The Night of the Generals (42 page)

"Get to the point? What do you think I'm doing, sweetie? Well, someone rushes into the room and yells: 'He's dead--shot!' It gave us all an awful shock. I was standing next to von Seydlitz-Gabler--he's a field-marshal or something like that, all kinds of decorations--lots more than Mende--anyway, a hero--and do you know what he said? Go on, have three guesses.

"'A pretty kettle of fish!' That's what he said--I promise you."

From von Seydlitz-Gabler's memoirs, concluding section: "The repercussions arising from the death of one of our finest soldiers can only be construed as a deplorable misunderstanding. Once again, and perhaps for the last time, the news-hounds scented a stag at bay. They leapt at him, avid and remorseless, eager to vent their pathological hatred and besmirch his memory.

"I vividly recall the moment when I was told of his death. It was at a select gathering. We had, I believe, just been discussing the reconstruction of the true Germany and the new orientation of Europe, a subject close to all our hearts. Then the tragic news reached us. I was profoundly shaken, and could only murmur: 'How frightful!' adding, a little later: 'But we must not be deterred, even by this.'"

Further statement by Wyzolla, this time made in East Berlin several weeks after the foregoing events. The occasion: a press conference arranged by the East German Ministry of the Interior and presided over by Commissioner Karpfen, who was promoted shortly afterwards: "It was like this: I only did my duty, that's all. Of course I had a good think about things--and how! I'm no fool. I've always known where the real war criminals are. Over there, that's where. That's my belief, anyway. Anyone care to disagree?

"I was General Tanz's driver. A fine man, no two ways about that. Promoted me to sergeant. Yes, I'm a sergeant-major now. I escorted the General to West Berlin. Just a private visit--man to man. Everything went like clockwork to begin with. The General said: 'Makes a bit of a change, doesn't it?'

'Yes,' I said. It did, too. Everything was different over there--not like here, you understand.

"Then two blokes turned up. Right there in the hotel. Wanted a word with me. 'Wyzolla,' I said, 'watch out! Get shot of these two lads.' Told the General. He was sarcastic. 'Cloak-and-dagger merchants,' he said.

"A bit later another man came up--a Westerner. Name of Hartwich or Hartmut or Hartmann--something like that. Reeked of perfume and spoke French into the bargain. I heard him chattering to a Frenchman. Talkative type, he was. Tried to chum up with me. Gabbed about the General the whole time--interested in his personal habits, etc. Wanted to pick my brains, but I wasn't playing. I led him up the garden path all right, take it from me!

"Then the gendarmes arrived. Stuck a pistol in my ribs and said: 'Come with us or else!' Well, I'm not stupid. I made the best of a bad job--steady as a rock, though. Never said a word against the National People's Army. Not on your life!"

Letter from Rainer Hartmann, Antibes, to Chief Inspector Prévert, Paris, dated May 1961: "... the weather is gorgeous. Our greenhouses are packed with flowers and the roses are just coming into bloom. The palms in the Botanical Gardens are looking lush and green, and there are a hundred candles burning in the chapel beside the light-house. I lit them because my wife has just given birth to a son. With your permission, we intend to name him after you.

"This means that you will have to come down here. We're planning a celebration in the auberge, and next day Félix will be concocting the best bouillabaisse of his life, down at the harbour.

"Ulrike is firmly convinced that you'll want to see our son..."

Telegram from M. Prévert to M. et Mme. Hartmann: "Already on my way. Get the Hotel Juana to put a bottle of Rosé Provence '53 on ice."

From a speech delivered before delegates of veterans' associations and similar bodies on the occasion of Heroes' Memorial Day, 1961. Official speaker: General von Seydlitz-Gabler.

"... Thus, men like General Tanz have become a symbol to us. He was one of those officers whose men would have gone through Hell for him. To him and his like, there was only one thing which existed--and triumphed--above all others. That was, is, and remains: Germany!"

Interjection: "Which Germany?"

The End