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23-December-1920
POV of Tatiana Romanov
''By order of my husband, the Herzog, the use of electric shocks has been strictly forbidden, doctor. It does not matter how many times you insist that the treatment you recommend will serve to calm the ailments suffered by your patients. The next time I hear that you speak of or attempt anything related to the use of electricity as treatment, I will make sure it is applied to you, since you appear to be such a defender of that method'' I said while looking at one of the many doctors who had been gathered in those facilities.
''At your command, Herzogin. I only wanted to try to help by using the treatment that has been recommended for this kind of patient. Many of them turn out to be too explosive or difficult to control and, after applying said treatment, they usually become much more docile and accessible so we may care for them properly'' the doctor replied while lowering his head.
''Good. Continue with your duties. The treatment must go forward, but these men here are not people you may use for your experiments or experimental studies. They are soldiers of the Duchy and must be treated with the utmost respect. What they suffer from is an illness and must be treated according to your medical knowledge'' I said, remaining firm before the group of doctors.
Without saying much more, I continued touring the facilities together with my escort.
My duty had been determined by my husband, and it had turned out that I was to take charge of administering and supervising certain medical and sanitary facilities that had begun to be built beside Lake Polisto.
By order of my husband Karl, an institution had been raised on the shore of the lake, in an area that had previously been left practically depopulated and where the waters remained quite calm.
The place had been rebuilt until it became an enormous medical facility. Around it, a small city had begun to form, where some two thousand four hundred men and women belonging to the medical and administrative staff currently lived.
The institution had been born with the intention of healing one of the wounds the war had left among the soldiers returning from the front.
Many doctors had begun to investigate that illness, trying to discover why some men felt true terror at the simple idea of seeing again the tools that had served them during the war.
There were men who suffered constant tremors and numerous disorders that prevented them from functioning normally in their work. Some had practically lost the ability to work, and that was leaving many families completely destroyed.
They not only had to endure the suffering of their loved ones, but also the economic burden of maintaining a person incapable of contributing to the family's livelihood.
That was precisely the reason why the institution existed, along with the city that was beginning to grow around it.
Karl had offered treatment to anyone who needed it, beginning with the veterans and soldiers who had served under his orders. They did not take long to arrive at the institution, where free lodging was offered to their relatives, along with different forms of aid intended to support the families while they waited for the recovery of the men undergoing treatment.
But my husband had decided to go even further.
Assistance had also been offered to all those German soldiers who were not receiving help from the Government of Germany.
That had caused numerous people to begin moving from Germany toward the Duchy in search of treatment and the aid offered to their families.
In barely a few weeks of operation, the city had begun to populate itself much faster than expected.
Originally, it had been calculated that it would reach an approximate population of twelve thousand inhabitants, capable of permanently treating between five thousand and six thousand patients, as well as housing part of their families.
But my husband's expectations had been completely surpassed.
Around eight thousand patients in need of treatment did not take long to arrive.
That had almost completely overwhelmed both the medical staff and the facilities themselves, so now the Baltic Construction Company was constantly working in the surrounding area, raising new medical buildings and more housing.
The population of the city had already reached nearly twenty-seven thousand inhabitants because of all the people who had traveled from Germany to the Duchy.
There was an enormous number of veterans suffering from that illness who received practically no help from their own Government. Some programs existed, but they were very limited and simply could not care for all the men who needed it.
Many people had to be temporarily housed in abandoned villages in the surrounding area while the Baltic Construction Company continued expanding the facilities.
At the same time, we were desperately trying to obtain more doctors, psychologists and specialists capable of caring for that number of patients.
Although the institution had been operating for relatively little time, some progress had already been achieved.
The main objective was to keep the patients calm and gradually help them recover a normal life.
The methods used were mainly psychological ones based on conversation. The specialists held regular meetings with the patients, trying to help them speak with confidence about the chaos of war, what they had witnessed and the experiences that still tormented them.
We also tried to return some purpose to their lives.
A good part of the treatment consisted of maintaining the institution's gardens, performing simple work and establishing routines that would allow them to become accustomed once again to a normal life without breaking the rest they needed.
There were libraries, gymnasiums and numerous facilities intended for leisure. We even had cinema rooms and sports fields where the patients could train or simply pass the time.
At first, everything had worked quite well.
The problem had begun when the enormous numbers of Germans and Austrians arrived, drawn by the offer of treatment.
We had been forced to adjust the programs and temporarily reduce the individual attention time received by the patients while we continued expanding the facilities and hiring more specialized medical staff.
Tests with hypnosis were even being carried out, trying to determine whether it could be used to reduce some of the symptoms suffered by the veterans.
