The Schliemann Legacy (19 page)

"What were the camps like? I've heard things, but..."

Katrina let her voice drift into silence and tightened her hand around his. She wanted to know more about David. She understood that his time in Majdanek had begun to shape the man he was. She wanted to know that man.

Though rapidly losing himself in the memory, David was aware of Katrina's touch. In the cooling air, he could feel the warmth of her body. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to disengage his hand and slip his arm around the small of her back. But instead, she settled back against the wall, their shoulders barely touching. He began to talk, again guiding her into his past.

* * * * *

Like many of the camps throughout the German occupied territories in Poland and Austria, Majdanek was both a work camp and an extermination center. The Germans erected the camp next to a large stone quarry. Healthy men worked in the pit on starvation rations until they wasted away and became useless. They then joined those killed for being too old, too young, or too feeble to work. The ovens worked constantly, eliminating the thousands of Jews, Gypsies, and others who arrived on the trains daily.

After Heiden had killed David's mother, Dausel had pulled the boy away from the window and thrown him into one of two lines of prisoners standing by the train. Seeing the limp form of his mother tossed on the cart of bodies was too much for David. He screamed and flung himself toward the German, but a thick arm grabbed him from behind and lifted him in a vise lock while he struggled viciously. Then a soft voice spoke in his ear. Though the Polish words were harsh, the tone was soothing.

"Boy, you will only end up like her. Don't fight them here. Not yet."

David was turned around against his will. He vented his intense rage by kicking and swearing violently. "Damn you, bastard. Let go. I have to fight them. You can sit and let them walk over you, but I won't. I'll have revenge for my mother."

Even through his tears, David could see surprise and respect flicker over the stranger's face. "Strong thoughts for one so young," the man said, nodding in approval. "I did not say,
do not fight
, boy. I told you not to fight them
here
. The moment will come. Until then, we must wait. Concentrate on staying alive. There is no shame in postponing a battle that cannot be won. What is your name?"

David told him in a voice strained with self control.

"Calm down, David. Remember your namesake ruled with a sword tempered by intelligence." The man let David go and straightened his coat for him. "My name is Assi," he said. "How old are you?"

"Ten."

"Wrong. From now on, you are fifteen."

David looked puzzled. "No, I'm ten."

"Shut up and listen, David. We don't have much time. I'm trying to save your life. You are fifteen. You're almost big enough to be that old. Strong, too, from the way you handled yourself against that Goliath."

David studied the strange man whom he would later learn was an ex boxer. Assi was not much taller than David but he was huge across the chest and shoulders and his muscular arms and legs made him appear larger than he actually was. "What do you mean, save my life?" David asked.

"Don't worry about that now. Just remember what I told you." Looking around, Assi noticed a scuffle had slowed the line. Deciding he had some time left, he tried to reassure the young boy. "Who told you we have to fight the Germans?"

"My father." David straightened, his pride showing. "My father went to fight the Germans. I heard him tell my mother that he wouldn't let the Germans take his country. The Germans killed him, but I'll kill Germans for him."

"Your father was right, but we don't have time to discuss that now." The line of prisoners was moving again. Two spectacled Germans sat at a small table, dividing the Jews into three groups as they passed. One group shuffled off to the left. They were mostly women, children, and old men. The healthy men moved off to the right. The prettiest women all lined up in single file behind the table. Assi pointed at the group to the right.

"That's where we want to go," he whispered. "They're going to the work camp. Hard work, but work for the living. The others will be dead in a week, maybe less. Listen to me, David. You must do as I say. When we get up to the table, don't speak. Let me talk for you. Whatever I say, don't do anything. Just do your best to smile and nod. Do it or you won't live long enough to get your revenge. Trust me, David."

David looked into the kind eyes of the bulky man and nodded. He didn't understand, but the mention of revenge made him obey.

At the table, a German soldier asked David his age. Assi spoke quickly before the boy could answer. "Fifteen, sir."

"Why doesn't he answer for himself?"

