The Venlo Incident

by Nigel Jones

  “Right,” I said, “give the commandant my compliments and say that I should like to see him.”

  That day and the next there was no sign of the commandant and I had plenty of time to think things over. I knew perfectly well that in the circles in which I now found myself, complaint to a higher authority was very apt to boomerang and that I might easily come in for the harder knock. I had liked the look of the new commandant and my intuition told me that he was a man who could be trusted. Should I go nap on this hunch and speak out openly to him? It was very difficult for me to make up my mind.

  On the morning of 25th November the commandant came in accompanied by Eccarius. The guard was sent out and the commandant said, “You wish to speak to me, Herr Best? Here I am, in what can I be of service?”

  “I am sorry to have troubled you, Obersturmbanführer, but might I perhaps speak to you ‘unter vier Augen’” (alone).

  Eccarius looked deeply shocked and very anxious, but the commandant waved to him to go away and then turning to me said, “What are your troubles? Don’t be afraid, you can talk to me quite frankly as man to man.”

  I suppose as a result of the many months of imprisonment behind me my nerve suddenly gave way, or rather, I should say, my physical nerves, for my determination to go ahead and spill the beans was unchanged. I began to tremble so much that I could no longer stand but had to sit down on a chair. The commandant said, “A good idea, Herr Best, why should we stand. With your permission I will sit down too, and we can have a comfortable chat. Now don’t worry, for I know all about you, and everyone admires you for your ‘Tadellose Haltung’; I was coming to ask for your help in any case, for you made some remarks to the Reichsführer which I should like you to explain. I have been given the task of cleaning up this camp and clean it up I shall.”

  He was such a nice little man, he can’t have been much over five feet, and he twinkled at me in such a friendly fashion through his large round spectacles that I gradually became quite calm and started off telling him about life in the Bunker. I told him about the hazing of prisoners by Ettlinger, and how he often went from cell to cell making prisoners stand to attention and then knocking them down—this was an amusement in which he was joined by van Detzen and which they called their morning exercises. I told him what I knew about the thieving in which Ettlinger was involved. For weeks past Paul König had been ferreting about, finding out everything that he could about camp scandals, and particularly the misdeeds of our warders, so I had no lack of material for my story to the commandant. His reaction though was to say that all this was relatively unimportant, for theft was so general in the camp that he was surprised that even the prisoners had not been taken away. What he wanted to know from me were two things, could I mention any specific case of ill-treatment of a prisoner since he became commandant and, secondly, had I been deprived of anything which should have come to me.

  I then told him that two days previously, after his adjutant had been in the building interrogating one of the prisoners, Ettlinger had gone to the man’s cell and beaten him up; as the cell was only a few doors away from mine, I had been able to hear him tell the prisoner that if he did not want more beatings he had better not say that he had been badly treated; next time he did so he would be beaten till he was as limp as a rag (Windelweich). Next, I said that I had reason to believe that I was entitled to double SS rations, but that so far I had not been receiving even full single rations. The commandant then got up and said that he would come and see me later, but that I must not worry as everything would be all right.

  Late in the afternoon he came to see me again and told me that he had looked into things and that he was very grateful to me for my information. “You will not see Ettlinger again as I am moving him before his next turn of duty, I am also transferring Saathof, as Eccarius tells me that he is very careless and inefficient, but now I should like to know what you think about van Detzen and Eccarius.”

  This was something of a poser, for although I could have made out a very good case against both men, I did not like the idea of a complete change of all officials, as this might very well prove to be a leap from the frying-pan into the fire; I therefore said to the commandant: “From everything that I have observed I should say that you would find it difficult to get a more suitable man than Eccarius for the job here. It is true that he is not a strong character and that he was quite unable to cope with a man of such dominating personality as Ettlinger, but he certainly knows how things should be done, and whenever he is on duty it is quite remarkable how smoothly everything runs and how little fuss there is. To me he has always behaved absolutely correctly, and I have never heard anything which would suggest that he had treated any prisoners with unnecessary harshness. Of course, he certainly knew what Ettlinger was doing and should have taken steps to exercise more control over his actions though this was made difficult for him by Oberführer Lohritz’s obvious partiality for Ettlinger.”

  “As for van Detzen, when he first came here he was a nice unspoilt lad, and if latterly he has rather gone off the rails, I think that Ettlinger is solely to blame; given a chance, I should think that he might become quite a useful official. What I would suggest is that you should leave these two here, but instead of appointing any more regulars, you should give Eccarius two elderly reservists. He would be able to control them more easily and the danger of friction would be much reduced.”

