"Either at your office, Herr Baron," von Heurten-Mitnitz went on, "or at the Schloss. Whichever would be most convenient."
"I gather this is of an official nature?" the Baron asked.
"Let us say I would like to discuss something with you personally," von Heurten-Mitnitz said.4, Certainly not over the telephone."
"I'm sure that can be arranged, Herr von Heurten-Mitnitz," the Baron said.
"And I think it would be most convenient to do so at Schloss Steighofen."
"Then I look forward to meeting you, Herr Baron, at the Schloss," von Heurten-Mjtnjtz said, and once again, my most sincere condolences." The Baron von Fulmar was apprehensive that a highly placed official of the Foreign Ministry wanted to talk to him privately. His concern took a quantum jump when von Heurten-Mitnitz arrived at Schloss Steighofen accompanied by a Standartenfuhrer
SS-SD.
And the next morning he actually broke into a sweat when a servant delivered von Heurten-Mitnitz's card, HELM UT VON HEURTEN-MITNITZ BRIGADE FUHRER SS-SD The Foreign Ministry Berlin On the back of the card was written, "May I suggest the drawing room at 9, 30? von Heurten-Mitnitz." The Baron, a large-boned, florid-faced man, whose thinning hair was cut so short that the veins in the skin over his skull were visible, was kept waiting until 9, 40 before von Heurten-Mitnitz showed up.
The formal drawing room was not a pleasant place. The furniture was old (but not good), heavy, and comfortless. There was one well-worn and colorless Persian carpet. And dark portraits of barons past adorned the walls. The Baron elected to stand rather than torture himself on any of the chairs or couches.
"How good of you to find the time for me, Herr Baron," von Heurtenmitnitz said, offe ring his hand.
"How may I be of service, Herr Brigadefuhrer?" the Baron asked, laying the card von Heurten-Mitnitz had sent him on a table. The act was meant to look casual.
"Oh, God, did I send you one of those?" von Heurten-Mitnitz said, chagrined. "I didn't mean to. I usually send them to people who are impressed with that sort of thing. I would much prefer, if you don't mind, that you forget that Brigadefuhrer title. My association with the SS-SD is hardly more than an official fiction."
"As you wish, of course," the Baron said. "What should I call you?"
"If it would not be presumptuous, my Christian name is Helmut.
And let me emphasize this is by no means an official interview." sordx=s spxss "What, may I ask, is on your mind, Herr von Heurten-Mitnitz?" The moment he laid eyes on the Baron, von Heurten-Mitnitz decided that arrogance lay at the core of von Fulmar's personality (he was, in other words, a scarecrow in fine clothes). The only way to handle such arrogance was to "wear" greater arrogance. If he tried to fence delicately, von Fulmar would perceive it as weakness, He had to knock him off balance straight of And there was one good way to do that, "I wondered if by chance you have been in touch with your son," von Heurten-Mitnitz asked.
The Baron's face tightened. "I have not," he said firmly.
"I was referring, Herr Baron, to your eldest son," von Heurten-Mitnitz said, as if he wanted to be absolutely sure they were talking about the same person.
"I presumed you were," the Baron said.
"He's been a bit of a problem for you, hasn't he?" von Heurten-Mitnitz said, making it more of a challenge than an expression of sympathy.
"Until just now, Herr von Heurten-Mitnitz," the Baron said, "I was under the impression that his case had been considered at the highest levels, and that it had been decided I could not fairly be held accountable for my son's actions." Von Fulmar was challenging von Heurten-Mitnitz's right to ask questions. But the Baron's bluster was hollow. A well-connected Party member can get away with reminding a Foreign Ministry functionary that he has access to the "highest levels, " but that is as far as he would dare challenge a Brigadefuhrer SS-SD.
"The subject, regrettably, has come up again," von Heurten-Mitnitz said coldly. He gave that a moment to sink in, then added, more kindly, "And I have been asked to look into it. Confidentially and uno ficially, as I said." "God, now what has he done?" the Baron asked.
"I presume you know the basic facts?" The bluster was more than a little diminished.
"I think it would be best if you repeated them to me in your own words, " von Heurten-Mitnitz said. "If you wouldn't mind?"
"You didn't respond when I asked what he's done now," the Baron said.
"That's not really germane," von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
"My father sent me to America," he said, "to study electrical engineering at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles."
"Why do you think he did that?" von Heurten-Mitnitz asked.
"In my day, a son went to school where his father sent him. I was first at Marburg for four years. And then my father sent me to Los Angeles.
He felt that would be best for me, and I did not question it."
"I was sent to Harvard, actually," von Heurten-Mitnitz said with compassion in his voice. "I found it quite difficult to adjust to." The Baron responded to that with a nod, then went on.
"And while I was there, I made a genuine ass of myself," the Baron said.
