Beyond the Shield

by Nachman Kataczinsky

  Wolf hesitated. “I never really thought about it that way. I like army life and being a sergeant. I didn’t consider making this a lifetime career, so there’s more thinking to be done and more questions to be asked of the army.”

  Esther agreed. “Think some more, clarify to yourself what kind of future you want and only then decide.” She got up. “I need to get going. Jacob is meeting me at the train station in Beer Sheva.”

  Tzila smiled. “Are you two going steady?”

  Esther shrugged. “I don’t know. We meet a lot, talk, go out to eat and to shows. Is this going steady?”

  Nachman nodded. “I think so. Do you like him or is he just persistent and bothering you?”

  “He’s not bothering me. Jacob is very nice and I think he cares about me. Actually, I like talking to him.” She looked at her watch, “I really have to run. I’ll call you soon.”

  ***

  Semyon Ivanovich Aralov, the Soviet Ambassador to Israel, spent a day being driven around Jerusalem in a taxi. The driver seemed knowledgeable and talkative, in fluent Russian. Aralov indulged his intelligence gathering instinct. He needed to know the environs he was supposed to operate in, but his time was limited by the need to gather as much information as possible as fast as possible.

  One of his assistants was in the Hebrew University library discovering that it wasn’t as easy as it seemed. There was the language barrier. Some here spoke Russian but not many of those wanted to help a Soviet official. There was also a problem of understanding most of the technical literature. Apparently the locals were so advanced that even when he found books in Russian, which he did with the help of a librarian, they seemed completely opaque. Finally he settled on researching history. This was both interesting and comprehensible but he wasn’t sure what to do with the results of his research. They could cost him his life.

  Another important find was a sction of the library accessible only with a special pass, which he didn’t have. An attempt to sneak in caused two security guards to appear and eject him from the library with a stern warning and a threat of diplomatic complaint.

  After receiving his assistant’s report Aralov decided that the time had come to write to his superiors and dispatch the message by diplomatic pouch. The problem was, of course, that such a message would be delivered too late to do any good during the Teheran conference. In the meantime he used his radio transmitter to send a short summary:

  The State of Israel is definitely from the future. No idea how far. They have observation platforms in space. Suspect that is how they obtain visual information. Also weapons we don’t understand, planes powered by rockets that are faster than sound, and thinking machines like in science fiction. Israel has a large, well-equipped and well-trained military. Probably numbering in the millions. Details in pouch, more to follow.

  After the message was sent Aralov called for a brainstorming session with his two assistants. They needed to set up an embassy but also to establish a network of spies and, most important, research the libraries.

  The three decided that the best thing to do was to prioritize: a secure extraterritorial base of operations was most important, hence an embassy. The next most important was library research. This needed a team of experts. They decided on three or four to begin with, adding others as required, including experts fluent in Hebrew and English.

  Aralov was especially interested in the historical data. His assistant had written down some information which Aralov found fascinating. He was relieved to know that he would live to a ripe old age and die only in 1969, even though he realized that might change now. He decided to go to the library and research the history books himself. This kind of knowledge might be vital for his survival.

  ***

  Molotov read the decoded message, for the third time. The political and security situation was far worse than he expected. The State of Israel was extremely dangerous, but the situation also presented an opportunity. The clock on the wall of his suite in the embassy showed it was close to two in the morning. Stalin would be going to bed soon. Molotov made his decision and called Poskrebyshev. “Alexander Nikolaevich, I just received a message from Israel and I need to speak to the leader now.”

  “Wait.” A minute later Poskrebyshev was back. “Come now.”

  Molotov climbed to the next floor, passed several guards, and knocked on a heavy, ornate door. It opened to admit him. The guard searched the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs, found no weapons, and nodded to a second guard to open a door leading to Poskrebyshev’s office. Poskrebyshev admitted him to Stalin’s office and followed him in. An arrangement very similar to the one in Moscow.

  Stalin was reading a document and, without looking up, pointed to chairs in front of his desk. Five minutes later he asked, “What’s the earth shattering news, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich?”

  Molotov extended the page with the decrypted note.

  Stalin read it several times before looking up. “I don’t see how this changes anything much.”

  Molotov hesitated. “First, we need to be very careful of Beria’s assessments. I don’t understand how he missed this story and why he tried to sell us on a small and helpless Jewish state. Regarding Israel, this changes only one thing: we’ve got a country that has to be reckoned with. Maybe we should rethink our approach to the negotiations.”

  Stalin nodded. “And what do you propose we change?”

  “If they have demands, which I expect they will, we will have to consider them carefully. I don’t know who the senior partner is in the alliance between Israel and Britain. I thought it was Britain but now I suspect it’s Israel. If I’m correct, we will have to figure out how to satisfy their demands, whatever they may be.”

  “The only thing we can’t sacrifice is our objective,” Stalin replied. “When this war is over I want to control at least the territory we controlled in 1939 before the German attack. We need a buffer between us and Central Europe, particularly Germany. This means that we must retain control over the Baltic countries and at least part of Poland. We also need to control Bessarabia and Moldova.”

