Beyond the Shield

by Nachman Kataczinsky

  Ephraim summarized. “I want plans for a logistics base, air-force base and air force deployment by end of day tomorrow. We need to start urgent work on winter quarters for our troops, especially those at high elevations.

  “One last item. We are going to be deployed here for a while. Some Italian businessmen offered us their services. I’m all for purchasing local produce and other foodstuffs. Just remind the procurement officers that all food they buy has to be certified kosher by our rabbis and not to neglect the resources of the local observant Jewish community.

  “We had several proposals to set up brothels – which is apparently common practice for armies here. I refused and warned the businessmen who proposed this not to try setting up illicitly. Speaking of this issue, we will start rotating troops on home leave in about a month, after we have winter shelters and a landing strip close by that can accept C130 transports.”

  ***

  The Israeli Colonel commanding the Brindisi base was ready to call it a day when his telephone rang.

  “Colonel, I have Alois Brunner on the line.”

  “Put him through.”

  There were clicks and noise on the line and then Brunner’s distant voice. “I need to speak to Colonel Rakhman, commander of the base.”

  “My dear friend Rakhman has been promoted. He’s now General Rakhman. I am the new commander of the base.”

  “How shall I address you?” asked Brunner.

  “My name is Hussein bin Abdul Hamid. You may call me Colonel Hussein. What can I do for you?”

  “We have a little problem and hope you can help us. Our forces had fighting incidents with some unknown forces near the Brenner Pass and near Udine. We have reports of the opposing forces flying a flag very similar to the one you used when transporting Jews to Palestine. Would you know who they might be?”

  The Colonel answered without hesitation. “I can say only that they were not forces of the Caliph. If they would have been, the Caliph would have destroyed a major German city for an attack on his soldiers.”

  Brunner wasn’t done. “British forces attacked our forces in France. They came through Italy. The Fuehrer asked the Italian ambassador for clarifications before ordering the takeover of Italy by our army. Were you aware of any such goings on?”

  The Colonel did his best to sound angry. “Colonel Brunner, are you trying to interrogate an officer of the Caliph? Do you know what might happen to you and to Germany if I chose to take offense? I’ll let it go this time, but if I hear any such questions again you and your Fuehrer will be very sorry.” He hung up.

  ***

  Lior Lapid, the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., waited on a comfortable settee in a conference room at the Department of Commerce. He had a meeting with the Secretary.

  The door opened and Jones came in, accompanied by several assistants. “Don’t get up, please.” He shook hands with the ambassador and sat next to him.

  “How is our request for purchase of equipment and steel progressing?”

  Jones shrugged. “The materials and equipment you requested are governed by the export control act of 1940 as amended in 1942. You need export licenses and it’s up to the President to grant them. Whether the President will sign an export license depends on the quantities and specific machinery you need.

  “Submit a specific request and, if it’s not going to burden our industry unreasonably or impinge on the needs of the Department of War, it will be granted.”

  “Mr. Secretary, I have the application right here. We want to purchase about two hundred Caterpillar D8 bulldozers, up to five thousand tons of steel every year, and assorted machining equipment – lathes, milling machines and such.”

  Jones carefully read the application. “There might be a problem with so many bulldozers. I’m not sure how many Caterpillar is making right now and how many are bought by the Department of War. My staff will check and I’ll get back to you.”

  Jones visibly shifted gears. “Mr. Ambassador, my staff checked the information you gave us and it seems that you underestimated your share of the U.S. patent medicine market. It’s in our best interests to grant you the direct import privileges you requested. It will save us money. But we have one condition: you have to grant American companies licenses for the most popular drugs.”

  Lior smiled. “We were planning to stop marketing through Britain and let our manufacturers start direct sales next month. I guess they will just have to pay the tariffs.”

  “What do you mean? Your manufacturers will have to pay a lot. Won’t it harm sales?”

