The End of Terror

by Howitt, Bruce

  Copyright @ 2019 Bruce Howitt

  Published by Iguana Books

  720 Bathurst Street, Suite 303

  Toronto, ON M5S 2R4

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise (except brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of the author or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright licence, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.

  Editor: Beth Werner Kallman

  Front cover design: Ruth Dwight

  Issued in print and electronic formats.

  ISBN 978-1-77180-378-6 (paperback). 978-1-77180-379-3 (epub). 978-1-77180-380-9 (Kindle).

  This is the original electronic edition of The End of Terror.

  This book is dedicated to all those who have suffered at the hands of terror.

  “The whole history of the world is summed up in the fact that, when nations are strong, they are not always just, and when they wish to be just, they are no longer strong.”

  — Winston Churchill

  “The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent.”

  — Sun Tzu, The Art of War

  CHAPTER 1

  Vienna, July 2015

  Anyone observing the many guests transiting in and out of the lobby of the Hotel Palais Hansen Kempinski would hardly have taken note of the very trim and neat-looking visitor. He was just over six feet tall, probably 180 pounds, with a muscular frame. With his short, dark, curly hair, piercing ice-blue eyes, and bronzed skin, he appeared to be just another upwardly mobile businessman used to international travel. In fact, he was one of the most senior field operatives of a highly secretive Israeli intelligence agency. Ari Lazarus was a special retribution operator, which is a euphemism for assassin.

  In the course of his career with this agency, he had travelled to Vienna on “business” several times. For Ari, stepping out of the lobby of the Palais Hansen Kempinski onto Schottenring was a litmus test of his attitude and feelings for the old and venerable city of music.

  His previous visits to Vienna had all been about his work. With all its beautiful architecture and music, Vienna was a veritable sewer for men in Ari’s profession. This day, he was here on vacation with his wife, Leah, and daughter, Esther. They had been begging him to take them, and this was his first real family vacation. He was actually considering retirement.

  When Ari, Leah, and Esther boarded Austrian Airlines Flight 858 at Ben Gurion Airport for the four-hour trip to Vienna, he was mentally trying to deal with the fact that he was going back to Vienna. The whole flight he was deep in thought, recollecting why he so intensely disliked it there.

  Once they landed in Vienna, they took a taxi to the hotel, and Ari made a great effort to engage with his wife and daughter, both of whom had noticed how distant and removed he had been since they left their apartment in Tel Aviv. Even while they waited to board their flight, he had been in another world — sitting and staring out of the terminal building windows, uncommunicative. Of course, for both Leah and Esther, this being their first trip together as a family was a most exciting time.

  Leah had grown up in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and never been to the grand cities of Europe. Ari was not excited about her choice of Vienna, but he had acceded to her request and decided to make the best of it. He agreed partly because he wanted to exorcise the demons of his past experiences in Vienna, and because Esther, who had just entered her teens, was so excited that they were finally able to vacation together.

  After they checked into the Palais Hansen, Ari finally began to relax. He had chosen the Palais because it was one of the best hotels in Europe, with an outstanding reputation for elegance and comfort. Designed by the famous Austrian architect Theophil Hansen in the nineteenth century, the hotel was a magnificent example of opulent living from that era. Now it had been modernized, and the two luxury connecting rooms Ari had booked were beyond Leah and Esther’s wildest dreams. He had decided that their first real vacation together would be first class all the way. The rooms were opulently but tastefully furnished, and the hotel services were impeccable. Esther and Leah squealed with delight when they inspected all the toiletries in the finely constructed baskets on the shelves above the commodes in their respective rooms. There was every imaginable lotion, shampoo, conditioner, two brands of body cream, and several other assorted goodies.

  Ari woke at his usual 6:30 a.m., showered and dressed, then went for a walk around the hotel neighbourhood, leaving Leah and Esther to get themselves ready for the day. As he left their room, he told Leah — who was still half asleep — that he would meet her and Esther in the lobby at 0830hrs

  Ari, even though he was on vacation and considering a career change, could not rid himself of his training and instincts. He walked along the main Schottenring and crossed the street twice, checking for any surveillance. He was still not one hundred percent sure that he hadn’t been spotted as a person of interest by the Austrian security at the airport, or whether the Russian SVR or Iranian VEVAK had made him when he checked into the hotel. After an hour of conducting a detailed surveillance check he returned to the Palais Hansen pretty much convinced that he was in the clear.

  As a senior operative of one of the world’s most secretive organizations, Ari had been on the front lines of many secret and deadly retribution operations inside Europe, North America, and the Middle East. He was well aware that several intelligence agencies, although they did not have an accurate identity on him, might consider him a person of interest. Those that concerned him most were active in Europe in general and in Austria and Germany in particular. Both the Russian SVR and the Iranian VEVAK had several hundred agents located in Europe, with many of them in Vienna and Berlin. Whenever Ari travelled to European capitals, he was acutely aware that these other intelligence agencies were on the lookout for Israeli operatives. So far, he and his colleagues had avoided any exposure to the opposition. He intended to keep it that way.

