“The SS man in Buenos Aires, Obersturmbannführer Karl Cranz, and his deputy, Sturmbannführer Erich Raschner, are both very good at what they do. For reasons he did not choose to share with me, Bormann arranged for Cranz to be sent there, replacing von Deitzberg, while leaving Raschner, who has been von Deitzberg’s deputy there.
“Having said that, I am at a loss to understand why Cranz sent Obersturmführer Heitz and his men—whose mission in Argentina was to guard the special shipment until it could be used for Operation Phoenix—to try to rescue—more likely eliminate—the Froggers at Frade’s farm.
“Nor do I understand why that mission was a complete failure. One possible scenario is that the chief of Argentina’s BIS, a Colonel Martín, who is very competent, could have learned about the plan and warned Frade—that is, warned Frade’s men, as Frade was in the U.S. at the time of the attack.
“This is not to suggest that Frade has turned Colonel Martín, or even that Martín is more sympathetic to the Allied cause than previously suspected. It is more likely that he is acting solely in what he perceives to be Argentina’s best interests.
“Supporting this scenario, but not confirming it, are these facts: Nothing appeared in the Argentine press, nor was anything mentioned discreetly by Argentine authorities to the ambassador about either the attack on Frade’s farm or the attempted assassination of Frade shortly after he returned to Argentina from the United States.
“It could be—purely conjecture—that whether or not Martín was actively involved in seeing that both attacks failed, his failure to take official notice of either gave the German Embassy—not only Cranz, but the ambassador as well—the message that any future efforts along these lines would not only similarly fail but would also greatly annoy the Argentine officer corps, which is to say the government.
“Much of the Argentine officer corps was greatly annoyed when Oberst Frade was assassinated. The assassination was arranged for—over the objections of Oberst Grüner, who knew how popular Frade was within the officer corps—by Standartenführer Goltz acting at the orders of Himmler or, more likely, von Deitzberg.
“The idea, apparently, was to strike terror into the hearts of the Argentine officer corps: Anyone who posed a threat to the ambitions of the German Reich, even someone about to become president of Argentina, as Frade was, could be eliminated.
“To their surprise, the reaction of the officer corps to Oberst Frade’s murder was not fear but outrage. The coup d’état, which followed shortly, put into power a man who is anything but convinced of our Final Victory. Moreover, Frade’s son participated, apparently showing great personal courage, in the coup d’état, which made him, in the eyes of many officers, a son of Argentina come home, rather than the OSS man in Argentina.
“After the disaster at Samborombón Bay, von Deitzberg put on a major general’s uniform and went to Argentina, where he assured Oberst Juan Domingo Perón that the German officer corps was as outraged over Frade’s assassination as he was. He told Perón the assassination had been the late Oberst Grüner’s idea.
“Von Deitzberg also carried with him a map of how South America will look after our Final Victory. Uruguay, Paraguay, and parts of Brazil will become part of Argentina. He also made it clear that Germany would help in any way it could to see that Perón became president. And showed him how profitable it would be for him to assist in the investment of Operation Phoenix funds.
“How much of this Oberst Perón swallowed whole is unknown.
“Another unknown here is what role the first secretary of our embassy, Anton Gradny-Sawz, has played, if any, in any or all of this. The ambassador feels he has played no role at all. On the other hand, Gradny-Sawz has demonstrated his willingness to change sides whenever he feels his side is going to lose. He’s a Viennese, one who was very helpful to the Third Reich before the Anschluss returned Austria to the Grossdeutsches Reich.
“It is possible, I suggest, that Gradny-Sawz, who is privy to Operation Phoenix, has decided to ingratiate himself with the Argentines in case the Final Victory doesn’t take place. That, in other words, he approached the Argentines or, more likely, Martín approached him and found him receptive. I just don’t know.
“I think we are all agreed that our priority must be the removal of the Austrian corporal before he destroys what’s left of Germany.