  “Not really,” Lior responded. “If the Department of War wants the drugs it will either pay what it has to or apply for an exemption. I would assume that the public will not be happy to see higher prices. If our manufacturers decide to negotiate licensing agreements with American companies they will do so. The Government of Israel tries not to interfere with free markets and trade.”

  ***

  Admiral Canaris was worried. Germany’s military position was deteriorating faster than he had expected. British bombers were exploiting holes in the coastal radar defense and hitting Luftwaffe landing strips in France and the Low Countries. Large numbers of planes were destroyed on the ground, and the new British bombs created fire storms destroying fuel tanks and repair facilities. Cities weren’t doing much better; large swaths of German urban areas were in ruins, including most of Hamburg, burned down in a firestorm.

  The presence of a combined British and French army in Southern France would have been inconceivable a couple of months ago yet there they were, defeating all German efforts to dislodge them. Canaris decided that the information warranted a face to face meeting with Rommel. He took his car from the Abwehr headquarters at 76/78 Tirpitzufer in Berlin to the airport and from there boarded a flight to Paris. Rommel’s chauffer met him at the airport, taking him to the Hotel George V where Army Group D had its headquarters. Lunch was served in Rommel’s office.

  “General,” Canaris started after coffee was served, “I hear that things aren’t going so well on the new French front.”

  Rommel leaned back in his comfortable chair. “This is not a secret. You don’t need the glorious Abwehr to know that we’re having problems.”

  “True, but the nature of these problems isn’t exactly public knowledge. I know that the British suddenly deployed a new type of tank that’s beating the stuffing out of our Panzer IV and defeats even the Tiger. I also know that their infantry is armed with new automatic rifles and anti-tank rockets that kill our armor and infantry. Neither of these new weapons nor a combination of them could cause the Desert Fox to lose several battles in a row. So what’s going on?”

  Rommel’s right hand fingers started drumming on the table. He got up and closed the door, sat back in his chair and started drumming again. “Admiral Canaris, what I’m going to tell you should not leave this room. You agree?”

  Canaris nodded.

  Rommel continued, “From the very first days of the Allied landing and invasion through Italy I noticed a strange phenomenon. They had no planes in the air. Moments before our aircraft would have appeared the Brits had their fighters in just the right area to intercept them. I interviewed several Luftwaffe commanders who fought over Britain last year and concluded that their aircraft must be guided by radar that can see ours coming from afar. The problem is that the Allies had no radar in the area. They’re building some now, but several weeks ago they had none.”

  Canaris nodded. “But this isn’t what stopped you from defeating them in battle?”

  Rommel looked pained. “No. We have another problem that is more serious and for which we haven’t found a solution yet. The Allies are deployed in what is essentially a defensive line. As you know, in order to prevent a static line from being breached by a mobile enemy one needs enormous forces, enormous fortifications, or favorable terrain because the defenders can’t predict with any certainty from where an attack will come. The attacker, if he’s mobile enough, can gather superio
r forces at one point and breach the defensive line, especially in this flat terrain.

  “This theory doesn’t work anymore with the Allies. They have only about sixteen divisions on the ground yet they manage to have a concentration of their forces exactly where we attack. The results are disastrous in two respects. Our attacks fail, sometimes at a very high price, and the Allies immediately counterattack at the point I removed units for the original attack.

  “Army Group D has 23 divisions, including some holding down the Low Countries and Northern France. The enemy now has at least eleven of their sixteen divisions facing us. When they get more reinforcements and attack we will be in serious trouble.”

  Canaris took a sip of his, by now cold, coffee. “Do you suspect a spy in your organization?”

  “I did in the beginning. The Sicherheitsdienst found no leaks. We conducted a simple test: my orders were encoded with an Enigma machine and radioed to the front under my personal supervision and that of two SD agents. It didn’t help. We then did the same over the telephone lines. That didn’t change the outcome either. I finally decided to send a runner with written orders. This did improve the situation but not much, certainly not enough to make a difference. The Allies still seemed to know what we were about to do.

