It is nor far-fetched to suppose else is a translated German word because that is exactly what happened. The only question is which German word was is it.
> because that is exactly what happened.
No, it's what the author claims to have happened. I am strongly disputing their thesis as spurious.
The only German that makes sense would be
wenn ... dann ... sonst
> because that is exactly what happened.
No, it's what the author claims to have happened. I am strongly disputing their thesis as spurious.