  The commandant had listened very attentively to my long speech and then said: “I am grateful to you that you have spoken so frankly, and I agree with what you say, for it accords with the conclusions I had already reached. Since our talk this morning, I have learnt a lot more about Ettlinger and he is certainly a bad lot (Volksschädling); I shall not, however, take any steps to have him brought to justice now, for were I to report the matter to the law officers (SS-Gerichtsoffizier) there would certainly be a lot of inquiries made and you might be called upon to give evidence. This might be bad for you as your reputation with the Gestapo is none too good, and I have seen several reports about difficulties you have made since you came here, most of which came from Ettlinger. You won’t see him again here, for he has orders to report to me in the morning, when I shall get him to apply for transfer to a different post. I don’t expect to have any difficulty with him. As regards your food, you were quite right, and from tomorrow you will receive the full double rations which are due to you. Now, don’t worry about things. I think that I can promise you that you will find your life here much pleasanter in the future than it has been in the past.”

  I felt pretty well all in by the time that the commandant left me. I really think that this conversation was about the most difficult experience of my whole life, for my vitality was at low ebb, and if I had guessed wrongly in my estimate of the commandant as a man whom I could trust, I could with certainty look forward to some pretty unpleasant treatment from the prison officials. But I have never regretted taking the chance.

  It was a very pale and shaky Eccarius who came in to chain me up that night. I had heard something of the storm that had burst over his head that afternoon, and had wondered how so small a man as Kaindl could produce such formidable bellows and yells. I said to Eccarius, “Well, I took your advice and spoke frankly to the commandant.” “Didn’t he just have me on the mat? (Was habe ich eine grosse Zigarre bekommen; aber so was!)” was his only reply. I told him that I had really done all that I could to help him and that it was his own fault if he now found himself in difficulties. As he was supposed to be the head man in the building, naturally the commandant blamed him if things went wrong but, I consoled him, “‘The soup is never eaten as hot as it is cooked,’ and I believe that you will find that everything will blow over as far as you are concerned, but be careful. I could have told the commandant where you got the material for that uniform and the leather for those smart riding boots.” Eccarius spluttered protests that these materials had been given to him by Ettlinger. “Yes, but Ettlinger stole them and you knew that he had. D
on’t interfere with me and don’t make trouble with the trusties or with my guards. We have always got on well together, and I hope that we shall do so in the future, but believe me, if we fall out, I know enough to blow you sky high whenever I choose.”

  Although after this our relations were a little strained for a time this soon passed and, since I continued to support Eccarius whenever I had occasion to talk to the commandant, he came to rely on my advice and help whenever he was faced with any difficulties, and in turn did everything he could to meet my wishes.

  Three days later the commandant came to see me again and told me that he hoped soon to be able to find more comfortable accommodation for me, and also that he had arranged for me to spend more time out of doors. I took the opportunity to show him my chain attached to the ring in the wall. He asked me what on earth this was for and when I told him he was greatly shocked and said: “Such things aren’t done where I am” (bei mir gibt es so was nicht) and went straight away saying that he would be back shortly. After about ten minutes he came in again and said, “I have telephoned to Gruppenführer Müller and he has authorized me to stop this stupid business if I take responsibility for your security. This I have done, and I am sure that I can rely on you not to let me down.” After he left me Eccarius came in and asked me to go to the interrogation room for a few minutes, and when I returned to the cell the only sign left of my fetters was a patch of wet plaster on the wall where the ring had been.

  By this time, after three years constant wear, my clothes had reached the stage where holes appeared faster than I could mend them. Of my shirt, little remained of the original material except collar and cuffs; all the rest had gradually been used to cover and re-cover the essential visible portions, having been replaced by pieces of sheet or towel which I had managed to purloin. My tie was mere artistic patchwork and my suit was a threadbare façade. May had written to me that she had been obliged to leave all my clothes at our house at The Hague but that our housekeeper, who had remained there, was looking after them. I had, therefore, sometime previously, applied to the Gestapo to have some of my things brought to me, but had received no reply to my request. I mentioned this matter to the commandant who said that he would make inquiries. Next day Eccarius came to my cell with two of the trusties carrying a really splendid wardrobe which, since I possessed nothing with which to fill it, seemed a bit of a white elephant; but I had my hopes.

  Sure enough, the following week I was called to the interrogation room and there was Grothe with a couple of enormous parcels. What a delight it was to unpack them and to find clothes and linen, books, soap, and dozens of other things for which I had longed. As soon as I got back to my cell I stripped and cast aside everything in the way of clothing that I had on me, or in my cell, and then dressed myself in fresh things from top to toe. One can say what one will, but it makes a lot of difference to one’s morale to feel that one is clean and tidy in one’s dress; at all events it does to me.

  Three days later the commandant came to see me again, bringing me this time my monocle, pen-knife, and other of my belongings which I had so far not been allowed to have; he also told me that in future I would be supplied with knife and fork for my meals and that, if I wished, I could order wine or beer to be brought to me from the canteen.

