by Donald Hunt
The military setbacks in Russia were not the only negative news for the Third Reich. It was clear in Berlin that the German economy had reached its limit of expansion. The Minister of Munitions now had made it clear to the nuclear bomb team that progress must be clearly seen in the next six months or the project might be scrapped. A high level meeting was called for the third week in January to present evidence of progress towards a bomb. It would also include concrete expenditure estimates and a timetable. Hanz decided to ask Werner Heisenberg to make the presentation. It would be a crucial meeting in the German effort to produce a weapon of mass destruction. The strain of the war effort and the recent setbacks was taking the focus off of the bomb project.
With the New Year behind him, Hanz was finding it almost impossible to focus on physics or bombs or the Nazis. He had lunch on two occasions with Max von Laue and the plan for their escape was taking shape. The key hurdle was to be able to leave Berlin without arousing suspicion of the Gestapo. He was scheduled to deliver a lecture on Quantum Theory at the University of Munich on January 12th. His office at the KWI had made his travel arrangements for the train to Munich for the 11th with return on the 13th, a Saturday. This time, Marlene would accompany him as she did on occasion.
Hanz and Marlene had decided not to inform Anna, although she had been aware for months that there was something in the wind. She knew they had to leave. In all of Berlin, only von Laue was aware of the plot and details. Once they were safe in England, he would inform Anna. He had connections to the German underground, run mostly by Communist sympathizers and Christians who were strongly opposed to the Nazi war and pogrom. The risk was always there. Even a man of his stature could be brought down. His hideaway in the Harz Mountains, west of Berlin, would be used as a stopover.
Beyond that, he had no knowledge of the operation. Von Laue had only sketchy details of the resistance work. The less he knew the better. He was aware that the Gestapo had informants everywhere. He even knew of teens who had informed on parents. Betrayals were not uncommon. Complicity was a death sentence.
* * *
Since the controversy over the appointment of Hanz Eichenwald to head the bomb project, Heinrich Himmler had in mind to end the controversy. His authority had been challenged and he was determined to end the career of this Jewish physicist. His Gestapo surveillance had informed him of the planned trip to Munich. This would be an ideal time to detain the professor, then quickly transport him to Poland. Arresting him away from Berlin would effectively cut off any support he might have from the KWI. Himmler also wanted to prevent him from attending the upcoming meeting to discuss the bomb project. The head of the SS thought it reprehensible that a Jew would be involved in any military effort, especially this one. Himmler was a lugubrious sort, and more so when he did not get his way.
On Wednesday, January 10th, Hanz finished his work in his office an hour early. He gathered his most important documents and placed them in his briefcase. He hoped, rather, he believed that he would never see his office again. There were many memories but no time to ponder them. As he looked around one final time his thoughts briefly drifted back to his long visits with Einstein and their discussions on the Universe. It truly had been a phenomenon to sit for hours talking to this most unique man. Einstein wisely had left Germany when the Nazi Reich came to power. Now Hanz was going to place his life and the life of the only woman he had ever loved in the hands of complete strangers. It was a deadly gamble. He pulled his office door closed and looked at his secretary Heidi.
“I won’t be in tomorrow. Our train leaves in the evening and I have some work to do at home. I’ll see you on Monday.”
“Have a safe trip,” she replied.
The following morning, Thursday the 11th, was an unusually bright day. It was crisp and cold but beautiful. Hanz walked the 10 blocks to his bank. He planned to withdraw 1,000 marks for the trip; he knew he could use five times that much but was fearful of calling Gestapo attention to a larger withdrawal. The train departure time was 6:06 pm from Central Station. It was an overnight trip with two stops in route. First, they would go to Leipzig and the second stop would be Nuremburg, then on to Munich with arrival at 8:15 am. His lecture was at 1:00 pm. He had been told he would be contacted in Munich before the lecture. That is all the information he had, and he had no choice but to trust his colleague Max von Laue.