  ***

  The Foreign Minister showed the others a translation of Aralov’s message – Single use pads were useless against decrypting software and supercomputers. Amos Nir smiled after reading it. “He captured the essence but may be horrified by what he hasn’t found out yet. In any case, I believe that this will make them somewhat more flexible. Let’s go meet with Winston. We agreed on a breakfast.”

  When they arrived at the British embassy Churchill and several generals were waiting. The crowd filed into a large dining room where a buffet breakfast was served.

  “Gentlemen, we have two separate sideboards,” a majordomo announced. “One is the usual menu, the other is certified kosher. Please note that the service with the blue border is kosher.”

  The dining room was noisy. It was the first time second tier functionaries on both sides had met and everyone was talking.

  Gad Yaari, the Israeli Chief of General Staff, sat, not accidentally, next to Field Marshal Viscount Alan Brooke, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff.

  “My dear General,” the Field Marshall started, “it’s a great pleasure meeting you. I must say that I wasn’t in agreement with the strategy you proposed, but it seems to have worked.”

  Yaari smiled. “Field Marshall, we had to devise a strategy to accommodate your army’s relative inexperience with the new equipment and combined arms operations. I’m glad it worked as well as it did. It certainly reduced your losses.

  “What approach do you think we need to take with the Soviets?”

  Sir Alan Brooke looked quizzically at Yaari. “Are you anticipating a war with them?”

  “Not if we are ready,” Yaari responded. “But if we’re not, we might get a nasty surprise. Stalin is generally cautious but he’s also stubborn and has clear objectives. He will not hesitate if he sees an opportunity.”

  “Hear, hear.” A third voice entered the convers
ation. Churchill, sitting opposite Yaari and next to Amos Nir, continued, “I keep telling my generals and Chiefs of Staff Committee that Stalin is dangerous. They seem to be skeptical.”

  Amos Nir carefully placed some lox on his cream cheese covered bagel. “We have a bit of new intelligence that just arrived. Stalin received a communication from his ambassador to Israel. He now knows that we came from the future. He will be more careful than he would have been otherwise. This doesn’t preclude any future treachery, of course.”

  Churchill, who took an experimental bite of his bagel and lox, said, “The future is in the future. We need to stick to the tactics we discussed and see where that leads. Wouldn’t you agree, Amos, that if we give Stalin a little finger he will try taking the whole arm?”

  “True in principle. In practice he has few options? The Red Army isn’t ready to take on the Germans by themselves. As we discussed earlier, we will see to it that the Polish and Czechoslovakian armies are reconstituted and equipped. This is not to say that Stalin won’t try to undermine the Baltic countries and Poland.

  “I would prefer to negotiate in good faith, especially as we have the means to check on the other side’s conformity with the agreements.

  “I agree with the Latin saying ‘Si vis pacem, para bellum’ – ‘If you want peace, prepare for war’.

  “We have lived by this rule for many years. It’s one reason we survived.”

  ***

  The three leaders sat around a large round table with enough room for their advisors. The foreign ministers and military advisors were in the first row behind the heads of state; the less senior personnel farther back.

  Stalin was finishing his argument. “The Soviet Union fought the Hitlerites by itself for two years and we stopped them. We demand that this alliance agree that when Germany is defeated the Soviet Union will return to the starting positions it held before hostilities began in 1941.”

  Churchill responded, “Premier, we fought the Nazis starting in 1939. As soon as we defeated them in Northern Africa we attacked them in Europe. Without us drawing so many of their forces, who knows what would have happened in the first months after they attacked you. Our ally, Israel, has been providing vital intelligence that enabled you to stop the German advance and prepare for a counter-attack.

  “Neither Britain nor Israel are going to demand territorial holdings in post-war Europe. The Soviet Union shouldn’t either.”

  Amos Nir waited for the Russian translation to be finished before speaking. “Premier Stalin, we’ve had preliminary contacts with the new German government and will start formal negotiations soon. It is our intention that a Soviet representative participate as well, but only if we agree on a common position.

  “We propose to return European borders to the positions of February, 1938, before the German-Austrian unification rather than the positions agreed to between you and Germany in the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact of 23 August 1939. There will be small changes. The old Polish-German border was untenable for Poland. We propose to move it west to the Oder–Neisse line. There will also be some border modification between France and Germany.”

  Stalin shrugged. “If this is your position, maybe we need to continue fighting the Germans and defeat them. When all of central Europe is in our hands I will be satisfied.”

  Churchill smiled a predatory smile. “Maybe you should do that. We will sign a peace agreement with Germany, assuming they agree to our terms. I doubt that you will enjoy fighting Germany alone.”

  Amos Nir added, “You will also have to manage without our assistance.”

  Stalin whispered to Molotov and then responded, “We will take a break to discuss this matter.”

  The other two leaders nodded and the meeting broke up.

  ***

  The mood in the room was tense. Stalin held his empty old pipe and inspected it thoughtfully. Finally he said, “I want opinions on just what happened and proposals for our next step.”

