Dawn of a New Day

by Mariano, NIck

  Mengele told Himmler that he thought he could quickly mobilize resources at his labs in Auschwitz and perhaps combine some known and existing viruses to make what would be a super virus. The new virus would be highly contagious and at the present time, there would be no real cure for it. He thought the virus could be introduced into the American population through a number of methods and that once the epidemics started, there would be no slowing the viruses down. The end result would be just what the Fuhrer desired; mass casualties throughout the United States and a very rapid decline in the morale of the American people both on the home front and abroad. Mengele told Himmler he was confident that he could have samples ready for testing in about two months and that once everything was perfected, production of the virus would move rapidly. The two men agreed to keep in touch and to meet again in a month’s time to see what progress had been made.

  After a few days of initial research and experimenting, all the Doctors believed that by combining some existing viruses like influenza, the plague and smallpox, the end result would be a new super virus that could withstand any of the new medicines currently available in the United States. Although no one was sure yet how such a virus could be delivered in order to inflict a mass outbreak, they would worry about that after they had the virus developed. Given the fact that Auschwitz had hundreds of prisoners the doctors knew they would have more than enough test subjects to try out their new contagions. Virus samples were obtained from the Institute of Biological Racial and Evolutionary Research in Berlin and gave them the necessary starting blocks to get their work underway. A new sterile area was quickly built at the camp so that they could isolate test subjects and watch how the infections progressed. The Doctors themselves also had to obtain some new protective clothing and equipment, so that they and the German staff didn’t get infected in the process. The group began to work ten-hour days and had a meeting every night to discuss the progress they were making.

  Meanwhile, Himmler considered the most logical vehicle for delivering their gift to the American people and believed that their U-boats were the answer. Germany’s U-boat fleets were having enormous success attacking Allied supply ships and even some of its well-equipped military ships. The U-boats were able to cross the ocean separating the two countries and once the sub was close enough to the American shores, landing parties could deliver their cargoes to German intelligence agents, who were already in place and reporting from several cities throughout the United States. The agents could then target the principal cities on the East Coast, and eventually the West Coast, if the initial attacks were successful. The Americans would never know what hit them.

  Himmler and Mengele met again at Auschwitz and Himmler could see that Mengele was excited about the rapid progress his group of doctors had made. The Doctor told Himmler that they were able to obtain strains of all the needed viruses from Berlin and that, because of the previous research his team had done, they were able to quickly genetically drift the influenza, plague and rabies viruses, resulting in a new super strain of virus. Mengele went on to explain that an antigenic or genetic drift was when two or more strains of different viruses combined to form a new subtype virus, which was entirely different from the original viruses, but still maintained the original characteristics of the primary viruses. He said it was a sort of genetic mutation that would be immune to all current antidotes that normally might be effective, if employed against each individual strain of virus, but would have little effect on the new strain. He said that when the virus infected the host, the different strains would attack the cells simultaneously and that the host had little chance of fighting the infection and that the new, more dangerous strain, would in fact result in a pandemic. Mengele was confident that none of the current antibiotics would be effective in fighting the new strain and that the process of finding a new antibiotic to fight the infection would be most difficult and require months of research and development. He said that the team decided on the three different viruses for a multitude of reasons. Considering history and the staggering figures regarding both the influenza and the plague, or Black Death, the physicians were confident that the number of deaths resulting from a new super strain would even surpass the statistics of both the 1918 outbreaks of these two viruses. The influenza would attack the victim’s respiratory systems and death would be rapid if left untreated. The plague on the other hand caused painful swellings, sometimes as large as an apple or orange in the areas of the arms, legs, neck and groin. When the body could no longer withstand the excessive swelling, the body areas would burst open and ooze blood, fluids and pus like secretions. When the Black Death last hit mankind the incidence of death was usually within a week. The plague would also effect the lungs, which in conjunction with the effects of the influenza, would accelerate the failure of the lungs by filling them with not only fluids but with the victim’s own blood. Mengele said that they chose rabies instead of smallpox, which they originally considered, because of the extreme physical effects this disease produced. Persons exposed to the rabies virus suffered an extreme attack on their nervous systems and death was rapid if left untreated. Advanced infection could produce violent behavior ranging from extreme aggressiveness to raging to hallucinations and ranting and raving. The infected people might even begin to attack other infected or non-infected people they encountered. Mengele added jokingly that if the rabies virus became airborne, which it probably would, after being combined with the influenza virus, it would result in a zombie pandemic and the victims could take on both a zombie like appearance as a result of the plague and start to act like zombies, because of the rabies infection. He laughed and told Himmler that it would be the best of both worlds, since either the viruses would kill the Americans outright or infected people would begin attacking other people when the rabies started to drive them crazy. Either way, Hitler and his Germany would deliver a crippling blow to the Americans.