As the time progressed, Hanz and Marlene were silent, each trying to contemplate leaving their home of the past 25 years. Marlene was taking a final walk through to see their pictures, allowing her mind to wander. There was one old grainy photo of their marriage and her favorite picture of Anna at the age of six, holding up the first tooth she had lost. Marlene removed it from the frame and placed it in her bag. They would leave it all; every possession, every photo, every link to their lives. But they would not leave their memories.
Packed with only what they would need for an overnight stay, the Eichenwalds embarked on a journey they hoped would yield them a lifetime. Many of their friends had been forced to leave; now they were joining them. Marlene allowed herself one last look at her flower garden in the rear of the house. Now dormant in winter, she could visualize the roses and marigolds, the geraniums and tulips. The beauty of her garden was a stark contrast to the cold, emotionless men whose ambition was to enslave millions by military might. And for what reason? And what sane person would understand it anyway? Marlene was brought back to reality by the voice of her husband. “Marlene. It’s time to go.”
With two small suitcases and one briefcase, Hanz and Marlene closed and locked their front door. Their taxi was waiting.
“I don’t know if I can leave without speaking to Anna,” she whispered. “Max will get word to her soon enough. We can’t make any mistakes.”
On this same day, Heinrich Himmler had given final instructions concerning the arrest of the Eichenwalds.
“They are to be arrested in Munich and immediately transported to the ghetto in Cologne,” he said to his adjuvant. “Then the train to Poland, and to Auschwitz, understand? If they resist shoot them.”
He loomed in front of the adjuvant like a dark pit of anger and hatred. The adjuvant quickly left the room and contacted the Munich Gestapo office. The orders were clear.
Berlin Central Station was an enormous gray stone structure. It was the transportation hub for all of Germany and now all Europe. Since it was used for public transportation only, it likely would never be bombed. The inner central area was almost the size of a soccer field with an arched 100 foot ceiling. On average, 11,000 passengers passed through the main terminal every day. Hanz and Marlene quickly found their platform and boarded. It was 5:17 pm.
Their small state room was comfortable and private. Upon entering they noticed a Nazi soldier. The military was everywhere. Germany was at war. Hanz locked the door and pulled the shades.
“I would rather not see anyone,” he said to Marlene. “This trip can’t end soon enough.”
Marlene sat staring at the floor and said nothing. Her feeling of hopelessness was starting to overwhelm her. Without looking up she reached her hand out to Hanz. He sat beside her and placed his arm around her shoulders. He knew what she was thinking.
“Anna will be fine. I know she will be fine.”
When the train slowly began to pull out of the station, they still had not moved. There was a slight jolt, and then another. The steam engine struggled to change the inertia of the cars from stationary to moving. Once moving, the acceleration was steady. Within 20 minutes they were in the countryside.
It was getting dark and Hanz opened the window shade. Lights at the road crossings whizzed by in a blur. He then lowered the shade. Marlene had no appetite so Hanz went to the dining car and returned with a pot of coffee. Marlene looked up as he entered.
“Do you have any idea what’s going to happen?” she asked.
“We will be contacted by the underground befo
re the lecture or possibly before we board the train to return to Berlin. The plan is to get us to the Harz Mountains. That’s where von Laue’s hideaway is located. Then we go to France and the Channel.”
“What are our chances?”
Hanz wanted to be optimistic.
“I think they are good. There is no question that we will be taken to a ghetto or worse if we stay. I think the bomb project will be dropped. It’s just a matter of time.” He was not a man prone to fear. But for reasons he did not understand, he felt unusually confident. Perhaps because of his trust of Max von Laue. Or perhaps because he was an optimist by nature.
The train gently rocked along with the ever-present clickety-clack, clickety-clack of the steel wheels crossing the rail joints. Marlene fell asleep sitting on the sofa. He decided to let her sleep. Sleep was the only escape she had from her apprehension.