“So what I must decide, with your counsel but right now, as we don’t have the time to gather further intelligence, or to consider the matter at leisure, is how to deal with SS-Brigadeführer von Deitzberg when he comes here in twenty minutes to discuss Operation Phoenix with me. I really think he’s going to solicit my assistance in having him returned to Argentina.
“Another factor that has to be considered is the quote unquote escape of Oberstleutnant Frogger from his POW camp. There are, I suggest, two possibilities. One is that somehow his connection with Valkyrie came to light, and that after interrogation—during which he revealed we have no idea what—he was, at General von Arnim’s orders, ordered before a secret pro forma court-martial, convicted of treason, executed, and buried in a Mississippi cotton field.
“The second possibility is that Frogger was taken from the camp by the OSS, who made the connection between him and his parents. The questions here are whether he went willingly or unwillingly, and what he decided to tell the Americans, if anything, about Valkyrie.
“If they have turned Frogger—unlikely, but one dares hope; they are not nearly as inept in matters like this as they would have us believe—that would be of enormous value to Valkyrie. He and von Stauffenberg were close; he knows as much as—possibly more than—I do about whom we can trust in not only carrying out Hitler’s removal, but immediately afterward, when senior people are still making up their minds which way to jump.
“I feel confident that I will have an explanation of his escape—an honest one—from my American contact. But when I will have the opportunity to communicate with him is an unknown, except certainly not before Brigadeführer von Deitzberg comes here tonight.
“Inasmuch, again, as our priority is Valkyrie, the question then becomes: Is von Deitzberg more dangerous to Valkyrie here—or running around Argentina desperately trying to cover his connection with the ransoming operation?”
He paused, let that be considered a moment, then went on:
“Now, these factors enter into that question. If von Deitzberg is returned to Argentina, he will have been charged by Himmler and Bormann with discovering the traitor. Two scenarios occur: One—and bear in mind that von Deitzberg is far more experienced than Boltitz—that he uncovers Major von Wachtstein. Or, two, that he doesn’t. But von Deitzberg is going to find the traitor, even if he has to invent one. Two candidates for that role: Von Wachtstein and Gradny-Sawz. I tend to think he will choose Gradny-Sawz, but that, of course, isn’t at all certain.”
Canaris looked at each man for a moment.
“Gehlen? You look as if you want to say something.”
“What would happen to the ransoming operation if von Deitzberg were eliminated?”
“It would continue under Cranz.”
“And if Cranz were eliminated?”
“Then I suspect the underlings would just stop, praying that they wouldn’t be exposed to Himmler.”
“You don’t know who these underlings are?” Gehlen asked.
Canaris shook his head, then said, “I’ve made a point of not looking into that. If it blows up in their faces, I want to be as surprised as Himmler; I don’t want the Führer wondering why, if I even suspected something, I didn’t say anything to Himmler or Bormann. And if I did look into it, that would come out.”
“Herr Admiral,” Gehlen said carefully, “I suspect if something happened to von Deitzberg and Cranz, the others involved in the ransoming operation would do more than pray. They would be frantically trying to cover their tracks. And if they were doing that . . .”
“They would have less time to look into things like Valkyrie?” Canaris finished
the sentence, making it a question.
“Yes, sir,” Gehlen said.
“That’s an interesting thought, but I don’t think either Boltitz or von Wachtstein would be very effective assassins.”
“For moral or practical reasons?”
“Both.”
“What about the Americans? You said they killed Grüner and Goltz at Samborombón Bay.”
“I said either the Argentines or the Americans,” Canaris said.
There was a tone in Canaris’s voice that Otto von und zu Waching knew said: Pay me the courtesy of listening carefully to what I say.
“Are you suggesting that I try to have him sent to Argentina?” Canaris then asked.
“Admiral, if von Deitzberg is busy in Argentina, he can’t be looking for Valkyrie here,” Gehlen said.
“General von Wachtstein?” Canaris asked, looking toward him.