  His plan that day was to find a café and spend an hour or so with Leah and Esther watching the world go by, enjoying the wonderful Viennese coffee and pastries for breakfast. While he walked back to the hotel, he glanced up and down Schottenring and identified an old-style Viennese café with heavy damask tablecloths and immaculately attired waiters, all too eager to serve the many tourists thronging the famous street. This would be their breakfast destination.

  Before Ari strolled back into the lobby, he performed one more check of his surroundings and was still satisfied that he was clear and clean. He found a comfortable wingback chair and sat observing the ebb and flow of guests and visitors moving through the elegant structure. He was quite surprised at the international flavour of the clientele. Many were from Europe and easy to identify by their language, dress, or behaviour; there were Germans, French, Italians, Swiss, and a great many North Americans, which he easily distinguished between Americans and Canadians. The Americans mostly were brash and confident, and in many cases, overweight; whereas the Canadians were more conservative and reserved and looked a great deal healthier. He was intrigued by the number of Asians, both Japanese and Chinese, who, unusual for them, were not in large tour groups, but travelling as individuals or couples. Added to the mix were many obscenely wealthy British tourists and businessmen, immaculately dressed and comporting themselves with the assured arrogance of their long-dissolved empire.

  In sharp contrast to the British were the Russians — all fabulously wealthy and not shy about flashing it around, along with their rudeness and crudity. For Ari, assessing these fascinating surroundings and th
e polyglot of people was all part of his job, one which he could never seem to drop.

  Soon, Leah and Esther exited the elevator bank and, beaming with anticipation, converged on him with great anticipation for their first day of sightseeing. Leah affectionately planted a good morning kiss on his cheek. “Ari, my dearest, I’m starving. Let’s go to the restaurant for breakfast. I had a quick cup of coffee from the machine in the room, but I am so hungry!”

  “Sweetheart, I’ve checked out the hotel coffee shop and it is nothing special. I was out walking earlier and saw this authentic Viennese restaurant just down the street from here. They appear to have a wonderful pastry offering, plus all kinds of other great-looking items, so we can walk there. It’s about five minutes.”

  Esther gave her father a warm embrace. “Good morning, Abba. That sounds fantastic. I could not sleep last night thinking about all the places to visit while we are here. Ima and I talked about them this morning. St. Stephen’s Cathedral is one of our musts, and the Vienna State Opera. We have to visit the Belvedere Palace and Museum, as well as the Hofburg Imperial Palace. I read that it was the home of the Austro-Hungarian Emperors and also once the home of the Imperial Arch-Duke Ferdinand and Sophie, Duchess of Hapsburg.

  “Did you know their assassination in June 1914 began the horror of the Great War? Before the end of the Great War in 1918, it was considered one of the most magnificent lived-in palaces in the world and is still described as one of the largest palaces ever constructed. It is also home to the famous Spanish Riding School and numerous museums. The floor concierge gave us maps and directions; they are all within easy walking distance or a short cab ride from here.”

  As they walked to the Café Schottenring, Esther was breathless with excitement. “Abba, do you think we could arrange a tour of the Lipizzaner horses at the Spanish Riding School? They have a tour tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. I know you and Ima will love it. Please, Abba!”

  Ari grinned as they made their way into the café. He selected a table on the outside terrace and said to Leah, “You know, I have to thank you for pushing me on this vacation. Listening to Esther and her excitement is such an experience. Wow! You are a genius for suggesting Vienna!”

  Leah squeezed his hands across the table and gave him one of her electrifying smiles, the one that had made him fall in love with her when they first met.

  Ari was glad to have this time with his little family. Even though he despised the Viennese people because of their history during World War II and their participation in the Holocaust, he made peace with himself to enjoy all the sights and sounds with his wife and daughter and let the past be forgotten, at least temporarily.

  One of the two waiters in the café immediately brought over a pot of coffee and a jug of hot milk. As he waited, they studied the breakfast menu and ordered a tray of assorted pastries. The other waiter doubled as a barman; Leah and Esther were fascinated that people were coming in and ordering alcoholic beverages so early in the day.

  The waiter returned with a small cart and they each selected two different pastries from the large assortment offered.

  Leah and Esther were beaming adoringly at their husband and father. Ari returned his warmest smile and all three realized a degree of contentment they had not experienced as a family unit in a long time.

  CHAPTER 2

  Vienna, March 12–13 to November 8–9, 1938

  As the Third Reich prepared for the Anschluss into Austria, Drs. Ephraim and Miriam Lazarus listened to the insanity of Adolph Hitler on the radio.

  “The man is deranged. These rantings are not those of a normal person,” Ephraim muttered more to himself than Miriam.

  “We Austrians cannot be serious about turning over our country to this madman!” Miriam said. “How could we accede to this Anschluss nonsense?”

  Ephraim despondently replied, “It would be that or a one-sided military confrontation, which we would lose in half a day.”

  “But what does he want?”

  “Lebensraum — more space for the Germanic people. He’s absolutely nuts.”

  “I’m scared, Ephraim. No good will come out of this.”

