Traitor's Gate (41 page)

‘Oakford! What time is it?’

‘Eleven o’clock, my lord.’

For the previous few weeks Halifax had been besieged by friends and enemies pressing their own points of view about peace and war upon him, foremost of whom had been Winston Churchill. Halifax was heartily sick of this lobbying: he was Foreign Secretary, and he would make up his own mind based on a reasoned assessment of the information available to the government.

‘Lord Oakford is accompanied by his son and a man who claims to be a German general.’ Disapproval seeped from the butler’s words.

‘What!’ Halifax rubbed first one eye and then the other with his good hand. What on earth was Oakford up to? ‘All right, Thompson, send them in.’

There was tension around the Cabinet table in 10 Downing Street when the ministers reconvened at ten-thirty the following morning, 25 September. The Prime Minister took his place in front of the marble fireplace at the centre of the table, his lean, anxious expression and sober dress contrasting with the portrait behind him of a confident and somewhat corpulent Sir Robert Walpole in all his Georgian finery. He opened proceedings, answering specific points arising from the German memorandum, and then Oliver Stanley raised the key question: should the Cabinet advise the Czechoslovak government to accept Hitler’s proposals?

Halifax was first to answer. He spoke in a low voice, laden with emotion. His long face showed signs of both fatigue and determination. Everyone around the table could tell that some­thing had changed.

‘Yesterday I felt that acceptance of the scheme put forward for the Sudetenland did not involve a new acceptance of principle. But now I am not quite so sure. Last night, I could not sleep, and in the watches of the night I came to change my mind. I cannot rid my mind of the fact that Herr Hitler has given us nothing, and that he is dictating terms just as though he has won a war without having to fight. The ultimate end that I wish to see accomplished is the destruction of Nazism. So long as Nazism lasts, peace will be uncertain.’

Halifax glanced around the table at his Cabinet colleagues, although he avoided Chamberlain’s eye. ‘For these reasons, I do not think it would be wise for us to advise the Czech government to accept Germany’s ultimatum. We should lay the case before them. If they reject it, I imagine that France will join in, and if the French go in, we should join them.

‘I remember Herr Hitler saying that he gained power by words not by bayonets. I wonder whether we can be quite sure that he has not gained power by words in the present instance. We should not forget that if he is driven to war, the result might be the downfall of the Nazi regime.

‘I have worked most closely with the Prime Minister through­out this long crisis, but now I am not quite sure that our minds are still altogether at one. Nevertheless, I think it right to expose my own hesitations with complete frankness.’

There was stunned silence as the members of the Cabinet took in Halifax’s change of heart. As Lord Hailsham pro­duced an article from the
Daily Telegraph
outlining all the previous occasions when Hitler had made promises and broken them, Chamberlain scribbled a note to his Foreign Secretary:

Your complete change of view since I saw you last night is a horrible blow to me, but of course you must form your opinions for yourself. However it remains to see what the French say.

If they say they will go in, thereby dragging us in I do not think I could accept responsibility for the decision.

But I don’t want to anticipate what has not yet arisen.

N.C.

Halifax replied:

I feel a brute – but I lay awake most of the night, tormenting myself and did not feel I could reach any other conclusion at this moment, on the point of co-ercing CZ.

E.

He couldn’t mention the real reason he had changed his mind, even to the Prime Minister – especially to the Prime Minister. The night before, General Beck had left Halifax in absolutely no doubt that the prospect of a coup in Berlin was real if Britain stood by Czechoslovakia. Halifax had been impressed by the intense general, with his intelligent eyes, his thoughtful, academic way of speaking and his obvious sincerity. The conspiracy wasn’t just the disgruntled mutterings of a few junior reactionaries, it was much more than that. But Lord Oakford had put Halifax in a very difficult position. Halifax knew that if he spoke to the Prime Minister in confidence it would make little difference to Chamberlain’s opinion, and if he mentioned his meeting of the night before in Cabinet it would be impossible to keep quiet the fact that he had spoken to one of the most senior generals in the German army. Besides, Beck had demanded nothing more of him than that he listen and keep the meeting confidential. Halifax had given no other undertakings, no assurances.

