by Alex Gerlis
‘Could he not have had custody of Alfred himself?’ asked Basil Remington-Barber.
‘A good question: Gunter told me he could have done and if he had contested custody he’d almost certainly have won, though Alfred’s status would be a difficult one. The Nazis say that anyone who has three or more Jewish grandparents is a Jew. Someone like Alfred, who has two Jewish grandparents, is what the Nazis call a mischlinge, which means a ‘crossbreed’ – like a dog. Nonetheless, Gunter felt he could have taken Alfred in and dealt with that – there are ways, you know. But Gudrun, his second wife, would have none of it. As far as she was – and is – concerned, he’s to have no contact whatsoever with his first family.
‘Now what I am about to say is complicated and highly sensitive: forgive me if I’m unclear as to the exact dates. Essentially, what I believe happened is that soon after war was declared, Rosa did go to Paris with the two children and Harald was meant to follow them. But he was arrested and taken to a camp for Jews and political prisoners, called Sachsenhausen. For some foolish reason, in an act of utter madness, Rosa retuned to Berlin with the children in an effort to get Harald freed. She failed and had to go into hiding, and a few months later she heard Harald was dead.’
‘And has Gunter been in touch with them?’
‘Yes, since January or February 1940. There’s a Berlin lawyer called Franz Hermann who’s an old friend of Rosa’s. He’s hiding Rosa and the children in his mother’s house in the city and Gunter is able to visit them. They’re trapped there though. Hermann is the connection between Gunter and Rosa and the children.’
‘And you say that Gunter told you all this last year?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you remember when last year?’
‘Maybe March… possibly April. In fact, that was when he started diverting the money into our private accounts – he said the reason he was doing this was that he needed the money was to help Rosa and Alfred. I was last in Berlin at the very end of January, just a couple of weeks ago. It was a very short visit and I only saw Gunter on his own very briefly. He said to me that if he were able to arrange for Alfred to be brought out of Germany, would I promise to look after him in Switzerland? I said yes… What else could I say? That’s why he told me about the lawyer, Hermann. He also said he may even need my assistance to help get Alfred out. That was the last I heard – until we met today.’
Michael Hedinger looked less nervous now, as if he was pleased to have got things off his chest. His pale head was wet with perspiration, the strands of hair now plastered to it. Edgar was nodding his head, taking everything in and thinking, while Henry looked bemused, unsure of what his role in all this was meant to be. It was Edgar who spoke next.
‘How often do you go to Berlin?’
‘Perhaps every other month.’
‘And other Bank Leu officials, how often do they go?’
‘Hard to say exactly, but on a very regular basis. Look, the Reichsbank is one of our most important clients, but it’s a very sensitive relationship. The money they’re placing with us comes from sources that require utmost discretion on our part.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘The Nazis have confiscated millions of Reichsmarks from Jews and plundered money from the countries they’ve occupied. They need to move that money around; so much of it comes to banks like ours to be converted into Swiss Francs, which is probably the safest currency in the world at the moment. They’re also sending us a lot of gold, not just us – all the Swiss banks. The business we get from Germany is extremely profitable, so we prefer to deal with the Reichsbank in person. We ask very few questions and we leave nothing to chance.’
‘Do you send couriers to Germany?’
‘Of course. Every week, if not more frequently. Documents need to be signed, letters need to be delivered. Couriers are a very important part of our relationship with them.’
‘And these couriers are…?’
‘Employees of Bank Leu or people who do this on a regular basis – people we know and trust.’
Edgar was thinking and looking around the table. His eyes fell on Henry, and he smiled while addressing the Swiss. ‘Tell me Herr Hedinger, do you have the authority to decide who can be a courier on your behalf?’
‘Yes, in fact only in November I used my own brother-in-law.’
‘I see.’ Edgar was still looking directly at Henry as he spoke. Henry was beginning to feel uncomfortable. ‘So Henry here could become one of your couriers?’
‘I’m not sure, maybe he…’
‘You don’t need to worry. Herr Hesse is a Swiss citizen and a regular visitor to Germany himself. I have no doubt he’d be a most capable courier on behalf of Bank Leu.’
***
Michael Hedinger left the apartment at 6.30. Before he went, Edgar pressed him on how soon he could arrange Henry’s accreditation.
‘It’s now Friday evening, so obviously I can’t do anything before Monday. It’ll take me a few days from then. We have a procedure at the bank, you see. Fortunately I’m in a position to organise my own couriers, but the paperwork has to be done properly, otherwise we’ll arouse suspicion. If Herr Hesse can give me his passport now, that’ll speed things up. Also, remember I’ll need to sort out paperwork for Alfred. That won’t be easy.’
Edgar nodded at Henry, who looked as shocked as he had done when he first heard about the plans for his trip to Berlin. He removed his passport from his jacket pocket and handed it over to Hedinger.
‘How soon then?’
‘By the end of next week. I’m sure I can have it sorted by then.’
‘End of the week! I thought it could be done in a day or two.’
