A Right to Plunder

by Brendan O'Neill

  Warming to his topic and expanding upon his knowledge of international politics, Heydrich continued, “Standard Oil has certain oil tankers that operate under the Panamanian flag of convenience to avoid Allied scrutiny and discharge their cargo of fuel onto our German tankers in the neutral port of Tenerife in Spain. It is then transported to Hamburg. This is a vital supply-line for our war effort as German oil is only produced from coal, this being our major source of energy, so the assistance of the American corporations to advance our ideals is most welcome.”

  Always looking for signs of human weakness he fixed an unflinching stare across the table and went on to say ‘’we have many enemies who infiltrate our security services and as the Reich expands its territories anyone who constitutes a threat will be dealt with mercilessly. The Einsatzgruppen (special action groups) which I initiated in 1939 have orders to ruthlessly eliminate subterfuge groups and partisans who still obstruct in territories after our advancing Wehrmacht. These measures are necessary, otherwise our domination would continue to be challenged’’. Neiderman nodded in agreement and complimented Heydrich on his grasp of current affairs. In that moment of engagement he inwardly felt acute anxiety, being left in no doubt that if any suspicion or show of minor disapproval then this man as head of the SS would not hesitate to eradicate anyone by whatever heinous means he would chose. To his great relief he also sensed that Heydrich at last seemed to be assured of the bona fides of the bank towards his Nazi policies.

  On entering the office and seeing Heydrich for the first time, Madelaine’s heart missed a beat. Standing up to greet her in a chivalrous manner he looked impressive in full uniform, taller than she had imagined with typical Nordic Aryan features that housed dartingly suspicious grey blue eyes. His large lips betrayed a certain cruel trait and when he spoke to introduce himself and his sister Maria, she was taken aback by his unexpected high-pitched voice. As she sat down, the atmosphere was formal and business-like, and when best quality American cigarettes were proffered by Niedermann, which Heydrich declined as he very rarely smoked, he joked, “I trust that they are not black market”.

  He complimented Madelaine on her fluency in German and then noticed her Nazi party badge, the Deutsches Frauenwerk. “I see, Fraulein, that you are a party member, may I ask where and when you joined?” Madelaine had anticipated the question and replied that she had lived in Munich some years before and was influenced by the ideals and policies of the National Socialist Party. “While I lived in Munich and studied there, I saw the injustice and resulting humiliation that was imposed upon the German people by the Treaty of Versailles after the First World War. The obligations and financial demands were excessive, so when I got the opportunity to join the National Socialist Party I was attracted to its ideals of restoring German pride. Having studied economics and witnessed the abject decline of the great German nation suffering the effects of hyper inflation and the misery of mass unemployment, the emergence of our Fuhrer and his policies became my guiding light and inspiration’’. He stared at her for what seemed an interminably long time with an impassive face and then silently nodded. At that moment, Madelaine tried to mask her anxiety by smiling back at him but there was something about his penetrating stare that made her understand the fear and trepidation that this man was capable of emitting. Producing a thick black leather folder with SS runes on its cover, Heydrich announced, “I wish to commence business, which is the purpose of my visit to the bank”.

  For the next five minutes he discussed the SS policy of acquiring Jewish holdings and monetary wealth in accordance with enacted legislation. Accordingly, he went on, the prestige property occupied by the Darius family, presently used as a residence and a factory, would be transferred in ownership to the Nordhav foundation. The Nordhav Foundation, Stiftung Nordhav, had been established on the 30th July 1939 by Heydrich for the purpose of acquiring property for the SS. The five directors were all handpicked SS men loyal to Heydrich. But he intended this transaction to be different. Ostensibly, the documentation would show that the transfer of ownership went to the Nordhav account but the real ownership would be vested with his sister Maria Krantz. The bank would be fully complicit with the deception and the paper trail would be a tribute to obfuscation.

