Devils wear armbands.

The story behind the story.

In 2003 I was working in Calgary and whilst there I met Bob, (Jack in the story). We became friends and used to spend hours in each other’s company. He had been a journalist and I wanted to write. We discussed many topics one of which was cannibalism and he said that he knew a man in Vancouver who was a holocaust survivor and a confessed cannibal. At first I was skeptical but the more he told me the more intrigued I became.

Just before Christmas in December 1998,   Luka   (one of his many aliases,) had told him about his life and how he thought he had saved the world. It sounded ridiculous but Bob suggested I listen to the tape before passing judgment. He had recorded the conversation and had promised to write the story, but like so many things in his life he never finished it. Luka wanted to know why some people hated Jews and if he had saved the world and he hoped that Bobs book would help find those answers.

Bob had started writing but without providing the events that had taken place prior to Luka deciding to ‘spill the beans. His account was more of a documentary than the basis of a novel. At my next visit he gave me a small box in which was a tape recorder and several sheets of hand written notes. On these were the spellings of various names and places plus the first few pages that Bob had written. I already knew a little about his past and the various problems so I have tried to incorporate them.

The tape was not easy to follow with Luka becoming angry, sometimes incoherent and veering off topic, but eventually I did manage to make sense of it all.  Sheila, Bob’s sister in law, phoned me after his death in 2010 to ask if I had finished the story as Bob had made her promise to ‘nag me’ until I did.

These events happened seventy years ago so to think that Luka could still recall things as well as he did was remarkable. To a man I never met, but for who I have nothing but praise and respect and to the countless others who are suffering as a result of ignorance and stupidity, I salute you all. I can only hope that one day sanity prevails. Maybe in the future we can appreciate people for who they are and ignore the nonsense from those who are jealous, ignorant or with special agendas.

Was Luka a cannibal and did he save the world? It is up to the reader to decide.