"I became infatuated with a young woman."
"That would be Mary Elizabeth Chernick'?" von Heurten-Mitnitz asked.
"She had adopted the stage name Monica Sinclair, "' the Baron said.
"She wished to become an actress."
"This is the same Monica Sinclair we used to see in American films? Forgive me, Baron, but wasn't she a bit young for you?"
"My former wife is six months younger than I am, " the Baron said icily.
"I see. And may I ask why you married her?"
"I was a damned fool," the Baron said. "We had... been together... and she was in the family way." "I see," von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
"And you did the gentlemanly thing."
"I never had the intention of staying married to her," the Baron said. "Obviously, it would have been impossible to bring her to Germany."
"Obviously," von Heurten-Mitnitz agreed.
"Under American law, a child born to a woman within ten months of her divorce is presumed to be the legal offspring of her former husband.
When my former wife was six months pregnant--You follow the arithmetic?
" Helmut von Heurten-Mitnitz nodded.
"--I obtained an initial decree of divorce. My father at the time advanced me a sum of money sufficient to satisfy her and to support the child until he was eighteen. I immediately returned to Germany, and was in Germany three months later when the divorce became final and the child was born.
I never saw him in the United States, in other words, and for years--"
"When did you in fact see him?" von Heurten-Mitnitz interrupted.
"I saw him for the first time in 1934," the Baron said, aw hen he was sent to Switzerland."
"Tell me about that," von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
"My former wife's career, such as it is," the Baron said, "has been based on the same role, which she plays over and over. She projects an image of unsullied innocence, incredibly enough, and that image is inconsistent with either divorce or progeny. She sells virginity the way whores sell the opposite. It was proposed to Miss Sinclair by Max Liebermann of Continental Studios--and she did not object--that the boy be sent to iowa and raised by her mother."
"She gave up her child that willingly?" von Heurten-Mitnitz asked.
"I daresay the grandmother could not have been a worse mother than my former wife," the Baron said. "The reports from our legal counsel in America said she was a simple, decent woman."
"I see," von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
"And then she died, and other arrangements were necessary," the Baron said.
"Other arrangements?"
"I was approached, not directly, you understand, but through our lawyers in America, by a representative of Continental Studios, who led me to believe that now that her mother was no longer around, my former wife was willing to give me uncontest
ed custody of the child. I am more than a little ashamed to admit that I turned down the offer. I had recently remarried, my son Fritz had just been born. I did not want the intrusion in my home... "
"I understand, "von Heurten-Mitnitz said, his tone suggesting that he both understood and disapproved.
"Our legal counsel reported to me that it was my wife's intention to place the boy in a private school, St. Paul's, run by the Episcopal Church, in Cedar Rapids, iowa. They paid the school high compliments, and I was able to convince myself that he would be better off there than he would have been either with his mother--which in any case was out of the question-or with me here."
"I'm sure you were right, Herr Baron, "von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
Von Heurten-Mitnitz was more than a little bored with this recitation of von Fulmar's. But the Bad Ems postcard had mentioned the Baron, and there was certainly a reason for that. He could only hope he'd be able to pull that from what von Fulmar was telling him.
"I was wrong, Herr von Heurten-Mitnitz," the Baron said. "Quite wrong.
I should have brought the boy to Germany, no matter the difficulty, and raised him and seen to his education. If I had done that, we would not be standing here having this embarrassing conversation."
"I regret that you find it embarrassing, Herr Baron," von Heurten-Mitnitz said. ii That is not my intention."
"Obviously, he has been up to something shameful, or you would not be here," the Baron said.
"You were explaining to me how he came to Switzerland," von Heurtenmitnitz said.
"The school in iowa was only a primary school," the Baron said.
"But my son became friendly with a classmate, the son of the headmaster, in fact. When it was learned that this classmate was to attend a school for gymnasium aged boys in Massachusetts, we decided my son should go with him."
"Do you happen to recall the headmaster's name?" von Heurten-Mitnitz asked, fishing.
"As a matter of fact, I do. He took it upon himself to send copies of the boy's grades to me. And an invitation to his graduation.
His name was Canidy. The Reverend Dr. Canidy."
"I see," von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
It wasn't much, and he had no idea what it meant, but the OSS agent who had dealt with Fulmar in Morocco was named Canidy.
"Is that important?" the Baron asked, sensing that the name had somehow clicked in von Heurten-Mitnitz's mind.
"No. But odd details sometimes take on importance."
"As I was saying, my son was next sent to a school, St. Mark's, in Massachusetts. He was there't vo years. I was again approached by a representative of Continental Studios, this time directly. A very young and very brash young Jew. He had gone to Harvard, I must tell you."
"Then he must have been a very bright, as well as a very brash, young Jew, Herr Baron," von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
"He explained to me that in order to preserve my ex-wife's public reputation, it had been decided to send the boy out of the United States."
