Which was exactly as Ernst had expected. In this respect he had done right.
He could not say that he really liked this kind of intelligence work, but at least he was successful in it. So far. If he became unsuccessful, he might wish he had remained in America.
• • •
Early in May the Admiral’s order came down: prepare for “Contingency White.” This meant that Abwehr I was to increase espionage operations in Poland, to determine the strength and dispositions of Polish army units, while Abwehr II was to prevent the demolition of communications, industrial centers and avenues of transportation which would be of use to the advancing German troops. It was no secret now, within the unit: Poland was the target. Invasion seemed incipient.
Ernst had helped identify two strategically vital communications links: One was the bridge over the Vistual River at Dirschau which carried all rail traffic from Danzig and East Prussia to the Polish interior. The other was the Jablunkov Pass in the Beskid Mountains along its southern border, whose tunnels contained twin rail tracks and connected East Germany, Southern Poland and the Balkans. Abwehr II was supposed to attack these positions before the first shot was fired, and overwhelm their defenders by surprise during peace.
But it had been ascertained that the Dirschau bridge was set with explosives designed to destroy it. Since a defender could detonate the explosives at the first sign of trouble, this made the matter delicate. Ernst discussed it with others, and they finally worked out a suitable plan: they would infiltrate a combat team by barge at another place, whose members would travel separately to a rendezvous, abduct prominent figures among the defenders, and would force them to disclose the location of the explosives. Then they would sneak in and defuse the explosives before the overt attack on the bridge. This would require fine timing and coordination, but should be possible if they prepared well and had no unanticipated misfortunes.
The plan for the Beskids was simpler. This relied on S-groups in the area. S stood for Spannungsagentun—agents already established in the country. They would take the command areas, destroy the detonators, and then occupy the tunnels and remove the explosives. After that it would be a simple matter to defend the tunnels from Polish intrusions. The Poles would soon be distracted by the main attack on their country.
But there was more. There was a sizable Ukraine contingent in Poland that chafed under Polish domination. A third point of attention was to use this Ukrainian element to mount insurrections against the government as soon as formal hostilities commenced. That would divert some Polish troops, possibly saving many German lives.
Finally, there was a mysterious request by Heydrich, Ernst’s true superior, with the backing of Hitler himself. This was for Abwehr assistance in carrying out a very special operation for the Reichführer SS. This was for a hundred and fifty Polish uniforms, with the proper weapons and paybooks to go with them, and three hundred and sixty four men to be temporarily attached to the SD. What was going on?
It was the civilian Dohnanyi who set Ernst straight on the matter. The man was temporarily adrift while Colonel Oster entertained a buxom young woman in his closed office. “Our vegetarian leader is a dirty player. Didn’t you know? Those are the men and materials to be used in the pretense of a Polish attack on the German radio station.”
“But why do anything like that? It is senseless.”
“You retain a certain priceless innocence. That will be the pretext for the outrage we shall evince. We shall have to teach those vandalizing Poles a lesson. They will attack us first, giving us leave to conquer their country.”
Ernst was suitably appalled. He could not believe it. But as the request was honored in detail, he realized that it was. Germany was going to manufacture a pretext for war.
• • •
In July Ernst was given a ten day leave. Perhaps the Abwehr still did not trust him, and wanted to see where he went. So he did not go home. Instead he remained in Berlin, where he happened to know that a certain group of girls who had graduated from a female Youth Group were celebrating. He went in civilian clothes and picked up a young woman he happened to see, who he knew was now eighteen.
“Ernst!” Krista exclaimed, surprised.
“Better to pretend you don’t know me,” he said. “I may be watched, and I am not supposed to be here.”
“Then what are you doing here?” she demanded.
“My hand still tingles from your touch. I could not stay away.”
She glanced down at her blouse, remembering. Then her gaze lifted. “Exactly what kind of girl do you take me for, stranger?”
“A pretty one.”
