“What is it?” asked Klaus.
“An urgent message sir,” came a voice from outside the door.
“Come.”
The soldier stepped inside. He had a document in his hand. He glanced at the colonel. “Sorry, sir. I didn’t realize you were in a conference. This can wait until—”
“Whatever it is, it can’t wait,” said the colonel. “Hand him the message.”
What now? Klaus thought. Reaching out he took the paper and read it. He felt the blood run out of his face. Not this.
“What is it?” asked the colonel.
Why couldn’t his man have waited a few more minutes? There was nothing he could do about it. “Bad news,” he said.
He could see the anticipation in the colonel’s face. Almost glee. “What kind of news?”
“They have Peter.”
“Your assistant? Who has him?”
“egota.”
“How did they capture—”
“It doesn’t say,” said Klaus.
“What do they want?”
Klaus hesitated. His failure would be complete. “They want a trade for the nurse.”
The colonel’s face lit up with triumph. “Oh, they do, do they? The nurse that doesn’t know anything about egota? What are your men doing downstairs? Tickling them?” He started for the door again. “Governor Frank will be very interested in this.” He turned back to Klaus. “Seven days. I suggest you use it. Don’t bring me bad news again.” The colonel strolled out of the office like a man who’d just won a significant wager.
Klaus sank into his chair. They had Peter. What might be happening to his friend? He felt his breath speeding up as panic overran him. What was he going to do?
They wanted Ala. What did he care about her? Still, could he pull off a trade and keep his job? Did it matter? He sat there for a long time going over the alternatives. He could ignore the message and allow the consequences to play out as they might. He was sure he knew how that would end. He could also turn Ala over immediately and Peter would be safe—whatever the consequences to his own future. As he turned these questions over in his mind a third option came to light. Yes, that would work.
He scrawled a hasty note on the back of the letter and then called the soldier back. “This message is a response to the resistance.”
“What do you want me to do with it, sir?” the soldier asked. “They didn’t leave a way to contact them.”
“Don’t worry,” said Klaus. “They’ll be in contact soon. Give them the message when they do.”
This was perfect. He would agree to the exchange but set the time for tomorrow night. In the meantime, he would bring Ala back and his men would have an entire night and day to work on her for information. If she gave up egota, he could send his men in and rescue Peter, along with taking down the organization, or person, or whatever it was. Now that he knew she had knowledge, all the remaining restraint would come off. She would sing. He would personally take part in the interview. He had to make this work.
He gathered his coat and left his office, arranging for a car. He had to retrieve Ala and he wasn’t going to trust this to just anyone. He had to wait a half hour for a driver to be located, but soon he was motoring through the streets of Warsaw. An hour later he’d left the suburbs and was heading southeast toward Lublin. He’d had Ala sent to the camp there as well. He’d considered simply executing her, but something had held him back. She’d been too important in the ghetto. She might prove useful in the future as an informant, or a bargaining chip. He was relieved he’d made this decision. It was about to pay off.
They arrived at the camp two hours later. He was ushered into the office of the Kommandant, who was surprised to see a Gestapo major from Warsaw at his threshold. He was more surprised when Klaus handed him orders for a transfer of an individual Jew into his custody.
“How are things in the city?” the Kommandant asked Klaus as they waited for Ala to be brought to him.
“They are fine,” said Klaus. “The Jewish problem is wrapping up. Although the Poles are a bigger nuisance now than ever. There is never any rest.”
The Kommandant laughed. “Tell me about it. These Jews are getting feisty. There was a rumor in one of the sections that we might liquidate the camp.” He wagged his finger. “Just a rumor, mind you, and it resulted in an insurrection. Two of my guards were killed and we had to eradicate the whole batch of them. Good workers too, and there was nothing to the story. They weren’t going to be touched. Well . . . at least not yet.”
Klaus shook his head. “Thank Gott they waited until now. Could you imagine millions of them fighting us? We’d have had our hands full, all right.”
“What do you want with this one?” the Kommandant asked. “We don’t usually get requests for someone by name. Mostly just the number of units around here. She must be someone important. Knows something, does she?”
Klaus ignored the question. He checked his watch. “How much longer?” he asked.
“It shouldn’t be much. Our camp isn’t so big. My man just had to check the records and then go locate her.”
Klaus accepted some tea and took a sip. He was impatient to get out of here. He’d have limited time tonight and he wanted to get back to Warsaw and get started. A thought occurred to him. Perhaps it would all be unnecessary. If he revealed to Ala that he already knew something, she might talk on the way back. The chance was small, but perhaps she would crack under the pressure. That would save him time and effort, and he could move up the exchange for Peter. He thought of his friend again. They better not have harmed him. If they had, he would ruthlessly weed out the responsible parties and make sure they suffered like they couldn’t possibly imagine. He felt fiery anger and he was surprised by the intensity of his response. Those bastards.
A guard knocked at the door and entered on the Kommandant’s request. He was by himself and Klaus could tell immediately that something had gone wrong.
The guard looked at Klaus and then turned to the Kommandant. “What is it?” Klaus asked.
