She interrupted him. "What do you mean 'infiltrate?' Pretend to be a Nazi and go undercover? That's ridiculous. What do those half-wit make-believe Nazis have to do with anything anyway? I thought the Bund had been dissolved. Weren't a bunch of them arrested or deported?"
"The Bund is a shell of its former self, to be sure," Charlie replied. "However, there is still a core group of diehards. Please let me finish."
Johanna sat back in her chair and crossed her arms.
"The reason we want you to join the Bund is to make certain contacts. With the help of the FBI, we have determined that many of the Bundists have connections to an organization in Germany called the Deutsche Ausland Institut, the German Foreign Institute. The DAI is in charge of the return of foreigners of German descent back to the Reich, the so-called volksdeutsche. And they are charged with maintaining ties with groups outside Germany, such as the Bund. Lastly, they're a group of researchers like us, providing their superiors with analysis of other nations, especially the US. We want you to make contact with the DAI and convince them you want to re-patriate to Germany and work for them."
This is insanity, Johanna thought. How can they expect me to pretend to be a Nazi, join a group of jackbooted thugs and then convince them all that I want to live under Hitler? And even if I somehow succeed, there I'll be – hiding from the Gestapo. While I do what? Broadcast coded signals from a cave?
Charlie interrupted her thoughts. "Once you're in Germany, you'll be able to report to us on the activities of the DAI, both in terms of their support for groups like the Bund and other Fifth Column and subversive activities in the US. We're doubtful that they have anything to do with spying – that's strictly the province of the Abwehr – but we may get lucky there. Just report on what you see yourself, no need to go breaking into offices or anything like that. Keep a low profile and send weekly reports."
"I suppose I can understand why you've picked me for the DAI work once I get to Germany. But I am in no way qualified to work undercover. Of what use will I be when I get caught, which is sure to happen almost immediately? They'll probably shoot me. No, I won't do it. I'm not a spy, that's ridiculous."
Charlie broke back in. "Remember, we're after you to be an agent, not a spy. Yes, there may be people out there qualified to be spies, but that's not what we're looking for. The abilities you showed in your dissertation are what we're looking for. But more importantly, we don't have time to waste and you're here now."
Pollack nodded in agreement.
"And just as importantly, you're a knockout," he said, waiting for a reaction. He got one.
"All right, now I get it," she shouted. "All of this talk of my 'unique intellectual abilities' is just a smokescreen. You want me to be some tarted-up Mata Hari, charming information out of Nazis while they ogle my legs. Forget it. You can both go to hell." Johanna was now shaking with anger. She got up and went to the door.
Charlie leapt out of his seat and barred her way out.
"Wait. I don't think you understand. Your intellectual abilities are precisely why I wanted you for this job. But let's be frank, Johanna, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, you're an extraordinarily good-looking woman. I don't know why you're always trying to hide them, but your looks can serve you well in this job – in this business it's axiomatic. Men will be too busy trying to flirt with you to be suspicious. A smile or a glance may be enough to get you out of trouble. Think of it as an added benefit for your safety and your success."
Johanna narrowed her eyes. "I've spent too much time trying to be taken seriously for things other than my figure. No."
Charlie gave her a stern look.
"Johanna, each of us will have to make use of our talents, whatever they may be, for this war. It is coming, and then there will be more important things to worry about than whether you are being taken seriously as an intellectual. You need to think about that."
Too mad to concede the point, she said nothing. Charlie stood aside and opened the door.
"Think it over. Take the rest of the day off and meet us back here tomorrow morning."
After eating an early lunch in a nearby automat, Johanna decided to spend the day walking around DC. While she was eating, a brief afternoon thunderstorm had cooled off the city, offering a rare break from the brutal heat and humidity of early July. As she left the cafeteria deep in thought, she scarcely noticed the weather. Walking to the Lincoln Memorial, she tried to make sense of the situation. How did I get this far so fast?, she asked herself. Not two months ago I was about to become an associate professor somewhere and spend the rest of my life in classrooms and libraries. Now, I'm being asked to participate in this secret agent nonsense.
She also felt foolish for getting so mad at the suggestion that she use her looks as a tool for the job. Why had it bothered her so much? It wasn't exactly true to say that she had struggled to be taken seriously – she admitted to herself that it had never really been a problem.
What was true was that she had always been unnerved by the attention she received, not for any accomplishment, but for her appearance. Now she felt it all over again and was embarrassed at having blown up over it. Especially since Charlie was right – war meant there were more important considerations than her pride. But she still couldn't help thinking it was a mistake for them to send her off as some secret agent. There had to be a better way for her to help the war effort.
