The Valkyrie Option

by Markus Reichardt

  Nina von Stauffenberg was a strong quiet woman who saw her role as one of support. Claus was the man of action; the one with mission. His wife had always accepted that. In fact, she understood him and believed in his mission as no-one else. He could only fulfil his destiny if she stood beside him and created the refuge for him to withdraw too and raised the children to be like their father. Over the past months leading up to the 20th of July, Nina had been scared as never before in her life. To protect her Claus had never divulged too many details but his wife knew and supported his actions. Now that she saw even less of him than before she felt only one thing. Pride; pride that Claus had turned words into deeds and changed the face of a nation. Nina had come from similar aristocratic stock as Claus both determined to leave their mark on their country through public service. Each was now doing it in their own way. As was von Trott.

  The Deputy Foreign Minister had made small talk for nearly a quarter of an hour in an effort to gage Claus' mood. For what he was about to propose he need von Stauffenberg alert and in a good mode. The Colonel solved the problem for him.

  'You know Adam, 'he said, absentmindedly twisting the half full wine glass,' we have in many ways not reached our goal. Despite the overthrow of Hitler’s regime we are not at peace. Even though Rommel somehow managed to get Dietrich on his side and use him to avoid civil war between the Wehrmacht and the SS. Even the western Allies on whose goodwill we all pinned such high hopes are barely allowing our troops to conduct their withdrawal. You were absolutely right to caution about the possibilities of their support.'

  Adam just nodded. He kept his peace knowing there was more. 'But you know, even though deep down I shared your scepticism about their support and our venture, I just as much as anyone else needed to believe.' He leaned forward.

  "I needed to believe that what we were doing had some chance of success. If those old geysers in the General Staff above me would have had any doubt about the possibility that the western allies shared their view of the dangers of Soviet domination of Europe they would have passed me on to the Gestapo without too much thinking.'

  'I understand you Claus. I understood you then. That's why I did not argue with you. And look at what you have achieved.'

  'Fair enough. For the Allies we are unproven. We are for them, you could say, on probation.' Stauffenberg sighed. 'For apart from a cessation of hostilities on the part our new government, we have not acted in any way to satisfy their war aims, or political aims. The repatriation of forced labour and prisoners of war is only just beginning and we expect some positive publicity from this gesture of goodwill.'

  'You will get that Claus. Goebbels former underlings are proving a most eager and useful bunch. They will make sure that we make headlines in foreign newspapers in a way that even the censors can't cut out.' von Trott regarded his own wineglass while Nina picked up the youngest , ... and rocked him/her gently in her arms.

  Claus von Stauffenberg suddenly turned serious on his friend. The fire was back in his eye. 'We require some else some additional proof of our bona fides to begin winning public opinion in Britain and America over to a more positive view of our government. We have to acquire the room to manoeuvre for peace. Goerdeler would quite happily accept the occupation of Germany by the Western Allies as a penance for the sins of Hitler. He thinks it would be a form of atonement for our people over what they have done under the Nazi Government. von Witzleben and Rommel of course choke on that. They know full well that the Russians would participate in such an occupation. If Goerdeler went down that route I doubt he'd maintain their support. It could lead to real civil war. It could be the end. The western Europeans, even the petty French out for revenge, we could reach some form of deal with. With the Bolshevik hoards there can be none.'

  von Trott nodded; 'there can be no doubt about that. For all its weaknesses and conflicting national interests the wartime alliance is strong.' In his plain sand-coloured suit he looked less formal than most of the men Stauffenberg saw almost daily around the cabinet table. Stauffenberg knew him to be one of the sharpest analysts available to the Widerstand. A man whose foreign contacts and connections had over the years shaped the Widerstand's view on the allied policy.

