Ariel missed his father more than ever, and once again he fought back the tears. He put his arm around Rebekkah to shelter her and together they made their escape.
Himmler strode past the high-backed red-and-gold armchairs and tables interspersed at regular intervals down the Hall of Marble, a long impressive room at the front of the new Reich Chancellery. His boots rang on the marble floor, echoing off walls decorated with priceless tapestries. The magnificent red marble had been specially quarried from Untersberg. Designed by Hitler’s architect, Albert Speer, the Chancellery took up several city blocks on Wilhelmstrasse and Vosstrasse.
Two SS guards stood beneath the marble archway that led to the double doors of Hitler’s vast office.
‘ Reichsfuhrer Himmler, mein Fuhrer.’ Hitler’s adjutant Oberst Friedrich Hossbach clicked his heels.
Anyone admitted to Hitler’s office in the Reich Chancellery could not fail to be impressed. Hitler’s huge desk at the far end of the room was exquisitely finished with inlaid wood and upholstered with the finest red leather, and was matched with a high-backed red-leather chair. A map table was positioned near the French doors overlooking the courtyard. Some of Hitler’s favourite oils hung from the walls, and indoor plants in large Egyptian-styled vases on the floor added to the ambience. A large golden eagle was suspended over the double doors.
‘Our expedition has arrived in Tikal, and they’ve begun their search,’ Himmler advised his leader after they were seated on the comfortable powder-blue lounges in front of a vast marble fireplace at one end of the office.
‘Excellent,’ Hitler affirmed with a satisfied look.
‘I’ve received a cable from our ambassador in Guatemala City,’ Himmler continued. ‘It appears that during his last visit to Lake Atitlan, Professor Weizman met with a Mayan shaman and discussed the existence of a priceless codex. We’ve not been able to confirm it, but Weizman may have also discovered an ancient figurine that may hold a clue to the whereabouts of the codex.’
‘How does the ambassador know that?’
‘Our ambassador and the papal nuncio in Guatemala City keep in close contact, mein Fuhrer. Father Ehrlichmann, the Catholic priest to San Pedro and Tikal, is a useful source of intelligence.’
‘Von Hei?en has been warned?’
Himmler nodded. ‘Weizman’s belongings have been searched and von Hei?en has him under constant surveillance.’
‘You can never trust a Jew, Himmler, never! But the search for the origins and secrets of the Aryan race must go on. Keep Weizman alive, but only for as long as he’s useful.’
‘ Jawohl, mein Fuhrer. When you take over Vienna, we will turn his apartment upside down.’
At the mention of the city in which he’d known desperate poverty, Hitler became agitated. He got to his feet and began to pace the length of his huge study.
‘There are those amongst us who think invading Austria is a mistake.’ Hitler glared into the courtyard through the French doors, arms akimbo. ‘But I’m meeting with the chiefs of staff and that lily-livered foreign minister, von Neurath, this afternoon to inform them that not only are they to be ready to invade Austria, but Czechoslovakia as well.’
Himmler nodded approvingly. ‘We must have more land, mein Fuhrer .’
‘ Lebensraum! It’s a question of space for the master race, gentlemen.’
The Fuhrer’s energy crackled through the silence around the vast cabinet table. Just six men were seated in the burgundy chairs, each embroidered with a black eagle atop the swastika: Reichsmarshal von Blomberg, Commander in Chief of the armed forces and Minister for War; Baron Konstantin von Neurath, Foreign Minister; Admiral Doktor Erich Raeder, Commander in Chief of the navy; Generaloberst Baron Freiherr von Fritsch, Commander in Chief of the army; Generaloberst Hermann Goring, Commander in Chief of the air force; and Colonel Friedrich Hossbach, Adjutant to the Fuhrer. The long polished mahogany table was covered with a burgundy tapestry runner embroidered with gold swastikas. Gold tassels overhung the table at either end. Lighting was provided from small candelabra lamps spaced at intervals down the centre. Crimson files embossed with the golden eagle and the swastika and marked Streng Geheim – most secret – lay unopened on the cabinet table. Each man knew the contents well, and each was now contemplating the enormity of the Fuhrer’s plans.
‘We’re now rebuilding our armed forces, and as I predicted, Britain and France have done nothing,’ Hitler stormed. ‘Nothing! Already we have thirty-six divisions in the army. Germany has a right!’ Hitler’s eyes blazed with the fires of his own destiny. No one spoke.
‘The German people have a right to see the Fatherland restored to its place as a great power – the great power of the world. And we can only do that by force.’ Hitler’s voice rose and fell as he made his points. ‘We have retaken the Rhineland without a shot being fired. Now we must turn our attention to Austria and Czechoslovakia.’
Baron von Fritsch, Commander in Chief of the army, made the mistake of raising an eyebrow.
‘You look worried, Generaloberst?’ Hitler glared.
‘ Mein Fuhrer, no one doubts the progress we’ve made since you became Reich Chancellor,’ von Fritsch responded evenly, ‘but I would be remiss in my duty to you and the German people if I did not remind you of the risks involved in what you’re suggesting. If the British and the French oppose your plans to invade Czechoslovakia and Austria, a major war would risk disaster for the Third Reich. From the army’s point of view, we’ve made good progress in raising the thirty-six divisions you require, but it takes time to train over half a million men. More importantly, we do not yet have the logistics to sustain such a force in the field. I would urge you, mein Fuhrer, not to move too quickly.’
‘There are always risks!’ the Fuhrer shouted, thumping the tapestry on the heavy table. His face was flushed and his eyes bulged. As his commanders in chief were beginning to learn, the Reich Chancellor could become enraged very quickly. Hitler pushed his chair back, got to his feet and strode over to a large globe of the world supported in an ornate wooden frame. He gave it a spin and it turned soundlessly on its bearings.
‘You obviously don’t know much about history, Herr Generaloberst,’ Hitler sneered. ‘The leaders of all great empires – the Greek, the Roman, even the stupid British – have always been prepared to take risks.’ Hitler paused, then approached the head of the table and leaned on it.
‘The aim of German policy, gentlemen,’ he said more quietly, ‘is to preserve our racial superiority and enlarge it. Germans are the greater people, and, as such, we have a right to a greater living space than others.’
Suddenly it were as if he had withdrawn into a trance. His eyes bulged again and he pounded the cabinet table. ‘The most precious possession on earth lies in our own people! And for these people, and with these people, we will struggle and we will fight! And never slacken! Never tire! Never falter! Never doubt! Long live our movement! Long live our people!’
Hitler stormed out of the Cabinet Room and strode across the corridor towards his study, furious with weak generals like von Fritsch who failed to recognise the genius of his plan. They were irrelevant, he fumed. The swastika would soon fly from the elegant buildings of Vienna, and the streets of that great city would be free of the accursed Jew.
6
‘S o, what have you discovered, Professor? And so early in the morning, too.’
Levi jumped back, startled by von Hei?en’s sudden appearance from the overgrown jungle of the ball court.
‘Do you normally creep about like this, Sturmbannfuhrer?’ he demanded.
‘That depends, Professor, on whether those around me have something to hide, something that might further the greatness of the Reich. I see you were taking bearings. There is presumably a reason for that?’
‘It’s quite common archaeological practice to take bearings before we grid an area.’
‘Yet you don’t find the need to take any notes? Fascinating. I will watch your progress with interest. Now,’ von Hei?en continued, ‘Father Ehrlichmann is keen to make a start. I plan a meeting for after breakfast. If Ehrlichmann is right, we’ll find skulls not far from here.’