  “Now you know my problems. I need a solution soon. It’s my estimate that if we let this to go on for another month, the Allies will have enough forces to attack and we will have even more serious problems.”

  Canaris crossed his legs. “Now let me share something with you, on the condition it doesn’t leave this room.”

  Rommel nodded agreement.

  “Last month the Fuehrer ordered two Waffen SS divisions and three Wehrmacht armor divisions to enter northern Italy through the Brenner Pass and through Venice. The plan was to cut off the British supply lines, invade and subdue the Italians and, after reinforcing this group with several more divisions, mainly SS, attack the Allies from Italy and take Marseille. That would leave them with no supplies and they would have to surrender.”

  Rommel leaned forward. “Not a bad plan. I wasn’t consulted but I was informed about it. Was it successful?”

  “It was a catastrophe.” Canaris rubbed his forehead and suddenly felt very tired. “The combined SS-Wehrmacht group met something in the north of Italy that gave it battle. At the end of two days of slaughter only about 20% of our troops survived. All the tanks and artillery were destroyed, as were close to 100 Luftwaffe Stuka bombers and Messerschmitt fighters.”

  “What do you mean ‘met something’?” Rommel asked.

  Canaris leaned forward. “I mean that we don’t really know what we were fighting. Some of the survivors claim that the opposing forces used huge tanks and carried flags with a Star of David on them.

  “Now, think about your experience in North Africa. Didn’t the British also start anticipating your moves at some point?”

  “Yes, but with only one road and a narrow coastal strip to fight on, it wasn’t so strange. Though now that you mention it, I did wonder what they were using.”

  Canaris got up. “Don’t feel bad about this. There is a Luftwaffe force in Greece with almost 180 aircraft that doesn’t dare fly anywhere close to the Italian coast. and the Luftwaffe doesn’t dare fly over the Adriatic either. Something makes their aircraft explode in midair.

  “Well, I have to return to Berlin. Please give some thought to what the future holds if we are fighting an enemy we can’t see.”

  ***

  Jeff Rosen greeted the last of the Jewish leaders to arrive at the brand-new New Brunswick passenger facility. The hall was full and noisy. Jeff used the PA system to announce, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be boarding our flight to Israel within the hour. I would just like to remind you that the flight will be nonstop, approximately twelve hours long. You will be fed and served drinks and will be able to rest and sleep during the flight. For those of you observing dietary laws: the food is certified kosher by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.”

  Boarding started ten minutes later. It was a slow process. Every single passenger had to be identified, photographed, and led to their seat. The procedure was designed to prevent unauthorized personnel boarding the 747 and to provide photo IDs to every passenger on arrival to Israel.

  When the passengers saw the plane they were about to board, a Boeing 747-400, they were amazed. A well-dressed man said to his wife, “Frankly, I thought they were selling us a bunch of goods – time travel and all. I believe it now.”

  The flight was uneventful and indeed lasted about twelve hours, not the customary eleven. They couldn’t fly by the northern route over Ireland and France. With the Germans still controlling France the decision was made to fly over Northern Africa.

  They landed at Ben Gurion airport in the early afternoon. The passengers were taken by a convoy of buses to the Crown Plaza Hotel at the Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv. Their first three days were spent touring the country. Three more days were spent in small groups: doctors went to visit medical facilities, lawyers visited court houses, etc.

  A few people went to meet family and re-acquaint themselves with a country that looked both familiar and alien.

  Most of the delegates spent Saturday with people from the organizations they supported in 1942.

  Morris and Emma Schaver spent the day at Kibbutz Kfar Blum, a community founded in 1943 by the Labor Zionists; Morris was a founding member and leader of the Detroit chapter. Another Detroit couple, Rabbi Morris and Golda Adler, spent Saturday as honored guests of the Schechter Institute in Jerusalem, where his writings were part of the curriculum.

