A Man and a Plane: An Alternate Germany

by Joseph T Major

  Military things were giving him a headache anyhow. Last month there had been a bruising argument with Noske, all because Guderian was trying to put an officer named Hoepner in command of III Panzerkorps. They had all trooped into his office to settle the matter, Guderian, Fritsch, Beck, and finally (showing his independence) Noske. Noske had stomped in, sat down in front of Manfred, reached into a pocket, pulled out his little black book of Kapp Putschists, thumbed through the pages, and declared, "There he is. 'Hoepner, Erich.' One of the premature Nazis who failed to defend the Reich against its domestic foes. Herr Reichskanzler, why is this man even in the army? I thought I had made it clear that those who would pick and choose who to defend the Reich against would have no part in its defense! No part at all!"

  The argument had lasted all afternoon, with Beck in particular quoting a number of comments the man had made at their Wednesday Club about how Schleicher had gone off the deep end and he was one of the saner in the lot . . . Finally, Noske had dramatically thrust the book back into his pocket and glared at Beck. "Herr General, you will regret it! On the day when Schleicher marches on Berlin, or this jumped-up radio man Heydrich, and your good friend says he cannot take up arms against good Germans, you will regret it!"

  He glared at Manfred. "Herr Reichskanzler, if the elections were not next month, I would resign here and now! Good day!"

  Manfred had left for Schweidnitz that evening, even though it was a Wednesday.

  This was what he was trying to forget. Ryti came up to the Distinguished Guest. "You mustn't monopolize the two fairest ladies at my party, Herr von Richthofen!"

  Carmen said, "Shall we dance?" and held out a hand to Randolph, who seemed almost too eager to follow, or lead, as the case might be.

  "What an excellent idea, George," Earhart said, and she and her husband swept off.

  Manfred sized up the Finnish premier. "It looks as if you have accomplished your goal." He put his arm around the man's shoulders and led him off, "You must understand that in a week I shall only be the former Reichskanzler. I believe there will be enough continuity in foreign policy, though you understand I cannot commit my successor . . ."

  Next morning he had a more pleasant task. The Finnish airline executives liked the new aircraft. What amazed them most was not when he went back into the plane and discussed features with the passengers, or when he shouted out an order to the pilot and it was obeyed, but when he said, "I am getting old." There was a small laugh before he went on, "Because I am no longer the hot young terror of the skies, I am co-pilot to a fine young flyer. You should meet our pilot. If you will excuse me . . ."

  He went forward and opened the cockpit door wide, then took a seat and strapped himself in. "I have it," he said.

  The pilot began to unstrap, then stood up and walked back into the passenger compartment, and bowed to the passengers. "Welcome to the Focke-Wulf Kondor passenger airplane, Herren," Carmen said. "I hope I have demonstrated to your satisfaction how easy it is to fly it. Our aircraft includes many advanced features, not just in the passenger section. You have a question?

  "Yes, there are many women who fly. In the Reich we have the daring Frau Hanna Reitsch, and in America Frau Earhart is only one of many. I myself had the pleasure of meeting her friend Frau Florenz, er Florence Barnes last winter, in Florida . . "

  They were very impressed.

  Neurath was retiring to begin with. Franz von Papen went to midnight mass at home, voted, and took the train to Berlin, all the better to move into the Foreign Ministry. He had read the numbers, and had made an offer to the Social Democrats -- through a third party, due to the ingrained prejudices of some people, still holding on to old feuds -- for a preliminary coalition. As usual, there would be no single party with enough seats to form a government, so he was quite willing to temper the radicalism of the Reds in order to ensure a stable, orderly government. People didn't appreciate all he had done!

  Therefore he was sitting in what was, at least nominally and for the moment, Neurath's office at the Foreign Ministry building, but wearing his security services hat and figuring out what to do about Heines. SA-Obergruppenführer Eduard Heines had resumed his place at Röhm's side (or even, some said, in his bed) after his release from jail. Now he was making a visit to Paris "for reconciliation with our honorable comrades on the other side of the Front".

  But his musings on domestic security were interrupted when the Ambassador of the Soviet Union was announced. He got to his feet; even a Bolshevik deserved a modicum of courtesy. One respected the office of Ambassador, not the Bolshevik thug who filled it.