  Mengele said they were also successful in figuring ways to disperse the virus when it arrived in America. He said that normally the virus would have to be airborne for maximum effectiveness; however, they also figured how they could infuse it into the Americans’ water supplies without the chlorine and other water purifying chemicals having any effect on the super strain. Since the virus was normally airborne it would spread naturally from one person to another in the same manner as the common cold. Once a significant number of people became infected, the virus would have a steamrolling effect and spread rapidly, especially in densely populated areas. Mengele’s team had already developed special canisters for both transporting the virus and for an aerial dispersal of it at selected cities on the East Coast. A second type container could be used to infuse it into the water supplies at various reservoirs, which normally had little in the way of physical security. Mengele said that their initial testing on some of the Auschwitz inmates was very promising and that they were confident they had been successful in their development of a new super virus. Additional testing might be necessary, however, given Hitler’s timelines, he said they should be ready to proceed with deployment in less than a month.

  Himmler felt repulsed by what the Doctor of Death had described to him, however, he knew that the Fuhrer would have little problem in approving the plan. Himmler was scheduled to meet again with Hitler and he told Mengele that when the Fuhrer approved the plan they would proceed. Confident that this would happen, he instructed the Doctor to make ready the canisters for deployment as soon as possible. Mengele said they had adequate supplies of both the virus strains and special canisters and would start to get things ready.

  Before his next meeting with Himmler, Mengele decided that he would conduct some more tests of their newly developed super strain to make sure that it was everything he had promised to his SS boss. The camp already had a number of controlled areas that could be used to observe subjects and determine if the virus was as effective as Mengele and his staff thought it was. The Doctor decided that he would use both male and female test subjects of
varying ages, some youths, middle-aged persons and some of the elderly. This should give them a good sampling for determining if the virus affected everyone in the same manner.

  Using one of the special aerosol canisters they had developed, the subjects were placed in two large control rooms and the virus was quickly introduced by means of the ventilation system. The rooms were then hermetically sealed and everyone sat back to see what the results would be. No significant changes were noticed with the subjects after two days. On the third day, however, several of the subjects began to display symptoms of the flu and started sneezing and having running noses. The fourth day produced additional results when several subjects began to display tumor like growths on their necks, arms and legs and began to become lethargic in their movements and mannerisms. By the fifth day everyone was now covered with growths over their entire body and some of the outer tissues had begun to discolor and turn black and blue. Many of the growths had already started to ooze fluids, blood and pus. By the sixth day some of the subjects had already died, however, the remaining individuals became highly aggressive in behavior and soon began attacking each other. It was at this point the Doctor decided to introduce a number of new patients who had not been previously infected. Almost immediately the zombie like subjects began to feel out and finally attack the uninfected individuals and many were killed within minutes. Shocking to even Mengele, several of the previously infected subjects began to actually eat parts of their victims. As the Doctor and his staff continued to watch the test subjects they were surprised that several of the people initially attacked and believed to be dead, suddenly started to stir and came back to life. The doctors had believed that the virus would be totally lethal, however, it now appeared that once a person reached the zombie like stage, some subjects could linger and remain lifelike for an indefinite period of time.

  While Himmler was holding his final meeting with the U-boat commanders, Mengele and his staff were busy preparing the canisters of the deadly virus for its trip to America. Mengele was sure that the effect of the virus on the American population would cause mass hysteria among the people and that the ensuing pandemic would set America’s war efforts back several months or longer. Mengele had second thoughts about telling his superior about the ghoulish effects of the virus and the fact that the infected had turned into man eating creatures who reacted violently and without any thought or feeling toward both infected and uninfected persons they encountered. The Doctor decided that he would keep this fact to himself since even the Fuhrer might consider this weapon too much to use against the Americans, despite Germany’s rapid weakening in the war.

  Mengele and his staff of doctors decided that the virus should be contained in a primary container constructed of a special strength glass that they used in numerous laboratory experiments and that the top would be a special airtight stopper that was fastened to the vial, and would not come loose during the transport of the virus. The tops also had two other functions when they reached their final destinations. One type could disperse a mist like vapor that would make the virus airborne and would be used in densely populated areas to have the maximum effect on people. The second type top could be unfastened and the virus introduced into drinking water, where it would mix with the populations supply of water and become a deadly elixir to whoever drank it.

  The canisters were then placed into a watertight container constructed of stainless steel with some special padding around the glass containers. This type steel did not corrode, rust or stain as ordinary steel did, when it came in contact with water or other elements. Lastly the cargo was placed in an outer stainless steel container that bore the emblem of the Nazi SS. Mengele thought this was a nice touch to add to his deadly cargo. Mengele knew that the Germans would not want to lose these vital assets on American soil at this critical phase of the war. The doctor also enclosed a detailed instruction sheet outlining how the canisters were to be handled, how they were to be operated and the cities or areas on the East Coast where he felt the virus would have the most profound affect. He knew Himmler would also transmit a coded message to them but he just wanted to be sure they understood the deadly nature of this virus.