After a bit of banter, she allowed him to treat her to a meal at a restaurant. They sat as a small table in a corner, and under the table, concealed by the overhanging tablecloth, her legs twined around his. “Oh, Ernst, I have thought of you every day! I would go with you in a moment, if I could.”
“And I with you,” he agreed. “But I have other duties I can not even tell you about.”
“Training must be severe!”
“It must be. I wouldn’t know.”
She gazed at him, understanding that he was in no regular unit. “When will you be able to marry?”
He spread his hands. “I fear our world will change before that happens.”
“And I fear you are not joking. Ernst, I know a place. We can go there, tonight—”
“How I wish I could!” he said, meaning it. “But others would know, and your reputation would be soiled. I will not do that to you.”
“How can anyone know, if we do not tell?”
“I met a man who—who knows too much. He told me your secret.”
She stared at him. “Secret?”
“Gypsy ancestry. But it can never be proved, and it doesn’t matter to me. Only if I wished to marry you, without his approval—”
She continued to gaze into his face. “I can tell you mean it,” she said. “You do know, and you do want to marry me, when you were unsure before.”
He nodded. “I do. But only when it is right, for both of us.”
Her legs moved against his. “I know you mean it, Ernst,” she repeated. “I thank you so much for telling me. It has been a burden.”
“No need to be, between us.”
“At least we must find a place where we can kiss.”
That much they managed to do.
• • •
On August 23 Dohnanyi’s prediction about the pact with the Communists came true: Germany signed a nonaggression treaty with the Soviet Union. Ernst deeply distrusted the civilian’s politics, but the man had been right about everything he had said. That suggested that he would continue to be right. But what an awful thing: a deal with the Communists!
In this time of frenzied preparations, Ernst was sent to brief the Admiral on the readiness of each aspect. Canaris was a rather short man, white haired, with bushy eyebrows and a ruddy face but a general air of frailty and shabbiness. He did not look at all like a powerful Reich officer. Even before an underling such as Ernst he seemed somewhat reserved. He was, Ernst knew, a hypochondriac who would not tolerate a sick man in his office. Colonel Lahousen had a cold, which was why he wasn’t here; Ernst was healthy.
The Admiral also disliked men who were too tall. Ernst was no giant, but he was substantially taller than Canaris. He tried to diminish his height so as to avoid giving offense.
The man’s desk was covered with papers. The Admiral didn’t sit at it; he preferred the couch, where it was said he liked to take naps. It was clear that the stories about his lack of interest and aptitude in the bureaucratic process were true. Ernst wondered how the man had ever won the Iron Cross First Class he wore.
In addition, the admiral’s two wire-haired Japanese Dachshunds were in the office. Canaris loved animals. Seppel and Sabine were the bane of the Abwehr staff, as they regularly fouled the carpet. But woe betide anyone who spoke harshly of the dogs in the Admiral’s presence.
But Ernst
suffered a change of awareness the moment the Admiral came to grips with the details of the assignments. He picked up on the key elements instantly. “How many combat operatives do we have in place in Poland?”
“Thirteen hundred, sir. They are spread across the country—”
“Yes, but not all are truly ours. You are counting the forestry staff of Prince Henckel-Donnersmark? They may be invaluable for local information and support, but they aren’t trained operatives. You have not given them more than minimal information?”
“That is correct, sir. Only the operatives trained here have real information, and of course even they do not know our specific targets.”
“At least they will know better than to waste any bombs on forests. We do not want to harm any wildlife.”
Ernst started to smile, then saw that the Admiral was serious. He despised anyone who hated animals. He also did not trust anyone whose ears were too small; fortunately Ernst’s were not.
His gaze strayed to the Admiral’s model of the light cruiser Dresden, his shelf of books, and the trio of bronze monkeys: See All, Hear All, Tell Nothing. That was certainly the motto, here.
