“I hope you were able to fix it.” Q smirked.
“Unfortunately not. The motors have seized up due to bad quality transmission oil. It had too much particulate material in it, and I had to throw everything away. We need to wait for the next batch to arrive.”
Particulate material as in sand and metals shards you poured into the oil? “It’s so hard to buy high-quality raw materials. I wonder what is next?”
For Q and Martin, it was like a game, trying to outdo each other in wreaking the most havoc on production progress. Sometimes Erhard had to slow them down and caution them to be more subtle in their sabotage work.
***
Summer arrived, and Q finally received the answer as to where Hitler had his sights set next.
The Soviet Union.
Erhard and his wife were visiting Hilde and Q the night the news broke that Hitler’s troops had mounted an attack against the Soviet Union because Stalin had been plotting against Germany.
Hilde raised her hand to her mouth. “Weren’t our two countries supposed to be allies?”
“Well, apparently not anymore,” Q responded.
“I can’t believe Hitler attacked his friend Stalin and mounted the largest offensive so far in this war,” Erhard said.
His wife shook her head, the shock still lingering in her eyes. “Obviously, the accusation about plotting against our country must be fabricated.”
Q’s hands curled into tight fists. “We must increase our efforts. If Hitler wins this war against Russia, his next goal is the entire world.”
The next day, the Russian agent contacted Q. He’d relayed intelligence to Pavel for several years now and almost considered him a friend.
Pavel didn’t have good news for him. “I’m leaving for Moscow today, and we won’t be able to meet again. I can’t tell you if and how you’ll be contacted from now on. As I speak, all agents are recalled home.”
“I wish you well and have a safe trip home.” Q swallowed. “Tell your leaders that we are at your disposal for anything needed to shorten this war. Neither my helpers nor I have changed opinions.”
The agent produced a map, which he tore into two halves and gave one part to Q, “If another agent contacts you, ask him for the other half of that map. If he can’t produce it, he’s not on your side.”
“What about asking if the hike up Mount Etna is strenuous?”
“Who told you that?” Pavel asked confused.
“The other agent, the one I met in Sicily.”
“Oh.” Pavel’s eyes clouded. “I didn’t know about that. Well then, to be on the safe side, ask for both.”
Chapter 29
On a hot summer day in August 1941, Hilde met with Gertrud and Erika and a bunch of kids at the Wannsee beach. It was the favorite gathering for mothers with small children, a getaway within the city limits to forget the sorrows of war, even if only for a few hours.
Despite Hilde’s intentions not to see her former friend and converted Nazi anymore, Q had encouraged her to reconnect with Erika. Her father-in-law was SS Obersturmbannführer Wolfgang Huber, and Hilde might be able to gather some valuable information she could pass along to Q.
Like always, Erika was singing the praises of Hitler, and Hilde did her best to swallow down the bile forming in her throat. She wanted to punch some common sense into that woman. Did she even understand what garbage she was regurgitating?
Thankfully, Gertrud steered the conversation to safer topics. Children. Erika had just given birth to her first boy three months earlier. She raved about the baby’s Aryan looks, his blond hair, and his tall frame.
Hilde bit back a sharp remark. The boy looked like any baby, with little to no hair, and not especially tall or strong. On the contrary, he was cute and chubby.
After a while, Gertrud said, “Hilde, I envy you.”
“Me? Why?” Hilde wanted to know.
“You still have your husband around. Mine has been transferred to the Eastern Front. We just saw him for a few days of leave of absence.”
Gratitude spread across Hilde’s body even as she felt sorry for her friend. Q’s resistance work was dangerous, but maybe not as dangerous as the front. “Yes, I’m so grateful he’s working in a reserved profession.”
Erika chimed in, “Q is doing valuable work, but my husband is following in the footsteps of his father and has recently been promoted. He’s in Paris.” Her eyes became dreamy. “He wrote me that I should be able to visit soon, when little Adolf is a bit older and can stay with my mother.”
Hilde shivered, she still couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that Erika had named her children Adolfine, Germania, and Adolf. Disgusting!
She tucked that thought away and turned her attention to the children. Volker was now a year and a half old and was walking around like a pro. He was an active little boy but lately had been having problems with his digestion.
“Volker has been sick again this week. He’s thrown up two nights in a row, and I’m seriously worried. If I could only get some healthy food for him, and not the crap we can buy with the ration cards.”
Erika sent her a scolding glance. “Hilde, everyone has to make sacrifices for the war. You shouldn’t be complaining.”
Hilde hid her hurt at this reaction and soon found an excuse to leave. Q might find it valuable to stay in touch with Erika, but she couldn’t stomach her former friend’s Nazi talk one minute longer.
Several days later, Q came home, tired as usual. The constant anxiety and the secrecy were taking a toll on him, and Hilde thought about something to cheer him up. She’d been keeping a sweet secret from him, waiting for the right moment.
Now as he complained once again about the futility of his sabotage efforts, she decided this would be as good a moment as any other. “Q, you must carry on. You need to be a good role model for your children.”
Q started to respond but then her last word gave him pause. “Children? As in, more than one?” He looked at her, and she saw the happy smile on his face.