The Swiss shook his head vigorously. ‘No, no, no – I told you, we have our procedures. I need to fill in the form, send it to the correct department, they need to process it, then the form has to be counter-signed by a director. Once that’s all done, I need to arrange Herr Hesse’s registration as an official courier of Bank Leu with the German consulate here in Zürich. I can assure you it’ll take a week. Hopefully by next Friday morning it’ll be sorted.’
They agreed they would meet again at the apartment the following Friday lunchtime. As well as Henry’s accreditation, Hedinger would bring along documents for him to take to Bank Leu’s clients in Berlin. They waited for Michael Hedinger to leave the apartment and all three of them stood at the window watching him cross Basteiplatz.
‘I thought that went rather well Edgar. Good work.’
‘Thank you Basil. This scheme of his and Reinhart really is most helpful. I was able to tell him that unless he fully co-operated with us, we may be obliged to inform the Swiss authorities. It means that we have him over a barrel. So, Henry, you’re going to Berlin. Looking forward to it I hope?’
Henry had poured himself a glass of whisky that he drank in one go. ‘It’s madness: you seriously want me to go to Berlin pretending to be a courier for a Swiss Bank then return accompanied by an 11-year-old half-Jewish boy? It’ll never work.’
‘Why shouldn’t it? Your Swiss identity is perfectly genuine and your visit to Stuttgart last year would’ve been in order as far as the Germans are concerned. After all, they’ve no idea you went to Essen. If you get questioned, you simply say you now have a job as a courier for a bank.’
‘And the boy?’
‘We’ll see what paperwork Hedinger comes up with, but it’s in his interests for it to be good.’
‘It’ll have to be more than good, Edgar. I’m not sure whether you’re aware of it, but the Swiss are doing their level best to stop Jews crossing the border from Germany. They’ll be looking out for the likes of him.’
‘Yes, I’m aware of that, thank you Henry. But they’ll not be looking out for the likes of you, will they? And the fact he’s with you, in whatever capacity… well that ought to ensure a safe passage. Anyway, that’s only half of the story.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Obviously we didn’t
want to say too much in front of Herr Hedinger, but going to Berlin and coming back with the boy is only half your mission. Once the boy is safely in Zürich, Herr Hedinger will send a coded message to Gunter Reinhart. Herr Reinhart has an extremely important document that he’ll hand over to us once he knows his son is safe. It’s a document that could determine the future course of the war, so it’s vital it’s brought out of Germany as soon as possible.’
‘How’s it going to be brought out, Edgar?’
‘By you, Henry!’
***
Chapter 18: Switzerland, February 1941
After the meeting in the apartment on the Basteiplatz, Henry was instructed to return to Geneva for a few days while Michael Hedinger sorted out all the paperwork.
‘Basil will come and collect you on the Thursday. Just act normally until then,’ had been Edgar’s advice.
As soon as Henry arrived at Gare Cornavin on the Saturday he walked to a phone booth in a quiet area at the back of the station. The call was brief and, as a result of it, he found himself on the Monday evening in the private room at the back of the Armenian restaurant in Grand-Lancy where Viktor had first taken him in 1931.
‘So, Edgar himself was in Zürich, was he synok?’ Viktor sounded incredulous, so much so he had poured himself another glass of something that to Henry tasted like liquorice-flavoured acid. ‘I don’t suppose he told you how he got to Switzerland?’
Henry shook his head. ‘I presume he came on some roundabout route.’
‘I’m not interested in presumptions, synok. I’m interested in facts. It’s quite a feat to travel from England to Switzerland these days, so it was obviously by a roundabout route: he was hardly going to fly direct, was he? I’d be curious to know what that route is. You know, it would be a pleasure to meet your Captain Edgar. I think we’d have much in common, despite everything. Tell me Henry, this must be important if Edgar himself has come to Switzerland.’
‘I have to go to Berlin next week. I’ll be using my own identity and acting as a courier for Bank Leu. I’ve to bring a boy back from Berlin, a Jew, or a half-Jew to be precise. Once I deliver the boy to Zürich I’m supposed to return to Berlin, where I’ll be given a document to bring back to Switzerland.’
‘That’s it?’
Henry laughed. ‘That’s it? Surely, smuggling a Jew out of Germany then returning to collect a document is enough isn’t it?’
‘What I meant was whether you can tell me any more.’
‘Edgar said the document is so important it could decide the future course of the war. I asked him what he meant and he was reluctant to tell me at first, but I told him if I was going to put my life on the line by going into Berlin twice then I had a right to know. So he told me it’s a document from the very top of the Reich – those were his words – about a proposed German invasion of the Soviet Union.’
Viktor had removed a pencil from his top pocket and had been in the process of sharpening it when Henry said this. He stopped, the knife poised in mid-air, pointing towards Henry.
‘Say that again.’
‘The document is to do with a proposed German invasion of the Soviet Union.’
Henry could have sworn the deep lines on the Russian’s face grew as he took in what he’d just been told.
‘Edgar told you this?’
‘Yes: he seemed to regret having told me as soon as he’d done so, but I was quite persuasive, don’t you think?’
