Brandenburg (64 page)

The young man paused, then leaned forward. “But something positive has actually come out of this. Something that wasn’t in the report you got. I wanted to tell you personally.”

“What, for heaven’s sake?”

“Many of the rank supporters didn’t really believe we would attempt what we did. Now that they’ve seen it can happen, they’re more determined than ever to carry on.” The young man leaned forward
more eagerly. “We were unsuccessful this time, but when it happens next time we’ll be even more prepared. We’ll have learned from our mistakes. You know the Western democracies can’t sustain their problems. Immigration. Unemployment. Recession. They’re already crumbling. It’s only a question of time before we try again.”

“What’s the estimate?”

The young man shook his head. “I can’t give you a definite answer on that. Not just now. But in the meantime we continue to try and strengthen our position.”

“I can confirm that to Asunción?”

“Absolutely. You know we have the resources. It’s really only a question of time.”

The older man sat, lit a cigarette. “Do we know what’s happened to Schmeltz’s body?”

“Five days ago it was cremated. And buried in a forest near the Polish border.”

The gray-haired man sighed and shook his head. “The couple, Volkmann and Kranz, how did they find out?”

“A photograph they found at the Chaco house of Geli Raubal. That was the clue they worked from. That and the journalist’s death.” The young man met his superior’s stare. “You want us to take care of them?”

“Not right now, Raul. But later, I promise you, they’ll pay the price.”

The older man studied his watch and then his visitor. “You’re flying back to Germany this afternoon?”

The young man shook his head. “I have a meeting with our neo-Nazi comrades in America. They’re interested to hear our damage reports and our future intentions for cooperation. The same with our other contacts in Europe. They believe their immigrant problem is getting worse, and want our advice. And you?”

“London tonight. Then Asunción, via Rio.”

The young man looked at him. “They’ve got the preliminary report, but impress on them we still go ahead with our plans. Assure them of our determination, sir.”

The older man placed a hand on his visitor’s shoulder. “I’ll let them know; don’t worry, Raul. And thanks for coming.”

The young man picked up his briefcase, replaced his papers, clicked shut the security lock. He picked up his overcoat, and the gray-haired man led him to the corridor.

They shook hands firmly. The young man pressed the button for the elevator, and the doors had already opened when he heard the older man call after him.

“And Raul . . .”

“Yes?”

“I almost forgot. Happy New Year.”

“The same to you, sir.”

AFTERWORD

In the winter of 1941, ten years after Geli Raubal was found dead in her uncle’s Munich apartment, the Nazi authorities in Vienna issued a secret instruction that her grave and those around it in the Vienna Central Cemetery were to be completely destroyed. No reasons were given, and the order was carried out.

To this day, plot 23e is an unused expanse of green in the midst of a cluttered maze of family vaults and graves in the old cemetery. Whether the remains of Geli Raubal are still buried there is a mystery. There have been numerous attempts to have the remains found and exhumed, but the Viennese authorities have consistently denied permission, thus prolonging the mystery.

In the months and years after the “suicide” of Hitler’s niece, several people claimed to know the truth behind her death, a “secret” that had ultimately led to her murder.

All died violent deaths, including the journalist, Fritz Gerlich, mentioned in this book.

But what was the “secret”?

There are clues.

In late 1931, one month after Geli Raubal’s death, Erhard Johann Sebastian Schmeltz, a fervent Nazi and a close friend of Adolf Hitler, disappeared mysteriously from his home in Munich, along with his sister. The couple was never seen again in Germany.

Seventeen years later, and more than two years after the war had ended, a former SS officer, wanted by the U.S. Army’s then Counterintelligence Corps for his involvement in the disappearance of
a quantity of Nazi gold bullion and for secretly transporting it to South America, wrote to a friend in Munich from his new home in Asunción, Paraguay. In his letter he said that he had been shocked to come across the sister of an old friend from before the war; the woman was now living in a remote town in a region north of the Paraguayan capital.

The friend’s name was given as Erhard Schmeltz.

Accompanying Schmeltz’s elderly unmarried sister, the writer noted with some surprise, was a pensive, dark-haired youth no more than seventeen.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To all those in Europe and South America who gave their assistance in the researching of this book, my sincere thanks. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the following:

In Berlin: the staff of the Berlin Document Center; Axel Wiglinsky, Acting Director, Reichstag Security; Dr. Bose and Hans-Christopa Bonfert; the Berlin Landsamt für Verfassungsschutz (Office for the Protection of the Constitution).

In Vienna: the administration staff of the Vienna Central Cemetery.

In Strasbourg: Jean-Paul Chauvet.

In Paraguay: Carlos da Rosa.