Beck had also been convincing on Hitler’s aims: on his abso­lute determination to march into Prague. After speaking to the general, it was clear to Halifax that when Hitler told Chamberlain that he had no more territorial claims in Europe than the Sudetenland, it was a barefaced lie. The dictator could not be trusted. After Beck, Oakford and his son de Lancey had left him, Halifax had indeed found it impossible to sleep. As dawn came, he had decided on two things: grant General Beck’s request to stay silent about his visit, and show Hitler that Britain would stand by the Czechs. It might mean revolution in Germany; it might even mean war. But Duff Cooper and Alec Cadogan were right – it was the only way of proceeding with honour.

Chamberlain read Halifax’s slip and scribbled a quick response on it.

Night conclusions are seldom taken in the right perspective.

N.C.

But as he sent the note back to Halifax he knew that peace, his peace, was slipping away.

The north German plain was covered in a torn blanket of mist as the Storch flew towards the rising sun. Conrad was amazed that the pilot could find the airfield, and only part of the runway was visible between the wisps of grey as they touched down. Theo was there to meet them; he had spent the night in Wilhelmshaven.

‘A successful trip, Herr General?’

‘I think so,’ said General Beck. ‘Lord Oakford managed to secure an audience for us. I found Halifax very stiff, but he did seem to listen to me.’

‘I think you were persuasive, Herr General,’ said Conrad. ‘Halifax said the Cabinet is discussing Czechoslovakia this morning. I just hope we have done enough to change his mind.’

Conrad sat in the front of the BMW, next to Theo, and General Beck sat in the back. Once they were on the autobahn, the general fell asleep.

‘Aren’t you tired?’ Theo asked Conrad.

‘I am. I got hardly any sleep on the aeroplane: I can’t stop thinking about what happened to Anneliese. But after being cooped up in that house in Dahlem it was good to do something. And I’m so glad the Wedemeyers have been let go.’

‘So am I. I feel very bad about putting them in danger like that.’

‘And you? You say the Gestapo are following you all the time; why don’t they pick you up?’

‘It would start a civil war. I’m sure Heydrich will have a word with Canaris about me soon, but he knows he has to tread carefully.’

‘With luck, in a couple of days it won’t really matter where he treads.’

Theo hooted at a small Opel blocking the outside lane of the autobahn and cursed. The Opel moved, and the BMW sped on.

Theo glanced over his shoulder at the sleeping general, and spoke in a low voice, in English. ‘So you came back.’

‘Didn’t you think I would?’

‘You could have stayed in England. You would have been safe there.’

‘I want to see this through. Did Oster say whether he would let me join the raiding party?’

‘He will. I’ll get you a uniform and some papers and intro­duce you to Heinz.’

Conrad smiled. Finally he was to be allowed the chance to do something real to right the wrongs of the Third Reich. He appreciated the enormity of what he had volunteered to do: it would change the course of history, he hoped and prayed, for the better.

Because Conrad’s intention wasn’t just to help Theo and his compatriots storm the Chancellery. Oster’s plan was that in the confusion of the arrest, someone would shoot Hitler. Conrad was determined that he would be that someone, even if he lost his life in the process.

Theo’s alarm went off at six o’clock. As he rolled over to turn it off, his nostrils caught a trace of Sophie’s perfume on his pillow. She had come around unexpectedly the night before and had stayed a few hours. There had been something unusually passionate, almost desperate, about their lovemaking. Theo smiled at the memory of it. Sophie really was a sexy little thing. Pity she was so dumb.

He hauled himself out of bed. He had a busy day ahead of him. General Beck’s nocturnal discussion with Lord Halifax seemed to have done the trick. In the two days since the general’s visit, British resolve had hardened, making it almost certain that Hitler would order Case Green for the invasion of Czechoslovakia the following day, the 28
th
. And when he did, the conspirators would be ready.

 Theo washed, pulled on his uniform and, just before leaving his apartment, dug out his briefcase from the bottom drawer of the sideboard, where it nestled underneath a folded tablecloth. He pulled out a small key from his trouser pocket and unlocked it. The notebook was still there, where he had put it the previ­ous night when he had finished working on it. Comforted, he snapped the case shut and left for Abwehr HQ.

