Page 21 of The Righteous
“Wow, this is a first for me,” Theresa said. “I’ve never flown. When I came to the United States, I took a train to Lisbon, a ship to New York, and a train to Detroit. Altogether, it took me almost a week.”
“I flew,” said Julia. “In secret, in the dead of night, from the woods of Utrecht to England in a plane disguised to resemble a German Fokker. From there, Teddy and I flew to Washington in a US Army plane. With four stops along the way, the flight took thirty hours. It seemed like a hundred and thirty hours.”
“I understand we will be making stops along the way,” Theresa said. “We fly to Barcelona and from there to Bern, with stops in between. Thankfully, at each of the stops, we are allowed to get off the plane. I think we are going to stay in Bern for a couple of days before going on to Budapest.”
“Why Bern?” Julia asked.
“It’s the capital of Switzerland, and Carl has a meeting with his superiors,” Theresa replied.
“The Swiss Federal Department of Defense is located there, and they manage all the Swiss consuls, including the one in Budapest. Carl reserved rooms for us at the Hotel Schweizerhof in Bern. He said we’d like it. ”
After the plane was in the air, Carl walked back to Theresa and Julia. “How is everybody this morning?” he said cheerfully. “Smooth takeoff, wasn’t it? Are we ready for the long ride?”
“Ready as ever,” said Theresa. “I am so anxious to see my family. Teddy told me that we are flying from Washington to Barcelona, Spain. That seems odd to me. Isn’t Barcelona south of Switzerland and even Hungary? Why do we land there?”
“True, it is south. It’s not the most direct route to Bern, but we want to get there alive, and it’s the safest way.
There is no war going on there. If you flew straight to England, across Nazi-occupied France and then Germany itself, you’d stand a good chance that some Nazi air patrol or some trigger-happy Luftwaffe squad leader would order the plane to be grounded.
Or maybe he’d shoot at us. Barcelona is out of the way, but it’s a lot more peaceful.
And it is also a Swissair hub. Swissair has a terminal and a hangar in Barcelona.
It’s a short flight from there to Bern.”
“Okay then, how do we get from Bern to Budapest?” Julia asked.
“An hour-and-a-half plane ride,” answered Carl. “Another puddle jump. You could take the train, but it would be ten hours, and you’d go through border checks at Germany, Austria, and again at Hungary. It makes more sense to fly.”
Theresa thanked him for the information, and he returned to his seat.
She reached into a bag she was carrying.
“Since we are going to be on this plane for such a long time,” she said to Julia, “I bought you a book.” She handed her a book titled Hungarian Phrase Book and Dictionary .
Theresa smiled. “We have so many hours between here and Budapest, you should know some simple phrases by the time we arrive. Otherwise, how are you going to talk to my mother and father?”
“That’s a great idea,” said Julia. “It will be my fourth language. I had to learn Dutch and German when I was in Amsterdam, so thank you very much for the book.”
“You’re welcome,” Theresa said, “but you should say, Nagyon szépen koszonjük , which means, ‘Thank you very much.’”
“Oh my goodness,” Julia said. “If I’m going to say that, I have a lot of practicing to do.”
“True, but remember, I am a teacher. So, kezdjük el .”
“Huh?”
“That means, ‘Let’s get started.’”
Thirty-seven hours after takeoff, the group landed in Bern.
It was morning when they checked into their rooms at the Hotel Schweizerhof.
The rooms were impressive, as Julia and Theresa expected they would be.
The view overlooked the Swiss Parliament building and afforded spectacular views of the Alps.
They agreed to take a couple of hours to rest and freshen up before meeting for lunch at the Brasserie.
That afternoon, Carl took them to the Federal Department of Defense, where they met with two senior officers, Rolf Weiss and Martin Steuben.
Carl informed them that Martin was coming with them to Budapest. He was Carl’s first administrative assistant at the embassy.
After being introduced, Julia and Theresa thanked the Swiss government officials for agreeing to provide official Swiss identification cards.
“We are greatly indebted to you for agreeing to hire us as assistants,” Theresa said.
“As you may already know, my family is in Budapest, along with most of the people I knew growing up, and we couldn’t visit them without your help.
We understand that Hungary, and even Germany, will respect and honor the diplomatic immunity afforded to Swiss officers and their assistants. ”
“Hmm,” Rolf, the elder officer, muttered, then added, “at least for the time being.” Rolf had white hair and a full white beard, which led Theresa to believe he was in his seventies or maybe even older. He spoke slowly, deliberately, with much distinction. His demeanor demanded respect.
