The Proud Shall Stumble

by Gerald N. Lund

  “I know, but. . . .”

  “But it will be painful for her if we do,” Edie finished for him.

  “Yes. Very much so. She has so much admiration for you both, and now she feels like she ruined everything.”

  “But we don’t feel that way,” Edie cried.

  “I know that. And, actually, she knows it too. But. . . .” Frank bit his lip. “Can it be just you and Dad who come out to say good-bye to us tomorrow? It will be so much harder for Celeste if it’s everyone. Especially Benj.”

  Edie immediately nodded. “Yes. They’ll understand. It will just be us.”

  Frank bent down, kissed his mother on the cheek, and then shook hands with his father. No more words were spoken. He slipped out of the door and shut it quietly behind him. As it clicked shut, Edie turned and fell onto her pillow and began to sob. Mitch sat down beside her, resting his hand on her back, not knowing how else to comfort her.

  February 24, 1924, 4:10 p.m.—Stadelheim Prison,

  Geising District, South Munich

  Emilee Fromme Eckhardt noticed two things when the guard came into the visitors’ room with her husband trailing behind him. First, Hans no longer wore wrist and ankle chains. Second, he was still limping badly.

  The guard marched Hans up to where Emilee and Wolfie were waiting. Hans’s eyes were fixed on Emilee. His expression was somber, but he managed a wan smile.

  “Please listen carefully,” the guard said in a clipped, officious tone, addressing the two visitors. “You were both thoroughly searched before entering the prison, correct?”

  Emilee felt herself blush as she nodded. “Thoroughly” was an understatement. Even though it had been a female guard who had searched her, it had been an embarrassing and humiliating experience. Wolfie had taken time off from work to drive her down here and had been introduced to the assistant superintendent of the prison as a high official in the Ministry of the Interior. It had made no difference. They had taken Wolfie to another side room and made him strip down to his underwear, which had infuriated him. But he only nodded now too.

  “Gut.” The guard’s expression softened a little. “Frau Eckhardt, you may briefly embrace the prisoner, but then you will step back and you must not touch again. Verstehen?”

  “Ja, I understand.”

  He turned to Wolfie. “And you, Herr Grohl, may briefly shake hands, but that is all. You are not to pass anything to the prisoner, no matter how trivial it may seem to you.”

  Emilee greeted Hans first. As she stepped forward with a sob that was half pain, half joy, Hans opened his arms and she fell into his embrace. She tipped her head back and they kissed softly and tenderly. Hans reached up and touched her cheek. “Oh, Schatzi, how I have missed you,” he said, struggling with his own emotions.

  “I said briefly!” the guard snapped.

  Emilee backed away and Wolfie stepped forward. As the men shook hands firmly, Hans murmured, “Danke, Wolfie. Thank you so much for bringing her.”

  “Bitte. Anytime.”

  Three badly worn wooden chairs were the room’s only furnishings. The guard motioned for Hans to take the nearest one, which he did. Emilee and Wolfie took the other two, which were facing him but were separated from him by a good ten feet. As they settled in and the guard moved back to one corner of the room, Emilee studied her husband’s face. It still had a greyish tinge to it, but it was nothing like it had been when she had first seen him in the hospital. That had been almost three months ago now. At that time, his face had been such a ghastly, greyish-green color that she had nearly fainted. Now it was filling out somewhat again, and Hans looked more like himself. But it was still painful for Emilee to look at him. She forced a quick smile. “No chains today?”

  “No. Not for a week now. I’m not sure why.” Hans paused, then, “So how are my two little sweethearts?”

  “They’re doing well, but they keep asking where Vati is and when he’s coming home.”

  “I wish I knew the answer to that.”

  Wolfie leaned forward. “I think we have some answers for you, Hans. But I’ll let Emilee tell you about the family first. We only have fifteen minutes with you, so we will have to be brief.”

