by Paul Grant
The key rattled in the lock and the cell door squealed open.
‘Stand, Prisoner 32!’
He lumbered to his feet in painful instalments, wondering what delights Weber had in store for him this time. The guard was tall, eyes unblinking.
‘Come with me, Prisoner 32!’
He followed, in some ways happy to be out of the cell, staring at the concrete walls, alone with his folly.
This time they weren’t going upstairs. They took a long corridor, then a right turn to another corridor. A door at the end was open. The guard waited by the door, nodding him through. The door was closed behind him, but the guard didn’t join him. He was now in a small dark corridor with six doors, three on either side. There was movement behind him. They grabbed him before he could struggle.
Inside a small room he faced a frame, one bucket hanging above another. His arms were pushed inside the wooden structure and strapped. He tried to struggle, but one of the guards squeezed his side. The pain coursed through him. They knew exactly where they’d hit him the night before.
They forced his head through into the medieval-like stocks. He looked down into one of the buckets, already half-filled with water. Weber stepped from the shadows.
‘Okay, Schultz. It’s time to see what you really know.’
A gag was pulled onto the front of his face. Ulrich kept his mouth shut, but they squeezed his ribs again. He shouted out and the gag was yanked into his open mouth.
‘Time for names, Schultz.’
Ulrich shook his head, fearful of what was coming. A rough hand pushed his head down. His nose and mouth were close to the surface of the water, his head inside the bucket. The water hit the back of his head, then it started to fill the bucket lapping over his nose then his mouth. He couldn’t breathe, he struggled, the straps digging into his arms, the pain still in his ribs.
The water was over his eyes now. Ulrich swallowed trying to pull back but not being permitted.
Finally, the pressure left the back of his head and he was able to lift his neck out of the water. He still felt like he was drowning, the water flowing from the cloth gag down his throat.
They removed the cloth. He coughed, gasping for air, and spat on the floor before him. His breathing returned to some kind of normality. He looked down at the pail, worrying for the next time.
He heard footsteps scraping on the damp surface of the concrete.
‘Ready yet? Or are you still thirsty?’
Ulrich didn’t say anything. He would happily shove Weber’s fat neck into the bucket. The cloth was pulled around his face again. His head was forced into the bucket and he was already in the water. They poured on more just to ensure he was always under the surface. This time he was under longer. Ulrich panicked, his eyes wide open. They were going to kill him.
They let him up out of the water, but left the gag there. He was still taking in water, struggling, fighting for his life. He felt his eyes bulging.
Then, the gag was released. Ulrich retched and spat. He felt like he was going to be sick.
‘We can stop this whenever you want, Schultz, but I want you to know we have all night for this.’
Ulrich concentrated on his breathing, taking in as much oxygen as he could now the coughing had subsided.
‘Are you ready to give me the names of your accomplices?’
Ulrich took a final breath then shook his head. It started all over again. Now he knew what it was like to drown, or nearly drown. He knew how Eva had felt that day on the Müggelsee when it had happened to her. He tried to detach himself, to let his mind float away. He knew he wouldn’t last much longer. He was sure they would finish him off one way or another.
It had stopped. He was in a trance now. He didn’t know how many times they’d done it. He was close to passing out. They’d removed his arms from the stall and he was on his side on the floor. He lifted up his head, then it immediately flopped back down, his cheek slapping on the wet concrete. He thought he could hear them preparing themselves to start again.
He couldn’t go through it again.
They lifted him up and started to put his arms back through the frame. Weber was looking bored with it all, slouched uncaringly against the wall.
‘Wait!’ Ulrich shouted.
Weber pushed himself off the side, raising his hand to the others behind Ulrich.
‘You have something for me?’
Ulrich coughed, then nodded.
‘Give me a name and it will stop,’ Weber said, a smile forming on his lips.
Ulrich lifted up his head and stared at him. He felt like he might almost enjoy this.