  "Herr Dekanosow," he said with a smile. It was the last time he smiled that day.

  At the Bendlerstrasse, Gustav Noske was throwing papers into the trash. You trust people and they betray you! He was just going to wash his hands of the matter! Monday, or Tuesday at the latest, there would be a new government and he could go home! Perhaps lecture in America, after a while, there was money in that. There would be enough trouble at home and he should leave it behind him.

  He looked up and then glared at the man who had entered the office he was leaving. "Well, Herr Beck, unless they betray you too I expect you will be here tomorrow!" he barked. The retiring Chief of the Truppenamt looked rather wild-eyed. He had recommended the man to his party as his successor, and he at least would stick by his word. Beck would see soon enough how trustworthy this Kapp's-man Hoepner was.

  Beck clicked his heels and saluted. "It's not 1920, Herr Minister. We have to move."

  "Get up, you fornicating dog!"

  General der Flieger Ernst Ritter von Udet raised his head from his desk and said with a groan, "For God's sake don't shout like that . . . Herr Generaloberst von Fritsch!"

  He had gone back to the Air Ministry after that wild blow-out last night . . . ach that blonde who worked for Heinkel, what did they call her? "Jetta" that was it! What a woman! How much champagne did the Heinkel representatives serve? And the Munitions Testing Office had sent their own "Frau im Mond", wearing a bubble helmet and two strips of cloth, like in those American magazines Manfred read . . .

  "At least you are showing some sense of duty," the Army Commander continued, as proper as the damned Prussian he was.

  A moment later Udet was terrifyingly sober, wishing dearly that he was drunk again.

  "I am not a Chancellor, I am a free man!" Manfred bellowed at the sky. He taxied the Ju-160 to a halt, shut off the engine, and waited for the men to put the chocks in before disembarking. He had flown home from Helsinki, voted after church, and now had flown back to Berlin to hand over to his successor -- probably Leuschner of the Social Democrats. How they would get along with the Center now . .

  "Yes, I am a free man!" he said again, appreciating the play on words -- frei Herr and Freiherr. He wondered if Earhart would appreciate the joke. "Today I am a free man, a free man, a free man!" He unstrapped himself, got up and went to the door, opened it, and stepped down onto the tarmac.

  They had come down to greet him. It was quite a delegation: Papen, Fritsch, Udet, Beck, and Noske, all looking as if the gates of Hell were gaping before them. Manfred went over to them, trying to act jolly. "Have you come to congratulate me on my freedom! I couldn't have done it without you people! . . ."

  "You tell him," Papen said.

  "You saw it first, you tell him!" Udet snapped back.

  His freedom and joy crashed around him then.

  To say the least, Monday's session of the Reichstag was unusual. The Guards were out, but in field uniforms, protecting the building. The Reichstag members who took their seats were the old members, even though they all knew that when the votes were counted some would be out. And at least one changed; Göring, now sitting besides Hugenberg, behind the new DNVP leaders, his new party, looking nervously at Goebbels, then looking at the podium, then at the floor, over and over again in a herky-jerky fashion.

  Not to mention that police came in and sat around the Bolsheviks. Fischer glared defiance; beside
him, Münzenberg slumped in surrender.

  At ten, Wels rapped on the podium and called the assembly to order. "The Herr Reichskanzler requests leave to address the Reichstag. Unanimous consent, it is so approved. Herr Reichskanzler."

  The man who entered might well have been the headman of a junta, Kapp and his generals returned triumphant. But Beck had been right, it was not 1920 now, but 1919. And the Chancellor was a junior officer, a Major, in the sky-blue uniform of the Luftstreitkräfte. Though one might have believed otherwise, from the vast array of medals that glittered across his chest, topped by the blue star of the Pour le Mérite with its golden oak leaves. He leaned on his Geschwader-Stock, the walking stick of the Kommandeur of the Richthofengeschwader. The Kommodore of JG 1 used a copy; this was the original, in the hand of its original wielder.

  Manfred ascended the tribunal with his shoulders set, laboring under doom, a deadly silence echoed in the silence of the Reichstag members. He propped his walking stick against the podium, put a speech on it, and looked up at the members, who hung upon his words before he had ever spoken them.