  'What are we going to do about it Adam ? Claus von Stauffenberg almost spat the words, desperation creeping into his voice. 'You know that I sympathize with Goerdeler’s views, me a military man. On a moral level it seems right, but on another I cannot support any step that exposes our people, our Volk, to this danger. What must we do to make the British see that we are happy to accept subordinate power status in Europe. Surely they must know that a utterly defeated Germany and a victorious Russia is not in their interests.'

  Adam had his cue. 'Claus just hear me out for five minutes then let me go home while you sleep on the idea.' He nodded to Nina 'I promise that this evening you'll have your husband back at a civilized time.'

  Nina just smiled, her closing eyes nodding assent.

  Adam von Trott zu Solz took a deep breath. 'In the course of their offensive which crushed Army Group Centre last month, the Red Army entered the territory of the former Polish State. On July 25, the Soviets occupied the first major Polish town, Lublin and proclaimed the provisional Soviet government of Poland. We know, as do the British, that the entire membership of the Lublin Committee is comprised of Communists all of whom owe their position and their survival to Moscow. Some of its members come straight from Stalin's camps. They are all no-entities without a significant following in pre-war polish politics. It is through this Committee that Stalin has announced his intention of controlling the fate of a post-war Poland. That changes a lot of things - Poland is the key to Eastern Europe and the balance of power between our continent and Asia.

  The Polish underground as we all know has for years amassed quite sizeable forces and some of these forces came out into the open and fought with the Red Army against our retreating troops in the Lublin district. As the Red Army has moved on however these partisans are being disarmed and those not loyal to the Lublin Committee are being shot. It’s a repeat of Katyn. The rising of the Polish Underground groups in Warsaw who call themselves the 'Home Army' was a response to this. Their objective has been very simple take Warsaw from our weakened forces just before the Red Army enters the Polish capital. This way the Polish Government in Exile sought to stake its claim against the Lublin Committee. Remember that the Polish Government in Exile is the Government of the state over whose security Britain and France went to war with Hitler.'

  He paused realising that both Nina and Claus were staring at him. Good he nodded to himself it was time that a proposal from came from civilians rather than the military.

  'I would suggest that the Polish Government in Exile and we share a common objective. Moscow has not formally outlined its post-war objectives for eastern Europe. They are intentionally undefined and thus effectively limitless. What we do know - and so do the Poles - is that Stalin will seek to strengthen his buffer zone between us and Russian soil through a series of annexations or the establishment of satellite states. The establishment of the Lublin Committee indicates that the satellite option appears to be the plan for Poland. Such a course of action directly challenges the political legitimacy of the Government in Exile and its forces in Warsaw. That’s why they rose in Warsaw.'

  'But they obviously expected to do better' Stauffenberg was absentmindedly twisting his wine glass. 'Good thing we let that old Nazi, Model, stop the retreat of whatever was left of Army Group Centre.'

  'We know from Radio intercepts that the Warsaw Poles are calling for help from London and Washington.' von Trott continued. 'We also know that Moscow has condemned the adventurist nature of the uprising and has brought its troops who are less than 20 sometimes ten kilometers away to a halt. Stalin has no interest in helping Poles that are not his Poles. He is waiting for us the bleed them. What I propose is that we approach the Warsaw leadership and arrange an immediate ceasefire. This would free men and material for the fro
nt. Hitler had a quarrel with the Poles; they were in his path en route to Moscow. But you know the irony is that that was literally it. Though he always viewed them as a secondary people, he would not have waged war on them if they had not so stubbornly held on to the pieces of Prussia that the Treaty of Versailles gave them after the First World War.

  We do not have a quarrel with them. At least not on a level that matters now. In fact right now Poland is on Stalin's route to Berlin, just as it was on Hitler's to Moscow. At the very least we should stop wasting lives of people who could be at least as unhappy about a further Soviet advance as we. Later we should begin negotiations with the Warsaw Poles and by implications with the Government in Exile in London about the gradual handover of civilian administration of large parts of Polish territory to them.'

  'Are you talking about taking the front back to the Reich's borders ?'

