finished buzzing the second soldier's face and head and was waiting to begin clipping the third soldier bald. Robert and Marcel swapped their positions. Bald Hans stood next to the beige barbershop wall, standing right next to the seat where his officer was seated.

Within a few minutes, Robert shaved the second soldier's head and face while Marcel buzzed the third soldier. After he was done, Marcel picked up a broom and started to sweep all the hair on the floor. When Robert was done with the second soldier, he moved on to shaving the third while the second soldier stood in line next to Hans, without any command. Swiftly, Robert shaved the third soldier's head and face.

"Sir, I hope my assistant and I have both worked to your satisfaction!" remarked Robert.

The officer got up from his seat and ran his hand over Hans' bald head to inspect. He was impressed and looked approvingly at his three bald soldiers. He looked at Robert and congratulated him, "Well done!"

Robert continued to fake his subservient attitude and asked the officer, "Sir, please let us know how else we can help you."

The officer took off his hat and said, "I think I would like a haircut."

Comments
thadeusz - When you say a story should be removed and the author banned then it is you that is the problem. Freedom is what it is, even if it bothersome to a few.
by MDemarlo on 10 Aug 2020
This series starts with Marcel being (rightfully) anxious : France is now free again and he knows he will be punished. Then there is nothing more about this situation, only a form of glorification of the Nazis. Of course, some German soldiers seem to be ridiculed through an haircut required by their own officer, who seems to like it. The whole thing is disgusting.
My parents and grand parents lived through that war. I should say that they survived, and they did so thanks to a few, a handful, of decent French people. This war let the worst come out of ordinary people. The very intellectual Germany became a dreadful place where thinking honestly was a crime.
What is worst is that it is coming back, not in Germany but in the US with Trump and in Brazil with Bolsonaro. And in many other places. I suggest you all read "It cannot happen here" from Sinclair Lewis.
This story should be removed from this decent site because it is an invitation to crime. And the author should be banned.
The crime is not to react to the first negative action, when it is still time to stop the action !
by thadeusz on 07 Aug 2020
To Deke Cutter.
It wasn´t equally bad for ALL people in France either. And the relatively few Jews in Norway suffered immensely, and very few survived. Like almost all countries in Europe, the Germans had help from local police to round them up. And that is a source of shame for most European countries to this day.
The point I was trying to make, is that all situations have more than one side to it. And nothing is completely black&white. In France, as well as other places, one had collaborators, and resistance fighters. In France they had the Vichy-government. I´m not quite certain what that was all about, but apparently they were a "marionette" government doing the Germans bidding.
And, as stated here, many times; This is NOT a story glorifying the Nazis. It´s a story of two barbers doing their "little bit" to fight back against the occupants.
I haven´t read the other stories by Andrew Smith, but I seriously see nothing wrong with telling stories set in occupied Europe.
There was a series on TV during the 80-ies. It was called ´Allo ´Allo, and made by the BBC. It´s a comedy set in occupied France during the War, and is really worth seeing. It makes fun of the Germans, the French and the British. I recommend seeing it.
Are you American by the way? I have trouble seeing anyone in Europe having problems with stories belittling Nazis- But, off course, I could be wrong.
by Vegard on 10 Feb 2018
To Deke Cutter.
It wasn´t equally bad for ALL people in France either. And the relatively few Jews in Norway suffered immensely, and very few survived. Like almost all countries in Europe, the Germans had help from local police to round them up. And that is a source of shame for most European countries to this day.
The point I was trying to make, is that all situations have more than one side to it. And nothing is completely black&white. In France, as well as other places, one had collaborators, and resistance fighters. In France they had the Vichy-government. I´m not quite certain what that was all about, but apparently they were a "marionette" government doing the Germans bidding.
And, as stated here, many times; This is NOT a story glorifying the Nazis. It´s a story of two barbers doing their "little bit" to fight back against the occupants.
I haven´t read the other stories by Andrew Smith, but I seriously see nothing wrong with telling stories set in occupied Europe.
There was a series on TV during the 80-ies. It was called ´Allo ´Allo, and made by the BBC. It´s a comedy set in occupied France during the War, and is really worth seeing. It makes fun of the Germans, the French and the British. I recommend seeing it.
Are you American by the way? I have trouble seeing anyone in Europe having problems with stories belittling Nazis- But, off course, I could be wrong.
by Vegard on 09 Feb 2018
Get a grip guys. I´m from Norway, and had grandparents who lived through the War, when Norway was occupied. My parents were born then, and my great-grandfather lost his only son fighting the Germans.
My older aunts remember giving some of their food to Russian and Yugoslav POW´s on the island on the west coast of Norway where they lived, despite not having a lot of food themselves.
I have heard many stories about the German occupation here, also from other relatives, and know a bit about the sentiments involved.
Amongst them are how my grandfather almost got arrested for looking hatefully at a soldier on the day his home town was occupied, and how this soldier was stopped by his officer.
Another is how he felt so bad for some POW´s being transported by ship, seeing they had really filthy water to drink, and how they looked to be starving. He got help from the soldiers to give clean water, but didn´t manage to get a hold of much food. Neither the Germans nor the Norwegian shop-owners had any to spare. Or so they said.
Stories also involve soldiers giving candy to kids. Not to lure them away, but just because they liked kids. Many had children at home that they maybe hadn´t seen for a year or more.
Most Wehrmacht soldiers were "ordinary guys". The people in the occupied areas did not like them being there, but sort of got used to them. After all, they were there for years. And German soldiers in France and Norway did not treat the majority of the civilians badly.
Yes! The Nazis are responsible for atrocious acts, but does that mean we can´t hear, and tell, stories about regular soldiers?