The next two hours passed quickly. Hanz must have drifted to sleep himself but came awake as the train began to slow. He glanced at his watch. It was 9:50 pm. The scheduled 20 minute stop in Leipzig was at 10:00 pm. After that, they would change for bed and hope to get some sleep. Sleep had not come easily the last few weeks. Too often it had been brought on by exhaustion and too often interrupted by worry.
When the train came to a full stop Marlene woke up. All was quiet.
“As soon as we leave Leipzig, why don’t you get a hot shower,” Hanz said, taking Marlene’s hand. “It will help you relax.”
They heard distant muffled conversation and paid no attention. Then suddenly there was shouting. It was coming from the rear of the car. Rapid steps in the hallway were followed by loud pounding on their compartment door.
“Open! Open! Police!”
At first Hanz was frozen. He was startled that someone would be pounding on the door. The sound became louder.
“Open up, now!”
Hanz unlocked the door and two SS officers entered. “Dr. Eichenwald, you are under arrest!”
Marlene opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. “For what?” Hanz demanded. “What is the charge?”
The officer glared back at him.
“You should know, Jew bastard.” He turned to the other officer. “Cuff them. Get their luggage.”
The railcar attendant, pale and stunned, looked like an apparition. The officer shoved him against the wall slamming his head against the glass window. “Move aside. Keep all of the compartment doors closed.”
The Eichenwalds were quickly taken off of the train to a waiting car with military markings. The car sped off into the darkness. After a brief time, the officer turned to face Hanz and Marlene.
“Dr. Eichenwald, I’m sorry. We work in the underground resistance. We must be convincing.”
As he removed their handcuffs he continued.
“We have an informant in Himmler’s office. They had planned to arrest you as you left the train in the morning. We found out just in time.”
Hanz reached for Marlene’s hand and held it tightly
“Thank God!” he whispered.
Chapter 13
Werner Schmidt
Laura Knochen stopped by the Pumpkin House Bakery to see if Paula Herzog had seen Marlene. Laura had not heard from her friend in over two weeks. She greeted Paula with a hug. “Wondering if you have seen Marlene? We were going to have lunch last week, but she didn’t come by. I called her home and stopped by, but no one is there.”
“No, I haven’t heard from her either,” Paula replied with a downcast look. “I suppose she is on some kind of travel with her husband. Jews are prohibited from traveling, but that might not apply to professors.”
Laura could see the fatigue in Paula’s eyes. She was sallow and looked thinner. “Can we go in the back?” Laura asked.
The two women made their way to the back of the store. It was empty of customers but they had already acclimated to the need for secrecy. Laura had been contemplating for weeks, the idea of becoming involved in the defeat of the Third Reich. She didn’t consider anything of a military nature, but she wanted to do something. Laura pulled Paula close to her.
“You and Victor are in danger,” Laura whispered.
“We know that,” Paula said, her eyes on the floor. “Our son was working with us here. Now he’s disappeared. We haven’t had a word from him in a month now. We think the Nazis have taken him to a ghetto or detention camp. We are waiting ourselves. Our turn is coming. Most of our friends are already gone…taken. Our Synagogue was burned.”
Paula was silent a moment, then said again, “We are waiting.”
Laura placed both hands on Paula’s shoulders. “Look at me, Paula. You and Victor come stay with me at my flat. I insist. I have an attic. You can sleep there. I have no family. This is your only hope.”
Paula smiled faintly. “Laura, if they catch you at this they will kill you. No question they will kill you. And Victor and I will still be deported to a work camp.”
“Get Victor,” Laura went on. “I must talk to both of you.”
Paula went to the kitchen and returned with her husband. They had locked the front door and displayed the ‘closed’ sign.
“You both must understand. The war the Nazis have brought is more than a war of conquest. It is for racial cleansing. Their intent is to exterminate every Jewish man, woman and child from Europe. The Synagogues in Germany have been destroyed. Almost all of your friends are gone. Your son has disappeared. Where are these people? Thousands of them, gone! I am begging you. Come to my home, tonight. Get your things. After the blackout begins, say about 11:00, come to my place. Paula, you have visited, you know my place, remember?”
