Description
"Tomahawk and Crown" revolves around Hugi Flossel and Tad Saegerer, two boys plotting to escape Nazi occupied Vienna. They plan to build a boat and float down the Danube to safety, until their plans are interrupted by the Gestapo. Hugi manages to escape to the United States only to return to Vienna six years later as an officer in the US Army on a secret mission to recover the Crown of St. Stephen and crown jewels of Hungary. His only chance of success: finding his boyhood friend… if he's still alive.
Hugi Flossel and Tad Saegerer are inseparable, even though Tad is Aryan, and Hugi is Jewish. It's not a great mix, because this is Vienna on the eve of World War II, where being Jewish can get you kicked off the trolley, out of school, sent to a political camp, or even cleaning sidewalks with a toothbrush. This does little to dampen their childhood imagination though, and they roam their riverside prairie, playing Wild West, and building a submarine to escape down the Danube. For the confident and fun-loving Tad, Tomahawk is just a big adventure. For Hugi, it represents a true escape from a world where his mother is called a whore, food is scarce, and you can't become bar mitzvah because the synagogue was destroyed. As his family's situation becomes more tenuous, they resolve to take the transport to a labor camp in Poland, leaving Hugi with a dreadful choice to stay on with his friend and finish Tomahawk, or stick with his family. However, the choice is suddenly made for him when American visas arrive for the land of fairytales. As they rush around saying goodbyes, the Gestapo find Tomahawk and search for those responsible. Hugi tries to warn Tad but leaves on a ship bound for New York without seeing him again. Six years later, Hugi, now Sam, is a sophomore pursuing his dream of an education in the United States. While still wracked with remorse at leaving his friend behind, he knows there is little he can do as Tad committed suicide soon after he left. The nineteen-year-old enlists to serve the country that gave him shelter and his dreams, and perhaps take revenge on the Nazis. To defer this for six months, he tries to gain leverage with the draft board by telling them he once heard the Holy Crown of Hungary was to be smuggled out if the Nazis should try to seize it. This crown has been revered for over 1000 years since the Pope first gave it to King Stephen and has crowned the kings ever since. In the chessboard of players now operating in Europe, it's also become a means of controlling not only the country which could determine influence in the region for years to come.