And as Andrew Smith, correctly, points out. The soldiers in question are being humiliated by the French barbers. And the barbers are getting a small piece of revenge against their occupiers.
by Vegard on 09 Feb 2018
While this series isn't my cup of tea, I appreciate Andrew Smiths contributions to this site. It would be nice if all the people making complaints would instead focus their angst and ire into some literary contribution. Of course, it is much easier to moan about what others are doing than create something of value.

PS. Andrew, would LOVE to read more about your Adventures :P
by burrlypup on 09 Feb 2018
Andrew Smith, my final comment on this. If the occupation of Norway by the Nazi 3rd Reich was so much more relatively benign than it was in France, why not set your stories in Norway? It was not benign in France, not for the French Jews, not for the Resistance, etc.
by Deke Cutter on 09 Feb 2018
Get a grip guys. I´m from Norway, and had grandparents who lived through the War, when Norway was occupied. My parents were born then, and my great-grandfather lost his only son fighting the Germans.
My older aunts remember giving some of their food to Russian and Yugoslav POW´s on the island on the west coast of Norway where they lived, despite not having a lot of food themselves.
I have heard many stories about the German occupation here, also from other relatives, and know a bit about the sentiments involved.
Amongst them are how my grandfather almost got arrested for looking hatefully at a soldier on the day his home town was occupied, and how this soldier was stopped by his officer.
Another is how he felt so bad for some POW´s being transported by ship, seeing they had really filthy water to drink, and how they looked to be starving. He got help from the soldiers to give clean water, but didn´t manage to get a hold of much food. Neither the Germans nor the Norwegian shop-owners had any to spare. Or so they said.
Stories also involve soldiers giving candy to kids. Not to lure them away, but just because they liked kids. Many had children at home that they maybe hadn´t seen for a year or more.
Most Wehrmacht soldiers were "ordinary guys". The people in the occupied areas did not like them being there, but sort of got used to them. After all, they were there for years. And German soldiers in France and Norway did not treat the majority of the civilians badly.
Yes! The Nazis are responsible for atrocious acts, but does that mean we can´t hear, and tell, stories about regular soldiers?

And as Andrew Smith, correctly, points out. The soldiers in question are being humiliated by the French barbers. And the barbers are getting a small piece of revenge against their occupiers.
by Vegard on 09 Feb 2018
To Deke Cutter:
Please read my comments to other commenters. There are numerous other instances (popular works of fiction) where Nazis are depicted. They are used as "props". Why did those authors choose to write about WWII and not some fictional wars? Those works of fiction glorify Nazi actions whereas my stories mock Nazis (by forced shaving their heads and their mustaches, which as you must know, were/are considered the pride of a true male). I do not feel anything unethical in mocking Nazis, sorry. I do not feel wrong about shedding light on the hardships faced by gay people during Nazi occupation of France because I am depicting their struggle, not justifying the criminal acts against them.

I am depicting how difficult life was under Nazi occupation in France and how a small-town barber tried to fight against them. I am showing how it was difficult for him and his lover to be out in the open about their homosexuality because of the Nazis and how he and his gay lover managed to humiliate the Nazis with their razors and clippers. How can you claim that I am glorifying Nazis when, in reality, I am doing the exact opposite by showing their struggles under the unjust Nazi occupation?