“Better that von Deitzberg is there than here, Herr Admiral, would be my judgment.”
“Otto?”
“And better still, Herr Admiral, if he could be—if Cranz and he—could be eliminated over there,” von und zu Waching said.
Canaris looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before asking, “By the Americans, you mean?”
“Yes, sir.”
“That would presume the Americans would be amenable to such a suggestion. Even relaying the suggestion to them would be difficult. And once that had been done, they might decline, for a number of reasons. For one, it might interfere with the status quo agreement they seem to have with the Argentines. And, for another, they would have to somehow get close enough to him to do it.”
He let that sink in a moment, then went on.
“I suggest we go upstairs and have as much of our supper as possible before von Deitzberg shows up and ruins our appetites.”
Von und zu Waching, who had long ago learned to listen to what Canaris was not saying, rather than what he was saying, realized that Canaris had accepted Gehlen’s suggestion that the best way to deal with the problems von Deitzberg and Cranz were posing was to have the Americans eliminate them in Argentina.
And I don’t think either General von Wachtstein or Oberstleutnant Gehlen understands that.
Gehlen possibly—he’s bright and an intelligence officer—but von Wachtstein has no idea what Canaris has just decided.
[FIVE]
Ten minutes later, as they were sitting over their supper listening to the news from the BBC in London over an ornate Siemens radio on a sideboard, Egon appeared at the door. This time he was far more formal than he had previously been. Standing at rigid attention, he barked:
“Heil Hitler! Herr Admiral, I regret the intrusion. SS-Brigadeführer von Deitzberg’s compliments, Herr Admiral. The brigadeführer asks that you receive him.”
“Show him in,” Canaris said.
“Jawohl, Herr Admiral!”
A moment later, Egon returned and again popped to attention and barked, “Herr Admiral, SS-Brigadeführer Ritter von Deitzberg!”
Von Deitzberg marched in, gave a straight-armed Nazi salute, and barked, “Heil Hitler!”
Von Wachtstein, Gehlen, and von und zu Waching returned it snappily. Canaris made a sloppy wave of his arm.
“I didn’t expect to see you, von Deitzberg, until tomorrow morning,” Canaris said, not too pleasantly. “I hope it’s important. As soon as I finish my supper, I want to go to bed.”
“I thought it would be best to have a word with you, Herr Admiral, before tomorrow morning.”
“You want something to eat?”
The invitation was not warm.
“Very kind of you, Herr Admiral. But no, thank you.”
“Well, then fix yourself a drink, have a seat, and as soon as I’m finished and the news is over, we can talk.”
About ten minutes later, torn between listening to cricket scores of teams he had never heard of, which he had no interest in whatever, and watching von Deitzberg squirm impatiently in his chair, which he did find amusing, Canaris opted for seeing what the squirmer wanted.
“Well, that’s another onerous chore done,” he announced. “If we are to believe the BBC, the war is lost. What’s on your mind, von Deitzberg?”
“No offense to these gentlemen, of course, but I would like to speak with you in private, if that would be possible, Herr Admiral.”
“Of course. We can go into the living room.”
Canaris stood up.
“Excuse us, gentlemen,” he said. “Feel free to retire, which is what I’m going to do as soon as the brigadeführer is through with the fregattenkapitän and me.”
He led von Deitzberg into the living room, with von und zu Waching following, waved them into chairs, and sat down.
“I had hoped to see you earlier today, Admiral, and I really think it might be best if we were alone.”
“Earlier today, the Führer sent for me,” Canaris replied. “As so far as the fregattenkapitän is concerned, I like him to be present at meetings where no one is making written notes. What’s on your mind, von Deitzberg?”
Canaris’s curtness with von Deitzberg was intentional on several levels, starting with the psychological. He knew von Deitzberg would interpret ordinary courtesy, and certainly amiability, as recognition on Canaris’s part that he was dealing with an equally powerful man. The pecking order had to be maintained.
