On Desperate Ground (29 page)

“Do you know that in two days I must issue an order to all remaining neutral diplomats to leave Berlin? I was going to say that we could no longer guarantee their safety due to the terror bombing and Soviet attacks. Now it seems as if they are not safe from the SS!” Von Ribbentrop had worked himself up into a rage, bellowing out his accusation and looking down at Fegelin.

“My God, man! Tell me what you are talking about!”

Von Ribbentrop visibly calmed himself and walked back to his desk, seated himself and opened a file. He adjusted his reading glasses, alternately looking down at the papers and over the top of the glasses, peering at Fegelin.

“Yesterday, the Portuguese envoy Antonio Joaquim Gonsaldes was enjoying a visit from two Spanish neutral diplomatic colleagues, as he prepared to leave Berlin and return to Portugal. In his office, which by international law is neutral territory, I may add. Disregarding this, one of your men, a
Sturmbannführer
Otto Hettstedt, burst in on the group, seeking to arrest Gonsaldes. As this Hettstedt was threatening him, the elderly Gonsaldes suffered a heart attack and died. In the presence of the Spaniards.”

Fegelin stiffened as the implications of Hettstedt’s act hit him. The
Führer
would be furious, and von Ribbentrop was likely to tell the tale to his greatest advantage, placing blame squarely on Fegelin. It would give von Ribbentrop the perfect excuse for the failure of any of his latest diplomatic initiatives.
 

“Early this morning the Spanish government lodged an official diplomatic protest with our ambassador in Madrid. The Portuguese government followed suit and has demanded an investigation. An investigation! What have you done, Fegelin?”

 
“
Sturmbannführer
Hettstedt had no orders or authorization from my office for this action. If indeed this actually happened at all. How can you be sure? Perhaps the Spaniards killed him and are blaming the SS.”

“Don’t be an idiot, Fegelin! One of your own SS police officers identified Hettstedt as in charge of the action. The man told the Spaniards his name after he left.”

That’s two heads I’ll take,
Fegelin thought to himself, frantic to get back to Number 8
Prinz Albrecht Strasse
and deal with this crisis.

“Can you tell me if you know why Hettstedt tried to arrest this Gonsaldes?” Fegelin hated even asking the question, revealing that he knew little about his subordinate’s activities.

“Something connected with arrests he was also making at St. Ludwig’s Hospital. Apparently Gonsaldes got involved with smuggling Jews out of the country in connection with staff at the hospital.”

Fegelin suddenly understood. Hettstedt had gotten too ambitious in following up leads in his investigation of Elsa Klein.

“You may inform the Spanish and Portuguese governments that this was an unauthorized action taken by a low level officer acting without written orders. There will be an immediate investigation and a prompt response to this violation of neutral territory. The SS will not tolerate rogue officers acting illegally.” Fegelin drew a deep breath, congratulating himself on not having given Hettstedt anything in writing. He was confident that he could distance himself from his actions easily.

Fegelin’s capitulation took von Ribbentrop by surprise. He would have preferred an open conflict, which he could have brought to Hitler for his ultimate decision, surely in von Ribbentrop’s favor. This was quite something else. He decided to give the issue a little time to develop, to see what would happen.

“I can do that for you, Fegelin, if you promise a prompt response. Can you put your hands on this Hettstedt?”

“
Herr
Minister, that is exactly what I mean to do.” Fegelin got up and walked out without another word. He had to act immediately, and that meant seeing Heinrich Himmler about this before anyone else did. He had to stop himself from running to the waiting staff car. Once at the SS headquarters, Fegelin made for Himmler’s first-floor office. Himmler was in, and seemed to be expecting him.

 
“Are you conducting foreign policy now,
Brigadeführer?
” Himmler let a small grin appear briefly on his thin lips.
 

Damn, the man has eyes everywhere!
“Our plan to take over Operation Gambit is almost ready to implement. However, we do have one small problem to overcome.”

Himmler said nothing, but simply raised an eyebrow that seemed to severely question Fegelin’s use of
we
. Fegelin told him about receiving Hettstedt’s report yesterday, his orders to him concerning the arrests, and the Gonsaldes incident. Himmler thought for a while.
 

“So we have the Klein woman in custody? What about Neukirk?”

“I believe Hettstedt is on his way to Zossen now to take him into custody. That was his plan, in any case. He was going to take several squads of security troops in case of any trouble with the Brandenburgers.”

 
Himmler tapped his fingers nervously on his desktop. He thought out the potential problems, advantages and disadvantages. Everything was calculated around how the
Führer
would react. Himmler feared his displeasure more than all the Allied bombs that could fall on Berlin. Finally he spoke.

“You can still salvage the situation if you act quickly. You must establish for the record that Hettstedt’s actions in regard to Gonslades were unauthorized. He needs to be apprehended and dealt with immediately. Once we have him, and Neukirk, we can move on Faust and go to the
Führer
for overall command of Gambit.”
 

Himmler paused, and Fegelin noted that Himmler had not used “we” until he spoke of having Hettstedt in custody, which of course meant eliminated. Fegelin understood fully. He would have done exactly the same.

“Send a coded radio message to Zossen,” Himmler continued, “for the officer in charge of Hettstedt’s security force. Once Neukirk has been taken, he is to arrest Hettstedt as well and bring them both back here. Then we go to see the
Führer.
Only then. And make sure the order is coded. I don’t want it going out in the clear.”

“Yes,
Reichsführer!
”

“Be sure you deal with this promptly,
Brigadeführer.
The Russians are building up on the Oder for an offensive. It could come within days or a week at most. The Americans are about to take Nordhausen and the V-2 facility there. There is not much time left before Operation Gambit begins, with or without us. I prefer it to be the SS which saves the Reich for the
Führer
.”
 