‘When you return from Berlin the second time – with the document, that is – did he say where you go?’
‘Zürich, because that’s where I’m supposed to be based: it would look suspicious to Germans if I went elsewhere in Switzerland. However, once I get to Zürich, I’m to hand the routine bank papers over to the contact at Bank Leu then head straight to Bern to give the document to Edgar.’
Viktor looked worried, lowering his head in thought then looking up to the ceiling for inspiration.
‘Plans for a German invasion of the Soviet Union, you say?’
Henry nodded.
‘You don’t know what day you will be back in Zürich with the document, do you synok?’
‘No. Edgar said that all being well I go on the first trip to Berlin a week today, which I think is the 24th. Depending on how things go, I’ll probably be back there the following Monday, which would be 3rd March, I suppose. So I guess I’ll be back in Zürich sometime that week. Maybe the Wednesday: the sooner the better.’
‘We’ll be waiting in Zürich for you: don’t head to Bern until we’ve made contact with you. Do you understand?’
‘Of course. But how will you know when I’m there? Edgar says I’m not to hang around in Zürich: I’m to go from the station to Bank Leu, hand over the bank’s papers then go straight back to the station and travel to Bern.’
Viktor removed his heavy coat and paced around the room. From an inside jacket pocket he took out a small notebook and leafed through it. When he found what he was looked for he wrote on a piece of paper, which he then handed to Henry.
‘Here, memorise this number. When you arrive back in Zürich, ring it and say Peter is coming round for dinner: that is all. Peter is coming round for dinner. They’ll reply by asking if you’re bringing wine with you. If you say yes, we’ll know you have the document. We’ll meet you at Zürich Hauptbahnhof exactly one hour after the phone call, you understand?’
***
The journey to Berlin began in Zürich, in the borrowed apartment above the hardware shop on Basteiplatz. Michael Hedinger arrived a shade after a quarter past one on the Friday, breathless and busily explaining how he had been waiting on one extra document.
‘I have to be back at my office by two o’clock for a meeting. I have everything here.’
From his brown leather briefcase Hedinger removed a number of items, which he placed neatly in front of him on the table. He took Henri Hesse’s Swiss passport from the top of the pile and handed it to him.
‘All is in order, Herr Hesse. Thanks to our excellent relationship with the German consulate here in Zürich your passport now allows you to travel freely between Switzerland and Germany a maximum of six times over the next six months – until 20th August to be precise. That is a routine arrangement for our couriers.’
Edgar and Remington-Barber both studied the visa, emblazoned with a swastika and a rampant eagle, and made approving noises.
‘And here are the documents you’re carrying from Bank Leu to the Reichsbank in Berlin, for the attention of Herr Reinhart: they are, of course, the purpose of your trip as far as the German authorities are concerned. You’ll see they’re all in sealed envelopes. I’d ask that they remain that way until they’re handed over. In this envelope…’ he passed a long white envelope with the bank’s crest to Henry, ‘is your letter of accreditation from the bank and here are your rail tickets from Zürich to Berlin: you change at Stuttgart. It’s a long journey, but you’ll travel first-class which is very tolerable. I’ve taken the liberty of booking you on the train that departs Zürich at six o’clock on Monday morning. You should be in Berlin by six o’clock that evening.’
Another envelope was handed to Henry.
‘In Berlin you’ll stay at the Kaiserhof: our couriers either stay there or at the Excelsior on Askanischer Platz, but the Kaiserhof is rather charming and is slightly closer to the centre. It’s certainly more discreet than the Adlon: everyone stays at the Adlon, it is not private enough I think – too many journalists and possibly spies. Here’s the letter of confirmation from the Kaiserhof. The bill will be settled directly by the bank, you don’t need to worry about that. Your room will be en-suite.’
Henry checked the contents of the envelope.
‘Very efficient, Herr Hedinger,’ said Edgar. ‘I trust you’ve addressed the somewhat more complicated issue of young Alfred?’
Hedinger nodded. ‘I’m proposing he travels under the identity of my own son, Andreas.’
The banker pulled a large white handkerchief from a
pocket and used it to wipe his forehead. He hesitated a while before he spoke again. ‘I have to be honest with you, this has been most difficult. I’ve had sleepless nights over it. I’ve never met Alfred but Gunter has shown me photographs of him. Alfred is 11 or 12. My own son, Andreas, is ten, but is tall for his age. I wouldn’t say Andreas and Alfred look alike, but I think with a bit of imagination, you could ensure that at the very least they don’t look too different, if you see what I mean. Here’s his passport.’
The three men studied the passport photo of Andreas Hedinger. His black hair was straight and had a distinctive parting low down on the left side. He wore a pair of round, wire-framed glasses.
‘Here are the very glasses Andreas is wearing in that picture.’ Hedinger brought a pair of spectacles out of his briefcase. ‘We bought him a brand-new pair yesterday. I think if you make sure Alfred’s hair is like Andreas’s and he wears these glasses, then you have a chance.’