‘Heissner,’ Ulrich said.
CHAPTER 34
17 JUNE 1953, EAST BERLIN
Fortunately, by the time Maria arrived back at the hotel, his anger had subsided. Klaus was glad about that because he might not have found the right words to tell her about Ulrich. He also had one or two other revelations, which in his calmer state, he had managed to deduce from the liaison with Burzin and his time with Markus. Working out what he could tell Maria, and what he wanted to hold back, for her sake, needed some thinking time.
She seemed relieved to see him. ‘At least you are here when I came home today,’ she chided him after yesterday.
Klaus could only smile, thinking it might not have been the case if Burzin’s goons had gone on any longer.
‘Did you manage to find anything out from Markus?’ she asked, the hope evident in her voice.
Klaus sighed. ‘Could you just sit down for a moment, Maria?’
‘My God, what is it? Have you found him?’
She perched herself on the edge of the bed, and Klaus took the chair he’d kicked from underneath Markus a couple of hours before.
‘Ulrich’s alive, from what I know, but he’s in Hohenschönhausen prison.’
Maria took a deep breath. ‘That’s not a nice place, Klaus.’ The tears filled her eyes. ‘They’ll kill him.’ She fell into his chest.
‘Not if I can help it,’ Klaus said, feeling desperate, like he had to say something to convince her, without saying too much. ‘I know some people, well connected. I don’t want to say any more than that, only that I’m going to try and get him out.’
Maria pulled away, wiping the tears and snapped. ‘You can’t just get people out of places like that, Klaus. This is not the Berlin of old.’
He smiled in spite of the situation. ‘If there’s one thing I know, Maria, it’s that this is not the same place I left.’
She gave him a look which told him it wasn’t the time for quips.
‘Look, if I was to explain everything…’ he paused, ‘you wouldn’t like it, but I really do believe I can get Ulrich out.’
Maria’s eyes flashed fear, and she went to say something but for once, there was no warning.
‘You’ll just have to trust me on this one, Maria. We have to act. If he stays where he is, they will kill him eventually. Believe me, I have been in places just like that.’
Klaus’ last words stopped Maria, like she knew he was right. She focused on him for a moment, then just nodded her head.
Klaus embraced her, pulling her close. He didn’t have too long before he had to deliver on the deal with Burzin. Despite that, he knew it was time he learned of Maria’s war and what had happened to her. She’d been constantly by his side without fail during the last few days. It was time to give something back and allow her to talk about her experiences.
‘Maria, I wanted to thank you.’
She pulled off his chest and looked up at him quizzically.
‘Since I came back you’ve been wonderful…’
‘Don’t be silly. What did you expect me to do?’
Klaus persisted. ‘No, I mean you’ve been so strong. You’ve made this so easy for me. It could have been so much different.’
She shrugged. ‘It’s normal, Klaus. I’m your wife.’
‘I know, and I’m a very lucky man.’
‘Yes, you are,�
� she joked.
‘I also know you’ve protected me from the things that happened here during the war, the things I didn’t have the strength to deal with when I first came back…’
She averted her gaze now.
‘…But I do now,’ Klaus said.
‘I am not sure this is the right time, Klaus.’
‘It needs to be out, Maria.’
In the end, Maria closed her eyes like she was summoning up the will to relive it. ‘They were such unique times, Klaus. Near the end I was fighting just to keep Ulrich out of the battle.’
‘He was no more than thirteen at that time.’
‘Yes, but many of his classmates fought the Russians. The Nazis were determined to drag everybody down with them. There was a Gestapo agent who attacked me in the apartment, but Ulrich and Günther came back in the nick of time.’ She shook her head now, seemingly in pain at the memory. ‘Günther killed him when he was trying to strangle Ulrich. They left his body in the street outside the apartment.’
Klaus was shocked. He’d expected something, but not that. ‘Why was the Gestapo man so interested in you?’