The curtness came easily; Canaris despised the handsome SS officer. He knew more about him than von Deitzberg suspected, and the more he learned, the more he despised him.
The SS was—and always had been, from the beginning—laced with common criminals and social misfits. Not only in the ranks—the SS had been formed to provide bodyguards for Hitler, and thugs were naturally going to be part of something like that—but also at the very top of the SS hierarchy.
SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich was a case in point. Until he had been assassinated by Czech agents in Prague the year before, he had been the number-two man under Himmler, the Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia. Before Heydrich had joined the SS he had been cashiered from the navy for moral turpitude.
SS-Brigadeführer Ritter von Deitzberg, who was working hard to be named Heydrich’s replacement, had been forced to resign from the army for “the good of the service,” which Canaris had taken the trouble to find out meant that he had been caught with his hand in the regimental officers’ mess cash box and having an affair with a sergeant’s wife.
And now he was getting rich ransoming Jews from the concentration camps.
Heinrich Himmler was something of a prude, and among other things that made him dangerous was that he really believed in the honor of the SS. Learning of the ransoming operation would really enrage him.
But as much as it would have pleased Canaris to see von Deitzberg and his cronies exposed to Himmler’s wrath, he knew it was a card he had to keep hidden until it could be played for something more important—probably something to do with Operation Valkyrie—than the satisfaction of having von Deitzberg and his slimy cronies hung from a butcher’s hook by Himmler himself.
“I’m very concerned about Operation Phoenix, Herr Admiral,” von Deitzberg said.
“Why?”
“Well, you know what’s happened over there.”
“Why don’t you say what you mean?”
“It doesn’t look as if Cranz is up to handling his responsibilities, does it?”
“What specifically are you talking about?”
“Not only has he not been able to neutralize the traitorous Froggers, but he has been incredibly inept in his efforts to do so. I presume you’ve heard that Obersturmführer Heitz and his men have been killed.”
Canaris nodded.
“I personally selected Heitz to guard the special shipment funds. He was no Skorzeny, but he was a fine SS officer,” von Deitzberg went on. “And considering his mission, guarding the special shipment funds, I would have thought twice before sending him to attempt to get the Froggers back from Frade.”
“Where are you going with this?” Canaris asked.
“I think I should go to Argentina and straighten things out.”
“What’s that got to do with me? Shouldn’t you make that recommendation to Reichsleiter Himmler?”
“I have. The Reichsleiter sent me here to discuss this with you; to ask for your cooperation.”
That’s interesting. Himmler can just order him onto the Condor.
Does this mean Bormann did tell Himmler of Hitler’s sudden interest in Operation Phoenix?
Why do I think he didn’t?
“I don’t think I understand.”
“I think the Reichsleiter would prefer that the idea of my going to Argentina come from someone other than himself.”
What in the world is that all about?
Okay. Himmler is covering his backside again. He’s very good at that.
“What I could do, I suppose, to assist the Reichsleiter is have a word with Bormann.”
Which I will do tomorrow, when he returns to Berlin.
I will broach the subject of sending someone to Argentina to, as von Deitzberg puts it, “straighten things out.” If he mentions von Deitzberg, I will oppose the idea. That will guarantee his being sent there.
If he doesn’t mention this slime, I will, saying that I wish he could be spared, but Himmler certainly wouldn’t agree.
Same result. Von Deitzberg will go to Argentina.
Where he and Cranz and possibly even Raschner will be eliminated by the Americans, ridding the world of three scum it can well do without.
And very possibly do something to keep Operation Valkyrie from being uncovered.
And, as the icing on the cake, humiliate Himmler. Three of his best men eliminated by those incompetent Americans.
“I think that might well deal with the situation, Herr Admiral,” von Deitzberg said.
VI
[ONE]
Hauptquartier Abwehr
Bendlerblock, 76 Tirpitzufer
Berlin, Germany
0655 20 August 1943
The Honor of Spies Page 18
