The Shield: a novel

by Nachman Kataczinsky PhD

  The Event changed little in his business perception, except making the metallurgical business more attractive – it wasn’t a commodity anymore. The company’s abilities were unmatched and being the only steel maker in Israel was a huge asset.

  ***

  When they arrived at the house Ze’ev introduced everybody to his wife, Linda. It took a while to sort out how to address each other. Jacob looked like Ze’ev’s father when Ze’ev was a little boy, but Ze’ev also remembered him when he was eighty. Calling this young man “Father” was strange, and he was not really Ze’ev’s father, not in this reality. It was even stranger for Jacob. His mother saw the resemblance and, most of all, some of the mannerisms of her son in Ze’ev, and was not shy about pointing it out to everybody. But Jacob’s instinct was not to call this older man “son”. They finally settled on calling each other by their first names.

  It took a long lunch with several glasses of wine in the spacious dining room for everybody to relax. There was a multitude of questions, asked mostly by the women who naturally took over the conversation.

  Sara wanted to know everything about her grandson’s family. Linda obliged: “We have five children. You met our eldest – Ephraim. He graduated from the Technion and Ze’ev had great hopes for him in the business, but he decided to stay in the Army. I don’t really like the idea of my son being a soldier, but it’s his life. He is also married and has a daughter. They have a house not far from Jerusalem. I visit his wife frequently while he is away – she is expecting their second child and I worry about her. Our second child is a daughter. She is a nurse, married, with two young boys. They live in Holon, not too far from here. The next one is also a daughter. She lives in Jerusalem and is a reporter for a newspaper there. The second youngest is a son. He lives in Beersheba and runs a plant that belongs to my husband’s company. You will meet the youngest son soon, I hope.”

  Both Sara and Chaim’s wife said in unison: “Jerusalem!?”

  “Yes, we will go to see Jerusalem soon” Linda responded. “Probably we should go out and do some shopping first. You’ll need light dresses for this climate. How about a shopping trip tomorrow?”

  “Great!” Sheina was eager, as was her cousin Tzipora.

  “Wait, wait.” Sara was uncomfortable. “We have no money. How can we buy clothes?”

  “You’re family - Don’t worry about it. I’ll pay for now and you can teach me to cook. I’ve heard stories about your kishka and gefilte fish. So don’t worry. We will go shopping and have lots of fun.”

  “So that’s settled,” Ze’ev said. “I have to be at the Ministry of Industry tomorrow. May I suggest that while the women go shopping with Linda, Benjamin, our youngest, can take you two men to get some new clothes. He’s a fairly successful menswear designer. He’ll take good care of you. Then we can all meet at the Sheraton for an early dinner at, say six?”

  Linda said to Jacob and Chaim: “Benjamin knows clothing but don’t pay any attention to his politics. He is a socialist, a lost soul.”

  On that note Ben joined the party. He looked nothing like his parents. He was tall and thin, with a big mop of dark hair, dressed in slacks and a silk shirt with a colorful kerchief around his neck.

  After the introductions, he sat next to Sheina. “I wish my mother had volunteered me to take you out on the town tomorrow. A beautiful girl like you - and your cousin of course - would be much more fun than the two guys.”

  Linda heard that. “Benjamin, dear, stop flirting with your aunt. Our new family will all be out of bounds for you.” Benjamin looked slightly offended, but didn’t dare to contradict his mother – not many people did.

  The family moved from the dining room to a veranda in back of the house giving a view of the beach. A path led to white sand only a hundred feet away.

  Jacob wanted to know what happened in the reality from which his new family came. Ze’ev was the one to answer this question. He chose his words carefully but everyone was depressed anyway. It’s not easy to hear that if not for a time accident you were destined to suffer and eventually be murdered.

  Linda quickly switched the conversation to more pleasant subjects: life in Israel, life in Lithuania and families. They stayed until late discussing the future, which cheered everybody up.