‘I suspected Ina Stinnes was doing what Ina did. Fortunately, he never found out what I was really up to.’
‘I thought there might be more after helping the Steins,’ Klaus said, not without a hint a pride.
‘I helped a Jewish girl, Hannah Hirsch. We managed to get her out of Berlin on a train. She eventually escaped to Sweden.’
Klaus laughed. ‘I knew you wouldn’t listen to me.’
‘I had to do something, Klaus. Before that, I informed families that their sons or husbands had survived Stalingrad. I sent letters, sometimes visited them.’
‘How could you be sure what the authorities had said wasn’t true?’
‘The Major had the proof. I passed it on.’
Klaus had more questions about the Major, but now wasn’t the right time.
It was quiet now, as if they both didn’t want to step over the edge and discuss the next part, after the war. Klaus knew they had to.
‘And when the Russians came?’
Maria looked forlorn for a moment. She stared into space across the small room. She started quietly, ‘When they first arrived, they were quite friendly. They stole watches and bicycles, but that was all. Then it started.’
Klaus’ mouth was dry. This was more what he had expected. He gripped Maria’s hand, encouraging her to go on, even though he wasn’t sure that’s what he wanted.
‘They hunted in packs, drunk, wild, usually very young. It was always at night. Most of us dressed as old men, fat women, it made no difference. I don’t know a woman it didn’t happen to at least once.’ She pursed her lips, looking like she was building herself up to continue.
Klaus squeezed her hand gently.
‘After it happened to me, I hid in the recess every night. They never found me there.’ She stopped herself with a half-sob. ‘I can still hear the women screaming as they chased them around, like it was sport to them.’
Klaus shook his head. ‘Why didn’t they stop it?’
‘Who? The Russian officers turned a blind eye. They were the only authority in Berlin at the time. The men left in the city who did try to stop them were shot on the spot. I cannot explain what it was like. It was surreal. By daytime it was calm and peaceful after the bombs and fighting, and then carnage when darkness fell.’
‘How did it stop?’
Maria scoffed. ‘After months it seemed. The Americans arrived in the city and things were calmer. It still happened, but it was more sporadic, not widespread like before.’
‘And you kept hiding?’
She shook her head. ‘They had Helmi one night. I heard them. I lost it, Klaus. I took a pan and stormed up there. She was barely alive. I hit one of them around the head. I didn’t care what happened to me in that moment.’
‘Ulrich saved us. He got us to a hospital with the help of a Russian officer. By the time I’d recovered from my head hitting the table, things were different.’
Klaus sighed, feeling sick at the thought of this all happening, even though it was years since. ‘Did Ulrich witness all this?’
Maria shrugged. ‘They saw much worse during the battle for the city. The fact he’s still here is a miracle.’
‘And you by the sound of it.’
She laughed, using her sleeve to mop up the tears. ‘That could be said of all of us, Klaus.’
He knew she was right. Maria had confirmed what he had suspected. He didn’t feel any different about her, only slightly more in awe of her; her willingness to fight back against the Nazis, the Russians.
He turned her head to face him. ‘I am the luckiest man alive to have you, Maria.’
She sobbed now. ‘I was worried what you might think…’
‘I think you’re wonderful. That’s what I think.’
They hugged and stayed there for some time. Relief hung in the air. Klaus felt like he was paring back the past, like peeling an onion, layer after layer. The more he stripped away, the stronger he felt.
‘I have to get moving soon, but I did want to come back to the Major,’ he said warily. ‘Was he in the Abwehr by any chance?’
‘That’s right. He introduced me to another woman, Fräulein Sommer. She got me the job at the Magistrat.’
Klaus nodded, his eyes narrowing. ‘And he was the one who brought you my letter, the one Markus brought back?’
Maria nodded.
Klaus sighed. ‘They wouldn’t let you see Markus because he was already working for West German Intelligence by then, as was the Major.’
