Schonewille laughed in derision, though there was no mirth in the action. He had his anger under control and was thinking fast.
“Listen Bremer, and you can also repeat this to Grauwitz. Details of what has been happening have been left with a friend of mine. If I do not report to him every twenty-four hours, a sealed letter will be delivered to the Reichsführer. Then we will see who ends up in the cells of the Wilhelmstrasse headquarters before facing a firing squad, eh?”
It was all a lie, but by the look on Bremer’s face this possibility had certainly not crossed his mind. His face was pale and he nodded his head several times in understanding.
Schonewille looked up at a clock on the wall. It read just past six and in the distance a cock was crowing.
“Since we understand one another, you’d better fill me in on what has transpired and what is about to happen. My diary tells me it’s the ninth today and the first train is due to leave Munich in six or seven days. So we obviously don’t have much time.”
He asked about the troops garrisoned behind the door. Bremer smiled sardonically and said they were Russian.
“They’re what?” exclaimed Schonewille in astonishment.
“Yes, they’re Russians, but they’re on our side, at least nominally,” answered the SS captain.
He began to explain who they were and after hearing a few details Schonewille recalled reading something of their history. German propaganda had made much of Russians and other nationalities who had become part of the German armed forces.
In the latter part of 1942 a Russian Army of Liberation under its Russian name Russkaya Osvoboditelnaya Armiya, or ROA for short, was formed to help the Wehrmacht liberate the USSR from Stalin and the Communists. Red Army troops captured by German forces and other Russian dissidents were recruited to serve in its command.
The officer in charge of the ROA was Lieutenant General Andrey Vlasov who, as the commander of the 2nd Assault Army, had been captured by Dutch members of the Waffen SS a year earlier. Together with another anti-Communist army officer, Major General Malyshkin, the former chief-of-staff of the Russian 19th Army, Vlasov tried to put forward a united force that might fight with, rather than for, the German army.
The effectiveness of the ROA, or Vlasov Army, was hampered by two factors: the lack of support from the German High Command, especially Hitler; and the high number of desertions from its forces serving on the eastern front after the fall of Stalingrad. Subsequently, the ROA’s forces were withdrawn and sent to the Balkans, Slovakia, Poland and France to fight the various resistance forces, a job they performed admirably.
By late 1944, the situation on the eastern front had deteriorated to such an extent that even the most rabid Nazi recognised the need to gain further allies and fighting forces. Consequently, with Himmler’s blessing a new Russian force was set up.
Under the auspices of the Komitet Osvobozhdeniya Narodov – The Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia, or KONR for short – another fighting contingent was put together. The KONR Army was created amidst much pomp and ceremony in Prague in September 1944, a symbolic gesture since KONR was to be a Slavic army and Prague was a Slavic capital. Within a short time two divisions were created, the 600th and 650 Panzer Grenadiers made up of former Russian workers in Germany and former prisoners-of-war, numbering 50,000 in total.
It was members of this strange army who were being recruited by Grauwitz and Bremer.
“Can you trust them?” questioned Schonewille.
Bremer shrugged his shoulders and said in an off-hand way, “Oh yes. Mind you, if I was fighting on the Russian front I probably would want to watch my back, but by all accounts they have proved to be pretty effective as anti-partisan forces, particularly in Yugoslavia. At any rate, what we will use them for is pretty simple and should not involve any heavy fighting.”
“And, unlike good German soldiers, they can be relied on to shoot other German soldiers if need be and I would imagine they will also be expendable when the time comes,” broke in Schonewille.
Bremer hesitated and then with a crooked smile nodded his head in agreement.
Just like me, thought the other. He stared at Bremer who shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. Schonewille shut his eyes for a second so as not to let any part of his feelings show, for he knew if he was to escape from the Reich he would have to deal with Grauwitz and his aide.
He enquired as to the facilities at the barracks and was told there were few.