  By the time everyone was ready for bed it had been dark for a while and was fairly late. The house was big. It had been built by a foreign ambassador who needed to accommodate his large staff. There were three stories topped with a canopied observation deck - very pleasant in the humid summer. Below it, on the third floor, were several small bedrooms, a couple of bathrooms, and a large sitting room. The second floor held four more bedrooms, two connecting bathrooms, and a game room for the kids. The master suite, Ze’ev’s office, the dining room, a library, family room, and kitchen were all on the ground floor. Two double garages plus utility and storage areas that doubled as a bomb shelter took up the basement.

  The newly arrived relatives were taken to the third floor, which Linda had cleaned and furnished with fresh linen, toiletries, and flowers. “Feel at home,” Linda told them. “You can stay here as long as you wish.”

  Despite being tired it took the newcomers a long time to fall asleep. They were shaken and surprised by the new reality, barely believing what had happened to them.

  Chapter 18

  Mizrahi sat in a comfortable armchair in the drawing room at Henry Wilson’s house, having been requested to meet with the general. He was sipping the gin and tonic Wilson had offered after Mizrahi informed him that the Israeli government expected its representatives to avoid grape products, such as wine or brandy, unless they were certified Kosher. He was also smoking his pipe. Mizrahi gave up smoking several years ago – it was becoming impossible to smoke in public places and Ruhama was not happy with his pipe anyway. In 1941 England a pipe was acceptable and there was some reasonable tobacco to be had. He would probably have to stop when his wife came over, but in the meantime he happily slipped back into his habit. It also had the advantage of gaining time in a conversation. Just fiddle with the pipe while you think.

  “Mr. Mizrahi, the Cabinet decided earlier today to cede sovereignty over the Sinai Peninsula to your government. An agreement with the Egyptians to make it all legal is being finalized as we speak. They will cede it to us and we to you. So the secret of your existence will not be compromised.” Wilson sipped his tea with a grimace.

  “This is good news, General. I will inform my government as soon as possible.”

  Wilson leaned forward. “Mr. Mizrahi, we have known each other for a while now. You state your position clearly and do not play devious games. I would like to ask you a question and, please, do not take offense. Why is your government insisting on sovereignty over Kuwait? It’s causing Mr. Churchill no end of problems. If we understood your goal, maybe we could find a compromise.”

  “Believe me, General, everyone will benefit from this arrangement.”

  “What if the Prime Minister can’t pull it off? You’ve heard Holbrook’s speeches. If he succeeds in taking control…” General Wilson trailed off. “What would happen if we refuse?”

  Mizrahi put down his drink, emptied the ashes from his pipe and started reloading it, playing for time. He was slightly surprised, but only slightly. Churchill’s claims of danger to his rule, especially from Lord Holbrook, were grossly exaggerated, though he did have his difficulties and possibly was really worried. But the real problem, in the ambassador’s judgment, was the Prime Minister’s reluctance to give up even a tiny piece of the Empire. He worried, correctly as it turned out, that the British people would forget his great leadership and only remember that he surrendered the Empire. Churchill was also likely annoyed by a request he didn’t understand.

  “Well,” Mizrahi said finally, “we are a patient people. Nothing bad will happen immediately. My government’s current perception of the British Empire as a basically benign and friendly power is built on your current cooperation. If we can’t come t
o an agreement, we will assume that the your government is hostile to us, or rather that Britain learned nothing from past mistakes and will keep doing the same things it did in our timeline. How this will influence future relations is an open question.”

  “You see, the Prime Minister has some difficulty justifying such a high price for your assistance.” General Wilson was about to add something, but stopped.

  “If you want to negotiate,” Mizrahi smiled a somewhat predatory smile, “don’t forget that I am from the Middle East and haggling is in my blood.”

  “I will take that into account,” Wilson smiled too. “Maybe I should bring some help to these meetings – it seems that I will need it.”

  Once back in his office, Mizrahi picked up the satellite phone and called the Foreign Minister.