"He is not all there," Assi said, pointing at David's head. "But he's very strong and does as he's told. He's a good worker and won't cause any trouble."

The soldier looked at David again and then impatiently waved to the right. Assi took hold of David's shoulders and led him toward the lines of men in front of the work camp barracks. As he turned away, David saw two boys from his neighborhood, but he was afraid to wave to them. They were standing in the much larger group to the left.

* * * * *

David slaved beside Assi in the stone quarry for several months. Through the bitter cold of winter and into the heat of summer, they trudged down the steep inclines into the pits. The men worked to break up the large boulders and trudge them to the waiting trains. At the end of the day, they returned their tools and dragged themselves back to the huts.

David plotted his revenge throughout the endless work.

The smoke from the ovens carried greasy ash over the camp as the fires consumed the old and unhealthy, many with children in their arms. Others died more slowly. The guards inflicted unspeakable acts of torture and cruelty on the children in full view of their mothers. Any woman leaving her place to help a child was shot. The few children, all blue eyed and blond, who escaped death were taken away to an unknown destination.

The Germans selected the most beautiful women from the daily arrivals. They were allowed to live as long as they pleased the guards. Any offense - even arriving for role call without a kerchief covering their heads - brought instant death. A bruise or a cut meant a transfer to the ovens and death. Only perfect women were good enough for the soldiers.

The sadistic treatment was not confined to the death camp. In the labor camp, the SS troops amused themselves by subjecting the men to inhuman treatment. Each guard had his own private pastime. One specialized in dragging men to death over the sharp gravel behind his motorcycle while other guards used the speeding prisoner for target practice. Heiden and Dausel were regular participants, and often instigators, in most of the atrocities. Both were also ardent visitors to the women's compound.

Heiden's left cheek still bore a scar as a result of David's mother's final struggle. To David, it was a jagged reminder of that horrible first day. Every time he saw Heiden and Dausel, he desperately wanted to kill them. His anger built each day as the two swaggered through the compound. He would hear them talk of this woman or that. How the women had
serviced the Third Reich
. That phrase, more than anything, haunted and infuriated David.

Unable to control himself one day, David almost succeeded in getting to Heiden. Assi stepped forward to stop David, but the German mistook Assi's actions for a threat.

"You, stop!"

Assi turned to see Heiden gesturing madly. Guards brought their guns to bear on the prisoner. Assi shoved David behind him with whispered words. "Don't say or do anything."

"Guards, take that man," Heiden ordered.

The guards pulled Assi up the slope and held him in front of their commander. Heiden shoved a thick stick into Assi's stomach and he slumped to the ground. Dausel eagerly joined Heiden and looked questioningly at the Jew on the ground.

"This man has threatened me," Heiden said. "What shall we do?"

"Do you want me to take him to the other camp?"

Heiden looked at the other prisoners staring at the scene and shook his head. "He shall be my living example. He has to suffer. Death is far too easy for him and will teach the others nothing. I want him to work. But he will work with a reminder of his foolishness. He will work in pain and agony and only wish I had killed him. You there, bring me that sledge."

One of the inmates timidly brought the heavy hammer to the German. As the prisoner passed, David heard the mumbled words of a prayer.

Heiden ordered four guards to hold Assi on the ground. He raised the ten-pound hammer over his head and brought it down on Assi's foot. The German waited expectantly, but the ex boxer did not scream out in pain. By the third blow, Assi had silently passed out.

His foot was mangled, but Assi continued to work. He carried large, flat rocks because they looked heavier to the surrounding guards. Thanks to the other inmates, the ex boxer survived until his foot healed enough for him to resume his usual workload. Around that time, both Heiden and Dausel disappeared. Rumors that they had deserted the SS ranks spread throughout the camp. As time went by and the two did not return, David began to accept that he would never be able to have his revenge. He concentrated on forgetting and surviving.