“Yes, I’m pregnant again.”
Q grabbed her and spun her around the room. “I’m so happy, and I love you so much.”
But as slaphappy as they both were, Hilde was also worried. They were in the middle of the worst war of all time, and they were going to bring another child into the world?
He sensed her unease and assured her, “Kommt Zeit, Kommt Rat!” Time will tell.
Chapter 30
Q needed Hilde out of the house. And not because she was pregnant. He needed to think what else he could do. Dangerous things.
He’d never been able to hide something from Hilde, and she would only worry if she found out.
When yet another broadcast praised the virtues of the Kinderlandverschickung – the evacuation of children from the big cities into the countryside – he raised the topic with Hilde.
“No way! I will not leave Volker in the hands of some Nazi nurses,” she growled.
That was a point for her. Volker would soon turn two years old and was too young to understand, but he wouldn’t want him indoctrinated with their ideology. “So why don’t you go with him?” he suggested, trying to sound casual.
“And suffer their indoctrination day in day out? It’s bad enough to hear Erika singing Hitler’s praise, I don’t need to listen to a bunch of overenthusiastic nursery teachers.”
“Maybe you could go and stay at your parents’ place for a while?”
She scoffed. “Hamburg is as much a target of the bombings as Berlin. In fact, it’s worse for them. We’ve only had the occasional air raids.”
Q sighed. This wasn’t going the way he wanted it to. “What about Julia? She’s on a farm near Magdeburg, and that’s only a few hours train ride from Berlin. You could take Volker there. It might even help with his digestion problems.”
“I don’t want to leave you here alone. Who knows if I’ll ever see you again?”
“Liebling, nothing will happen to me. But you’re six months pregnant, an
d you need to rest. Face it, Berlin isn’t safe anymore. You aren’t getting enough sleep because of the air raids. Things need to change.”
Hilde nodded. He was right. Even though their quarter hadn’t taken a hit, not a day or night went by where they weren’t forced to leave their beds and seek shelter. It was wearing her down both physically and mentally.
“Q, I don’t want to leave you–”
“It won’t be forever, but you need a break. Please take Volker and stay with Julia for a while. I’ll join you for Christmas. That’s only a few weeks away.”
Hilde finally agreed. Normally, it was almost impossible to obtain a travel permit for personal or leisure travel. But because Hilde was pregnant and had a small child with her, she made a convincing case that she had to leave Berlin for a while and she received her travel papers without any problems.
Two days before she travelled, she came home livid and recounted what had happened as she stood in line waiting for her turn to get the travel permit stamped.
“You won’t believe this, Q! That official saw that I was pregnant and congratulated me.”
“Well, that isn’t a reason to be angry, or is it?”
“Yes, it is. His exact words were, ‘Congratulations for giving our Führer yet another Aryan child.’”
Q put his hands on her shoulders to calm her down, but couldn’t stop himself from laughing out loud. “I hope you didn’t punch him in the face.”
She scowled at him but then joined his laughter. “I wanted to, but the urge to vomit on his shoes was bigger.”
“You didn’t…?”
“No, I didn’t. I managed to get hold of a waste paper basket. You can’t imagine how fast my papers were stamped and finished.”
On the morning of December 6th, he took her and Volker to the train and sent them off to Magdeburg.
Chapter 31
The next day, Q met with his old friends Leopold and Otto. It always gave him a stab to the heart because they’d always been a quartet – until Jakob was murdered in the Kristallnacht.
So many things had happened since then, most of them bad. The friends had a silent understanding not to talk about politics, but today was different. As they sat in the bar, the usual music broadcast was interrupted by an urgent message and someone raised the volume on the radio.
“We interrupt this program to bring you a special message. Our esteemed ally, Japan, has successfully beaten the United States of America. In a surprise attack, Japanese bombers attacked the Naval Station located in Oahu, Hawaii, crippling and destroying both their mediocre Navy and Air Force. Even now, Pearl Harbor burns and Germany celebrates our ally’s victory.
“The Führer is very optimistic that the war will soon be won, and Germany will prevail over her enemies. The spiteful United States of America has paid for its interference, and other nations will soon reap their just rewards at the hands of German soldiers.”
Turmoil ensued in the bar, everyone talking at once. Most of the guests – all of them in uniform except for the three friends – echoed the opinions of the radio speaker, but Q thought differently. Thank God. Now America will have to officially enter the war. “It’s over. Germany is going to lose this war.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. Hitler won’t be stopped,” Otto responded.
Q had yet to figure out on which side Otto stood. He’d not joined up but pulled a few strings to have his research work at the University be classified as reserved profession.
The same was true for Leopold. He owned a paint factory and seemed to be unbothered by the Nazis. While Q trusted Leopold completely on a personal level, he didn’t necessarily trust his political convictions. It would be wiser to keep quiet.
“You’re probably right,” he said and changed the topic. “Have you been able to crack down the hydrogen cyanide molecules, Otto?”
Otto nodded. “We’re working on it. It’s highly poisonous and extremely flammable.” Q exhaled in relief as the subject was safely navigated into a direction they all were comfortable with.
