The Helsinki Pact (20 page)

Honecker and Mielke’s three Stasi
colleagues nodded in approval of Mielke’s blunt approach. Egon
Krenz, carefully eyeing Honecker, had started to do the same, even
beginning to congratulate Mielke but suddenly stopped as he
realised the embarrassed reactions of the majority. Horst
Sindermann looked at Mielke with open contempt.

“These demonstrations have been
peaceful." he said. "There is little evidence of the criminality
you mention. Certainly those demonstrating show false consciousness
and we must ensure that the virus does not spread and infect more
of our citizens. But in my view to use force would be counter
productive. Our citizens are echoing Comrade Secretary Gorbachev
and are calling for openness, for glasnost, and for restructuring,
perestroika. There is no sign that they wish to give up the
advantages brought to them by socialism, merely that they wish to
contribute positively to a discussion about its future. Comrade
Mielke’s proposed solution borders on illegality.”

“I must agree, though
reluctantly.” said Putin. “Comrade Mielke is of course right in
much of his analysis but we are living in difficult times. It is
not that crushing an insect of insurrection is in itself wrong but
whether that insect or its fellows can then sting badly the hand
concerned." He paused for a moment and looked round. "Or even its
keepers." he added, almost to himself. "Some may think the approach
of Secretary Gorbachev mistaken - that's not for me to remark on -
but he guides the Soviet Union and we must all both respect that
and understand the position of Russia and the fraternal
relationship there.”

Honecker looked at Putin briefly
then turned to Sinderman.

“Do you forget, Comrade, that
although the ultimate public determiner of what is legal may well
be the Supreme Court it is important that the Court gives its
advice only having first determined the position of the Party? It
is the Party which understands fully the Marxist-Leninist
principles which guide our State. It is therefore the Party, and
the Party alone, which is in the best position to understand the
finer distinctions of the law where relevant to socialism. If the
Party determines that prompt and decisive action needs to be taken
in defence of socialism then it will advise the Court accordingly
and expect the Court to play its full part in advancing the truth
of that position to the citizens through its interpretation of our
laws.”

“Of course, Comrade Secretary. I
fully understand that the ultimate position of the Party is
critical and that you, as General Secretary, are uniquely
positioned to interpret this for those of us who do not have your
experience and command of socialist understanding.”

There was something in
Sinderman's tone of voice which caused Honecker to stare hard at
him for a full minute but the President of the Leigislature
remained impassive, a public picture of contrition. The room became
very still.

“Let me now address your
comments, Comrade Putin. Here in the German Democratic Republic we
have done our perestroika. We have nothing to restructure. As for
the openness of which Comrade Secretary Gorbachev speaks, we in the
Politburo here share the views of Comrade Ceaucescu of the
Socialist Republic of Romania and Comrade Zhikov of the People’s
Republic of Bulgaria that until false consciousness has been
eradicated in our citizenry it is the duty of the Party to lead and
not to be seduced to follow an empty form of democracy. The Party
is helped strongly in this by the Ministry of State Security and it
would therefore be wise to listen carefully to and then heed the
advice of Comrade Mielke.”

Mielke caught Honecker’s eye and
continued. “Let me remind you further, Comrades. In 1953 there was
a treasonous uprising by disaffected counter revolutionaries,
something which threatened the very foundation of our new State and
of the forward march of socialism. Then we called fraternally on
the Soviet Occupation Forces to help us in this struggle and
quickly succeeded in overcoming the enemies of the State. Comrade
Secretary Gorbachev, however, has made it clear that the Brehznev
doctrine of mutual support no longer holds. We can therefore no
longer call on other fraternal forces to help us quash any
rebellion but must do it ourselves.”

“The people have forfeited the
confidence of the government.” thought Sindermann to himself, and
smiled, as Mielke paused. “Would it not be easier for the
government simply to dissolve the people and elect
another?”

“I believe therefore that the
correct approach is that of our wise comrades in China." Mielke
continued." Only a few months ago in Tianamen Square they quickly
took firm action to smother counter-revolutionary protests before
they could take hold in the country. Our situation is comparable.
We must, therefore, similarly be ready to smash forces hostile to
our State and to the Party through all the means and methods at our
disposal. We cannot flinch. We cannot be weak." He brushed the
spittle away from the right side of his mouth. "History will honour
our memory and the decisive action that we are now obliged to take.
Ultimately the people will thank us.”

Honecker nodded. “The Party is
grateful to you, Comrade Mielke, for the way you guard and protect
it. There is, however, another important matter which has come to
our attention which I’d like Comrade Wolf to explain to
us.”

Wolf, son of a Jewish communist
father and educated in Russia because his family had fled Germany
following Hitler's rise to power, was the former head of the Stasi
department concerned with foreign intelligence and widely regarded
as a consummately skilled spymaster who had built up an extensive
network of agents deep inside the West German establishment. He was
now in his mid sixties, sophisticated and highly intelligent, still
urbane and strikingly handsome, and unrivalled in his experience
and knowledge of the intelligence world.

"My former department and its
current head, Comrade Grossmann, came to learn hints of a curious
proposal apparently involving the West German government making a
substantial loan to the Soviet government. There were possible
links with our country and I was therefore asked to help. We
discussed matters with a number of people but there were important
elements missing which made it difficult to establish exactly what
was going on." He stopped, looked round the table, and took a sip
of water.

"The man behind this is the
managing director of Deutsche Bank, Alfred Herren. The loan
proposed is significant, somewhere around 50 billion Deutsche
Marks, and we understand that it’s to be underwritten by the West
German government. What is also clear is that our future as a
country is intimately tied up with this proposal and this is
currently being negotiated between the governments of the Soviet
Union and of West Germany. We are not being consulted.”

