Page 79 of The Last Safe Place
“I’ve missed you too. And I’m in urgent need of a bath. I haven’t slept. I feel crumpled and grimy.”
“You look it too,” grinned Bernd. “Let’s go to your place.”
Not long after, freshly bathed and in clean clothes, Knut was sitting at the table enjoying the hearty casserole his housekeeper had prepared. He related the events of the trip to Bernd, concluding with the words, “Thank God, they’re all safe.”
Bernd’s expression grew solemn. “And right at the last second.”
“How so?”
“The Führer made a speech this afternoon.”
Knut had a nagging premonition. He put his fork aside and took a deep breath. “Go on.”
“In the Sports Palace on the occasion of the opening of the winter relief work. The place was full to bursting. Everyone was required to be present and to cheer in the appropriate places.”
“Suddenly, I’m grateful I had to endure an inordinately long and uncomfortable train journey. At least it spared me that experience.”
“What can I say? It was very uplifting.” Bernd rolled his eyes and helped himself to seconds. “But seriously. We can be thankful that Operation Seven has been successfully completed. He said, and I quote here, ‘If Judaism imagines that it can bring about an international World War to exterminate the Aryan peoples of Europe, then the result will not be the extermination of the Aryan races, but the extermination of Jewry in Europe’.”
“Oh my God,” Knut groaned.
“You won’t believe it, the applause was so deafening, it spurred him on. ‘The Jews of Germany once used to laugh at my prophecies. I don’t know if they are still laughing today, or if their laughter has already faded. But I can assure you: their laughter will fade everywhere’.”
Knut groaned. “For anyone who knows his mindset, this leaves no doubt as to what he intends to do with the Jews. Extermination. Complete, absolute obliteration. His goal is to wipe every single Jew from the face of the earth. How he plans to do it is a mystery to me, but that’s definitely his aim.”
“Well, we can be glad that nine Jews have just escaped him. We should drink a toast to that.” Bernd poured them both wine.
“To a successful mission,” said Bernd.
“To many more!” Knut raised his glass, and they drank a toast together.
“To the imminent end of the Third Reich.”
“That would be nice, wouldn’t it?” Knut was already dreaming of a life in peace. Just for tonight, he wanted to forget reality and believe that his nation could yet be saved. And that all those oppressed people, those in Operation Seven and many more – if they wished – could return to their homeland to resume their lives.
“This war needs to end sooner rather than later,” mused Bernd after a while.
Something in his voice made Knut perk up his ears. He turned his head and gazed at his friend. “Do you have something special in mind?”
“In fact, I do.” Bernd grinned and reached for the wine bottle to refill their glasses.
Despite bursting with curiosity, Knut took the glass and sipped the delicious wine. Bernd loved drawing out exciting news. After about a minute of silence, he finally asked, “Are you going to tell me?”
“I shouldn’t.” Bernd made an earnest face. “You might be implicated in treason.”
“Holy crap! There’s finally a viable plan to do away with Hitler?”
“Oberst von Tresckow has come up with a three-step plan to do it. Our department has been asked to help with the preparations for the crucial time after the coup. Dohnanyi will instruct you in the morning about your tasks.”
An exhilarating anticipation washed over Knut. “I so hope we can finish his reign soon, it’ll save so many lives. And Edith might finally be free.”
“We’ll do everything in our power to stop him. Together. Always.”
EPILOGUE
BASEL, SUMMER 1943
Leonore was sitting on the bank of the Rhine in the sun, writing in her diary. Life in Switzerland wasn’t all rosy, and yet it was a thousand times better than in war-torn Germany.