Also, Janet Donohue, and Professor Jim Jackson, of Trinity College, Dublin. Thank you all for your help.

BRANDENBURG

GLENN MEADE

READING GROUP GUIDE

INTRODUCTION

In this riveting international spy thriller, master storyteller Glenn Meade
(Snow Wolf)
weaves a complex, fast-paced story. British intelligence agent Joe Volkmann crisscrosses the globe to solve what he thinks is a drug-smuggling operation but soon realizes that he is up against something much more sinister—a plot to establish the Fourth Reich of the Nazi Party, with tentacles reaching from Paraguay to Berlin. Suddenly dark secrets from the past begin spilling out into the present, bringing Europe to the very brink of disaster. Meade shows with chilling clarity how conditions in Nazi Germany bear an eerie resemblance to events unfolding in our world today.

TOPICS & QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.
 Discuss the significance of the title,
Brandenburg
. To what does it refer?

2.
 What drives Joe Volkmann in his relentless pursuit of justice?

3.
 What accounts for Volkmann’s initial distrust of Erica Kranz? Is that distrust justified? Why or why not?

4.
 Briefly discuss what you know about the Nazi period in Germany. Volkmann says to Erica, “[N]o people became as brutal as they did during the Nazi period. I simply can’t understand it—how your countrymen could let it all happen.” Do you see how this might have been possible? Why or why not?

5.
 As university students, both Lubsch and Winter claimed to be concerned about
“the future of Germany,”
yet they stood on opposite sides politically. Discuss how political opposites can have a common goal, yet propose radically different solutions to reach that goal. Do you see a similar situation happening in the world today?

6.
 The elderly former Nazi, Wilhelm Busch, describes a depressed Germany by saying,
“Every day there were riots and protests and armed anarchists roaming the streets. No one could find work. . . . And then came the Nazis. They promised prosperity, work, hope. To make Germany great again. Drowning men will grasp at straws, and we Germans then were drowning.”
In what ways do today’s headlines echo some of the problems plaguing Germany during the rise of Hitler? Can you think of any groups today who feel strongly that they have the perfect solution to the world’s problems?

7.
 What is the significance of the
“pedigree”
that all the murder victims had in common? For what reason were they killed?

8.
 What is the ultimate goal of the neo-Nazi group? Do you think it’s true that the German people will rally behind them,
as Grinzing claims
? Why or why not?

9.
 It has been said that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. Review
the description of the Nazis offered by Grinzing
. Have you ever heard the Nazis described in this way? In their own estimation, did the Nazis intend to destroy Germany or improve it?

10.
 What sorts of unrest do you see happening around the world today? Do you think that a destabilized country leaves itself open
to a takeover by anyone who claims to have the answers? Discuss.

11.
 What was the purpose of assigning Kefir Ozalid to assassinate Chancellor Dollman? What effect did the neo-Nazis hope this information would have on the German people when it became public?

12.
 Do you hear today of immigrants being blamed for society’s ills? If so, what do you think the solution might be?

13.
 While planning their approach to Kaalberg, Volkmann tells Lubsch,
“If we make it up the mountain, Schmeltz is mine.”
Why does he say this? Discuss the role of revenge and whether you think it will truly satisfy Volkmann.

14.
 Toward the end of the book, speaking of the neo-Nazis, the man called Raul says,
“You know the Western democracies can’t sustain their problems. Immigration. Unemployment. Recession. They’re already crumbling. It’s only a question of time before we try again.”
Do you think he is correct? Why or why not?

15.
 What did you think of the ending of
Brandenburg
? Did it surprise you?

ENHANCE YOUR BOOK CLUB

1.
 If you know an older person who remembers World War II and the Nazi era, invite him or her to join your discussion.

2.
 For an overview, watch an introductory documentary about Nazism, such as Episode 1 of
The Nazis: A Warning from History
, available online at
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-nazis-a-warning-from-history/
.

3.
 Discuss some actions that ordinary people can take to ensure that something like the Holocaust never happens again.

A CONVERSATION WITH GLENN MEADE

1.
 How were you inspired to write
Brandenburg
?

Some years ago I was in Garmisch in southern Germany writing a newspaper article for the
Times
—about the mysterious disappearance of huge amounts of Nazi gold bullion at the end of World War II—when I met an elderly former SS man who told me an incredible wartime story.

As a young recruit he was stationed in Vienna in 1941. One night he and his comrades were given secret orders to proceed to Vienna’s old Central Cemetery, where they were to completely destroy a section of the graveyard—raze it to the ground with bulldozers and earth-moving equipment, obliterating all trace of the graves in that part of the cemetery.