"To you?" "No. What he said was that Max Liebermann, who owned Continental Studios, wanted the best possible education for the boy. It turned out, by the way, that the young Jew lawyer was Liebermann's nephew."
"Was his name Liebermann?"
"No, Fine," the Baron said. "Stanley S. Fine." "Go on," von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
"It was put to me that Die Schule am Rosenberg, in Switzerland.
" He looked at von Heurten-Mitnitz, who nodded to show he knew about
"Rosey."
"... was the sort of place where Eric belonged," Fulmar went on.
"Fine solicited my influence in getting him admitted."
"And did you use your influence to do so, Herr Baron?"
"Yes, I did. After consulting with some friends of mine in the Party, and with, of course, the Baroness."
"Officially or unofficially?"
"At first unofficially, and then officially. It was necessary to settle the question of whether or not the boy was Aryan."
"And?"
"My former wife is descended on both sides from good, solid, Silesian peasant stock. My son is unquestionably Aryan."
"And how does that affect his standing in the Almanac de Gotha?" The Almanac was a quasi-o ficial publication listing royal and noble bloodlines.
The Baron gave him an icy look.
"It has not yet come up," he said. "If it does, and if he were a German, he would be in his own right Baron von Kolbe. And, of course, as my eldest male child, he is heir to my title."
"Under German law, he is German," von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
"As I said, Herr von Heurten-Mitnitz, so far as I know the matter has not come up."
"Yes, "von Heurten-Mitnitz said. "So you got him into Rosey?"
"Not only that, but I paid for it. I couldn't have it said that a Jew was paying for my son's education, could I? I paid for it, and I was happy to do so."
"Did you intend to finally bring the boy to Germany?" von Heurtenmitnitz asked.
"That's precisely what I had in mind," the Baron said. Von Heurtenmitnitz looked at him, waiting for amplification.
"On his graduation from Rosey," the Baron went on, "I arranged for him to matriculate at Philips University in Marburg an der Lahn. As I had, and my father had. At some time during his college years, when it appeared to me that he was sufficiently mature to understand the circumstances, I planned to discuss his future with him. I had come to believe the best thing for him would be to enter military service, either with my regiment or perhaps even the Waffen-SS."
"And your plans for him, "von Heurten-Mitnitz said dryly, somehow went awry?"
"Since I was naturally unable to meet him when he came to the university," the Baron said, "I asked the manager of our plant in Marburg--we make special' aircraft engines there--to ease his path.
The manager is also an alter Marburger. He went to the president of our Bruderschaft (fraternity) and explained the situation.
Accommodation was arranged for him in the dormitory, that sort of thing, and he agreed to look out for him."
"I see," von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
"My son wanted nothing whatever to do with my Bruderschaft," the Baron said.
"Excuse me?"
"My son appeared in Marburg in the company of a young Moroccan named Sidi el Ferruch, who was the son of the Pasha of Marrakech.
They had been roommates at Rosey. They arrived in a Delahaye touring car bearing diplomatic license plates. The car was driven by el Ferruch's personal bodyguard. The bodyguard and el Ferruch's manservant, as well as el Ferruch himself, were traveling on diplomatic passports. They were also armed."
"Astonishing," von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
"They established themselves in three connecting suites in the Kurhotel," the Baron said. "And when my man finally found them there and explained to my son the arrangements we had made for him, my son announced that he was perfectly comfortable where he was. He had no intention of moving into a student dormitory or, for that matteg joining a Bruderschaft."
"He was not quite what your man expected, eh?" von Heurten-Mitnitz chuckled.
"When I heard what had happened," the Baron went on, ignoring the remark, "I simply made time to go to Marburg to talk to my son. I tried to explain that, while someone like el Ferruch might exempt himself from normal undergraduate customs and regulations, it behooved him to remember that he was my son, a von Fulmar, and was expected to behave as such."
"I gather that he was not receptive?" von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
"He told me bluntly that he was an American and didn't much care how Germans were expected to behave. As for behaving like a dutiful son, he told me it was ludicrous of me to suddenly appear out of nowhere and start acting like a father to him." Helmut von Heurten-Mitnitz shook his head sympathe ically.
"I then told him I had no intention of maintaining him in a resort hotel and that he could either move into the student dormitory and do what he was told or leave the university. He actually la
ughed. It was all I could do not to slap his face."
"He laughed at you?" The Baron nodded.
"On his eighteenth birthday he had entered into a contractual arrangement with Continental Studios. So long as he remained outside of the United States and maintained an absolute silence regarding his relationship with Monica Sinclair, there would be deposited monthly to his account with Thos. Cook & Sons the sum of five hundred dollars, which would be more than enough for his personal expenses."
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