‘You mean Markus works for the Major?’
‘Not only that, but Markus told me he unwittingly recruited Ulrich to spy on East German agents.’
Maria looked confused for a moment.
Klaus went on, ‘The Stasi had agents inside the protest meetings, which, as we now know, is what Ulrich was so preoccupied with.’
‘So you’re saying Ulrich has been working for the Major?’
‘In a roundabout way, yes.’
Maria grabbed at Klaus’ forearm. ‘If they think he’s a spy, they’ll hang him, Klaus.’
‘I am not sure they know that.’ Klaus told Maria what he knew about Wiebke’s involvement in the meetings, and how Wiebke knew Ulrich. ‘I think they arrested him on Wiebke’s say-so, rather than what they know about his working for Markus. Either way, it’s not good.’
Maria shook her head. ‘We have to do something.’
Klaus held up his hands. ‘Like I said, I have a plan, but…’
She was angry now. ‘I thought you said he was your friend, this Markus. How could he do that?’
‘I felt the same, still do, but in reality, if he didn’t know who Ulrich was, he was only doing his job.’
Maria looked away, seemingly thinking through the permutations. ‘You know I remember being angry when Horst Stinnes beat Ulrich during the war. I remember railing at the Hitler Youth man trying to get him to fight in the last days. I’ve done my very best to keep him out of all this, Klaus.’
‘I know, Maria. It’s not your fault.’
When she turned back her stare was hard, even cold.
‘Get him back, Klaus. Just do what you have to do.’
CHAPTER 35
17 JUNE 1953, EAST BERLIN
Hans Erdmann returned to work at the prison the next day.
He’d been greeted with the news that the Leutnant was placing him in charge of the guard duty for the evening. It didn’t make Hans feel any better. At least it meant he didn’t have to spend the whole evening peeping through spyholes, but he’d have to supervise whilst the others did it.
When he went down to the ‘U-Boot’ to start his shift, the place seemed full to bursting point and it had a smell to match. Prisoners had been arriving during the day, no doubt arrested at the protests. He did wonder if the real crackdown would come in the days after; once the interrogators of Hohenschönhausen got to w
ork, the list of names would only keep growing.
Hans sat down at the desk at the end of the corridor. He could see one of the guards holding back the cover of a spyhole, making his obligatory prisoner check. Hans hadn’t had too much time to think about Alexei’s offer of help. His head had been throbbing too much that morning, but if his friend could pull some strings to get him out of this hellhole he would be happy. If Alexei needed a favour in return, he would be happy to oblige.
He was still lost in thought when he heard voices heading down towards the cellar. Hans stood up to be greeted by the Leutnant and a much shorter MGB officer.
‘We need you to open cell 32, Erdmann,’ the Leutnant barked.
Hans glanced at the MGB man, the uniform of a colonel, small, but stout, ruddy face, no-nonsense eyes. Hans grabbed up the keys from the table. ‘Yes, Comrade Leutnant.’
He walked them down the corridor wondering what a Russian MGB colonel was doing down here. They reached the cell and Hans rattled the key in the lock. The prisoner was slumped on his bed, and his hair and clothes appeared wet.
‘All right, Erdmann. Wait outside!’ the Leutnant said, stepping into the cell.
The Russian stepped inside. He turned to the Leutnant. ‘You as well, wait outside.’
The Leutnant’s cheeks coloured slightly. Open-mouthed, he joined Hans outside. The cell door swung shut.
***
Ulrich was sure he had heard the cell door opening, but didn’t have the energy to check. His body was battered, but more than that, his mind was empty, non-functioning. He couldn’t take any more of the partial drowning. He’d given them Heissner, knowing he was one of their men anyway. The fact that they had left him alone since then, and that Weber appeared content with the name, meant they didn’t know Ulrich knew Heissner was one of them. It also meant they didn’t know about his links with Markus. It had given Ulrich some hope of surviving this ordeal.