“But, do not worry, Herr Obersturmbannführer. This should be a temporary base of a few days at most. We will obviously need another base further south, that is when we find out exactly what is happening.”
Too tired to talk let alone think any more, Schonewille lowered his tired body onto a camp bed in the corner of the room and tried to get some sleep. He dozed fitfully for three hours but realising that proper sleep was eluding him, got up and sponged himself at a basin in another room. The water was cold and the wash perfunctory, but he felt better for it.
Now it was vital he reach Munich and find out what was happening with the money trains. He questioned Bremer as to the availability of transport and petrol.
“We are a little short on what we need, Herr Obersturmbannführer,” answered Bremer. The SS captain was now much more formal and correct in his dealings with Schonewille, obviously realising the lieutenant-colonel would not be pushed around. “We have two Kübelwagen and three trucks, two big three-tonne Opels and one very large four-and-a-half-ton Bussing-NAG. Obviously, we will need at least half-a-dozen more trucks to transport our troopers south.”
Schonewille agreed and told him to try the local SS garrison. They would have the necessary clout to obtain the additional trucks. In the meantime he would take one of the Volkswagens and asked Bremer to choose a driver. “One who is reliable and who speaks reasonable German. I want to be able to make myself understood.”
At 1100 hours Schonewille’s Volkswagen headed south on the road to Landshut. The driver turned out to be a dour thick-set corporal of about thirty-five years of age called Ilya Chuikov. Bremer had recommended him since Chuikov was a veteran of both the ROA and the KONR and had served against Tito’s partisans.
They passed through Landshut without stopping and continued on to Moosburg where they had a late lunch. On the move again they started to encounter heavy military traffic and with it came the Allied fighter bombers.
Twice they were forced to shelter under some trees as American Thunderbolts flew overhead. In order to keep off the main roads and so lessen the risk, they switched to some back roads, only to find others with the same idea. The increased traffic on the small Bavarian secondary roads caused traffic jams, thereby increasing the risk of Allied air activity, so Schonewille struck out across country and re-joined one of the main roads.
Through it all Chuikov said nothing accept yes or no, invariably in German although sometimes he slipped into his native nyet or da.
The two reached Munich shortly after nightfall having driven the last twenty kilometres-or-so in light rain. They drove to an SS barracks where Schonewille checked himself in and had a light meal followed by a bath and bed. He was exhausted. The Russian was left to his own devices.
The morning brought a heavy leaden sky and more rain. Chuikov was waiting with the Volkswagen and drove Schonewille to the Munich branch of the Reichsbank.
The SS lieutenant-colonel had a legitimate reason for visiting the bank, although it was more of a cover for his nefarious activities than an actual function of his SS command. With authorisation from his department, courtesy of a signature from his immediate superior, he opened another account, ostensibly for the proceeds of the concentration camps. He also spent time with the bank’s second-in-command and ingratiated himself by remarking how efficiently the bank was being run and how this had been made known to him by none other than Dr Walther Funk.
Pleased to be so praised by a senior SS officer who was obviously a confidante of the bank’s hi
erarchy, the banker spoke garrulously about his work and what was happening within the bank. By the time he left Schonewille had all the information he needed, plus an invitation for dinner the following evening with the banker’s family.
The rest of the day was spent in the offices of the German State Railways assessing the likely alternative routes for any freight trains heading south-east for the mountains near Berchtesgaden.
By the thirteenth he was in possession of as much information as was available, so he set up the framework for the next part of their audacious plan.
He had arranged barracks for their troops in the town of Traunstein some forty kilometres west of Salzburg. On phoning Bremer he was informed that the necessary trucks had been requisitioned, as well as sufficient gasoline to move the Russian troops to Traunstein. The difficulty in obtaining petrol was of major concern to every German army or air force commander at this time, since the loss of the Romanian oil fields plus the constant attacks by Allied bombers on the synthetic oil plants was slowly drying up supplies.