  Emilee jumped right in. “We had a party to celebrate Jolanda’s second birthday a couple of weeks ago,” she said. “I wish you could have seen her eyes, especially when I gave her the princess tiara and pink dress to go with it and told her they were your present to her. Now she keeps saying, ‘I Princess Jo.’ And she still takes the tiara to bed with her each night.”

  “Ah,” Hans said in a choked voice. “How I miss them.”

  “I brought them back with me from Graswang yesterday,” Emilee went on. “That was hard. Especially for Alisa. It’s been wonderful for them to be with their cousins and aunts and uncles all this time. And with Oma Eckhardt, of course. All of your family send their warmest greetings. Inga told me to tell you that she prays for you night and morning.”

  Hans laughed softly, but there was a bitter edge to it. “That’s my Mutti. But tell her that prayers can’t penetrate the stone walls of a prison.”

  “You’re alive, aren’t you?” Emilee shot right back at him. “And you’re walking.”

  “Sorry,” he mumbled. “Tell her thank you.”

  “Anyway, I brought the girls back with me because I want us to be in Munich and close by now that the trial is beginning.”

  Hans frowned. “Emilee, you can’t go down to Landsberg every day. It’s a fifty-mile trip, or more. You can’t leave the girls that long.”

  Emilee gave him a strange look. “You haven’t heard? The trial isn’t out there. It is to be held here in Munich, at the old infantry barracks there on Blutenburgstrasse.”

  “Really?” Hans asked eagerly, his face lighting up. “They told me and Roehm that we were to be taken out to Landsberg where the rest of them are being held. So I just assumed the trial would be there. This is wonderful news. I know that base. I was stationed there when I was serving with Colonel von Schiller during the Communist uprising.”

  “Yes, and it’s only fifteen minutes away from our home. Anyway, Anna came up here to stay with me through the trial, no matter how long it takes. She brought Helene and Rudi Jr. with her, which will be wonderful for the girls. They are all such good friends.”

  “Paula and our Gretl and Bruno are at your house too at the moment,” Wolfie said. “Paula will go over there as often as she can to help Emilee.”

  “This is all wonderful news,” Hans said again in a soft voice. “Wonderful news.”

  “Once the trial begins,” Emilee went on, “I hope that they’ll give you more regular visiting privileges. And that I can bring the girls to see you too.”

  His head snapped up. “Nein!” he barked.

  “What? Why ever not?”

  Hans reached up and plucked at his grey coveralls with their broad white stripes. “Because I don’t want the girls seeing me in this. I don’t want them having that picture in their heads for the rest of their lives.”

  Emilee gave Hans a sad look but changed topics. “Wolfie has more information on the trial, but first, I also bring you greetings from Ernst and Heinz-Albert. And the Kharkovs. Fritzie and Lily and Uncle Anatoly came night before last. They send their greetings and wish you well. Fritzie brought us all kinds of food. To help us ‘see things through,’ as he put it.”

  Hans was touched. “He is a good man. Tell them I am grateful. And how is Ernst doing with the garage now that he’s running it by himself? How is business?”

  “Surprisingly good, actually. Business is picking up, and he’s hired an apprentice to help him. He asked me if I thought you would be angry about that. I told him no. He’s more than an apprentice to you now. He’d like to get a mechanic’s certificate, if you approve.”

  “Done!” Hans said. “If I need to sign anything, bring it to
me. Tell him that from this point on, he is not my employee. We are full partners. And he is to run the garage as he sees fit until I am released.” A shadow passed over his face. “However long that may be.”

  Emilee teared up. “I will tell him, Hans. Danke.”

  “It does surprise me that business is getting better. What’s going on with the inflation?”

  “Ah,” Wolfie said. “That’s one of the things we wanted to tell you. The new Reich Commissioner for National Currency has worked miracles. He traveled to London to meet with the governor of the Bank of England and a representative of the American government. He proposed to them that a second national bank of credit be created. Only this new bank would be totally backed by gold. The deal was struck in a surprisingly short amount of time. The new bank is up and running—they’re calling it the Golddiskontbank—and they are already distributing a new currency. And so far, it is remarkably stable. The inflation crisis is over.”

