out what it was. She paid a visit to Libertas’s mansion to see if she knew what was going on.
Libertas shrugged a shoulder. “I’ve hardly seen Harro these last three weeks. I’m pretty sure it has something to do with Hitler’s negotiations with the British and the French over the Sudetenland. All I can tell you is that we had a visit from Hans Oster and Walther von Brauchitsch a few days ago.”
Greta knew who von Brauchitsch was. Everybody did. He was supreme commander of the German army. “Who’s Hans Oster?”
“Generalmajor Hans Oster is deputy head of Military Intelligence, the Abwehr.”
“And you’ve no idea what this is about?”
“None. Have you spoken to Mildred? She might have picked up something from Arvid.”
#
Mildred Harnack had little enough to add. Arvid had been spending so much time at the Economics Ministry that she had jokingly suggested he should have a bed put in his office. He had done exactly that, and now she never saw him from one end of the week to the next.
Mildred was sinking back into depression. Arvid had made promises to her when she left the sanatorium, promises that he had failed to keep. Greta did her best to cheer her up, but Mildred’s problems were deep-seated and stemmed from homesickness. She needed to be in Maryland with her elderly mother, whose health was declining.
And then one day toward the end of September, Adam swore Greta to secrecy and told her what was happening. The British were taking a firm stance on the Sudetenland. They had threatened a war if Hitler moved against any part of Czechoslovakia. The French and Italians had sided with the British and Neville Chamberlain was to attend a conference in Munich to copper-fasten the British position. Generalmajor Oster and a wide grouping of senior Wehrmacht figures were planning to remove Hitler from power. As soon as the conference ended the army would storm the Chancellery and arrest Hitler. A subgroup of the more militant conspirators wanted to have him executed. The SS would be neutralized and the armed forces would run the country until a new government could be elected.
Adam finished by saying, “I want you and Ule out of Berlin when all this happens. Take Ule away somewhere, anywhere. I’ll contact you when it’s safe to return.”
Greta took Ule to Düsseldorf for a week.
#
On September 30, the conference in Munich broke up. Neville Chamberlain emerged waving a piece of paper that guaranteed “peace for our time.” As the price of peace, key parts of Czechoslovakia had been ceded to the Third Reich. Hitler emerged from the talks as the world’s greatest negotiator, and without the support of the British, the planned coup was doomed to failure.
Chapter 17
October 1938
On October 6 Pauletta, the maid from the Schulze-Boysen household, delivered a package to the Kuckhoffs’ apartment. While Greta opened the package the maid played peekaboo with Ule.
Inside the package Greta found Anna and Max’s two Ariernachweise and a short note from Libertas.
“Greta: Sorry for the delay. Emmy has set everything up. Tell the lovebirds to make a new application to the Ethnic and Racial Affairs department without delay. They should ask for an official called Kurt Framzl. He’ll be expecting them. Tell them not to offer any more than the standard application fee (RM 20). The SS are now very strict about bribery. Corruption is considered one of the worst crimes against the Reich and they are determined to stamp it out in the lower ranks. We must have another get together soon, the three of us.
Affectionately, L.”
The following day Greta set off for the young couple’s apartment in Kolonnenstrasss, pushing the pram. The wind blew, but there was warmth in the patchy sunshine. Greta enjoyed the journey.
She found the apartment building, parked the pram, and carried a sleeping infant up the stairs to the second floor.
Anna opened the apartment door
Libertas shrugged a shoulder. “I’ve hardly seen Harro these last three weeks. I’m pretty sure it has something to do with Hitler’s negotiations with the British and the French over the Sudetenland. All I can tell you is that we had a visit from Hans Oster and Walther von Brauchitsch a few days ago.”
Greta knew who von Brauchitsch was. Everybody did. He was supreme commander of the German army. “Who’s Hans Oster?”
“Generalmajor Hans Oster is deputy head of Military Intelligence, the Abwehr.”
“And you’ve no idea what this is about?”
“None. Have you spoken to Mildred? She might have picked up something from Arvid.”
#
Mildred Harnack had little enough to add. Arvid had been spending so much time at the Economics Ministry that she had jokingly suggested he should have a bed put in his office. He had done exactly that, and now she never saw him from one end of the week to the next.
Mildred was sinking back into depression. Arvid had made promises to her when she left the sanatorium, promises that he had failed to keep. Greta did her best to cheer her up, but Mildred’s problems were deep-seated and stemmed from homesickness. She needed to be in Maryland with her elderly mother, whose health was declining.
And then one day toward the end of September, Adam swore Greta to secrecy and told her what was happening. The British were taking a firm stance on the Sudetenland. They had threatened a war if Hitler moved against any part of Czechoslovakia. The French and Italians had sided with the British and Neville Chamberlain was to attend a conference in Munich to copper-fasten the British position. Generalmajor Oster and a wide grouping of senior Wehrmacht figures were planning to remove Hitler from power. As soon as the conference ended the army would storm the Chancellery and arrest Hitler. A subgroup of the more militant conspirators wanted to have him executed. The SS would be neutralized and the armed forces would run the country until a new government could be elected.
Adam finished by saying, “I want you and Ule out of Berlin when all this happens. Take Ule away somewhere, anywhere. I’ll contact you when it’s safe to return.”
Greta took Ule to Düsseldorf for a week.
#
On September 30, the conference in Munich broke up. Neville Chamberlain emerged waving a piece of paper that guaranteed “peace for our time.” As the price of peace, key parts of Czechoslovakia had been ceded to the Third Reich. Hitler emerged from the talks as the world’s greatest negotiator, and without the support of the British, the planned coup was doomed to failure.
Chapter 17
October 1938
On October 6 Pauletta, the maid from the Schulze-Boysen household, delivered a package to the Kuckhoffs’ apartment. While Greta opened the package the maid played peekaboo with Ule.
Inside the package Greta found Anna and Max’s two Ariernachweise and a short note from Libertas.
“Greta: Sorry for the delay. Emmy has set everything up. Tell the lovebirds to make a new application to the Ethnic and Racial Affairs department without delay. They should ask for an official called Kurt Framzl. He’ll be expecting them. Tell them not to offer any more than the standard application fee (RM 20). The SS are now very strict about bribery. Corruption is considered one of the worst crimes against the Reich and they are determined to stamp it out in the lower ranks. We must have another get together soon, the three of us.
Affectionately, L.”
The following day Greta set off for the young couple’s apartment in Kolonnenstrasss, pushing the pram. The wind blew, but there was warmth in the patchy sunshine. Greta enjoyed the journey.
She found the apartment building, parked the pram, and carried a sleeping infant up the stairs to the second floor.
Anna opened the apartment door
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