And it was impossible not to notice the plan Karl had prepared for the wives of those affected men.
To access the institution's services, one of the relatives had to accept a job, so long as that person was of legal age. Normally, that fell upon some adult son of the soldier or, far more often, upon his wife.
That had led to the appearance of factories filled mainly with women, although most of them were dedicated to the textile industry and tailoring.
They were facilities responsible for manufacturing standardized clothing that was later sold in the state markets so that anyone could acquire garments at low prices. And a good part of all that production depended directly on female labor.
To my surprise, Karl had also ordered the construction of multiple facilities near the urban centers so that mothers who had no one with whom to leave their children while they worked could take them there.
Caregivers had been hired specifically to look after the children during the workday, thus allowing those women to work without having to constantly worry about who would care for their children.
In that way, an enormous part of the female population now constituted the labor force of that city.
And a good part of the administration of the place fell directly upon me.
Apparently, Karl intended for me to be the public face of all of this, turning me in a certain way into the visible cover for many of his own ideas.
Karl was completely different from what one would have expected from a man like him.
Even in the best of scenarios, we had imagined that he would be someone who, although he might treat us with respect, would still see me only as a tool meant to give him children: a wife hidden behind guards and locked inside some palace.
But now I looked at the work he had given me, the responsibilities he had placed on my shoulders and, above all, the freedom I had to act and decide within the medical and administrative authority he had granted me.
And all of that could only make me feel terrible for Olga.
The main reason why my parents had ended up choosing me to become Karl's wife was precisely my character.
Although I felt attracted to that aggressive man who visited us, we all knew he had a hard temperament and that he would probably do everything possible simply to keep me calm and prevent me from causing him too many problems.
And, clearly, because of my character, I would not make things easy for him either.
In a certain way, my parents had tried to protect Olga, because they believed that, in the worst case, she could end up becoming the victim of a Prussian Junker from whom aggressive and even violent behavior was expected.
Olga, however, had fallen in love with Karl practically from the first day she saw him, when he appeared and took us out of that hole where we were being kept confined.
She had never been very reserved about her feelings, except when she was in front of our parents.
Our father hated Karl.
He hated him because he had been one of the men responsible for killing generals, officers and numerous Russian nobles during the war. To him, Karl represented practically everything that had destroyed the Empire and humiliated our family.
But Olga had always held on to that fantasy.
She dreamed that Karl would come one day, choose her from among all of us, take her away and make her his wife.
Precisely because of that, when we spoke with Mother, it was decided that it was much better for me to be the one who ended up marrying Karl.
Olga could easily become his victim.
She could let herself be dragged along by everything she felt for him and end up reduced to a simple ceremonial figure, locked inside some palace and used only to appear at his side and give him children, instead of becoming what we had truly been educated to be.
That was why now my soul ached when I looked at everything I had without having had to lift a single finger to obtain it. Literally, Karl had turned out to be the complete opposite of what we had imagined: an attentive, affectionate, kind man and, so far, a great husband.
And Olga had suffered greatly because of that.
My dear sister had insisted that she would do everything possible to avoid becoming what we warned her she could end up being. But, in the end, everything had turned out to be too good to be true.
Each day it became harder for me to look Olga in the face.
I needed to find some reason that justified our decision, something that proved we had done the right thing, because Olga looked at me with hatred practically every day. And Mother did not escape her resentment either, for having denied her what she now called her perfect marriage.
After all, I had practically everything I thought I would have to fight tooth and nail to obtain.
And I had it simply because Karl possessed ideas that were far too innovative compared to those of the men of his circle. He had no problem with women working and much less with working directly alongside a woman. He seemed not to care at all, although I could occasionally hear some whispers among his men regarding my presence and the power he had granted me.
I continued with my inspection day.
I watched as some men removed snow from the gardens, as others entertained themselves during their meetings and as the patients attended their assigned hours with psychologists and doctors to try to advance little by little in their treatments.
After finishing that review, I confirmed that, although the facilities were somewhat overcrowded because of the enormous number of people who had arrived, everything seemed to be continuing on the right path.
Afterward, I headed toward the factories where many of the patients' wives and relatives worked.
I toured the facilities, checking that the work was being done properly and that the finished products were being sent to their corresponding destinations.
In truth, my work there was not especially complicated as long as everything continued functioning as it should.
I also participated in a food delivery intended for the families that kept arriving in search of treatment for one of their members. Every day new groups appeared, many of them from Germany, bringing with them men who needed help and relatives who no longer knew what else to do for them.
Once my workday was over, I was finally able to leave.
I headed toward the station and boarded the train that would take me back to Riga.
When I arrived, I would have to inform my husband of everything that had happened during the day.
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If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
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