While the rest of the world prepared for war, Conrad had spent the two days cooped up in Captain von Both’s apartment. When the superintendent of the building asked the captain about his visitor, von Both used the story about Conrad being a friend on leave. He embellished it by saying that Conrad was recovering from an illness, which was why he spent so much time indoors instead of enjoying the sights of Berlin, or indeed returning to his regiment, when every other soldier in Germany was on the move.

The enforced solitude gave Conrad time to think. He thought of Anneliese, but also how, with a lot of luck, he might soon be able to avenge her and the thousands like her who had been destroyed by Hitler. He found it hard to control his impatience, to just sit and wait.

But there was another thought that troubled him, something harking back to his first days in Berlin.

Theo came to see him at about eleven in the morning with a uniform and some papers.

‘Here you are. Lieutenant Eiche, 14
th
Artillery Regiment. Born in Hamburg, 1911.’

‘A gunner? I know nothing about artillery.’

‘You know nothing about anything military. If you are going to be a German soldier you will have to walk around as if you have a ruler crammed up your arse. Seriously, for the next couple of days you had better concentrate on standing up straight.’

‘When do I join the raiding party?’

‘This afternoon. I’ll take you there; Captain Heinz is expect­ing you. It looks like we move tomorrow.’

Conrad smiled. ‘Excellent.’

‘I’ll see you about two o’clock, then,’ said Theo.

‘Theo, before you go. I’ve been thinking about something these last few days, something that bothers me.’

‘What is it?’

‘Joachim. We never really satisfied ourselves about who spoke to Schalke about him. I thought it was you; then I suspected Anneliese. Both of those suspicions were wrong.’

‘I see what you mean,’ said Theo thoughtfully. ‘So who else can it have been?’

‘Well, that’s what I have been thinking. What about Sophie?’

‘No,’ said Theo firmly.

‘Why not?’

‘Two reasons. Firstly, she definitely doesn’t speak English. And secondly, she was in the Ladies when Joachim was talking about the plot.’

‘Are her family Nazis?’

‘Perhaps,’ said Theo. ‘I have scarcely ever met them. But yes, I suspect that her father is. But then so are many millions of people in Germany. And believe me, Sophie has no interest in politics.’

‘Does she know that you are involved in the plot?’

‘Of course not!’ said Theo indignantly. ‘She knows I’m doing something secret, but I’ve told her that I’m working on war plans. She’s happy with that. Look here, Conrad, this is absurd. She wasn’t there, so how could she possibly know what Joachim said?’

‘Perhaps Anneliese told her afterwards.’

‘Anneliese? Why should she do that?’

‘They were friends. At that stage Anneliese had no idea that you were really involved in anything. It was interesting gossip. Why shouldn’t she tell Sophie all about it?’ Conrad sighed. ‘I just wish it was still possible to ask her.’

Theo shook his head, his lips pursed in anger.

‘I remember thinking it was a coincidence that it was Klaus Schalke who arrested Joachim and me,’ Conrad went on. ‘At the time I was suspicious of Anneliese, because of course she knew Schalke. Anneliese told me that the two people who stood by her after her boyfriend was killed in the concentration camp were Sophie and Schalke.’

‘Which means?’

‘Which means that they almost certainly know each other. Which means that when Sophie heard about Joachim’s rumour she turned to the one Gestapo officer she already knew and trusted: Klaus Schalke.’

‘Now you really are stretching your imagination.’

‘And which also means that if Sophie discovers there really is a plot, she might go and talk to Schalke about it again.’

‘Totally ridiculous!’ Theo said, raising his voice. ‘I know Sophie. If she did overhear something I was doing, she wouldn’t trouble herself to worry about what it was. She has no interest in what I do. And she wouldn’t betray me.’

‘Are you sure, Theo?’

‘Quite sure,’ said Theo. He turned to leave, and then hesitated.

‘What is it?’ asked Conrad.

‘It’s nothing.’

‘Theo?’

‘Well... I have a notebook. It contains all our plans. There’s too much to memorize; I have to write the details down some­where. I’m very careful with it: I keep it in a filing cabinet in the Abwehr HQ, and when I take it home I keep it locked in my briefcase.’