“I will issue the order at once, and go to Zossen myself to oversee the operation.”

“No, you are needed here. Issue the orders, monitor the situation, and report to me this afternoon.”

“As you wish,
Reichsführer.
”

Fegelin went back to his office, determined to gain control over the situation quickly. Himmler planned to keep him close by, in case Hettstedt eluded them. He knew where the blame would fall if he failed to produce Hettstedt. He barked an order for his aide to come into his office and take down a radio signal.
 

“Find out who commands the security detail
Sturmbannführer
Hettstedt took with him this morning…”

“It was
Untersturmführer
Wertholz, sir. I saw them leave less than an hour ago.”

“Good. Send him a coded message to the OKH communications center at Zossen. It is to be delivered to Wertholz only.” Fegelin began to dictate.

“Proceed with your action to arrest Dieter Neukirk and Hans von Schierke. Once Neukirk is in custody, you are to disarm and arrest
Sturmbannführer
Otto Hettstedt and return him and the other prisoners to Berlin. Do not interfere with other Operation Gambit personnel. Inform Colonel Johann Faust of your orders from the undersigned when all prisoners are in your custody.”

“Is that all, sir?”

“For that message, yes. Send it out under my name as an Enigma code. Now, tell me, which of our police officers accompanied
Sturmbannführer
Hettstedt yesterday?”

“
Meister
Popitz was looking for him yesterday, with some information about a foreign diplomat.”

“Enough. Type out the following transfer order.”

Within an hour, a stunned
Meister
Popitz was confronted by two SS guards, stripped of his Gestapo identity badge and informed that he had been included in the call-up of a
Volkssturm
anti-tank battalion. He was allowed to keep his pistol, given a helmet, a
Volkssturm
armband, and two
Panzerfaust
anti-tank rockets. He was put on a truck with other office workers called up from various government buildings. They were all middle-aged and as much in shock as Popitz. He sat down on the bench as the truck drove through the eastern suburbs towards the Oder. The man opposite him asked, “Where do you think we’re going?”

“Well, I’d say we’re going to hell, my friend.”

* * *

At the same time, the Enigma coded message was being decoded at the OKH Exchange 500 Zossen communications center. The radio operator decoding the message had used the Enigma machines hundreds of times, and was quick with it. Behind him,
Leutnant
Gustav Stieff was making a final inspection before departing with the rest of the Operation Gambit staff. He glanced over the shoulder of the young radio operator as he worked on the message.
 

“Well, Karl, keep up the good work—” He stopped in mid-sentence as he saw the decoded words on the communications form.

“Yes,
Feldwebel
—I mean
Leutnant
.” Karl turned and smiled up at Stieff.
 

“I’ll take that message out for you, son.”

“Well, I guess that’s all right. It’s for some SS officer on his way here.”

“Yes, I see. I’ll take care of it.
Auf Wiedersehen
, Karl. Stay out of trouble.”

“You too,
Leutnant
.

A little too late for that, my boy.
Stieff went out to find Dieter Neukirk, fast.

* * *

Outside of London, at Bletchley Park, the Allied center for intercepting and decoding German signals traffic, the message had been decoded and sent onto SHAEF headquarters before it was in Stieff’s hands. Colonel Prescott’s staff read it and had a summary written and coded for transmission to him at First Army HQ within ten minutes. He had given them a number of key words to look for in any Enigma messages. With this one, they had hit the jackpot. Faust had been scrupulous about avoiding any kind of radio transmissions, handling all communications by land lines or direct transmission of written orders. Fegelin, unaware of this, had sent the first and only radio communication referring to both Operation Gambit and Colonel Johann Faust.

CHAPTER TWENTY

12 April 1945

352
^nd
Fighter Group Airbase

Asche, Belgium

Even with the sun out, trying its best to warm the cool early April air, it was freezing inside the hangar. The concrete floor was cold and damp, and Mack wore his gloves and scarf against the sharp chill. He and Rose had set up plywood between two smaller tables to make one large map table. Standing over it, they poured over detailed maps and aerial photos of the area between the Mulde and Elbe rivers where they were to parachute in.

Behind them and extending the length of the hangar were even longer tables with white parachutes hanging above them. They silently swayed on their hooks as stray breezes gusted in under doors and around windows, like drifting ghosts staring over their shoulders. Mack was irritated and jumpy as he constantly caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, startled each time by the otherworldly image. Sergeant Kowalski and Corporal Mandelbaum were re-packing their parachutes for the thousandth time, as they all impatiently waited for the order to begin the mission. Six other enlisted men sat and sprawled on stacked cases of supplies and gear pushed up against the hangar wall. Most were cleaning their Thompson submachine guns. Corporal Luther Willard was intently testing all the components on the team’s new SSTR-5 radio. This newest version of the radio unit designed for behind the lines use had just been delivered to the front, and Luther was enthralled with it. A southern boy with a drawl and slow, plodding exterior, he was Rose’s best radioman and electronics expert. They had been together in the 1
^st
Special Services Force, as had all the handpicked soldiers that made up the ten-man team. Except for Mack, who felt like a helpless passenger on a runaway train.

“Rosie, this here receiver weighs only two and three-quarters pounds. The transmitter has two tubes runnin’ in tandem, so if one of ‘em busts, we can still get on the air,” Luther said excitedly. “Damn! This here’s one fine radio. Thousand mile range, too.”

“Did we get two of them?”

“Yep. We’re gonna to wrap ‘em in blankets and pack one in my sack and one in the supply canister.”

“Take good care of them, Luther. We may have to holler for the cavalry. You got the call signs for First Army forward units?”

“Got ’em. HQ, artillery support, tactical air support, we’re all set. We could order up a hot meal with this baby.”