  None of those present was about to volunteer an opinion. That would be too dangerous if it contradicted what the leader thought. After a lengthy silence Stalin shifted in his seat, reached for his tobacco pouch and started filling the pipe. Everyone relaxed a little; this was a sign that the worst might be over.

  “Molotov, what do you think?”

  “Comrade Stalin, diplomatically the situation is difficult. I think that Churchill hates us enough to make peace with Germany and leave us fighting them alone. On the plus side, it will not be a win for Germany either. He looked at Voroshilov, “Maybe Marshall Voroshilov can elaborate.”

  Voroshilov nodded. “We’re in the last stages of preparations for a big offensive against the Germans. As you all know, we pushed them back from Leningrad, breaking the blockade, and we will push them back on every other front. It will take them some time to transfer forces from the west to face us. It may be wise to attack now. We are ready.”

  Beria shrugged. “Not that I disagree with the esteemed Marshall, but what happens in, say, six months? The Germans will be stronger than they are now and getting stronger every day. With the Western Allies not attacking their industry or drawing their air force to defend the Fatherland, they will be very difficult to beat. But they will not be able to conquer the Soviet Union. Eventually we can arrive at a peace agreement with them.”

  Stalin looked at Beria without blinking, causing the chief of the NKVD and Marshall of the Soviet Union to visibly wilt. Finally the great leader pronounced, “Lavrentiy, surprisingly you make sense even though I disagree with you. We will eventually beat Germany. It will take a long time and a huge effort, but we will win this war.

  “But Churchill and this Jew Amos Nir won’t leave the Germans to their fate. We have no idea what capabilities the Israelis have. They might offer the Germans the same services they are giving us. In that case, we will have difficulties.”

  The room was quiet for a while. Stalin smoked his pipe and leaned heavily on his desk. Finally Molotov offered his opinion. “Maybe we should accept their proposal of going back to our old border. We can take control of the Baltic States later, after the capitalists dismantle their war machine. This will provide us with the minimal buffer we need. I’m sure they will compromise on all the other demands – reparations, war crime trials, repatriation of our prisoners of war.”

  Stalin surprised Molotov by standing up. “Yes, I agree. There’s no point fighting now for something we can take later at our leisure.”

  The meeting was over.

  ***

  Ambassador Lapid and Ambassador Viscount Halifax shook hands and entered the Oval Office together. FDR rose from behind his desk and greeted them; Secretary of State Cordell Hull also shook hands with the ambassadors.

  After everyone was seated FDR nodded to the two ambassadors. “Gentlemen, I’m pleased to see you both. What brings you here together?”

  Halifax looked at Lapid who nodded. “We would like to update you on the latest developments. Both our governments are conducting preliminary peace talks with the new German government. We expect to have an agreement very soon, after the German civil war is over.

  “As you know, our leaders are now meeting with the Soviet leadership in Teheran. They invited Mr. Stalin to participate in these negotiations. There is a slight difficulty. The Soviet leadership expects to gain control of European territories occupied after the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. We are not agreeable to this. Mr. Stalin implied that he might try fighting Germany on his own if we sign a separate peace.

  It would be helpful to disabuse Mr. Stalin of the notion that the U.S. is supporting his position, which he seems to think is the case.”

  Harry Hopkins, who sat to the side of the President’s desk, spoke up. “The only thing that might give him such an impression is our supplies of war materiel to the Soviet Union. Are you asking us to stop lend-lease?”

  “That would certainly be helpful,” Ambassador Lapid said.

  Hopkins said, inspecting his fingernails. “Such a move will, ju
stifiably, upset the Soviets.”

  “I have no doubt this is true, but why should the United States care?”

  Halifax added, “It would please both our governments. That should balance out the ‘feelings’ scale.” He smiled.

  FDR smiled in return. “I can see that, but I also have to weigh the consequences to us. We will certainly do nothing suddenly or without discussions with the Soviets.

  “As it happens, in this case our interests diverge from yours. I am aware of Mr. Stalin’s desire for a buffer between the Soviet Union and Germany and find it reasonable, as is your governments’ position. I’m sure we can find a settlement agreeable to all of us.”

  ***

  The next meeting was two days later. Molotov opened with, “The Soviet Union conditionally accepts an agreement that will return all European borders to their state in March of 1938. We demand that the countries concerned, including Germany and its allies, have free elections within six months after the agreement with no parties barred from participation.”

  The Israeli Foreign Minister responded, “Mr. Molotov, you surely don’t intend for the Nazi party to participate. We want them banned and their members banned from public service for life.”

  “This goes without saying. We also demand that Germany pay reparations to the Soviet Union for all the damage they inflicted and that fifty thousand German officers be executed for war crimes,” Molotov said.

  The Israeli Foreign Minister responded, “These are fair demands but justice should be carried out no matter who the criminal is. I assume that the Polish government will demand that all the participants and planners of the Katyn Forest massacre be executed.”

  Both the Israeli and British delegations nodded in agreement.

  Molotov looked surprised and Stalin furious. Finally Molotov shrugged. “We have no idea what you are talking about.”