On the evening of the fourteenth, Schonewille, Grauwitz and Bremer held a meeting at their new barracks in Traunstein. Schonewille’s knowledge of what was happening to the Reichsbank’s reserves and his thorough planning enabled him to hold court. It also cemented his new-found status within the group.
On his arrival at Traunstein, Grauwitz immediately held a private meeting with Bremer who filled him in on what had transpired between him and Schonewille. Grauwitz emerged from this private conference with a hard look on his face and his lips compressed into a thin line.
“Guten Tag Herr Obersturmbannführer,” he said gravely. “What is this I hear from Herr Bremer?”
By this stage Schonewille was feeling even more obdurate and refused to be drawn. “What part of our conversation are you referring to, Herr Brigadeführer?” he answered in apparent innocence.
The SS general’s voice dropped to a hiss. “Don’t you play games with me. Verstanden?”
Schonewille smiled, a sardonic gesture, which for a moment seemed to throw the older man. The SS lieutenant-colonel immediately seized the advantage. “Oh I suppose you are referring to my refusal to be played for a fool. Well, what Bremer has told you is true and, let me add this little homily. We either work together in harmony and trust, or we fail together in acrimony and mistrust. The choice is yours.” It was a statement not a question.
For a moment Grauwitz gave the impression he would choke. When he finally opened his mouth to speak Schonewille compounded his earlier action by cutting him off.
“Oh, and don’t try to threaten me, it will be a waste of breath. As your aide no doubt mentioned, you can’t touch me. There’s a detailed missive in a safe place in Berlin that will be handed to the Reichsführer on my demise. Also, there are certain practicalities concerning this operation which, after I explain them, should reinforce your earlier assessment of how important I am to this operation.” He paused and cocked his head at Grauwitz in a silent question.
The other raised his eyebrows in return, but refused to be drawn – a grudging admission of Schonewille’s new found status. So, Schonewille continued.
“I have the connections to fly us out of the Reich. I well understand you also can lay your hands on an aircraft, though I doubt whether it will be as suitable as the one I have arranged. Nor will you be able to arrange for a pilot as accomplished as my brother. Then there is the question of our arrangements here. Neither you nor Bremer possess any legitimate reason to make business or social calls to the Munich Reichsbank and therefore cannot obtain the information that I already have in my possession. Let us accept the fact that I am a key component of your plans without whom the operation will probably fail and leave you deep in pig shit.”
Grauwitz stood unmoving for almost thirty seconds. Finally his head moved up and down almost imperceptibly as he grudgingly accepted the words and fully understood what they represented. When he spoke it was without rancour, but with a trace of irony.
“I certainly underestimated you, Herr Obersturmbannführer. I had a feeling in my bones you would be devious, but not quite so Machiavellian. You should have been an Italian. But I hear you and understand what you say. Maybe I should have taken you a little more into my confidence, but old habits die hard.” He took off his cap and ran his left hand through his dark hair. “So, Obersturmbannführer Schonewille … comrade. What have you learned?”
Schonewille was not fooled. Grauwitz would eliminate him given half the chance. At present he needed him. But after the Reichsbank’s valuables were safely stored in the Junkers, or maybe even before, he would become expendable.
Bremer was called in. By the expression on his face he had obviously been listening at the door and his manner was quite friendly, even mildly obsequious.
Schonewille spread out three large army ordinance maps covering southern Bavaria, the Tyrol and nearly all of Austria. He pinned them to a wall so their overlap corresponded and then turned to his conspirators.
“Now, meine Herren, this is what I have learned. The trains are still scheduled to leave Munich in two or three days, on the fifteenth or sixteenth as planned, although I have some doubts as to whether this will happen.”
Grauwitz asked why.
Schonewille explained that there were three reasons. The first was the lateness of the trains from Czechoslovakia that carried the monetary reserves of the now defunct Admiral Horthy regime in Hungary. The second was the condition of the train tracks due to the constant predatory forays of Allied aircraft, while the third was the shortage of locomotives due to the same problem.