“Out with it!” shouted the camp commander.
“I’m sorry, sir, but she is . . . she was in the barracks that was part of the incident.”
“What incident?” Klaus snapped.
“The uprising, sir.”
Klaus nodded. “Your commander told me about it. Well, where is she then?”
“She’s . . . she’s gone, sir. All of them are.”
Klaus couldn’t believe it. He turned furiously on the commander. “How could you have let this happen!” he demanded.
The Kommandant sputtered for a moment and then became defensive. “I’m sorry, sir, but you didn’t give us any special instructions when she was delivered here. If we’d known she was a special guest, we would have taken precautions to protect her. You must understand!”
Klaus rose from his seat and took a step toward the commander, but he stopped himself. The man was right. He’d made no special arrangements for Ala because he’d only kept her alive as an afterthought. She’d been sent to this labor camp and he’d assumed she would be just fine in the general population. He wasn’t sure he’d ever need her again, so why arrange for anything more significant? Now he didn’t know what to do. He walked out of the office without another word and stormed to his car. On the trip back to Warsaw he was silent, staring out the window, trying to determine what he should do next.
He would lie to them, he decided finally. He would take another woman out of custody and deliver her with a hood over her head at the same time he took Peter. He would bring a platoon of guards and have his agents case out the exchange point ahead of time. If they tried to pull back after realizing he didn’t have Ala, he would shoot them down and take his friend back. He would instruct his men to take a few hostages after he had Peter. He might still be able to break into egota, regardless of Ala’s death.
He arrived back at Szucha Street and set his plan into immediate operation. He stayed the night at his office, taking calls
and receiving updates. He was going to make sure this plan operated without any problems. About midnight he was informed his message had been received by the resistance. He smiled to himself. This plan was going to work. In the morning he went over a briefing with one of his assistants. They’d located several vantage points above the exchange point, for snipers. There was a garage nearby and they had confiscated the structure temporarily. A full platoon of SS would be brought into stage from this room. They would attack and overwhelm the egota operatives at the moment of the exchange. He went over the details again and again, making sure each of the commanders understood their orders. When he was satisfied, he finally allowed himself to be driven home for some rest.
He awoke late in the afternoon. He checked his watch. The exchange would take place in about three hours. Perfect. He rose and came down for a late lunch with his daughter and wife. He was in a good mood, excited to secure the release of his friend and potentially to crack open the egota mystery. There was a knock at the door. A servant scurried off to answer. He came back a few moments later.
“A package for you,” the servant announced.
Klaus looked up. The servant held a square wrapped package. He took it and pulled out his service dagger, slicing through the paper and tearing open the box. He stared down in shock and horror at the contents. Peter’s decapitated head was inside, staring grimly up at him. He dropped the box and the head rolled out and onto the floor. He heard his daughter’s screams, but he couldn’t move. They’d killed his friend. Somehow, they’d known. They were going to pay.
Chapter 30
Revenge
October 1943
Gestapo Headquarters, Warsaw, Poland
Klaus sat at his cramped desk in the basement of the Szucha Street headquarters. He stared blankly at a line of names on a paper. They were possible black marketeers. A group of Poles who would end up with broken fingers or worse because they were trying to sell a little bacon or a piece of fruit on the street.
What difference did it make? He thought about the war. The newspaper and radio continued to declare victory after victory, but maps never lied. The cities named were getting closer and closer to Poland. In the west, the Germans had lost Africa, Sicily, and a chunk of Italy. The Italians, perhaps wiser than they were, had quit the war. Nobody would talk about the obvious truth: they were losing.
What was going to happen to them? He’d already sent his wife and child back to their hometown. He couldn’t afford to keep them here any longer anyway, on his reduced salary. He’d lost his position, his friend, and he feared he would lose far more than that before this was done.
There was a knock at the door. A guard was standing in the doorway. “The colonel wants to see you.”
He sighed, nodding without a response. He stood, brushed himself off, and walked up the multiple flights of stairs to the commander’s office. His old office. He entered the room. Colonel Wagner was there shuffling some papers. He cleared his throat, but the commander did not look up for several minutes. Finally, he set the papers aside and motioned for Klaus to have a seat.
“Well, Rein, I’ve been reviewing your performance these past few months. I told the governor when I took over that I thought it was a mistake to keep you on at all, but he insisted that you still had value to us. I believe he was wrong.” The colonel traced his finger down a page. “Fourteen arrests in all these months? What have you been doing? Picking your arse?”
“You took me off egota,” said Klaus. “That’s what I had put my resources into. There was a certain amount of time needed to get up to speed on my new, and important, targets. By the way,” he said, leaning forward. “How is the hunt for egota going?” He knew the answer and relished the response.
The colonel’s face flushed. “We’re making progress,” he responded finally.
“I’m sure you are, Colonel. It’s not as easy when you’re in charge, is it?”
“You worry about your assignments and I’ll worry about mine,” the colonel snapped.
“Of course,” said Klaus. “Is that all?”