  “Wunderbar!” Hans exclaimed. “That’s incredibly good news.” His smile faded. “But Adolf won’t be happy to hear that.”

  Emilee was stunned. “Why not?” she exclaimed. “It’s wonderful. We can actually afford a loaf of bread again.”

  “Because the people won’t be as angry at the government now. Perhaps they’ll even decide that they won’t support the revolution anymore. No, he won’t be happy about this news.”

  Emilee was obviously shocked by his words, so Wolfie changed the subject. “So let me tell you what I’ve been able to learn about the upcoming trial.”

  “Let me say two more quick things,” Emilee said quickly, “before you get into that. First of all, how is the pain in your leg?”

  “It’s . . . getting better.”

  She didn’t miss the hesitation in Hans’s answer. “But it’s still there?”

  “Some.”

  “Do the doctors think it will go away?” Wolfie asked.

  Hans shook his head. “They don’t know. They say we just have to ‘wait and see.’ I’ve come to hate that phrase,” he added bitterly. But then he forced a smile. “But it is getting better, Emilee. Bit by bit.”

  Emilee nodded. She knew he was lying. Or at least understating it. But she said nothing. “The second thing is that Heinz-Albert asked me to tell you how much he misses you and to come home as quickly as you can.”

  Hans’s eyes softened. “Tell him I miss him too. How is he doing?”

  “Very well. I think he’s happier right now than he’s ever been before.”

  “Because of being baptized into your church?” Hans asked.

  The question surprised Emilee. “Partly. But it’s also having so many cousins and friends in the family. He never had that up in Pasewalk. He and Heidi’s boys are especially close friends. And Miki is really good with him too.”

  “And what about you? Are you happy that you were baptized?”

  Tears suddenly clouded her vision. “More than I can express, Hans. Thank you for letting me go ahead. It has been a great comfort to me through all of this.”

  He gave her a wry smile. “As if I could have stopped you.”

  Emilee smiled back. “Perhaps not, but it meant a great deal to me that you didn’t try.” She turned to Wolfie. “Our time is going quickly. Share what you have learned about the trial.”

  He nodded and reached inside his jacket. The guard immediately came to full attention. “I said no exchange whatsoever,” he growled.

  Wolfie withdrew two sheets of paper folded lengthwise. “I made a few notes about what is going on out in the world. I wanted to catch Herr Eckhardt up on the news, since he gets none in here.” He extended the papers toward the guard. “You’re welcome to look at them if you wish. I’m just going to read from them, not pass them to him.”

  The man relaxed a little. “Fine. Just stay seated where you are.”

  Nodding, Wolfie opened the papers and looked down at them. “First of all, and I think this is really significant. Did you hear that Gustav von Kahr tendered his resignation last week?”

  Hans almost leaped to his feet. “From his State Commissioner post?”

  “Ja, ja!” Wolfie said eagerly. “He’s been under a lot of criticism for how he handled things last November, first saying that he would support a coup, then losing his nerve. He didn’t say that was why he resigned, but everyone knows it. So that leaves only one of the emergency triumvirate left now.”

  “Wait! Who else left?”

  “Oh, I thought you knew. General von Lossow resigned a couple of weeks ago. Only Colonel von Seisser remains as Chief of State Police.”

  Hans sat back, his mind in a whirl. “They both resigned?”

  “Yes! Think of it. For the most part, the people are blaming them for the failure, not Hitler.”

  “So we didn’t fail?” Hans marveled in wonder.

  “Exactly. And I won’t be surprised to see Seisser follow their lead one of these days as well.”

  “Well, well,” Hans said. “That’s the best news I’ve heard since I got here.”

  “Here’s what else is happening.” Wolfie looked at his notes. “Though over a hundred people were arrested after the coup attempt, the chief judge has decided to put only eleven of you on full trial. Early on, there were reports that Hitler was quite depressed—even suicidal—after the putsch failed and—”

  “Ha!” Hans snorted. “Depressed, yes. All of us were after what happened. But suicidal? No way.”