“The fact is we are under such severe pressure that no train ever runs on time, let alone uses its intended route. Our much vaunted punctuality has disappeared along with our chances of winning this war.”
He went on to detail the problems of trying to waylay one of the trains.
“All we know for certain is that the trains will leave from Munich, here.” He prodded at the map and then moved a finger along a series of railway lines that he had marked in red pencil. “The difficulty is there are several routes south and east of Munich that the trains might take.”
“Surely all one has to know is what their ultimate destination is and choose accordingly,” interrupted Grauwitz.
“No, that’s incorrect,” answered Schonewille. “I do know the ultimate destination of the reserves and I am ninety-five percent certain I know the final railway route the trains will take. Unfortunately what I don’t know is which railway route they will take to get to that final route.”
Grauwitz shook his head, not understanding, so Schonewille tried to explain more clearly.
The information he had garnered was quite detailed. The reserves were to be transferred to the town of Bad Reichenhall some forty kilometres by road from Berchtesgaden, which was deep in the Alps near the border of Austria and Germany. The nearest towns to Bad Reichenhall were Anif and Salzburg, both situated to the north-east with Ruhpolding to the north-west. Of those three only Salzburg and Ruhpolding were fed by a railway line.
“My belief is this. The trains will go to Ruhpolding which, as you can see, is scarcely twenty kilometres south of here. I doubt they will go to Salzburg because it is too big, while the road from there to Bad Reichenhall is much further and much more difficult.”
Grauwitz shook his head and remarked that if this was the case then surely it would be easy to waylay the train.
Schonewille disagreed. “Not so. We cannot have our troops hidden indefinitely near the point of ambush, and since we do not know from which direction the trains will come from we will not have adequate warning to move our men to the ambush site quickly enough. All we know for certain is that to get to Ruhpolding the train must first pass through Traunstein, which will not give us enough time to get our troops into position.”
By use of the map he explained how there were seven main alternative railway lines for the trains to take to reach Traunstein. Although it was expected
that the trains from Munich would take the most direct and quickest course, this might not be the case since Allied air activity could force them to make a detour and they might arrive at Ruhpolding by a circuitous route.
“There is another problem, Herr Gruppenführer. There is a good chance the trains will be armoured.”
This news was greeted with stunned silence.
Throughout the war the Wehrmacht had been adept at using trains for offensive purposes, as well as for the transport of troops and munitions. With great ingenuity they had, over a period of several years, developed a large number of armoured trains. Although there were dozens of variations to the theme they all had one thing in common. The locomotives and freight cars were all protected with armour plating and were equipped with a wide range of light- to medium-calibre guns as well as specially trained shock troops.
In short, they were formidable weapons.
“I believe, however, these particular trains might not be too difficult a nut to crack,” said Schonewille. “There is only a fifty-fifty chance the engine will be armoured with not more than two or three of the trucks similarly protected and fitted with heavy weapons. Nevertheless, each train will also pull at least two flat cars equipped with anti-aircraft weapons, probably multiple twenty-millimetre cannons.”
Schonewille let the two SS officers worry amongst themselves for a few minutes before playing his hand. He could barely contain his smugness.
He explained how he had a possible solution. Sixty kilometres to the west was the town of Rosenheim. On its outskirts was an engineering works that was being used to repair and modify various types of armoured vehicles. “As soon as I learned about the armoured trains I made enquiries as to the availability of tanks or armoured cars. As you are no doubt aware, they are worth their weight in gold at the moment and, therefore, are not things left lying around.”
Grauwitz allowed himself a small smile. He was beginning to appreciate just how useful the SS accountant had become. It also unnerved him, since he was having to rely even more on Schonewille’s intelligence gathering abilities and obvious flair for improvisation.
The Reichsbank Robbery Page 26