“Yes,” said the colonel, waving his hand and returning to his paperwork. “You’re dismissed.”
Klaus stormed out of the office. The bastard, he thought. He’d been after my job the whole time. Now that he has it, he’s not getting a damned thing done. Klaus had been so close to cracking the egota group wide open. After Peter’s death, he’d tripled the number of men investigating the resistance group. Then word had come down from the governor that he was relieved from his command and demoted in rank. He still remembered the triumphal entrance of the colonel and his followers.
Klaus returned to his office. His one assistant was there, crammed into a seat between the wall and Klaus’s metal desk. He had a look of excitement on his face.
“What is it?” Klaus asked.
“We’ve caught the informant,” he said.
“Which one?” Klaus asked, bored already with the discussion.
“The egota one. The big one.”
Klaus couldn’t believe it. “Where are they?” he asked.
“In a cell less than fifty meters from here.”
“Let’s go!” He turned and, with the assistant right behind him, he stormed down the corridor.
A half hour later he was back in the colonel’s office, laying out his information.
“You obtained all this in the past half hour?” the colonel asked. “How reliable is this person?”
“They’ve been entirely reliable in the past.”
The colonel shook his head. “Well, give me what you have, and I’ll look into it.”
Klaus couldn’t believe his ears. “You’re taking this away from me?”
“You’re not on egota. You know that. Thank you for the information. Please get back to work and I’ll look into this—if we have time.”
“But, sir. We have everything we need. We can move instantly. I can be ready in an hour.”
The colonel’s face flushed red. “Was I unclear, Rein? You don’t have any authority here anymore. Now get out of my office and for once try to do your job. And let me tell you something else. This is going in my report along with a recommendation that you be relieved of all duties and sent back to Germany.”
“Do what you will, Colonel,” said Klaus, turning to leave.
“I didn’t tell you you’re dismissed.”
Klaus turned, staring into the colonel’s eyes.
The colonel returned the look for long moments, but then glanced down at his documents. “That’s all.”
Klaus left and returned to his office. He sat at his desk for a long time, fuming. His assistant returned and he passed on the news.
“What are you going to do?” the agent asked.
“I’m going forward, without orders.” He looked at the young man. “If you don’t want to be involved, I understand.”
His assistant hesitated for a few moments, then nodded. “No, sir. I’m with you.”
“Good,” said Klaus. “Then here’s what we are going to do.”
* * *
Irena walked with Adam and Rami in the gardens near the Vistula. They were taking a little bit of a risk. Adam had Jewish features and they might be stopped at any point. But they had their papers with them, and the documents were flawless.
She couldn’t resist. The day had dawned beautiful, with the sun rising above the buildings into a clear blue sky. The air was crisp but not cold, and there was a rich warmth emanating from the direct sunshine. Irena strolled between them, holding Adam’s hand with her left and Rami’s with her right.
“We have much to be thankful for,” Adam said.
He was right. They were alive. Their operation was still thriving. There were no more children to rescue, but they were keeping twenty-five hundred little ones throughout the city. egota paid vast sums of zlotys per month for food and support of these families. Adam, ever the intellect, kept the books, and made sure the resources were allocated and that each payment was pr
ecisely accounted for.
Better yet, the end of the war was on the horizon. The Germans did their best to hide the truth, but the rumors came through from many sources. The Nazis were falling back in Russia and in Europe. They’d lost a terrible battle at Stalingrad and another massive engagement at Kursk. The Soviets had started another offensive and were threatening to drive their enemy entirely out of Russia. Poland would not be far beyond.
“What will we do when it’s all over?” she asked.
“We will live,” he said simply.
“What about us? You and me?”
He stopped and looked at her. “That is up to you, my dear. The Germans have taken care of my marriage. But yours is still intact.”
“I will remedy that,” she said. “If you want me to.”
He smiled. “Of course, I do. We will marry one day, and then we will build our socialist Poland. The fascists and the capitalists will be driven out of our nation, and the people will rise under Russian tutelage and carve out a workers’ and farmers’ nation, devoted to the people.”
“What if the Germans stop them?” she asked. “What if they turn things around and win?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think they have it in them. Look at our own city. They’ve pulled half the soldiers out and sent them to fight. When is the last time you saw a tank or an airplane? I think they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel now.”
“I hope you’re right,” she said. She looked around. They had to be careful discussing this in public. “Let’s hope and pray that this is the end.”
“Pray?” he asked, laughing. “Don’t talk about praying when the Russians get here. You need to repress your Catholic background, or you’ll get yourself in trouble.”
Rami had stood quietly this whole time. “What about my mother?” she asked. “My father?”
“Your dad has been in the woods this whole time,” Irena explained again. “He should be back when the fighting is over.” She hoped this was true. “For your mother, I hope she will be too.” This was a lie. She knew what had happened to Ala. Julian’s inside person had told them, along with the planned ambush. Thus Peter. She hated to tell Rami this, but she had not been able to bring herself to share the truth yet. She hoped when the war was over that Rami’s father would reappear. Then she could bear to tell her about her mother.
Irena's War Page 30