  On the 10th December I was again called to the interrogation room where I found a certain Kriminalrat, Dr. Clemens. I had known for some time that this man had been appointed by the Gestapo to act, as it were, as my guardian, but so far I had never set eyes on him as he had left everything to his assistant Grothe. He told me that he had come to see me now because it was he who had fetched my belongings from Holland, and who had seen my sister-in-law and our housekeeper there. The latter, he said, wished to be relieved of the responsibility of looking after my belongings, and he had therefore arranged to have everything which she had in her keeping sent out to me. He considered that it was better that this should be done as, otherwise, there was danger that the occupation authorities might take it into their heads to requisition my things as enemy property. He also gave me letters from my sister-in-law and the housekeeper, and told me that if I wished to write to them he would see that my letters reached them.

  On the 24th December I was again visited by the commandant, who had with him Eccarius who was carrying a small Xmas tree, two bottles of wine, and a large Xmas cake, a sort of current bun. These the commandant handed to me with his best Xmas wishes and again assured me that I should find the coming year much pleasanter than those which had gone before. I appreciated his kindness even though all these gifts were later charged up to me and I had to sign for them.

  So the year drew to its close and at its end I wrote in my diary:

  1942 has on the whole passed quite pleasantly. May’s letters have been the greatest comfort and help. The old feeling that I was a helpless prisoner, forgotten by everyone, has quite gone, and I feel myself again to be a civilized person with a right to lead a civilized life.

  CHAPTER VI

  THE year 1943 started auspiciously, with news through Paul, that the position at Stalingrad was pretty well hopeless and that the Russians were proving everywhere too strong. Of course the Völkische Beobachter, the O.K.W. reports, and the broadcast commentaries of Ditmar and Fritsche, still brought news of German successes on all fronts, but it was impossible not to notice the gradual damping of the spirits of the camp officials and the growth of optimism and confidence amongst the prisoners. For my own part I felt on the top of the world and really began to believe that this might prove to be the last year of the war; indeed, from what my Berlin guards told me, there seemed to be a pretty general idea that the beginning of December would see the end for, by then, the war would have lasted just as long as the previous one. At this period of the war there was still something in the way of public opinion left and people could still discuss the situation with friends, listen to B.B.C. broadcasts, and pass on rumours, in spite of all the repressive efforts of the Gestapo.

  Of course it may be said that my opinions are valueless, formed as they were in the strict seclusion of my prison cell, but throughout the war the camp reflected events outside with an accuracy which often astonished me, so that I often felt that I was like a man in a well-heated room who, by looking through the window at a thermometer, could measure the cold outside.

  As far as I, myself, was concerned, I felt that I was out of the wood and could look forward to spending the remainder of my internment in comparative comfort, and all that I had to fear was a possible breakdown in my health, or some sudden decision by the Nazi bosses who controlled my fate which might bring about my liquidation. I was on the whole, though, very well satisfied. True, I had not yet got everything exactly to my liking, but if my estimate of Kaindl’s character were correct, it would not be long before I did, and anyhow I rather enjoyed the struggle to improve my position. Since the removal of Ettlinger and Saathof, Eccarius’s attitude towards me had been most submissive and, at least for the moment, there was no fight left in him. Rather to my surprise, Kaindl had followed my advice in almost every detail; he had left Eccarius as head man, with van Detzen as his deputy, and in the place of Ettlinger and Saathof he had sent two reservists, Robert Luchs and Hans Schmidt, both holding the rank of Unterscharführer (sergeant), who seemed quiet and inoffensive fellows.

  Eccarius had been relieved of routine work involving regular turns of duty, and had been made responsible for the smooth running of the building; the other three men did two days’ duty on and one day off, so that day and night there were always two of them on guard. Eccarius spent the whole day in the building, and although he was permitted to spend his nights at home, frequently paid surprise visits. Since the commandant too had the habit of turning up when he was least expected the men were kept constantly on tip-toes to the great benefit of all prisoners.

  Lohritz, our old commandant, as I said previously, liked pomp and ceremony and never entered the camp without a train of officers. As he preferred t
o be properly received wherever he went he had no objection to advance notice being given of his intention to carry out an inspection, and so he never saw anything which had not been prepared for his approval. Kaindl’s system was the direct reverse. One of the first things that he did on taking command was to obtain master keys to every lock in the camp. Then he appointed a clerkly young fellow named Wessels his adjutant, and handed over to him every detail of administrative work with which he was not compelled to deal himself and, wearing shoes with thick rubber soles, started wandering about the camp seeing things for himself. At first one or two people gave telephoned advice to quarters towards which his footsteps seemed to be directed, but he soon put a stop to this by monitoring all telephone calls at the central camp switchboard. At the beginning, his rule over his SS guards and officials was severe in the extreme, and for the smallest offence the punishment was always three weeks cells on bread and water followed by transfer according to the age of the offender, either to a unit destined for the front, or to a concentration camp in one of the occupied territories.