  The next item on the agenda was the liquid assets of the Darius family. Niedermann produced a bank resumé outlining the accumulated cash balance which on that day the 6th May totalled 5.2 million Reichsmark. Heydrich already knew this figure from his own research but he now enquired, “I wish to convert this sum to U.S. Dollars, Herr Niedermann, and I would be obliged for your rate and assistance”. Niedermann had not anticipated this question. “As there is a state of war with the United States since December 11th 1941, it is not possible to quote a realistic exchange rate’’. Sitting back in his chair, Heydrich smiled, “In that case, I will be very happy to accept the last rate quoted in 1941, which was I believe 2.50 Reichmarks to 1 U.S. Dollars”. He had as usual left nothing to chance and like a chess player he would manoeuvre his opponent into position. Niedermann’s banking skills came to the fore at this juncture. “But, Mein General, the Reichsmark is gold backed but, because of the war, it fluctuates too much”, as if to suggest that he was seeking an unreasonable exchange rate. As the discussion went on, he conceded his position and acquiesced to Heydrich’s demands, but inwardly felt he was being blackmailed.

  Heydrich continued to outline the plan to dispossess the Jewish Darius family by outwardly transferring everything initially to the Nordhav Foundation, but in reality it would all end up in an account controlled by Marie Krantz, his sister. It was now obvious to Madelaine, why Heydrich had brought his sister to the meeting. She was vital for the transaction to successfully be completed without any underdogs in the SS becoming suspicious. His Machiavellian mind had thought out all the intricate details and he pointed out that access to the account would only be gained by a personal identification feature exclusively from Maria.

  Niedermann then suggested that the most favoured identification method unique to an individual was her fingerprint. “We here in Chase bank have used modern finger printing techniques for valued customers and I would urge this method for use as being totally secure and impossible to invalidate”. He went on to state that this identification system had been used successfully by forensic organisations since the turn of the century. He continued, “The famous police unit, Scotland Yard in London, have been using fingerprinting since 1901, and the American F.B.I. have used the system in all their cataloguing since 1924”. Heydrich nodded in agreement and expressed no surprise that the bank used this technology as he was familiar with its advantages since he became head of the Gestapo in April 1934. ‘’I am in favour of this method’’ he added approvingly.

  Niedermann turned to Madelaine and requested that she go to the storeroom in the basement of the building and get the silver cylindrical box that housed the wax for the imprints on documents. Madelaine readily agreed and noticing that little Anna was becoming bored and restless with all these heavy formal proceedings, suggested that she accompany her to the storage room. Heydrich concurred with a disinterested wave of his hand and the two left the room.

  All the way down the circular staircase, Madelaine was thinking furiously how she could obstruct the plunder of the Darius family wealth. The dimly lit basement room was an archive of records, books, ledgers and artefacts covered in dust from years of accumulation. She found the wax container and matches readily, then, impulsively decided to gamble on an idea that just might work. “Anna, would you like to see how we make a wax print?” Anna nodded enthusiastically. Thinking quickly, Madelaine scanned an overhead shelf and observed a number of discarded coins. She selected one, a little larger than a watch face. “Let’s make an image of this lovely coin. It’s a twenty franc piece with the image of a strutting cockerel.” Showing her the coin, she translated the words ‘Liberte Egalite Fraternite’ into German. Taking the small box of rustic coloured wax, she lit the wick in the accompa
nying tray of oil to heat the wax. It was ready in a little over a minute. “Let’s practice first and make a thumb print. Will we?” Madelaine showed Anna how to do it, by placing her right thumb onto the lukewarm wax and transferring a perfect print onto a clean sheet of paper. Anna was delighted to make her own thumb print. Then Madelaine encouraged her to transfer images of the coin onto other sheets of paper, smiling to herself that she now had the thumb print she wanted. “You can keep the coin – as a souvenir of our meeting”.

  They returned upstairs to the meeting where further coffee was being poured. Heydrich was absorbed in the documentation on the table and was indifferent to Anna who was intrigued by her new coin and the waxen image she’d made. Final forms were produced and Niedermann instructed Madeleine to warm the wax in preparation for Maria’s thumbprint on a separate sheet of paper. A further few minutes elapsed and it was all finalised. The final document confirmed that once the Chase Bank had completed registration, all assets were to be transferred to the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland in the designated account of Maria Krantz. Heydrich stood up and declared that his time in Paris was short and he had a heavy schedule with many engagements to honour.