To Zero and Max:
Thank you for appreciating my stories. As you can see, I research a bit about the background in my stories and take pride in them. I agree that there is definitely something wrong in glorifying Nazis (many things, actually). My stories do the exact opposite and mock and humiliate the Nazis. Historical fiction is a popular genre and WWII stories always depict Nazi Germany/Occupation since tNazis did exist; it would be incorrect to talk about that period without talking about Nazis. Glorying them would be unethical, but my work doesn't do that. Max, as you pointed out, WWI-era France wouldn't work either. Likewise with colonization. Does that mean we never have historical fiction? And as long as they are depicted morally, let's talk about these issues instead of hiding them under the rug.
by Andrew Smith on 09 Feb 2018
To Andrew Smith: I know elderly French people who lived under French occupation. I have know Holocaust survivors and their family members. I knew soldiers who fought the Nazis. It is difficult to explain to one who has not met these people how the very inclusion of Nazi soldiers or the placement of these stories during the Nazi occupation is, to some of us, unacceptable. The Nazis were cruel. Please go online to the site of the Caen Peace Memorial. See how the French were treated. Please do not take these as attacks upon you personally.
by Wilhelm Klink on 08 Feb 2018
In my opinion this can be easily fixed by changing the story to World War I era France. Then it's just the German Empire soldiers invading and not Nazis. Mustaches were more popular back then and you can still include nice details of how they look different clean shaven. Then again Millions of young French men died in the trenches when their country was being invaded so maybe that's not a good idea either. Forced shaving of mustaches is a very, very hot and I hope you continue, but using this era as j/o material is very tricky and perhaps unethical. :(
by Max on 08 Feb 2018
I know I encouraged Andrew Smith earlier on, but Deke Cutter and Wilhelm Klink both have very strong points concerning the fictionalization of the Nazi era and thanks to both of them as well for reminding us not to take hate crimes lightly. We can never be too careful with this issues, even if we're writing works of fiction.
by Zero on 08 Feb 2018
As a contributing author to this site, I hate commenting negatively about another author's work. In this case, though, I have to agree with Wilhelm and anon. Making light of one of the greatest historical atrocities of the recent past, for which survivors still live is wrong. The Nazis killed Jews, Romani (aka Gypsy), political dissidents, handicapped, mentally ill, gay people, and Christian clergy. There is no way we should be using them as props.
by Deke Cutter on 08 Feb 2018
To Wilhelm Klink: (continued.) Stripping off a Nazi and humiliating him is depicted in my stories. Had I shown haircuts of prisoners in concentration camps (which did indeed occur) and sexualized it, I can see how some readers might be offended. Haircuts in concentration camps were actually shown in the popular gay rights movie: Bent (1997). The "sex scene" in that movie is considered widely popular. There are numerous other movies where Nazi officers are shown committing brutal acts against innocent civilians. My story shows an innocent barber "attacking" Nazis. But of course, we shouldn't talk about the bold steps taken by civilians because it is best to avoid talking about WWII since certain people feel offended.
by Andrew Smith on 08 Feb 2018
To "anon" and "Wilhelm Klink": I am the author of these stories. They are, as the disclaimer states, works of historical fiction. I have never glorified the unjust Nazi actions in my stories. My stories just talk about life in Nazi-occupied France, something that did occur in history. While my stories aren't about glorifying Nazis, there are tons of books and movies on Nazi Germany which actually glorify Nazi Germany: The Man in the High Castle (which won such high praise that even a TV show was created on this by Amazon, Hugo Award for Best Novel 1963), All the Light We Cannot See (NY Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2015, Audie Award for Fiction 2015, etc), Fatherland, etc. These books, as you can clearly see, were well-received and appreciated globally. No one protested about those books, why protest about my stories when it actually shows how a small town French barber tries to get back to the Nazis by punishing them with humiliating haircuts? The barber in my stories couldn't pick up military weapons to attack the Nazis and so he decided instead to attack them using the tools and weapons he knows best: his clippers and razors.
by Andrew Smith on 08 Feb 2018
Well, there are some 10 million people whose feelings can't be hurt because they never made it out of the Nazi death camps, so we don't need to worry about them, I guess.
by Wilhelm Klink on 08 Feb 2018
there is nothing sexy about a nazi, fictional or otherwise. their uniforms, iconography, and image are a symbol of shame upon our collective history. there is no reason to publish this story.
by anon on 08 Feb 2018
Hey, very cool historical series. I'm intrigued as to what they're going to do to that officer. Loved the work on dialogues, by the way. Keep it up!
by Zero on 07 Feb 2018