  'No, on the contrary.' von Trott was warming to his own idea' I am proposing that we give the Poles some reason to fight with us. Or at least a reason not to fight us. That reason would be their own state. A state which we would temporarily help defend. A state that we would need to recognize upfront in its 1938 borders. Since Stalin said no to our peace overtures, there is really nothing to constrain us in terms of territorial concessions should we wish to argue about something as little as border details now. It would be an uneasy arrangement but it would add considerable resources to our front. It would free up thousands from partisan duty and it would make the East front a lot more complex politically.' To conclude he dropped his bombshell: 'Eventually we could pass that role to the Anglo-Americans. Then the Russians would have to deal directly with Churchill over Poland.'

  There was silence as the Stauffenbergs chewed on the idea. The diplomat gave them a few seconds before continuing. 'There is another angle here. If we can work a deal with the Poles, it would carry immense weight with Allied public opinion. The fact that there are more than 6 million Polish American voters will weigh heavily on President Roosevelt's mind. And he's got an election coming up. There is also great sympathy for the Polish cause among the especially the French and to a considerable degree the British public. It could be the crucial step that moves the western Allies to cease their belligerent status towards us. But understand we’d have to give the Poles quite a lot upfront.'

  'I see real potential here, Adam' Stauffenberg was excited. 'If we travel down that road there is of course the issue of the Allies being able to project power into Eastern Europe. The fact that they could not do that in 1939 was the reason they left the Poles in the lurch back then. If we give the Poles some territory over which they can claim administrative sovereignty then there will be a great temptation for the many thousands of Poles in Allied armies to come to Eastern Europe and fight with us against the Bolsheviks. Of course that territory would have to be big enough to allow for this, .. and it would need at least one good airport. .. How many Poles are there in Allied service?' Adam smiled, he had anticipated that question. 'The ever efficient General Gehlen tells me that it is something like 1 parachute brigade, 2 Corps, which include a tank division, and nearly an entire Luftflotte (air fleet). At the very least we could seriously neutralize the Allies ability to use them against Germany in the short term. It would be like taking about 100 000 men out of their frontline armed forces. The same could possibly go for at least some of the tens of thousands of Poles fighting in Stalin's army; there I think we are talking about 3 divisions at least..

  'Yes' Nina who had been sitting quietly through the discussion, leaned forward, running her hand through her sons hair, 'and, as neighbours, after all we will at some stage, have to come to some formal peace deal with Poland anyway, right?'

  Twenty minutes later the Stauffenbergs sat alone, Adam on his way home to his own family. Both remained lost in thought. Nina regarded her husband patiently, in Claus' mind, she knew, all the possibilities were being examined. He needed to go through the positives and negatives systematically and even then would fret temporarily about overlooking something. Contrary to him Nina worked by instinct. What Adam had said made good sense to her. It felt right, it felt like it could work. In the shadows of the small table lamp her Slavic features appeared carved clear for Claus. He smiled expectantly at his wife. Knowing that in the privacy of their home they were and would always be equal.

  'My enemy's enemy is my friend.' Nina said. It was a question not a statement.' Claus, if making some arrangement with the Poles serves Germany then make a deal. I know you did not think much of them when you were there during the campaign of 1939.'

  The Count raised a mock eyebrow. ' Not subtle, dear, not subtle at all !.. Oh but ever so true.' He leaned back pondering the last of the wine in his glass. 'It will be difficult, you know.'

  'It’s nothing compared to what you have done for Germany so far.'

  'The real struggle won't be with the Poles you know, it will be with our Cabinet.'

  'Even they must see the possibilities.'

  'Oh yes they will - but do they want to is the question ? Another step out of the comfort zone for the politicians. You see for the moment they are eating well again and that makes them forget realities and espouse principles.'

  'You will not doubt convince them.' Nina concluded the discussion. 'But that’s tomorrow.' Taking him by the hand she made it clear that the little time before then would be hers.

