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“ ‘Work will make you free’?”

“Yes. But if the parasites can’t work, can’t be forced to make some repayment for all they have stolen from Germany over the years, then something else has to be done with them. Right?”

“I understand.”

“Elimination is one option,” Heydrich said. “But if you realize the basic objective is to get these parasites out of Germany, elimination is not the only option.”

“I don’t think I quite understand,” von Deitzberg had confessed.

“There are Jews outside of Germany who are willing to pay generously to have their relatives and friends taken from the concentration camps.”

“Really?”

“For one thing, it accomplishes the Führer’s primary purpose—removing these parasitic vermin from the Fatherland. It does National Socialism no harm if vermin that cost us good money to feed and house leave Germany and never return.”

“I can see your point.”

“And at the same time, it takes money from Jews outside Germany and transfers it to Germany. So there is also an element of justice. They are not getting away free after sucking our blood all these years.”

“I understand.”

“In other words, if we can further the Führer’s intention to get Jews out of Germany and at the same time bring Jewish money into Germany while we make a little money for ourselves, what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing that I can see.”

“This has to be done in absolute secrecy, of course. A number of people would not understand; and an even larger number would feel they have a right to share in the confidential special fund. You can understand that.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Raschner will get into the details with you,” Heydrich went on. “You know him, of course?”

“I know who he is, Herr Gruppenführer.”

Von Deitzberg knew that Sturmbannführer Erich Raschner was one of the half-dozen SS officers—many of them Sicherheitsdienst—who could be found around Heydrich, but he didn’t know him personally, or what his specific duties were.

“He’s not of our class—he used to be a policeman, before he joined the Totenkopfverbände—but he’s very useful. I’m going to assign him to you. But to get back to what I was saying, this is the way this works, essentially:

“As you know, the Jews are routinely transferred between concentration camps. While they are en route from one camp to another, members of the Totenkopfverbände working for Raschner remove two, three, or four of them from the transport. Ostensibly for purposes of further interrogation and the like. You understand.”

Von Deitzberg nodded.

Heydrich went on: “Having been told the inmates have been removed by the Totenkopfverbände, the receiving camp has no further interest in them. The inmates who have been removed from the transport are then provided with Spanish passports and taken by Raschner’s men to the Spanish border. Once in Spain, the Jews make their way to Cadiz or some other port, where they board neutral ships. A month later, they’re in Uruguay.”

“Uruguay?” von Deitzberg blurted in surprise. It had taken him a moment to place Uruguay; and even then, all he could come up with was that it was close to Argentina, somewhere in the south of the South American continent.

“Some stay there,” Heydrich said matter-of-factly, “but many go on to Argentina.”

“I see,” von Deitzberg said.

“Documents issued by my office are of course never questioned,” Heydrich went on. “Now, what I want you to do, Manfred, is take over the administration of the confidential special fund—I should say ‘supervise the administration’ of it. The actual work will continue to be done by Raschner and his men. Raschner will explain the details to you. You will also administer dispersals; Raschner will tell you how much, to whom, and when. Or I will.”

“Jawohl, Herr Gruppenführer.”

“Raschner has suggested that we need one more absolutely reliable SS officer, someone of our kind, as sort of a backup for you. Any suggestions?”

Von Deitzberg had hardly hesitated: “Goltz,” he said, “Standartenführer Josef Goltz. He’s the SS-SD liaison officer to the Office of the Party Chancellery.”

Heydrich laughed.