  "Herren und Damen members," he said. "In view of the situation I will be brief.

  "Yesterday, the Ambassador of the Soviet government presented an ultimatum to the then acting Foreign Minister. Revolutionary elements in Poland, or so they say, have attempted to overthrow the fascist Polish government and have called upon the fraternal socialists of the Soviet Union for assistance, which is being granted.

  "Once the Rydz/Moscicki/Beck clique is overthrown, or so they say, the Polish People's Government will be open to discussions about the revision of the borders in Silesia, Pomerania, and East Prussia. Until then, the Reich has been told not to interfere in the internal affairs of the socialist state of Poland."

  He paused and looked over the members. Were they as frightened as he was? His throat was hideously dry and he took a drink of water before going on.

  "After meeting with the leaders of the major parties, I have gone to His Imperial Majesty and accepted the leadership of a National government. We are filling the principal ministries, but I have asked several of the more experienced ministers from the previous government to remain.

  "As Reichskanzler of the new government, I met with the Soviet Ambassador last night and informed him that the Reich had utterly rejected this ultimatum. Whatever we may think of the Poles, we cannot tolerate a Bolshevik government on our borders.

  "The Reichswehr has been mobilized. Army reservists are to report to barracks; volunteers will be accepted at the Wehrkreis offices for training. Those with previous service in the War will be organized into a Landesturm, a home guard which will protect barracks, supply depots, rail lines, and such, so that soldiers will not need to be detached for this crucial duty.

  "The Navy has been ordered to man all its ships and be ready to put to sea. Air Force planes have been fighting with the Bolsheviks over East Prussia, Lithuania, and Poland itself, and I am reliably informed that our pilots have already achieved several victories.

  "Masses of Red Army troops have poured over the Polish border, covered by swarms of Red Air Force fighters and bombers. Some of our attack airplanes have been bombing the lead columns of the Soviet forces. Officers of the Reichswehr ministry have left for Warsaw to coordinate with the Polish army the joint defense of our countries.

  "I have spoken with the Czechoslovak President, Herr Beneš, and with the Austrian Chancellor, Herr Dollfuss. Both have agreed to mobilize and will send troops to join the defense. I have been informed by the French Ambassador that France will adhere to the terms of its defensive treaty with Poland and dispatch troops to their assistance. I ask that this body vote to assist the French, to permit their troop trains to use the Reicheisenbahn and the French Armee de l'Air to fly across the airspace of the Reich.

  "I am informed that the English Parliament has been recalled, and that their Prime Minister, Herr Chamberlain, will be stepping down due to ill health. Their Navy Minister, Herr Churchill, has mobilized their Fleet to defend against any Soviet submarines operating out of the Arctic ports.

  "Herr Mussolini has, I understand, denounced the Soviet actions, and so has the Herr General Franco. Herr Inönü of Turkey has declared the Montreux Convention to be in force and has closed the Dardanelles to belligerent shipping. I do not foresee any threat to the Reich from our south.

  "The new Reich Foreign Minister Herr von Papen will leave for Geneva this afternoon, to present the Reich's case to the League of Nations. We will move immediately for a collective response to this aggression. The Soviets have taken on the entire world; we are a key part in this effort opposing them. We are taking a rightful part in the community of nations; not as an arrogant leader, not as a servile follower, but as a full and equal partner, working with other nations to defend the peace of the world and preserve the honor of the Reich, of all the nations."

  Now he turned to stare first to his right, then to his left. "There are certain groups within this chamber that have allegiances that may be contrary to their allegiance to the Reich and to its laws. As for any who will not swear loyalty to the laws and the nation, to the Kaiser and the constitution, I ask that this body vote to exclude them during the period of the crisis.

  "The Kaiser will address the nation over the radio at noon today, to lay before them the gravity of this crisis, and I will speak after him. Now, as it was in 1813, the survival of the nation is at stake.

  "May God preserve our sacred Germany in this hour of trial."

  He looked very old.