  August 5th

  Warsaw

  The Home Army were in a jubilant mood. The night before the RAF bombers flying from bases in Italy had dropped the first supply containers over Krashinski Square. The fact that only two planes had come and only six containers had reached the insurgents did not matter – the men and women of the Home Army had tangible evidence that they were not alone. Quietly Bor however was alarmed, the night before, the BBC had run a story claiming that the Soviets were fully co-operating in British efforts to assist the Rising. This was patently not the case.

  That morning reality hit them with all its brutality as the criminals and Ukrainians of the two SS formations surged into the Ohota and Vola suburbs. Badly commanded and without a clear objective other than to crush the insurgents, the attack over 5 000 men turned into an orgy of violence and blood. Used to taking whatever loot they could find these uniformed misfits that manpower shortages had allowed into uniform, set about systematically plundering the suburbs and murdering, raping and torturing every living thing they could. Two Home Army hospitals, set up in local churches, were left ankle deep in body parts as patients, doctors, nurses, invalids, nuns and even infants were butchered. More than 11 000 people died that day; only 500 of them Home Army combatants who desperately tried to hold back this barbarous mob.

  Alarmed, Ninth Army Command ordered the attack to stop but found it had almost no control over the former SS units. Only by the afternoon of the 6th, when the military police battalion had been deployed and summarily executed 76 RONA and Dirlewanger men who refused to obey orders on the spot, did the massacre end. By then the death toll had reached 15 000. An embarrassed Wehrmacht Command turned to its political leadership for instructions.

  It was one of the few times von Witzleben came to his chancellor very contrite and uncertain. The Wehrmacht had not conducted itself with honour, and even though these were SS misfits they had nominally been under Wehrmacht orders, the old Marshall admitted. By the end of the seventh, Adam and Claus had seized their chance.

  August 7th

  South of Warsaw

  Jan Mioduchowski came awake with a jolt when the rifle barrel was rammed into his side. He tried to sit upright but a sharp pain from his ankle reminded him that there were limits to his mobility. In the morning light he could see six armed civilians around him all with weapons ready; weapons that he recognized as British.

  ‘Who are you’ the question came in Polish’

  ‘I am Jan Mioduchowski a Lieutenant in the Free Polish Air Force’ it came out with pride. Very slowly he reached into his flight jacket and retrieved his dog tag. Bom
ber crews never carried any form of identification other than that required to register them as prisoners of war.

  What is the name of your unit. The partisans appeared unmoved. One of them a tall bearded fellow wore a Russian army jacket.

  ‘ My Lancaster was shot down when I dropped supply containers over Krasinski Square two or was it three nights ago. What is today’s date? ‘

  That broke the ice. He was helped up, patted on the back and put on a stretcher. They carried him past where his gunner had been killed to verify his story.

  The tall bearded partisan just shook his head. ‘That’s what the Russians have in mind for all of us.’

  After that they took him to a farmhouse and from there via horse-drawn carriage to a clearing in another forest where this battalion of the Home Army had their temporary headquarters. A medic confirmed that his ankle was most probably broken and put him in a spleen. The news from Warsaw was grim. This unit had been trying to infiltrate through the German lines from the south and in frustration ended up ambushing a German convoy south of the city only to come away with a bloody nose. Things had gotten quieter over the past two days and they were hopeful that another attempt might succeed. They told him stories of other Home Army units that had tried to join the Russians against the Germans only to be arrested, disbanded and in many cases shot. Michael, it seemed was indeed no exception.

  Although he remained immobile, Jan’s skills as a radio operator were immediately commandeered and by night-time the battalion commander had contacted other units also waiting around Warsaw. He looked up at Jan at around mid-night. ‘They are all talking about a temporary ceasefire in Warsaw. It doesn’t make sense contact the Home Army command there, if you can. Here are the frequencies and call signs. I need to know what’s going on.’