Given what ultimately happened to Anna as a result of his revelations, he got off lightly.
Chapter 86
Wednesday, July 12, 1961
The worst possible thing happened. Only three days from our goal, the TBM hit a massive steel-reinforced column.
The top of the tunnel ran parallel to the surface about 30 feet down. The TBM bits we selected were designed to move freely through everything except steel. The column’s heavy reinforced rods were over an inch thick.
The construction crew on duty immediately stopped the boring tool and backed it up. I arrived about an hour later.
“How bad, Chief?
“The cutting teeth of the main boring head are chipped and dulled. As the metal pieces passed through the debris removal system, it was also damaged.”
“Can either subsystem be repaired?”
“To fix them right, the TBM would need to be disassembled and most of it replaced. This would set us back weeks, if not months.”
“We’ve less than seventy feet to go. We could’ve punched that out in no time, but now who knows.” An idea occurred to me. “Before we give up, let’s determine the digging rate of this crippled rig.”
“Good idea, sir.”
“How long will it take us to remove the part of the column in our way?”
“Sir, one or two days, working 24 hours a day. There’ll be so little workspace, only one or two men can work at a time.”
“I’ll stick around for a while and monitor your progress.”
As I watched, the men built a support structure over the work area to prevent cave-ins. Then, a man with a jackhammer started on the lower extremity of the column. Next, one of the men began to use a reciprocal saw to cut the smaller steel rods.
By the end of evening shift two days later, we had moved the tunneling equipment 3.9 feet beyond the column. The Chief reported, “With this tunneling rate, it’ll take at least another week to dig the rest of the tunnel.”
My weekly report detailed our new problems and the solutions I’d implemented.
The messages from Thomas to the people in Washington were critical of my leadership—even accused me of sabotaging the digging device. Mark and I decided that Thomas’ accusation was so outlandish that we’d ignore it.
Feet of Tunnel Completed: 1782 Days until Deadline: 72
Chapter 87
Anna
Saturday, July 22, 1961
My trip to my parents’ home that Saturday portended the future. As I passed through the East German border control station at Stadtmitte Subway Station, a tall, portly Senior Transport Police Officer approached me, asked me to step out of line and asked, “Were you born in the East?”
Startled I replied, “Yes.”
“You’re Anna Fischer, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” I felt the ground shift beneath my feet as I recognized him.
“I am Gustav Mueller. We used to play together. I lived on Waldenser Strasse near your parents’ house.”
“Oh, I remember you. You’re now a Captain in the TroPos. Impressive,” I said, relaxing.
“You have immigrated to the West?”
“Yes, I work in West Berlin.”
He kept glancing at my ring, “And you’re married?”
“Yes, two weeks ago.”
“Oh, too bad, I was hoping you and I could get together.”
I shrugged. Since he had tried to get fresh with me at a friend’s birthday party six years ago, I had avoided any contact with him. He was taller, big—almost fat—and had the florid complexion of one who consumes copious amounts of alcohol.
“Let me examine your passport.”
Complying, I handed it to him. I thought, Be careful. He is not very bright, and his father is a senior communist leader. Don’t make him angry.
“Your papers are issued to Anna Fischer. You are no longer this person—you are Anna…”
“Kerr. My married name is Kerr.”
“That is an English name. Is it not?”
“Yes, I married an American military officer—a captain in the American Air Force.”
“But your papers must be correct.”
“I was told that I had three months…”
“Please follow me. We have a problem!”
Without further explanation, Captain Mueller ordered a guard to escort me to a police car with sticky seats and the odor of vomit. They drove me to nearby Mitte Police Station.
I was locked in a room, which consisted of unpainted cement walls and floor. Its décor consisted of a metal table and two battered wood chairs. It smelled of unwashed bodies and stale cigarettes.
Thirty minutes later, Gustav Mueller entered the room, approached me from behind, and grabbed me by my hair. He forced my head back and clumsily kissed me. “See what you are missing!”
Jerking free of him, I shouted, “You are one of the most disgusting men I’ve ever met, you arschgteige (arsehole)! As you know, my father knows many people far superior to you.”
“Anna, you have always treated me poorly. Perhaps you will change your mind after your next visitor.” He pulled my head further back, roughly grabbed my right breast and savagely twisted it. “I’ll see you again later!”
More shocked than hurt, I shouted, “Du bist trantute! (You are a bag of whale blubber!)”
Petty tyrant, I thought, shaking with anger. The whispered rumors of beatings, rapes, torture, and disappearances are probably true. Keep your mouth shut for once!
To my shock, Dieter Holburg entered the room and sat down opposite me. “Ah, so, Fraulein Fischer. Oh, that’s right you’re married now, Frau Kerr.
There I go again—stay calm. I can’t let them see that I’m frightened.
“You are very confident of yourself. But you are now in my custody here in the East. I can do anything I want with you—maybe you can just disappear or perhaps your husband, the handsome young captain will cooperate with us in order to secure your release.”