  “I am certain it is not necessary for me to seek your re-assurance of the custodial security of these documents”, he said turning to Niedermann “I will contact Basel in ten days to ensure that the funds have been transferred”. Niedermann nodded his acquiescence to these instructions and extended his right arm in the Hitler salute as Heydrich, Maria and Anna departed his office.

  Madelaine accompanied them through the banking hall where the staff stiffly raised their right arms also and some shouted “Heil Hitler”. On reaching the large heavy panelled outer doorway leading to the street where the SS staff car was still waiting for them, she shook hands with Maria, gave Anna a hug and extended her right arm salute. As a parting shot, she dared ask of Heydrich, “What about the Darius family?” He looked back at her as he stepped into the open-topped staff car in the bright May morning sunshine “Right now”, he said, glancing at his watch, “They are on their way to Drancy camp and they will be transported for re-settlement in the East”. Then he was gone.

  Returning to her upstairs office, Madelaine began filing the documentation. Selecting the paper with the waxen identification of Maria’s thumbprint, an expression of ice-cold steely determination crossed her face as she tore the paper up into little pieces and instead inserted into the file, the perfect imprint of Anna’s right thumb.

  TWELVE

  PRAGUE: 1942

  Heydrich lived with his wife Lina and three children in a magnificent villa in an area of natural beauty called Panenske Brezany, just fifteen miles north of Prague.

  Because of his onerous work schedule, his daily routine was subject to change at a moment’s notice, but today, Wednesday 27th May, promised to be an exception, in that he intended to drive to his office at Hradcany Castle and then fly to Berlin to meet the Führer. He was excited at the thought of meeting with Hitler and knew that he was a favoured follower of the National Socialist ideals. He selected his most impressive uniform for the occasion SS Obergruppenfuhrer and General der Polizei with the coveted iron cross first class which he won in 1941. The ensemble was completed by putting on the party totenkopf ring on the third finger of his right hand. In the large hallway of his home, he cut an impressive figure. He kissed his pregnant wife, Lina, and hugged his two young boys Heider and Klaus and baby Silke, before emerging to enter the rear seat of his open-topped Mercedes at which his chauffeur SS Man Klein was standing to attention. Klein was a temporary relief driver, the usual one reporting sick. The large convertible Mercedes car with the registration number SS 3 was easily recognisable by the local populace as it made its way towards Prague. This fine May morning, Heydrich was impatient, he urged Klein not to delay as his time was precious. He said that he had a lot of preparation to do for his important meeting in Berlin and wanted to ensure all his papers were in order.

  As the car sped along, he reflected on the Chase Bank meeting in Paris three weeks previously and was satisfied that he had laid the foundation for a considerable personal fortune in the near future. He briefly thought of the secretary, Madelaine, who had attended the meeting. There was something about her which tantalised his keen instincts. She was very self assured and he detected an underlying resentment, he would return to checking her out later. He might use her in Salon Kitty, in Berlin, the high class bar/restaurant, brothel he had set up for visiting dignitaries where every room was bugged, using the latest electronic equipment gathering priceless information for his Gestapo. Smiling to himself, he recalled they had caught that idiot, Count Ciano, Mussolini’s son in law, talking indiscreetly.

  He had spoken to his sister and his little niece by telephone in Berlin. They had enjoyed the visit to Paris and were delighted to help him in whatever he asked. He looked forward to seeing them on his trip to Berlin and promised another musical evening of entertainment. He had contacted both the Chase Bank in Paris and the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, to make sure that the agreement reached on his visit to Paris, was being implemented. Everything was confirmed, as he had planned and instructed.