Theresa replied, “I’m sorry, sir, but what did you mean when you said, ‘For the time being’?”
“No immunity is certain where Adolf Hitler is concerned, Miss Weissbach. I understand that you have been informed by Vice Consul Lutz that there is a strong possibility that Hitler may decide to take over Hungary. Is that not so?”
“We’ve heard that,” she said, “even though Hungary has always been Germany’s ally. Carl told us that troops and materials have been moved into southern Germany.”
“That is correct,” said Martin, a fine-looking young officer in a dark blue uniform. “They are stationed just north of Munich. Maybe half a million men or more.”
“Half a million?”
Martin nodded. “We believe that would be sufficient to commence an attack on Hungary. Larger numbers would follow for occupation purposes.”
“You must think we are crazy to be traveling into Hungary at this time,” Julia said.
“To be fair, the thought had occurred to me,” Rolf answered, “but your reasons are your business.”
“Aiding wartime refugees seems to be our principal business at this time,” Theresa added. “Although the populace is reported to be safe, Hitler is known for making rash changes at the drop of a hat.”
Rolf nodded. “Just so. I must tell you that we are also troubled that Hitler may have his ambitious eyes on Switzerland as well as Hungary.”
“Switzerland?” Theresa said. “What would lead you to worry about Switzerland? I thought the führer respects Swiss neutrality and independence.”
“Hmph,” Rolf muttered again. “Respect? He barely understands the word, if he knows it at all. For some time now, we have been privy to intelligence reports from a source deep within the Reichstag. He confirms that Hitler detests Switzerland and that he intends to conquer us at some point. Military plans were formulated three years ago.”
“I never heard that,” said Theresa, “and I have been examining US State Department cables for some time. None of them refer to such a thing. Switzerland poses no threat to Germany. Germany has always honored Swiss neutrality, and don’t they do business together?”
“Indeed,” Rolf said. “Hitler talks out of both sides of his mouth. He was quoted saying, ‘We will respect the inviolability and neutrality of Switzerland,’ but then, eighteen months later, he was overheard talking to Benito Mussolini in Florence. Hitler said, ‘Switzerland possesses the most disgusting and miserable people and political system. The Swiss are the mortal enemies of the new Germany.’”
“Is that because Switzerland is a democracy and Nazi Germany an autocracy?” said Theresa, in her professor demeanor.
“You are right,” Martin said. “I know the person who overheard Hitler say that in Italy. Hitler mentioned Switzerland with a sour look on his face, and then he spit on the ground. A year later, Hitler was quoted as saying that Switzerland is a pimple on the face of Europe, and as a state, it no longer has a right to exist.”
“Do you think that Germany is preparing to invade Switzerland at the same time he attacks Hungary?”
“Invasion plans have long been prepared,” Rolf said.
“Immediately after Germany defeated France in 1940, Germany started drawing up plans for the invasion of Switzerland. The German Twelfth Army submitted its fourth draft, now called Operation Tannenbaum. We are fortunate to possess a copy. With eleven German divisions and fifteen more Italian divisions entering from the south, the Axis plans are to invade Switzerland with somewhere between three hundred thousand and five hundred thousand men.”
“That is the same number of men that are presently camped north of Munich,” Julia observed.
“What is Switzerland doing to prepare in the face of this threat?” asked Theresa.
“That is restricted information,” cautioned Rolf. “We prepare, as would any sensible Department of Defense. We have defensive strategies, and we are well supplied with advanced weaponry. We can mobilize quickly, if necessary.”
Julia looked at Carl and raised her eyebrows. “Against a Nazi blitzkrieg?”
Martin leaned forward and proudly said, “We know the mountains; they do not. We are a nation of sharpshooters; they are not. We have righteousness on our side, and they most certainly do not. And we can mobilize to more than four hundred thousand overnight.”
Rolf held up his hand. “Ah, but this is not a subject for our discussion today. We are here to discuss Hungary and your mission. Is that not so?”
“It is, and I apologize for being out of line,” Theresa said.
“You have no need to apologize,” said Rolf.
“It is reasonable for you to seek a clear understanding of the entire situation, especially if your mission depends on the validity of Swiss letters of protection. Given the fact that it is 1944, and no offensive measures have been taken against Switzerland, one might wonder why we consider a German threat to be viable at this time. Tell them, Martin.”