That last thought struck her as she saw people near the Memorial carrying bunting and flags in preparation for Independence Day. The information she was sifting through in her basement seclusion, though sketchy, when combined with the news in the papers and on the radio pointed clearly to war. The fierce invective from Hitler and his henchmen towards Roosevelt and the US was only getting worse, and American ships were tangling with U-boats daily. The Japanese seemed to be making conciliatory moves and asking for more talks, but who knew where that would lead. When the war started, what would her part be?
The only alternative she could see was taking the teaching jobs at Michigan. The problem with that was that she would be far from the war, lecturing undergraduates instead of contributing. While she had been on the path to do just that up until a few weeks ago, she had now made up her mind that she had to be part of the war effort.
Even though her job at State had just been a ruse, it had shown her just how imperative it was that everyone who could contribute, did. Johanna had spent enough time among the Nazis to know that they would only be stopped by total destruction and defeat – they would give no quarter and would never compromise. And just from what she had learned in the newspapers, she knew defeating Hitler would be a monumental undertaking. Obviously, she could not pick up a rifle and go off to fight, so what would she do? Whatever makes the best use of my abilities, of course. But what would that be?
She turned to walk towards the Mall. Nearing the Reflecting Pool, she stopped with a sinking feeling in her stomach: the best use of her abilities was the job she thought she was doing now. All the praise she had received on her thesis was for her attempts to analyze current events in Germany as they happened and put them in historical context. That was what she was trying to do for the State Department, only it had all been a lie. A lie that had partially worked, she had to admit. It hadn't taken very long for her to discover the sorry state of American intelligence gathering. Nor had it taken long to realize that the solution lay in establishing a true clandestine service. The shock had been at the notion that anyone would consider her as an agent for such a service, not just as another academic analyzing reports from the field.
A man's voice caught her attention from further up along the walk. In shirtsleeves with wispy hair fluttering in the breeze, he was standing on a small platform speaking to a crowd that had gathered around him. Some applauded and some yelled angrily at the speaker. Johanna walked over to hear him.
As she got closer, she could make out what he was saying.
"…and as he prepares to sell our products of war t
o the British, he has given away freely our most precious commodity – our neutrality! Haven't enough of our boys died for Britain? How many more must perish to save her from her own calamities?" he shouted, waving his arms with every sentence.
Johanna could see the placard leaning up against the platform. It said, 'Save America from Roosevelt and the Warmongers: Join The America First Committee.'
She couldn't decide whether she thought this man was despicable or ridiculous, but she stayed in the back of the crowd. As she sat down on a bench to watch him harangue passersby and shout down hecklers, her thoughts returned to her current predicament. The part of the 'secret agent' job where she worked for the German Foreign Institute and reported on their doings was intriguing. Being able to witness the Institute's inner workings and having firsthand knowledge of Hitler's Germany during war would allow her to build upon the research she had already done. Perhaps she would write a book when it was over.
The part that made her refuse outright was not infiltrating the Bund. She had kept her opinions to herself when she had traveled to the Third Reich – everyone had made their own assumptions about her. She could do it again with Bundists whom she didn't think were likely to be very bright anyway. Her refusal was based on a fear of being unprepared. All of her successes in her life so far had come with diligent preparation. Now she was being asked to risk her life without knowing the first thing about being an agent.
But was she really? She had been so dead set against the idea she hadn't asked about training or what provisions were to be made for her safety. Could they get her out if she felt threatened? Would the method of passing her reports be foolproof? Neither Pollack nor Charlie had tried to convince her that her safety would be guaranteed, but she hadn't exactly given them a chance to.
Some in the crowd applauded. Johanna wasn't hearing the man's arguments anymore; she just saw him as a gesticulating naïf trying to find kindred spirits on the street. Something he said did stick with her, however. As he repeated his speech for the third time, one of his questions repeated in her mind: how many more must die for Britain? She admitted to herself that when the US joined the war, many Americans would die, maybe millions. Most would go willingly to fight for their country. Would she?
She watched the crowd dwindle until the America Firster stepped off his box, put his placard under his arm and walked away.
7
"I thought I should give you another chance to convince me," Johanna said the following morning, sitting in Charlie's office.
He sat silent for a moment, fiddling with one cufflink and then the other. Johanna saw they were two gold elephants with tiny ruby eyes.
"Well, this is quite a change from yesterday. What changed your mind?"
"I don't really think it is changed. I want to do something to help in the war effort if it comes to war. Even though I think your plan is crazy, I do see its importance. If you can convince me that I'll be adequately trained and that my safety can be guaranteed, I think I'll do it."