* * * * *

In late October of 1943, Berlin Command handed down an order to exterminate every man, woman, and child who had participated in the Warsaw uprising. The order included all Jews who had been in the ghetto during or previous to the battle, regardless of their age or innocence. Called
Operation Harvest Festival
, the scheduled date of execution was November second. The execution list included David and Assi, but the camp command formed a three hundred-man work detail. Good fortune and clerical error had David and Assi assigned to the detail and transported to Borki, north of the camp.

Knowing the Russians would soon arrive and fearing reprisals, some of the ranking Germans in the outlying occupied territories sought to hide their crimes. At Borki, the work crew dug up bodies from a shallow, mass grave and burned them. Working with picks and shovels, the men slaved in the half-frozen ground for months. The greasy smoke from the huge fires clung to their clothing and skin. In all, the workers unearthed and burned the remains of over 30,000 bodies.

Throughout the long days of horrifying work, Assi kept David sane by telling him stories of Palestine. Although the older man had never been there, he talked about the Promised Land and the renewed life of the Jews, safe from persecution. By 1944, when the Soviets liberated Majdanek, David felt he knew every inch of the Promised Land.

David and Assi soon discovered that the Russians did not want to take responsibility for many of the starving, sick refugees of the camps. Assi found it a relatively simple task to smuggle both David and himself away from the liberators.

After many hardships, the man and boy arrived at the northern coast of Turkey along with other refugees trying to get to Palestine. Both David and Assi wept openly when they saw the blue Mediterranean.

Their first attempt to cross to Palestine met with disaster. A British vessel forced their small ship to dock at a refugee center on Cyprus. But their hopes didn't die.

Assi learned of an underground movement within the camp. Tied to the Haganah in Palestine, they harassed the British from inside the camps. He joined the group and brought David with him.

Now thirteen, David had learned about smuggling in Majdanek and on the road to the Mediterranean. He honed his skills in the refugee camp and was soon frustrating the British, steadily working his way up in the organization until he became a respected, though young, operative. If the group wanted to be sure of safe delivery, they gave the job to David.

By the time he and Assi arrived in Palestine in 1946, David was enthralled with intelligence work.

* * * * *

"And that was how I got my first taste of intelligence work," David said. "The intrigue and the excitement fascinated me. I loved the game of outsmarting the other man."

"And you went into the Mossad?" she asked.

"No," David said slowly. "I became a farmer."

Chapter 23 - NIGHTLY VIGILS

Ulrich Kadner and Viktor Bitkowski toured the perimeter of the compound surrounding the main house. They could hear the night noises of the jungle over the quiet hum of the electrified wire. At a motion from Viktor, Kadner paused and stared past the open space on the other side of the fence. Two animal eyes sparkled from the dense vegetation, regarding the men before suddenly vanishing into the darkness.

Smiling, Kadner and Viktor walked past the guards scanning the jungle with British design night scopes, devices which magnified the available light from the stars and moon for night vision and rendered the insect attracting searchlights obsolete. The pair continued through the grounds, checking the security and discussing their guest. As always, they spoke German.

"I positioned a guard down the hall from Wakefield," Viktor said. "He and Helene have already toured much of the house. If the Englander leaves his room during the night, the guards will stop him. Otherwise, he will not be harassed. I serviced the helicopters myself and assigned a detail around them and the riverboat. Our escape is insured; his escape is impossible."

"Have you added any security downstairs?"

"Naturally." Viktor knew of Kadner's paranoia about the artifacts in the basement vault. "There are two extra men. If that is Wakefield's goal, he will not get within fifty feet of the vault."

"Very good, Viktor." Kadner grasped the muscular man's arm and steered him toward the garden. "What have you learned about him? Ochoa's lackey expressed his concern. The stupid bastard thinks I know nothing of security."

Viktor expressed his opinion of the Cartel chief by spitting on the ground. "I find nothing suspicious in his story. If his passport is a fake, it is excellent. I had trouble checking out his firm because of the time difference, but I don't think he lied about his employment. I will know more tomorrow. I still don't trust him."