  “Perhaps we should liquidate all of our assets and move to England or North America — Canada or the US.”

  “Sure, Ephraim my dear. And how much do you think we would get? Hundreds of Austrians will be trying to leave Vienna; they will all be selling. We’d get twenty pfennigs on the schilling. No, we will stay and surely Hitler’s own people and government will realize he is a dangerous madman and remove him. After the horror of the Great War, no one in their right mind wishes for a repeat of that slaughter. I’m sure he will be removed. He has to be!”

  And so, after they had considered leaving Vienna and moving to England, the United States or Canada — where they had distant relatives on Miriam’s side of the family — they decided that their station in life and professional qualifications would keep them immune from the street rabble being whipped up by Hitler and his Nazi thugs.

  Before the Nazis and Hitler came to Austria, they had enjoyed a good and cultured life in Vienna. Ephraim, a third-generation Austrian, was considered one of the foremost leaders in his discipline in Europe. His father had been an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army and had fought courageously on the Western front before being wounded on the Somme in 1916.

  Ephraim was an internist and general surgeon on faculty staff at the hospital attached to the University of Vienna. The second-oldest medical school in Europe was world renowned for its alumni’s achievements in science, medicine, and the arts.

  Miriam and Ephraim had met when they were both completing their studies. For Miriam it was love at first sight when they were introduced at a mutual acquaintance’s dinner party. Ephraim was tall and extremely good looking — sophisticated in a subdued way. Miriam was gregarious, with a warm and endearing personality; she was also a stunningly beautiful woman. After she received her doctorate, she secured a position as a pediatrician in a vibrant practice in the city.

  Thus, they were completely stunned when on March 13, 1938, the Nazis invaded Austria in the Anschluss and all of their hopes and dreams were shattered. The Medical University of Vienna, one of the finest medical schools in the world, saw 65% of its faculty and students dismissed because they happened to be Jewish.

  Not only were the Lazaruses dismissed from their professional positions, but they ultimately lost their beautiful apartment, on which Miriam had laboured so hard to make into a fine home. Along with thousands of other Viennese Jewish families, they were subjected to daily ridicule and hardship as the Nazis slowly tightened their suffocating regulations around the “Jewish Question.”

  Neither would never forget that terrible evening of November 9, 1938, forever to be known as Kristallnacht, when the Viennese police and German storm troopers crashed into their apartment, shouting and screaming at them to gather some belongings. “No gold, no jewellery, no furs, leave the silver and artwork. Just take your stinking Jew clothes and get out!” Nothing could have prepared them for this.

  Miriam stood and looked on in abject horror and terror, whispering finally to her husband, “Why, why? What have we done to deserve this?”

  “Shh! If we antagonize them, it will be worse.”

  A German sergeant screamed, “Quiet, you Jew bitch! Just your clothes!” He leaned right into her face and screamed at her again. His foul alcohol- and smoke-infused breath almost caused her to retch.

  “Filthy piece of Jew shit! Move! Move! Now!”

  Ephraim and Miriam were given less than ten minutes to pack some meagre belongings into a suitcase each before they were brutally hastened out of their home. The Germans ransacked the apartment as the Lazaruses were being shoved down the stairs to the lobby. Ephraim, in attempting to assist Miriam, was brutally beaten across the back and head with a rifle butt wielded by a vicious young SS trooper barely out of his teens. In the lobby, they saw their Jewish neighbours standing in a complete state of shock, some like Ephraim,
bleeding from a face or head wound. Two of their neighbours, Simon and Yehudit Weissman, who were in their late seventies or early eighties, had been brutally beaten. Simon was bleeding badly and Yehudit, a tiny, frail woman, was struggling to aid him. They were stricken by fear and incomprehension.

  “What have we ever done to these people?”

  A Nazi officer in a black SS uniform screamed at her, his face red and contorted with hate and rage. “Silence, you Jewish whoring piece of shit, or you will get the same as your filthy Jew husband! Move! Move! Raus!”

  As he turned on his heels, he struck Simon across the face with his riding crop, leaving a vicious welt across Simon’s cheek and causing him to fall. Simon Weissman was a retired neurosurgeon. He and his wife had never been exposed to violence or discord.

  Outside the apartment building, trucks were lined up in the street. The Lazaruses and their neighbours were violently shoved into the trucks. Other neighbours were leaning out of their windows or standing silently on the sidewalks, watching. Some snickered and called out, “Serves the dirty Jews right! They were never any good! Greedy bastards!”

  Eventually the trucks transported them to the main rail station. Here, they were packed into stinking cattle cars with hundreds of other Jewish families from across Austria.

  The complete transformation in environment was shocking and traumatic for all of the victims. One day most of them were living a cultured and sophisticated life. The next they were packed along with over a hundred others into filthy trains with just one overflowing bucket for a latrine, no food or water, and no place to lie down.

  Ephraim held Miriam tight to him. “Miriam, you must stay with me. Don’t fall down or try to lie down.”

  “I am so afraid, Ephraim. What is going to happen? Where are we going?”