“The Dirschau bridge—coordinating separate groups may be impossible,” the Admiral continued. “Too many things can go wrong. The people we abduct may lie to us, and there will not be time to be sure of their information. We must try to get the information separately from two, then compare notes. If the two stories differ, seek a third source. Don’t risk it without confirmation— we’ll only get the bridge and ourselves blown up.”
“Yes, sir,” Ernst said, impressed. He had spent weeks working out this plan, and Canaris had spotted its weakness without seeming to think about it.
They reviewed the other projects, and the Admiral’s commentary was similarly incisive. He suggested several additional targets for sabotage which Ernst duly noted to relay to Colonel Lahousen. He demonstrated the ability to juggle many options simultaneously. Whatever doubt Ernst had had about the man’s competence evaporated; now it was clear why Canaris ran the Abwehr.
In fact, Ernst found himself liking this intelligent, energetic man. What did a sloppy office mean? It was ability and dedication that counted, and Canaris had these qualities in full measure.
“Well, I must go see about fomenting insurrections in the British Empire,” the Admiral said at last. “There are Irish who are extremely unhappy with their masters. I only wish Hitler hadn’t made that deal with the Communists. Now we have to abandon our support for the Ukrainian independence movement. At least we can help Ukrainians flee the Russian advance. It is terrible the way they suffer under that regime.”
That was the end of the session. Canaris had said nothing subversive, except for his criticism of the deal with the Communist regime. Ernst could hardly fault that; he agreed. If that was the worst to be said of the Admiral, the man was clean.
• • •
Everything was set for operations against Poland to begin on August 26. But the evening of the 25th the Führer ordered the attack delayed. This threw the Abwehr into a spin. It was too late to convey the order to all of the operatives, some of whom checked in only occasionally, for the sake of security. The fake Polish attack on the radio station was halted, but a related attack on a German border station did occur. There was some gunfire but fortunately no loss of life. Radio contact had been lost with one of the combat groups assigned to take the Jablunkov Pass. The next day they learned that the unit had made two unsuccessful attempts to take the pass, before retreating to the Slovakian border under heavy Polish fire.
“The vegetarian lost his nerve,” Dohnanyi remarked cynically, referring disdainfully to Hitler. Ernst wanted to hit him, but kept his peace, knowing the man was needling him. “At least it shows that we underestimated the Polish will to resist. That must be corrected.”
“Agreed,” Ernst said. He talked to Lahousen about strengthening the attack units wherever possible.
On August 31 the whole thing began again. This time there was no reversal. They received the coded signal Grossmutter gestorben, “Grandma’s dead,” and the invasion was on for the first of September.
On that day Admiral Canaris assembled his senior officers and delivered an inspiring pep talk. Ernst was present only as an unofficial doorman, to see that no unauthorized personnel intruded. He was amazed at the Admiral’s demeanor and delivery. He pledged them all to unconditional loyalty to the Führer, concluding with a rousing “Heil Hitler!”
Almost all of the Abwehr operations in Poland were successful. Unfortunately the Polish defenders had been alerted by the prior attack in the Beskids, so that it was impossible to capture the tunnels before the explosives were detonated. And the Admiral’s cautions about the trickiness of the Dirschau bridge mission proved to be well taken; the defenders were able to blow the bridge. But Abwehr agents did manage to occupy the rail junction at Kalthof, save many industrial operations, take nearly all the coal mines of Upper Silesia, and take Katowice before the German troops arrived.
There were further requests for Abwehr activities, and the commandos received praise from many sources. Canaris was very active. He traveled to the front every week, and intensified his plans to encourage insurrections in Ireland, India and Afghanistan. But the devastation of Poland, particularly Warsaw, affected him deeply, and Ernst and the others were aware of this. Canaris helped at least one Jewish dignitary to flee the country, and a Ukrainian Bishop to do the same. He really did care about the people.
But was this any signal of treason? Ernst doubted it.