“Kidnapping the dependent of an American military officer off the streets of East Berlin will get you into big trouble. The four powers still control this city!”
“Just tell me what your husband does, and I’ll personally transport you to your parents’ home.”
“He’s a weatherman!”
“Just sign this piece of paper, admitting that you traveled to East Germany using false travel documents, and we’ll let you go.”
“My passport is valid.”
“Yes, but it does not have your correct name and marital status. You are now Frau Anna Kerr. Is that not correct?”
“By German law, I have up to three months to make that minor correction in my passport!”
“Not according to our regulations!” Dieter replied as he left the room.
Captain Mueller returned, stood over me and said in a threatening manner, “You are accused of violating Article 37, line 19 of the regulations on entry into the German Democratic Republic—that is intentionally using incorrect or falsified travel documents to enter or leave the DDR. This infraction carries a maximum ten-year prison term for each offense.”
“I was told…”
“Makes no difference what you’ve heard. Now you can either go with me to my apartment where you will experience a real man, or to a jail cell.”
“You despicable, miserable….”
“A jail cell it is.” He placed a handcuff around my right wrist, attached it to a metal loop on the table, and left the room.
What are these two up to?
An hour passed, and then another.
Eventually, I decided, if they planned to lock me up, I would be in a cell. They wanted to intimidate me into revealing Robert’s real work. My family will miss me, call Robert, and learn that I left our apartment hours ago.
I’ll just wait out these two schweinehunde (bastards)—that’s my best course of action.
Dieter Holburg returned and again sat in the chair opposite me. “Sign this document, admitting to a minor violati
on of our regulations, and you will be released.”
“I refuse to sign anything. My father knows numerous influential people. You will both be reprimanded for detaining me on trumped-up charges. I also desire to file charges against Captain Mueller for physical abuse!”
He laughed. “You are our prisoner. You are not in the West. We can do anything we want with you over here. A night in the cells should make you reconsider!” Then, he left.
As time passed, I became less confident that their harassment would end with me being released.
A short time later, the door opened, and a voice I didn’t recognize said, “Frau Anna Kerr. Your father, Bernard Fischer, is concerned about you. I have come to take you to your family.”
“Who are you?” Is this a trick to get me into a car and take me to Stasi Headquarters? I wondered and cringed at the thought.
“My name is Manfred Ehrhardt,” he replied. “I am the Chief Secretary to the President of the Council of Ministers for the DDR.” He presented me with his card, then continued, “In 1945, your father saved the lives of my two oldest sons. When he called today worried about your safety, I could do nothing until I determined your location. A few phone calls led me here.”
He uncuffed my hand and helped me to my feet. “Now, I will take you to your parents’ home and will ensure that those who harassed you today are reprimanded.”
I told Robert about my passport problem but decided not to tell him that Dieter Holburg had again threatened me. That proved to be a mistake.
Chapter 88
Robert
Sunday, July 30, 1961
On the previous Friday, the crippled TBM finally completed the horizontal part of the tunnel. I ordered that the damaged boring head and shield continue forward until they buried themselves out of our way. Instead of the usual concrete top and side sections of the tunnel, we installed a temporary wooden support structure in this area.
Today, we began the final and most perilous stage of tunnel building. If we disturbed the surface of the vacant lot above us or made a noise discernible on the surface, our tunnel might be discovered. Our entire effort would be wasted, and its discovery would probably cause an international incident.
To help ensure that nothing unforeseen happened, the Chief and I agreed that both of us would spend almost full time for the next two weeks on site.
We had only sixteen days until the NSA crew would arrive in Berlin to begin tapping into the communications pipe. Today, we had to precisely locate the pipe relative to our tunnel or risk a day for day slip in the already tight schedule. We selected a Sunday morning to minimize the attention our activities might receive.
One of Kurt’s operatives stood in the vacant lot which contain the communications pipe. The Chief and a few men located at the end of the tunnel operated the probe. I was on the roof of the building with high-power binoculars. When Kurt’s man in the vacant lot saw the tip of the probe emerged from the surface, he communicated its position relative to the No Dumping sign to me via hand signals. Using a field telephone, I directed the repositioning of the probe.
It took five hours, but eventually we were able to locate the pipe itself. The probe took a sample from the pipe. Using the MAITK (Metal Alloy Identification Test Kit) Kurt had provided, we were able to determine that the surface of the pipe contained the expected amounts of lead and arsenic. Although the entire crew was elated by this success, we still had one more task—precisely determine the orientation of the pipe. Numerous additional activations of the probe allowed us to determine that information. A long and productive day finally ended just after 2100 hours.
Feet of Vertical Tunnel Completed: 0 Days until Deadline: 60
Chapter 89
Thursday, August 3, 1961
During the first three days of this week, three shifts worked around the clock. They built the terminus room—a ten-foot high, twenty-foot square with a sixteen-foot wide circular opening in the middle. Sergeant Loring’s crew was experienced in this building method. I’d only read about it in books—building a form the shape you wanted, drilling numerous holes through the wood structure of the form, and using high-pressure hoses to insert a highly concentrated cement mixture into the earth above and on the sides. The Berlin sand proved ideal for this type of application.
