One Day in Oradour by Helen Watts Read Free Book Online

take charge of 3rd Company. The Captain is Heinrich Krüger. You can brief him in Saint Junien and assemble the Company there. Looking at the size of the area we have to cover, I’d say you’ll need enough vehicles for about a hundred and eighty men.’
    Dietrich nodded sharply, eager to get going.
    ‘When you reach Oradour, surround the village. From the map it looks like it’s a relatively easy place to seal off but you’ve got time to study the road layout on your way back to Saint Junien. I think there are just four routes in and out. Oh, and there’s a tram line, soyou’ll need to get some men posted at the tram station once you’re inside.’
    Scholz paused and looked Dietrich in the eyes. ‘My orders are that you search the village from top to bottom – but do it carefully. I don’t want any panic. Tell the villagers that it’s a standard search, that you just want to see their identity papers. But don’t leave any stone unturned. If Klausner is there, or there is any trace of him having been there, I want to know.’
    ‘And if I find nothing?’ asked Dietrich.
    ‘Then you move out,’ answered Scholz, slightly puzzled. ‘Report back to me and await my next orders. By then we might have located Klausner elsewhere. As I said, there is no guarantee that the kidnappers have any connection with Oradour.’
    ‘But there is another option,’ said Dietrich, a conspiratorial smile on his lips. ‘To ensure that our time is not completely wasted.’
    ‘And that would be?’ asked Scholz, warily.
    ‘I take hostages,’ said Dietrich. ‘As a bargaining tool. Why not play the Resistance at their own game?’
    Scholz sucked in his cheeks. He didn’t like the idea of taking civilians hostage. There had been too many cases under the leadership of General Müller where so-called hostages had ended up dead. Scholz was certain that Müller had never intended to use them fornegotiation. But he couldn’t deny that there was logic in Dietrich’s idea – and if all their searches for Klausner proved futile, they would need a back-up plan.
    Dietrich was looking at him keenly, his blond eyebrows raised, willing him to agree.
    ‘Very well. You may take thirty hostages. No more. And they are not to be mistreated, understood? They are to be used to negotiate with the Resistance and for no other purpose. Remember who the enemy is here.’
    Scholz felt forced to stress this to Dietrich. He had heard much about this young soldier and his rapid rise through the ranks of the SS. He had an admirable military record but Scholz could also sense a ruthlessness and an impetuosity that made him nervous.
    ‘Is that all absolutely clear?’ Scholz asked again as he pushed back his chair and stood, ready to dismiss the young commander.
    ‘Of course,’ replied Dietrich, smiling as he rose to salute. ‘Get ready to be impressed, Major General.’

6: Gustav Dietrich
    Gustav Herbert Dietrich was born at home in Freiburg in the early hours of a raw, frost-covered December day in 1914. A handsome and healthy-looking baby, with a mass of thick, dark hair, the newborn Gustav instantly invaded his mother’s heart and aroused such love and devotion that, as she kissed the long slender fingers on his tiny hands for the very first time, she swore that she would never love anyone as much as he. She knew that whatever this child did in his life, she would love and support him… and she would forgive him anything.
    To his father, the new baby was a triumph, the culmination of years of hope. Life was now as it should be and he had regained control of his destiny.
    Otto and Klara Dietrich had been trying for a baby ever since they married ten years before. Confused as to why God refused to grant her the one thing she wanted most in her life, Klara had suffered with recurring boutsof deep depression, during which she would retreat to her room for days, unable to face the world.
    At first, Otto sympathised with his wife in her anguish. He gave