For a long moment there was
silence and then everyone began talking at once. Despite Honecker’s
increasingly irritated banging on the table the noise continued
until finally Wolf could again make himself heard.

“Comrades, I heard some of you
just now suggest firm action to deal with the forces behind this
plan. I agree with that view but we must be very careful in what
action we take. This is a delicate situation which involves not
just West Germany but also our comrades in the Soviet Union, as
Comrade Putin has reminded us. If elimination is necessary in order
to achieve our needs then no hint of complicity must attach to
us.”

“Of course!” said Mielke dryly.
“You know, perhaps better than anyone, that we have always acted on
that principle and will continue to do so. We are not responsible,
however, for the antics of groups such as the Red Army Faction or
such others operating in the West whose aims may on occasion
coincide exactly with our own.”

The meeting broke up. Honecker,
usually deeply suspicious and alert to any deviant behaviour,
failed to notice how Egon Krenz spoke briefly, alone or in small
groups, to every member who had appeared concerned at Mielke’s
hardline stance. Mielke did notice but didn’t care. As far as he
was concerned the individual was irrelevant, it was the Party alone
that mattered.

And as Modrow drifted out,
following Putin deep in converation with Böhm, he heard the Russian
complain that in his view Gorbachev was weak and misguided; what
was needed was someone of the stature, vision and force of a
Mielke. "I am a specialist in communicating with people" Putin said
"and I know the importance to that of knowing incriminating
information." Insurrection could not be tolerated and so it was
necessary to infiltrate and to set the state's opponents one
against the other and break up any strength they might have from
being united. Only by acting ruthlessly against enemies threatening
the integrity of the state, could necessary order and control be
maintained.

"Se vogliamo che tutto rimanga
come è, bisogna che tutto cambi." Modrow murmured to himself and
smiled at Putin in response to his hostile and suspicious glance.
"Il Gattopardo." he added. "Tancredi." He smiled again and walked
on.

Chapter 16

Thursday October 12
1989

THOMAS thought back to his last
visit to Frankfurt as Stephan guided him through the small Chinese
restaurant. Dieter had somehow found a way to listen in on their
conversation but he couldn’t work out how that had happened.
Impossible that he would have bugged the building, surely. Thomas
wouldn’t put it past the Stasi to attempt even that but if they’d
somehow had the opportunity in the restaurant they couldn’t
possibly cover all the spaces where people sat. In any case, he was
certain that Deutsche Bank would regularly sweep all their rooms
for bugs.

They handed over their coats and
Thomas added his briefcase, deciding he'd no need of it at lunch.
An idea had flashed into his mind but he'd then lost it and he was
still puzzling over the issue, the answer tantalisingly just out of
his consciousness as they sat down at a corner table in the small,
empty back room. A petite Chinese woman in an azure silk robe came
over, took their orders and left.

“I know I said that you should
take every chance of using the Deutsche Bank restaurant, of being
seen there and chatting with people, learning what’s going on. But
this time it’s better here as the place is always half empty and I
wanted to make sure no one eavesdrops. The food’s OK as well – not
brilliant but perfectly good. I'd recommend the Peking
duck.”

“So, Stephan. What’s
up?”

“You remember the conversation we
had last time you were here?”

“Sure.”

The waitress arrived with a
number of small dishes, one of them with the shredded duck meat,
warm and aromatic and inviting. Thomas inhaled deeply then followed
Stephan’s example, laying a thin pancake on his plate and spreading
it lightly with sauce from one of the dishes. They each added
thinly sliced spring onions and other matchstick vegetables,
sprinkled on the meat and fragments of crispy skin, rolled up their
pancakes and ate in silence for some moments.

Stephen, still chewing, looked at
Thomas who nodded in response to the eyebrows raised in query. “I’m
now fully convinced, Thomas, that my suspicions were accurate and
that what we spoke about that day is correct, it’s what’s actually
happening. Among other things, Herren spent the whole day in Bonn
when the Soviet delegation headed by Gorbachev came over last
June.”

"MmmHhh." Thomas rolled up
another pancake and nodded again but said nothing, waiting for
Stephan to go on.

“We’ve closed that financing deal
I told you about. Between the Euroloan, the bonds and the medium
term note program, the total financing is now set at fifty billion
Deutsche Marks. That’s a huge amount of money to lend to a country
like Russia. Just huge! Now put it into context. The West German
government has been the biggest sponsor of Russian perestroika
anywhere in Europe, anywhere at all in fact. But why is it lending
all this money? What is it getting out of it?”

“Maybe it thinks that these
changes in the Soviet Union are going to open up things up
massively and it’s just getting on the ground floor, grabbing the
chance to become a favoured partner, poking Britain in the eye when
it comes to financial dealing.”

“Possible, but I don’t think
that’s it. Kohl’s deeply conservative and traditional and he’s a
hawk as far as Eastern Europe’s concerned. He’ll do business with
the Soviets if he has to and if it’s good for the country but he
won’t like it and I’d doubt he thinks it’s necessary. No, what he
really wants is a greater Germany, German unification. I think he
sees a way to work with Gorbachev to get that.”

“Listen,” Stephan continued.
“Gorbachev was in East Germany just the other day and everyone
could see how tense the relations were between him and Honecker.
East Germany wants nothing to do with perestroika and the more
liberal Gorbachev tries to make the Soviet Union, the more he
pushes his glasnost, the more hostile and hard-line Honecker and
the DDR politburo becomes. They see themselves as the remaining
guardians of socialist purity but in addition they’ve either
learned that Gorbachev has done some deal with the West and is
hanging the Ossies out to dry in the process, or they strongly
suspect that’s what’s going to happen, just like I do. They don’t
like it one little bit but it’s entirely consistent with what I’ve
been hearing and finding out.”