At 0800, I kicked off a meeting with the Chief and his hand-picked crew. “We’ve empirically proven that the bottom of the Russian communications pipe is only eighteen feet above the center of the terminus room. Our goal now is to assemble and raise a telescoping shaft until it surrounds that pipe. We have just eleven days to complete this task. The purpose of this shaft is to minimize the potential that the surface of the vacant lot will be disturbed while we tap into the communications pipe.
“The shaft is made of one-inch thick stainless steel. The top section will ultimately be five-feet tall and fourteen-feet across at its base. It’s the only section which has a top. Each of the outer sections is slightly shorter in height and wider in diameter.”
Pausing to collect my thoughts, I then said, “In the top of the upper most section are two round holes and a long, wide slot. The holes are where the two massive, electric powered, metal blades resting against the wall over there fit. Those digging blades are made of the nickel-chrome alloy called Inconel and should be indestructible. They’re designed to sweep back and forth through coordinated 220-degree arcs in a windshield-wiper type motion. They will loosen and sweep soil onto the four-foot-wide opening in the middle of this section. That opening, and the grills which will cover it, run the entire length of the center of this section’s top. The excavated soil falls through the grates and onto the floor as the shaft is propelled upward.”
I paused for questions. Hearing none, I continued, “On the ends of this section immediately below the grates, there are two U-shaped openings. While the shaft is being extended, those openings will be covered with panels, which will ultimately be removed so the shaft can be extended until it surrounds the pipe.”
“Sir, you might explain how that shaft is extended,” the Chief prompted.
“As this first section is being assembled, it is mounted onto nine hydraulic jacks. Next, the other four sections are placed around one another. The hydraulic jacks then begin to raise the inner section. Just like a telescope being extended, the bottom of the upper section catches a rim on top of the next section and carries it upward and so forth, until only the bottom section rests on the concrete floor. Does everyone understand?”
I saw a few nod their understanding. No questions, I thought, so I continued, “Our last task will be to make the shaft’s top watertight by replacing the grates with metal panels and installing rubber collars around each end of the exposed pipe. Stairs and a metal platform under the communications pipe will provide access to both of its sides for the NSA crew.”
Petty Officer Kowalski asked, “We’re going to be drilling through another twenty plus feet of earth, so where will that soil go?”
“The soil will be allowed to accumulate on the bottom of the shaft. Our objective is for it to cushion the falling debris. It is a part of our noise-suppression measures. The two middle sections of the shaft have access panels and the bottom two have an opening that will eventually contain a door. This means that we can work inside and remove debris when required. Ultimately, all of the debris will be removed.”
The Chief said, “Sir, as you know, we expect to encounter large pieces of concrete, because the building which originally occupied the vacant lot was destroyed in the war. Those grates will allow substantial-sized objects to pass through, but not the largest pieces of concrete debris we may encounter. Unfortunately, jackhammers will create too much noise. Hand labor will be required to break them up so they can be removed.”
“Good point, Chief. Before you dismiss the men, there’s something else I need to say.” The men again turned to me. “I can’t emphasize enough the danger of detection and what it could mean. The area above us is only a little over 250
feet south of the East Train Station, the primary departure and arrival point for destinations all across East Germany. A sidewalk is located less than twenty-five feet east of our shaft. We won’t be able to anticipate if or when someone might walk by. For this reason, we will restrict digging operation to a few hours in the middle of the night. Both the Chief and I will be in the terminus room anytime the telescoping shaft is being extended. All of us must avoid any unnecessary noise of any form while we are working in the terminus room. The closer we are to the surface, the quieter we must be.”
Feet of Vertical Tunnel completed: 0 Days until Deadline: 56
Chapter 90
Friday-Monday, August 4-7, 1961
The Chief and I spent most of Friday determining the exact location of each of the nine hydraulic jacks. The bottom of the two U-shaped openings had to be precisely centered over the number one and number five jacks.
To ensure no miscommunication among members of the crew, we assigned a number to the sections of the vertical shaft. Section one was on the top and contained the blades and grate. Two, three and four were in the middle, and the bottom section, which would rest on the floor, was number five.
It took almost two days of diligent effort for the crew to build section one. The quarter circle sections were placed on the hydraulic jacks. Large flat-head, stainless steel screws married the individual pieces of the almost inch-thick stainless-steel structure to each other. The U-shaped panels were installed next. I marveled at how smoothly and precisely each milled-out surface mated with its neighbor. With the help of an A-frame and slings, the two debris-removal blades and the grates were carefully and silently lowered down onto the shaft, then screwed, bolted or pinned into place.
It only took another day for the other four sections of the telescoping shaft to be assembled around the innermost one.
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