  Even though Germany might appear to be invulnerable, Heydrich was concerned at a number of developments. The city of Cologne had just been bombed and many thousands of people were left homeless. Allied newsreels had gloated that it was the death of the city. He recalled Herman Goering’s proud boast in 1940 as head of the Luftwaffe, that if any German city was bombed “you can call me Meyer”. He wondered what Herr Goering was thinking now. Also the military advances in Russia were suffering setbacks. His ruthless Einsatzgruppen commando groups, whom he controlled and in whom he had instigated unwavering allegiance to his policy of annihilation for Jews and partisans, were reporting fierce resistance in the east. These men, numbering some 3,000 had murdered over one million in two years. They were responsible for atrocities like the massacre at Babi Yar, outside Kiev in the Ukraine where over thirty three thousand were killed in two days. The SS in late September 1941 had instructed all Jews in the city to present themselves, under pain of death if they failed to comply, at the area known as Babi Yar, a ravine, a couple of kilometres from Kiev. It was anticipated that five/six thousand would assemble, but the actual numbers exceeded thirty three thousand. This was to be the single most horrific massacre of civilians recorded in such a short period. The earth in the ravine where the killings took place, heaved with the bilious decomposing body gases for days afterwards. Reports confirmed that even the hardened emotional barriers of the responsible SS officers had collapsed after this barbaric action. This outrage was matched around the same time, in the Rumbula forest area near Riga, Latvia, where the Einsatzgruppen murdered twenty five thousand, in early December 1941.

  America’s entry to the war in late 1941 was also a matter for concern, as their industrial economic output was powerful and they would prove a formidable foe. All these issues were weighing heavily on his mind as the large green Mercedes 320 convertible slowed to take a sharp corner on the outskirts of Prague at V Holesovickach Street. Suddenly, a lone gunman appeared in the middle of the road in front of the car aiming a sten gun at Heydrich’s head. The moment was frozen in time for the Gestapo Chief, the chauffeur then made a fatal error of judgement in stopping the car, perhaps his regular driver would have reacted differently, but Heydrich’s luck held. The would-be assassin pulled the trigger but the sten gun jammed. At that moment, Heydrich produced his handgun and stood up in the seat of the car and began firing. His luck proved fickle, as there emerged a second assassin who, from a distance of ten feet, threw a hand grenade which exploded just under the rear right wheel of the car shattering the metal into pieces.

  The assassination attempt was the culmination of Operation Anthropoid. This was the code name for the plot to kill Heydrich. Two Czech patriots, Josef Gabcik and Jan Kubis had spent many months in training and plotting the exe
cution. There was a support group in Prague who sheltered the two after being parachuted into the country. The sanction for the assassination had been approved by the Czech government in exile in London under Eduard Benes. It had generated much debate as harsh reprisals on the population were certain to follow such an action.

  Having survived the failed gun attack, he now felt the instant hot wave of shrapnel which hit him in the lower back from the thrown hand grenade. Undaunted, he chased down the road with chauffeur Klein, firing their handguns after the disappearing assassins, one of whom was making his getaway on a bicycle. Running for about twenty yards Heydrich finally collapsed clutching his lower back in agony, people going to work in a nearby tram watched in horror and fascination at the sight of the elegantly uniformed SS Chief lying and cursing in the gutter. Shortly afterwards he was unceremoniously put onto the rear of an open bodied bread delivery truck and driven across cobbled roads of the medieval city to Bulovka Hospital, where he was received with astonishment by a Czech medical team. On the morning Thursday 4th June 1942, nine days after the assassination attempt, Reinhardt Heydrich died in Bulovka Hospital from the wounds inflicted upon him by the grenade-throwing Czech assassin. The horsehair and upholstery fragments from the car blast resulted in septicaemia, bacteria and toxins, contaminating his blood stream, ensuring that he died in agony due to the unavailability of drugs like penicillin.

  Hitler had sent the best medical team to the hospital from the Reich in an effort to save the life of his most trusted disciple, but all to no avail. He initially made a promising recovery but eventually succumbed to the poison seeping through his organs. When Reichführer Himmler came to visit the hospital, Heydrich’s last conversation was that, “we must all follow the tune of the great organ grinder whatever is played”.