When they bid their goodbyes, Q was convinced that he needed to do more. Much more. Sabotage and intelligence gathering wasn’t enough. He wanted to do something bold, something that would forever change the course of history. But what?
As he walked to the tram station with Leopold, they could see the red lights of the airport Tempelhof in the distance. Suddenly, Q had an idea. He sent Leopold off on the tram and opted to walk home. It would take him three or four hours, plenty of alone time to think through his new idea.
The next day, he stormed into Erhard’s office. “I have a brilliant idea!”
“Care to share it with me?” His friend chuckled.
“That’s why I’m here. Let’s take a walk, and I’ll explain it to you.”
“A walk? It’s nine o’clock. I have work to do.” But as he looked into Q’s excited face, he took his hat and coat and left his office. On the way out he advised the secretary, “Fräulein Golz, Doctor Quedlin and I have an urgent appointment to visit with one of our suppliers. We’ll be back in about an hour.”
As soon as they’d left the company grounds and were out of earshot of anyone, Q started to explain. “I thought we could produce remote controlled blinkers.”
“Blinkers, what for?” Erhard asked.
“That’s the good part. With the remote control, we can make them start blinking when hostile aircraft is incoming and–”
“But how would we know when hostile aircraft was coming?”
Q thought for a moment. “Just like anyone else. Via the air raid sirens.”
“Fine. And where do we position those blinkers and why?”
“We’ll install them on the roofs of military buildings. When they start blinking, the English pilots can easily spot the strategic buildings to bomb and avoid civilian targets.”
“Hmm.” Erhard stopped walking. “It is a brilliant idea. And it could save thousands of civilian lives.”
Q grinned. “Yes, it’s fantastic, and we have all the means to do it. We can use one of the production lines on the weekends to make the blinkers, and we can easily build two or three remote controls as well.”
“But we would need to be near the buildings because the range of the remote controls isn’t very far,” Erhard objected. “We could only light two or three buildings at the same time, and how fast can we get there once we hear the sirens? From where you live, it’ll take much too long to get to any strategic military building.”
“I haven’t thought about that.” Q shook his head and took up the walking again. “What if we use the short wave radio transmitters we’re building for the Wehrmacht? I’m sure I can come up with a way to alter the blinkers so they could receive the radio signal. This way we can light all the buildings from wherever we are.”
Erhard nodded. “Yes, we just have to keep the transmitter with us at all times.”
“We should let Martin in on the plan,” Q said. With new hope and a sense of accomplishment, they returned to the factory, but right before they reached the grounds, Erhard asked, “Just how do we get those blinkers onto the buildings? It’s not like we can simply go up there and assemble them.”
Chapter 32
Hilde shared the train compartment with a young woman who looked exceptionally dirty and unkempt. Like someone who’d just crawled out of a heap of rubble. She couldn’t hold back her curiosity and started a conversation with the girl who introduced herself as Annegret.
Annegret confirmed her fear, telling her that she had been bombed out that day.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. That must have been an awful shock,” Hilde said with genuine empathy, but before she could ask more details, the ticket officer entered and Hilde presented her papers.
Just as the man wanted to return her papers, a Gestapo officer entered their compartment. Even though Hilde’s papers were in order, she still felt shivers running down her spine. The picture of SS men beating a handbag thief to death was too deeply ingrained in her b
rain. As was the ever-present fear that they’d uncovered Q’s resistance work and came to arrest her.
She waited with bated breath and tried not to show her relief when he finally returned her papers and turned his attention to Annegret. “Papers?”
The young woman suddenly looked like a frightened rabbit. Well, doesn’t every normal citizen hold their breath in the presence of Gestapo or SS?
The stern expression of the Gestapo officer softened as he read out loud Annegret’s name and repeated it before he came to attention. “Fräulein Huber, may I say how sorry I am for your loss.”
“Danke. I’m still in shock,” said the girl and Hilde eyed her suspiciously.
Her suspicion grew only when the officer sang the praises of the late Obersturmbannführer Wolfgang Huber – Erika’s father-in-law. Oh my God, that young lady couldn’t be his daughter. It had been a while since she’d seen her at Erika’s wedding, but she clearly remembered Annegret’s high-pitched voice, which was in total contrast to the soft, subdued tone of this girl.
As soon as the officer left their compartment, Hilde accused the girl, “You’re not Annegret Huber. Who are you?”
The girl’s hand flew to her chest. “Of course I am.”
Hilde shook her head at the girl’s audacity. “You’re lying.”
“Why do you say that?” The Annegret impostor stared at her with pure terror in her eyes.
“I know Annegret, and you are not her.”
The girl sagged and finally opened her mouth, “Look, the bombing today hit directly over the building in Nikolassee where I lived.”
Hilde paled and grabbed her sleeping son tighter. She closed her eyes for a moment and prayed Q was okay. Even if her building had been hit, he could have been at work. He liked to work late. Please. Please. Let him be fine.
She gathered all her strength and forced out the words, “We live there. Where exactly was the hit?”
Unyielding: Love and Resistance in WW2 Germany (World War II Trilogy) Page 15