Meanwhile, Ernst had plenty to keep him occupied. His work in the planning of commando raids put him into contact with an ugly aspect of the Abwehr: the Geheime Feldpolizei, or GFP. It had been established as a police force within the Wehrmacht during the German involvement in the Spanish Civil War. It worked closely with the Gestapo, and contained many members of the SS. The Abwehr was cooperating closely with the SS, and some units were virtually indistinguishable: a given soldier could have crossed over between the SS and the Abwehr and hardly noticed the difference. At times Ernst wasn’t quite sure for whom he was working, as he met with representatives of each.
In August the SS VT had gained power; some of its units were assigned to the Wehrmacht to participate in the invasion of Poland. They had not, in general, distinguished themselves. The overall report from the Wehrmacht was that the SS units were not prepared to function as part of a division, suffered inordinately heavy losses, and that their officers were incapable of commanding them in complicated operations. A spokesman for the SS VT retorted that the Wehrmacht had starved them of supplies and refused to allocate sufficient heavy weapons to their units. But Ernst was privately pleased to learn that Steiner’s units, where Ernst had been training before Heydrich had taken him for this intelligence mission, had distinguished themselves. Steiner was being proved right.
But once Poland fell, the GFP began arresting as many Poles for sabotage and insurrection as they thought fit, and turning them over to the SS for execution. The practice was so widespread that finally Heydrich himself had to intervene. “Carry out your own executions,” he radioed on the twentieth of September. Ernst hoped that this would result in fewer executions, because many of them seemed unwarranted, but it didn’t. He was privately disgusted with the thuglike GFP.
The SS commanders, stung by the less than ideal performance in Poland, pushed for the formation of an SS division with its own heavy weapons and supply services. But the Wehrmacht, sensing competition, opposed this. Pressure was intense, and finally Himmler authorized a doubling of the size of the SS VT by incorporating concentration camp guards into it. On November 1 the SS Tötenkopf or “Death’s Head” division was formed. The whole was unified under a new name: the Waffen SS: the “Armed SS.”
Then the relationship between the Abwehr and the expanding SS was strained. On November 9 there was an attempt on Adolf Hitler’s life. This sparked a frenzied investigation. The Führer was convinced that
British intelligence was behind the plot, though there was no evidence to support this. Admiral Canaris had been trying to institute sabotage in England, and had been establishing British connections; could there be double agents among them? The SS thought there could be; Canaris vehemently denied it.
Ernst believed the Admiral. There might be those in the Abwehr who wished Hitler ill, but not Canaris.
Meanwhile, there were frantic preparations for the next major project: the assault on France. Abwehr II was called on to formulate plans for sabotage operations in Belgium and Holland. France’s formidable Maginot Line prevented a direct assault on that country, but the defenses of the small nations were much less significant and could readily be breached. Ernst had to research new places and new personnel, and was kept busy for months.
• • •
But he did get occasional breaks. He learned that Krista had become a military secretary and was working in a Berlin office. Having met her for the first time, in the guise of Lieutenant Osterecht, he could now date her more openly; their hometown connection was not obvious, and so would not give away his nature as a person other than the one he claimed to be.
She was beautiful, as always. It was a genuine pleasure to be with her. He knew she had arranged to work here in Berlin so as to be near him, and that both flattered and pleased him. His lingering doubt about marriage with her was fading; he had encountered no other woman as appealing. Yet a tiny reservation remained, and it did not relate to her possible Gypsy taint. There was something that made him unwilling to let himself go and love her completely.
So their series of dates were pleasant, and he enjoyed them. But he was for the moment satisfied that marriage was not feasible. Not until he completed his mission, and had Heydrich’s leave.
• • •
In January 1940 reports from Abwehr I convinced Hitler that the British were planning to occupy Norway. Abwehr II was therefore charged with readying commando operations in Scandinavia. Ernst was suspicious that Colonel Oster was not in sympathy with this, and wished to warn Britain or Norway, but he had no sufficient evidence.
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