Charlie nodded. "Well, the first thing I should tell you is that in no way can we guarantee your safety. I think we have a reasonable plan in place to ensure that risks to you are kept to a minimum. As for training, please remember that there is a real difference between an agent and a spy. You will not be expected to use weapons, explosives, radios et cetera. Your job is simply to blend in and report on what you see and hear, with your analysis. Your training will be a little on how not to draw attention to yourself, a lot on what kind of information we're looking for and how to send us your reports securely."
"How will that work? I'll be in the snake pit with the Gestapo crawling all over."
"Actually, you'll have Thomas Jefferson to thank for that part. He devised the code that the State Department has been using for the last hundred and fifty years or so. It's easy to use and tough to crack. We'll train you on the code, invisible ink et cetera. Nothing complicated."
Johanna gave Charlie a wry grin. "Invisible ink?"
"Just because it's a favorite of pulp novelists doesn't mean it's not a serious tool of the trade."
She didn't feel convinced, but nodded for him to continue.
Charlie leaned forward. An ignored cigarette was sputtering out in his ashtray.
"I'm afraid I need you to quickly decide whether you're going to do this or not. I understand your trepidation, but I must tell you this plan is not something we're undertaking lightly. We desperately need someone on the inside, someone we can trust. Our preference would of course be to insert you into the German Army High Command or get you hired on as Hitler's secretary or something of that sort, but the consensus is that the Foreign Institute plan is a workable one. Have you seen the paper today?"
Furrowing her brow, Johanna replied, "No…why?"
He produced a copy of The Washington Post from a bookshelf and handed it to her.
"Front page, upper right."
She looked at the paper, searching for the story. She found it.
22 Espionage Suspects Are German-Born, Hoover Says: U.S. Seizes 29 In Defense Spy Roundup
New York, June 29. -- The arrest of 26 men and 3 women, 22 of them German, on charges of conspiracy to undermine national defense by acting as spies, was announced here tonight by J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Below was another story:
Spy Suspect Saw Bombsight Several Years: Norden Inspector Had Access to Closely Guarded U.S. Secret.
New York, June 30. – That the United States' closely guarded military secret -- the Norden bombsight -- has for several years been examined by a man now charged with espionage, was disclosed today as three more men were arrested in the Government Nation-wide spy hunt.
She handed the paper back to Charlie.
"I don't see what that has to do with me."
"What did you think of the news?" he asked.
"I guess it's good news they caught them. Of course it's terrible that they were running around the country for so long," she replied.
Charlie shook his head.
"You're missing the larger point," he said. "Yes, it's terrible that there were, and probably still are, so many German spies in the US. That's for the FBI to worry about. The big picture here is that when we go to war with Hitler," he pointed a finger in emphasis, "and we will – the chances are good that he's going to have a pretty good picture of our military capabilities, our political situation, our troop dispositions and God knows what else. We have to know at least as much as he does if we're going to win."
They both sat silent for a few moments, Charlie looking at Johanna and Johanna looking at the floor.
"All I can tell you is that I'll think about it," she offered.
"Fair enough."
"You knew about this all along, didn't you?"
Eve was in her office, conferring with another woman Johanna didn't recognize. She held Johanna's gaze for a long moment before turning to her guest.
"Would you excuse us, please? I'll call you later."
After the woman closed the door behind her, Johanna repeated her question.
"So, did you know?"
Eve nodded. "Yes, I knew."
"How could you let Charlie lie to me? He tricked me into putting off my career so I could be part of his plan."
"I didn't 'let' him do anything, dear," she replied. "It was my idea. I thought we should wait until we got down here to tell you our real plan for you. In fact, Charlie was opposed to it from the beginning. He insisted that we should be up front with you. I convinced him that if we were serious about wanting you to go undercover for us, we needed to make you see just how dire the need was. Hence, the deception. I'm terribly sorry, Johanna, but we thought this would be best."
Johanna nodded. "Well, I'm not happy about it, but I see your point."
"Have you made a decision?" Eve asked.
"It sounds ludicrous and dangerous, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't see an appeal to it," Johanna replied. "When I was studyin
g in Germany, I did have a feeling of being on an adventure. Now that I think about it, it did feel a bit like being a spy. Surrounded by Nazis, traveling around Hitler's Reich with no one suspecting who I really was or what I was doing there. Granted the stakes are higher now, but I want to do whatever I can to rid the world of those bastards."
Eve smiled. "I'm glad to hear you say that. I'm sure Julian would be proud."
"I've accepted that I'll never know what happened to him," Johanna replied. "At least this way I can make them pay."
8
Berlin
SS Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich felt giddy. Twice this morning his mood had gotten the best of him and he had actually laughed out loud, sitting on the leather couch in his office. He had been trying to read a report on some administrative blather or another, but had given up after reading the opening paragraph five times without comprehension.
Fifth Column Page 4