  The sub pens at Bergen, Germany were a scurry of activity as the final supplies and cargoes were loaded into the U-756. Himmler had intentionally picked the departure date of July 4th, the date of America’s Independence, as a kind of humorous starting point of what was to happen to the unsuspecting Americans. Groups of Hitler’s famous Waffen-SS provided added security to the sub facilities to ensure that nothing went wrong during the final preparations.

  Without the normal fanfare of a U-Boat departing port, Commander Falke stood on the conning tower bridge of the U-756 as it slid from his mooring at the dock and headed due north from Germany toward the East Coast of Canada and North America and his initial destination of Newfoundland and St. Johns, where he would then sail southward towards the shores of North Carolina for a rendezvous with their German operatives.

  PANDORA'S BOX

  Gary and Reed continued to examine the steel box they found on the U-756 while they cruised back to the dock at Wilmington. The box looked to be in fairly good condition considering the U-756 was sunk in the 1940’s. The sub itself appeared to be broken in two when they dove it and they were able to penetrate a portion of the interior and examine the U-boat up close. It appeared that the explosion blew outward from the sub’s interior as several shards of metal on its hull were pointing away from the interior instead of inward. They tried to reason why the sub would have been blown up in that manner unless the Captain had scuttled it. When they read about the discovery of the sub’s wreckage they learned that the U.S. Navy had no record of its ships attacking this U-boat during the time frame involved. The German Government had merely acknowledged that its U-boat had been on a mission along the U.S. coast but didn’t disclose any further details. The fact that the metal box was a good distance from the sub itself indicated that the sub had probably broken in half and decompressed and that its crew and objects inside would have been sucked from it and shot into the water and away from the structure. The metal box had large hasps that kept the lid attached to its bottom section and they appeared to be made in such a way so that they wouldn’t break or open unless a person actually opened the box. It was also strange that the Nazi SS emblem was engraved on its lid since the SS rarely had their men on U-boats. That would indicate that it was some sort of special cargo and the question that remained, “Was it something that was to be delivered to the U.S.?”

  The dive boat arrived back at Wilmington mid-afternoon and the Captain had already called the museum curator and asked if he could meet them at the dock. Harold Strauss was the curator of the U-boat Museum in Wilmington and was a wealth of information when it came to World War II, German ships and U-boats and wartime wrecks in the area. The fact that the U-756 had just been discovered just a few months ago meant that there was still a lot to be learned about this wreck. Strauss had researched the U-576 after it was discovered and was amazed to find out that very little was known or written about it after 1943, when it last sailed on a secret mission. Strauss had also dove the U-576 and made the same observation as Gary and Reed, that it appeared the sub had been blown up from inside the boat versus being sunk by a depth charge. He too thought this was a bit strange and was anxious to see the mystery box that his friends had retrieved.

  The dive boat arrived back at the dock about 3:00 pm and Strauss met with Gary, Reed and the boat’s Captain. He studied the steel container and was intrigued by its construction and the embossed emblem on its lid. He thought it would make a nice addition to the U-boat museum collection, as he had never seen this type of object from other U-boat wrecks in the NC area. The group agreed that Strauss would take the container back to the Museum and tomorrow they would all gather to discuss opening it and seeing what was inside.

  POST-PANDEMIC DAYS

  Several months before the U-756 was discovered off the U.S. Coast, a pa
ndemic that had broken out in the Northeast had finally been brought under control. Although local and national news sources had covered the spread of a mysterious virus, that could turn people into zombie like creatures, the U.S. Government had never released any information on how the virus had initially materialized on its shores. The files were immediately classified and would remain classified for years to come. The files reflected that authorities finally ascertained that the virus used by ISIS had been a super weapon developed by the Nazis during World War II and that Hitler and Himmler had personally overseen the project. Agents from the U.S. working with German Intelligence had uncovered classified records that were still held by the German Government outlining the wartime project. Josef Mengele, the doctor in charge of Auschwitz, and a group of doctors had successfully combined the flu, plague and rabies viruses to form a super virus. Reichsfuhrer Himmler had been appointed by Hitler to oversee the project and to deliver the virus to the shores of the United States. Himmler had used three U-boats to deliver the virus to different locations on the East Coast. Commando teams were then to bring the virus containers ashore to German agents who were already in place. Mengele had also developed special canisters and outer containers to protect the virus, which remained in a dormant stage until it was again exposed to the atmosphere. German war records reflected that three U-boats had set sail for the United States sometime in 1943; however, all contact was lost with them before they reached their final destinations. Himmler finally assumed that the submarines had been detected by Allied forces and subsequently sunk. No communications were ever heard from the U-boats and there was no indication that the super virus had ever been released in America. Himmler assumed the project was a failure and abandoned it.