  Germany, Tuesday, August 5, 1940 -- Friday, August 8, 1940

  Munich, Bavaria

  The Wehrkreis headquarters, the old Bavarian War Ministry building, was besieged by the SA again. But peaceably now; they stood proud under the old Imperial flag and under their Swastika banner in formed ranks outside the building. Thousands of beer-roughened voices sang, not Die Fahne Hoch, but the national anthem: "Deutschland, Deutschland, über Alles, über Alles in die Welt . . ."

  Inside, a gross, battle-scarred figure stood at attention before the recruiting officer. "Herr Leutnant, inform your superiors that I have arrived with four hundred thousand trained, organized, and eager veterans, an entire army equal in numbers and superior in morale, combat technique, doctrine, and racial purity to the blind, ignorant, slack and sloppy Jew-loving drill-pigs of the Weimarwehr," Ernst Röhm said, confidently.

  "In its hour of need, I place at the disposal of the Reich this battle-tested, fully mobilized, eager force, an entire army of Stosstruppen from the glorious victories of the War, the army that won the War until the Jews stabbed the Reich in the back. I require that it be maintained under its own officers and sent into battle under its own command. As for myself, I will accept the rank of Generaloberst und SA-Oberstgruppenführer, as my men shall bear double rank to show their proud lineage as members of the glorious Sturmabteilungen. My headquarters will be at the front; I need not cower in bunkers like the worthless, effete red-banded partridges of the Generalstab.

  "Under my leadership, the brave men of my Volksarmee shall utterly smash the Judeobolshevik menace on the plains of the east, and bring those lands under the German flag, manuring them with the blood of the subhumans who presently defile it with their foul presence. Sieg Heil!" He shot out his arm in the Nazi salute.

  The leutnant was overwhelmed. He made a call, which shot up to the top with blazing speed.

  For all that there was one Reichswehr in the Reich, under the leadership of the Kaiser, the direction of the Reichskanzler, command of Herr Generaloberst von Fritsch, and the direction of Herr Reichswehr Minister Noske, Bavaria retained some control in its own house, some modicum of its own command outside the sway of those Prussians. Those officers and men in Bavarian-based regiments were sworn in by their King and his own officers, for all that they wore the Prussian shroud, for example.

  And so, for all that the commandant of Wehrkreis VII was an officer of the German Army, he served simultaneously in b
oth the Reichsheer and the Königliche Bayerische Heer, for all that the latter existed only in the names of army regiments. Besides being Bavarian born and bred, he had the peculiar distinction of having been eminently acceptable to both Noske and Papen; the latter had known him in the War, in Turkey. The Reichswehr Minister approved of anyone who had taken steps to check the Nazis after the Beer Hall Putsch, and one of his tasks was making sure that that lamentable incident was not repeated.

  Generalleutnant a.D Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein was therefore quite accustomed to sending off this fat swine and his brown-shirted bar-lizards. He entered the recruiting office, acknowledged the salute of the unfortunate leutnant behind the desk, then confronted Röhm.

  "Herr Röhm," he said, slowly, coldly, almost like a Prussian, "this war is not to be fought in Biergartens, neither will the weapons be steins. If such were the case, I might advise our Chancellor to choke down his pride, or his gorge, and take your veteran boozers into service.

  "This is a real war we are fighting. You are not fit to be a soldier! Dis-missed, ex-Hauptmann Röhm!"

  "Herr General --" Röhm began.

  "ORDERLY SERGEANT!" Kress von Kressenstein bellowed. "There is a civilian here obstructing military matters, have him kicked out at ONCE!"

  Saarbrücken, Saarland

  "Commandant Piroth will be in charge of the railway here," General Corap said, dismissively. "Monsieur le directeur, you and all your men will be under his orders. We will move at least one hundred and fifty thousand troops through these yards in the next few days. Any saboteurs will be shot! Comprends?"

  Outside, the Reichseisenbahn switching yard was full of French railway cars, quarante-et-huits loaded with poilus, their gear, ammunition, rations . . . it was 1919 again. Engines backed up and shifted loads, pushed civilian freight to the side, moved soldiers from one siding to another and then back again. Shouted orders in French, imprecations in German, and the cacophony of whistles, the clack of wheels, the pall of coal smoke made the scene if not quite outright hellish, much like a vestibule of the Inferno.