  “Avigdor, do you know what time it is here?”

  “Yes I do, but this is important. We will have the formal agreement on Sinai in a couple of days. Kuwait is another matter. Churchill explores the possibility of giving us a flat denial. I threatened him with a hostile stance. As of now, we will continue to negotiate. You need to consider what to do next. I suggest waiting several months, maybe until January of 1942. When the Germans advance close enough to Cairo, Churchill is likely to re-evaluate our relationship. I also suggest that we tell Churchill why we want Kuwait. I think that a big part of the problem is his resentment of a demand without an explanation.”

  “I will present this to Amos tomorrow morning. Send me a written report and a recording of your conversation with Wilson.”

  Chapter 19

  The meeting was tumultuous and disorganized. Heisenberg had called them together after inspecting the Wolfsburg site and becoming convinced that some kind on nuclear technology was involved in the city’s destruction. He wanted to convene this assembly of physicists now, at the end of July, 1941, so as not to lose initiative. He knew that if he waited longer, his rivals in the Army would likely seize control of the available funds.

  The auditorium at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin held close to sixty of Germany’s leading physicist all trying to speak at the same time. Finally Heisenberg yelled: “Quiet please. Let Dr. von Weizsacker finish.”

  Carl Friedrich von Weizsacker repeated the statement that had caused the uproar in the first place: “According to our measurements at the Wolfsburg site, it is still radioactive. I think that it is possible that the bomb that exploded there was enhanced, containing uranium or another radioactive substance.”

  “Dr. Weizsacker is forgetting his own patent application from the beginning of the year. It seems to me that this was, undoubtedly, an atomic explosion.” Dr. Kurt Diebner sat down after delivering his remark.

  “We have proof enough to state that a bomb based on nuclear fission is possible. I suggest that with this knowledge we should start working on our own bomb immediately,” interjected Dr. Walther Gerlach, a member of Diebner’s team.

  The assembled scientists seemed to be in agreement.

  “The Kaiser Wilhelm Institute will approach the authorities to obtain funding and we will proceed as quickly as possible. I believe, like all of you, that uranium was involved in the explosion, but we need more research to verify whether it was the primary explosive or just an incidental ingredient.” Heisenberg signaled the end of discussions and of the meeting.

  Diebner and his team were not happy. They were afraid of losing their independence. As it was, Heisenberg had his own team at the Institute in Berlin, funded through the Post Office of all things, while Diebner was working independently under the Army in the town of Gottow. He decided to act quickly, meeting with Dr. Paul Harteck, the Army’s chief physicist, to discuss the matter.

  “I don’t trust Heisenberg,” Diebner said. “The man was never devoted to the cause of the Fatherland. Now he is saying that more research is necessary into the possibility of an atomic bomb. To me it is cut and dry. We should be working on duplicating this bomb, not investigating if the Wolfsburg explosion was indeed atomic.”

  “I am not as sure as you are,” Harteck responded. “In my opinion we should let Heisenberg do what he wants. He is a very gifted physicist and has an excellent team. There is a great advantage to keeping our present structure. Two teams are better than one, and I am sure that given the necessary resources you can develop the bomb as easily as Heisenberg can, assuming, of course, that such a bomb is possible.”

  ***

  Gad Yaari was busy, but not as busy as he had been during the last several months. Israel was at peace, sort of, and in no immediate danger of being attacked by its neighbors. A great war raging in Europe was about to spread to the rest of the world, but Yaari felt somehow isolated from it.

  The illusion was shattered on a Sunday morning. It was August 3, 1941 - the Fast of Tisha B’Av –the fast in memory of the destruction of the temples and various disasters that had befallen the Jews. It had been deferred this year. The ninth of the Hebrew month of Av fell on a Saturday and according to Jewish law its observance was deferred until the next day.

  Yaari’s secretary ushered in General Zvi Kaplan, the head of Military Intelligence, who greeted his friend and superior with a casual “How are things going?”