  On the last day before departure back to the U.S. the crowd was seated in the Arison Auditorium at Habima square in Tel Aviv. The auditorium could hold about four hundred people and was just the right size for the crowd. The Absorption Minister gave a short speech and then called for questions.

  “Minister, you said you want us to convince as many of our coreligionists as possible to come to Israel. How can we do that without telling them about the time travel incident? And how do we persuade them that it’s true short of schlepping all of them here for a visit?”

  “If you have to tell them about the time travel, then go ahead and tell them, just keep the information within the community. How to persuade them it’s true is a different issue. I have no formula but I assume that you are all trusted leaders and if people have doubts you can show them some of the items you collected here. Our emissaries might help with movies.

  “The most persuasive argument is making aliyah personally. People follow you.”

  Another question came from a distinguished looking man. “I am a doctor. If I make aliyah I will have to pass a licensing exam. They told me that it will take me at least two years to qualify. Why should I bother? I have a nice comfortable life in the U.S.”

  “How comfortable is your life? Can you be accredited at any hospital you want or are you admitted to practice only in a few, mostly Jewish ones? Can you buy a house anywhere you want or are communities free to exclude you because you are Jewish? Were you comfortable listening to Father Coughlin? You know that he was forced off the air in 1939 because of his opposition to the President not because of his rabid anti-Semitism. Do you feel comfortable listening to Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh rant in support of Hitler and against Jews?

  “If any of that makes you uncomfortable, you belong here. You will gain a life without anti-Semitism and a future of freedom for your children. I’m not mentioning the fact that you will have access to vastly superior medicine, transportation and conveniences. And your children will have access to a superior education.

  “The most important thing though is that in this country when somebody tells you that you are a dirty Jew, you better take a shower. We are all Jews here.”

  ***

  Prime Minister Amos Nir had a busy schedule. His first visitors were three members of the Knesset from far left parties. Amos felt that he needed to persuade them and an informal conversation
seemed like a good idea.

  After the customary polite small talk and cup of tea Amos started the discussion. “You wanted to talk about our decision to transport the Arab inhabitants of Judea and Samaria to another universe?”

  “Yes, but this also concerns Israeli citizens who are now subject to deportation,” replied the senior Knesset member.

  “What are your concerns?”

  “We see no reason to deport anyone. There was a violent attempt to breach our border, but the people responsible have already been deported. All of us are united in our opposition to the deportation of innocent people and to collective punishment. It is a violation of their basic human rights.”

  Amos nodded. “I understand your opposition, but I think that you may be missing something.

  “Your position regarding the defense of basic human rights is admirable but we’re not infringing on anyone’s rights. They will be moved to exactly the same location. All their possessions – including fields and houses – will be transported with them. The climate of the new place is a bit cooler and a bit moister than here so it’s better. The only thing that will not move with them is the State of Israel, which they hate. Those who choose to emigrate to Jordan will definitely exercise their human rights. Their leadership and most of the population accepted the move. Please explain to me what the violation is?”

  “You’re moving them away from their centers of culture and religion.”

  Amos smiled. “Ah, you hit the nail on the head. Let’s see. This world has no Islamists. The last outbreak of Muslim fanaticism was, if I’m not mistaken, during the Mahdi uprising in Sudan in about 1870. Do you want to introduce Islamism with all its associated horrors of beheadings, crucifixion and terrorism within the next year?”

  The Knesset members looked at each other. “I don’t understand,” said the senior one, “what the deportation has to do with Islamism?”

  “Everything. The ideology that permeates the modern Muslim population in Israel is Islamism. Not all of them are the same flavor and not all Muslims are fanatics. But it doesn’t matter. In the time we came from only a small minority were fanatics. The majority just wanted to be left in peace to live their lives. They, and a large chunk of the West, discovered too late that if you don’t act against evil it owns you. This is a lesson that is being taught in this timeline as well. How many Germans are devout Nazis? Probably less than 10% of their population. The other 90% are now owned by them because they just went about their business and didn’t do anything to oppose them.