  Wolfie shrugged. “I’m just telling you what they said in the papers. But anyway, the prison physician examined him at length a few weeks ago and pronounced him fully fit for trial. He has already been moved here to Munich.”

  “The other good news,” Emilee added, “is that everyone is saying the court won’t dare ask for life imprisonment, even though that’s what the law requires.”

  “Even though we’re charged with high treason?”

  “Yes. Isn’t that wonderful?”

  A frown furrowed Hans’s brow. It was wonderful if it were true, which he seriously doubted. In the army, one learned to discount ninety-nine percent of the scuttlebutt that went around.

  Hans stayed silent, so Emilee spoke up again. “Tell him about the astrologer, Wolfie.”

  “Astrologer?” Hans asked.

  “Yes, here in Munich. Very well known. Her name is Elsbeth Eberlin. You may remember that she made headlines when she predicted that if the Nazis attempted to overthrow the government, it would fail. When it did fail, that boosted her reputation significantly.”

  “Poppycock,” Hans sneered. “That’s what astrology is.”

  “I agree, but. . . . Well, the other day, she made another public prediction.” Wolfie read from his notes. “She now prophesies that Hitler will ‘rise from defeat and gain the ultimate victory. It will turn out,’ she goes on, ‘that recent events will not only give this movement inner strength, but external strength as well. It will be a mighty impetus to the pendulum of world history.’”

  “My word,” Hans said. “And that made the papers?”

  “Almost all of them,” Emilee said happily. “Not that I believe in astrologers, but it was nice to have someone say something positive. And not only that—”

  She stopped as the door at the back of the room was flung open and an older guard entered. He glanced at them and went over to the first guard. There was a quick, whispered interchange, and then the first guard nodded and snapped to attention. “Jawohl,” he said. He immediately came over to Hans.

  “Herr Eckhardt, I am sorry to interrupt your visit with your family. But the superintendent of the prison has just sent word. You and Captain Roehm are being transferred for the trial, and we need you to return to your cell and get your things. You are leaving in fifteen minutes, so you need to say your good-byes. My associate here will escort your family out.”

  “It�
��s all right, Hans,” Emilee said. “This is good that you’re going.” Then she suddenly remembered something and quickly fumbled in the pocket of her coat. She withdrew a folded piece of paper. Looking at the older guard, she said, “Sir, our five-year-old daughter wrote her papa a letter.” She held it out for him to inspect. “Do I have your permission to give it to him?”

  The guard glanced at it but didn’t take it from her.

  “Please. It would mean so much to her. She hasn’t seen her papa in over two months now.”

  Looking a little irritated, the guard finally took the paper from Emilee and looked at it. It was a crude child’s drawing made with crayons. Two stick figures—a man and a woman who were holding hands—were standing in front of several trees. The sky was blue and there was a sun in one corner. Two smaller figures with curly hair and wearing matching blue dresses were off to one side. They were sitting on what had to be a teeter-totter. In letters laboriously scrawled with a red crayon across the bottom, it read, “Vati. Please come take me and Jo Jo to the park.” Then next to a large, red heart was the signature, “Lisa.”

  Hans had moved over to see. Tears instantly filled his eyes. “Please,” he said to the guard. “It’s only a child’s drawing.”

  The other guard had come forward to see better. The two of them exchanged glances, and then the older guard handed the paper to Hans. “Say your good-byes quickly, Eckhardt,” he said gruffly. “You have one minute.”

  Chapter Notes

  After they were arrested, Hitler and several others who had been instrumental in the putsch were taken to Landsberg Prison, which was about forty miles west of Munich. But at least one other, Captain Ernst Roehm, was sent to Stadelheim Prison in South Munich. No explanation is given for why this was so. Most sources say that only ten of the more than one hundred men who had been arrested in the putsch were actually put on trial with Hitler. I made it eleven to accommodate the fictional character of Hans Eckhardt (see Rise and Fall, 75–78).