  “Ah, this is exactly what I was going to ask you. What was so urgent that you needed to see me on an hour’s notice?”

  “I think that something is happening in Germany that may put us, and the world, in serious danger.” Kaplan paused to remove a sheaf of papers from his briefcase. “Look at these satellite images taken yesterday.” He pointed at two photographs, “This is a research facility in Gottow, south of Berlin and southeast of Potsdam. In the last couple of days the traffic there has increased significantly and it looks like the facility is being expanded.”

  “And the significance of this?” Yaari inquired.

  “This is where one of the German nuclear weapon teams is based. According to our communications intercepts the German Army is putting in a large base next door to house guards for this facility. They had almost none only a week ago. According to the bugs we placed on their telephone system, the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute is suddenly getting lots of resources for the Heisenberg team.”

  “Ah,” Yaari smiled ruefully. “The bulb went on in my head, finally. This is a serious problem. We have to alert the government.” He picked up his phone. “Liat, I need to speak to the head of the Mossad. After you get him make an urgent appointment with the Prime Minister.”

  ***

  “What’s up, General?” asked the head of the Mossad.

  “Let me ask you a question: Did you hear anything about unusual German nuclear activity lately?”

  There was a brief silence on the other side of the line: “Funny you should ask. I was about to call Zvi Kaplan when your call came in. To answer your question in one word, yes. I think that we need to brief the Prime Minister.”

  Yaari looked at his watch. “If he is not busy, I’ll try to make the appointment for fourteen hundred hours. That okay for you?”

  ***

  “All of you had a short briefing about why we are here. I don’t want to waste time, so we will start with the historians. The question is: what do we know about the German nuclear effort during WWII?” Amos Nir sat back and waited for one of the three historians to say something.

  The three researchers invited to the meeting looked at each other. The oldest decided to take the plunge first: “The historical record is contradictory. We have some evidence that the Nazis were far from developing a bomb. It relies mainly on secret recordings of conversations between German scientists held after the war at Farm Hall, England. From these recordings it is clear that they were very surprised by the Hiroshima bomb. Also, that Heisenberg wrongly calculated the amount of radioactive material necessary for a bomb. He corrected himself and arrived at the correct number only several days later. I find this contradictory.”

  “In my opinion they were much closer to a bomb than previously thought,” one of the other histo
rians cut in. “We have documents that were released recently by the Russians that clearly show the Germans had a good understanding of the physics involved. Heisenberg’s collaborator, von Weizsacker, even tried to patent a bomb design in the beginning of 1941.”

  “Yes, then there is the Thüringia experiment,” the third historian added.

  “What was that?” Amos inquired.

  “In March of 1945 German scientists tested a nuclear device in Thüringia, in eastern Germany. Several hundred concentration camp inmates and prisoners of war were killed. Most historians and physicists don’t think it was a full-fledged nuclear explosion. More likely it was a bomb that fizzled, but it still was a bomb.”

  “I assume that the names of the scientists involved in the project are known to us?” asked Yaari.

  “They had a number of projects. This probably slowed them down. They also lacked resources. But the answer to your question is yes. We have the names.”

  “The bomb project seems to be getting all the resources it needs now,” remarked Zvi Kaplan. “Is it possible that our bombs on Wolfsschanze and Wolfsburg did it?”

  “In our history the German Army was interested only in projects that would produce weapons in the immediate future, so they did not devote much of their scarce industrial resources to nuclear projects. This was exacerbated by Heisenberg’s opinion that it would take many years to produce a bomb. These two factors combined to starve the projects.

  “We changed their assumptions. They have apparently concluded that the two weapons used by the Caliph were nuclear in nature. This gives them an incentive to put resources into the project. On the other hand, our help to the British anti-submarine warfare paradoxically freed lots of industrial abilities. In our history Germany spent significant resources to build submarines, at least until 1943.They’ve given up on this almost completely. That leaves them with reserve capacity to use to develop an atomic bomb.” The historian seemed to be done.