Victor had listened intently. “We will come,” he said. “You have obviously thought this through. You are willing to risk your life?”
“My husband is gone. This is my way of fighting the Nazi madness. I will expect you at 11:00. The door will be unlocked.”
By 1942, 90 percent of Jewish Germans had been moved to ghettos or placed in concentration camps. Virtually all of the Polish intellectuals and social elites had been murdered. The remaining two million Polish Jews were placed in labor camps. There was horrific overcrowding with tens of thousands sequestered into insalubrious ghettos. Most were used as forced laborers, given limited food and poor treatment. This attrition by forced labor was planned. In time, thousands would disappear into a legendary vanishing point. Even before the fall of Poland, the concept of deporting Polish Jews had been debated. One idea considered, was the movement of a million Poles to the French colony of Madagascar, off the coast of east Africa. The plan was never implemented. Another consideration that had some American and British interest was the deportation of Jews to Ethiopia, which was then controlled by Italy.
Prior to 1942, mass deportation of Jews seemed to be the answer. After 1942, the ‘Final Solution’ had quickly evolved into a massive extermination strategy, one that included forced labor or gas chambers – both of which were designed for death.
* * *
The day of the scheduled lecture on Quantum Theory at the University of Munich found Heinrich Himmler in a rage. He screamed at his adjuvant. “What do you mean they were not on the train? Did they just vanish?”
The captain, ashen faced, tried to explain. “Herr Commandant, they were arrested and removed from the train by SS officers at the Leipzig stop, but SS has no record of the incident. They were taken off of the train by imposters.”
Himmler sat down behind his massive desk. His office, lined in dark mahogany, held several Renaissance paintings pilfered from occupied France. The office was an extension of his enormous ego. The lush room with its dark rich leather furnishings was in fact, a horror chamber. In this room, insidious plots were devised and cruel decisions settled to seal the fate of hundreds of thousands of people. In this one small space, a scheme was designed that would have permanent and devastating imp
act around the world. Here, Himmler and his deputy-in- command, Reinhard Heydrich, hammered out the details of the ‘Final Solution’ of the Jewish problem – their existence.
Himmler had become second only to Hitler. He shared Hitler’s view that Jews were ‘subhuman’ and that Europe should be “Jew free”. Germans would become the master-race. All other occupied peoples, particularly those in Russia and the Slavic countries, would be slave labor to the Reich. Hitler himself placed his stamp of approval on these policies. He emphasized as much in a memoranda in July, 1941.
“As for the ridiculous hundred million Slavs, we will mold the best of them to the shape that suits us, and we will isolate the rest of them in their own pig-sties; and anyone who talks about cherishing the local inhabitant and civilizing him, goes straight off to a concentration camp.”
Given such dark sentiments and an agenda set in stone, Himmler was more than irate that the man he most wanted to eliminate had been allowed to escape right from under his nose. This was more than an insult. It called for swift retaliation. But to whom should he direct it? He had been outsmarted.
“Get me the SS Commandant in Munich and get me the files of all of our staff. We have a traitor in our midst! He or she will be found and dwelt with.”
“Yes Commandant.”
“And get Colonel Scheidemann immediately. I want this Jew Professor found!”
“Yes Commandant.”
The ride in the military vehicle had been quiet. Hanz and Marlene Eichenwald were drained, although the four hour trip to Halberstadt in the Harz Mountains was uneventful. The road was winding and the gentle moving of the car back and forth finally took Marlene into a restful sleep as she leaned against Hanz’ shoulder.
The men of the underground resistance rode silently with them. They had introduced themselves by first names which Hanz understood to be aliases. Every day in the resistance was lived at great risk. These men and a few women were suspicious of everyone they did not know and even some they did. Any person could be an informant for the Gestapo or SS, so anyone coming into the underground was watched carefully and given almost no information until it was clear they could be trusted. Almost all those involved were ethnic Germans. A few Jews from the rural areas were also involved.