Chapter 18

Germany.

An excerpt of a note issued by Vyacheslav M. Molotov. Vyacheslav M. Molotov, People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs of the U.S.S.R. January 7, 1942 to all ambassadors and ministers of countries with which the Soviet Union maintains diplomatic relations:

'On instructions from the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, I have the honor to inform you of the following:

Not only the Red Army, but the whole of our multi-millioned people is filled with a burning hatred and craves merciless revenge for the blood and shattered lives of Soviet citizens. The Soviet people will never forget the brutalities, violence, devastation, and humiliation, which the bestial bands of the German invaders inflicted and continue to inflict on the peaceful population of our country.

Our people will not forget and they will not pardon.'

Driving to the border, they heard the deep low rumble of wave after wave of bombers heading south towards Britain.

"My God, that's a frightening sight," Gerry said.

Manfred pulled off the road and they watched until the bombers were out of sight and then they continued driving north to the border.

"So who is Meeka? I'm determined to find out," Manfred said.

"Meeka? You mean Maike, it's a Dutch form of Marika," Gerry said avoiding the question because he wanted to know Manfred's reason for not returning to the refinery to pick him up.

"Answer the question you cunning Dutch bastard."

The sight of the bombers had shaken Gerry; he felt his hands trembling so he pushed them into his coat pockets.

"Maike gave me shelter. Look Manfred, before your mind runs away with your mouth, tell me why you abandoned me..."

"You listen to me! I didn't abandon you!" Manfred yelled his fist pounding on the steering wheel.

Realising that he was out of control he continued with his voice softer, "I helped a wounded Frenchman to the car. The last I saw, you were running to help Karla because Wim was having trouble holding her upright. We were quickly overtaken by a motorcycle squad, they were firing wildly at us forcing us to leave the area as quickly as possible."

"And you didn't come back."

"No we didn't return," Manfred said, "at the time we were fearful and I believed that you would have been taken by Wim. I thought that if I didn't know where you were, and I returned to try and find you, then I would risk even more of us dying."

Gerry continued to pursue him, "When the main tanks exploded, Wim, Karla and I were bowled over by the shock wave and the heat front from the explosion. When Wim stood up again, he was shaking, disoriented, and then he started running to the cars. He was too far behind and when he reached the cars everyone had departed. He took the only car left; it was one of the French cars. As he drove away, he wounded himself, an unfortunate accident, yet he came back for us. I hid with Karla in the snow and when it was safe I carried her to the cars, but we were abandoned."

"I told you what we did and I did what I thought was the best thing to do," Manfred replied keeping his anger in check. He was disappointed and uncomfortable that Gerry would think that he had abandoned him.

"Wim returned but he was in no condition to drive so I drove and took them to Maike's place in Hattem. I don't know if he came back because he knew he couldn't make it alone or because he knew that we were abandoned," Gerry said.

"So you blame me for leaving without you."

"No Manfred, I don't blame you for doing what you thought was best. I know that you wouldn't intentionally leave me to face the enemy."

They travelled in silence for the next fifty kilometres.

"You still haven't told me; did you have an orgy with Karla and this other woman?"

"To tell you the truth, I didn't. I was glad that I didn't because Maike told me that Karla was quite insane."

Gerry related what Maike had told him about the murder in Eindhoven.

"It's good luck that you're still alive."

"Karla woke me one morning and she frightened me. I backed against a wall and kept my eye on her. I didn't trust her and I value my balls."

Manfred was still laughing as he pulled to the side of the road, "I'm sleepy, you drive for a while."

Ten kilometres further on an SS patrolman on a motorcycle rapidly overtook them and when he drew abreast, Gerry saw that he was waving at them to pull over to the side of the road.

"Shit," Manfred said only half awake, "tell him we've been to cousin Jacob's wedding in Nordhorn and now we're travelling home to Goppingen."

When they pulled up the SS soldier had his pistol drawn.

"Get out of the car!" he demanded.

Manfred opened his door first and walked quickly to the front of the car, drawing the patrolman's attention away from Gerry.

"Show me your papers," he held his left hand out to Manfred and kept his pistol trained on him.

Gerry climbed slowly out of the car and when he was standing he had his hands thrust in his coat pockets. With his right hand clutching his pistol he watched as Manfred produced his identification.

"Where are you going at this time of night?"

"We're going home, we've been to a wedding in Nordhorn." Manfred said.

"And where did you get gasoline to be making such a long trip?"

Manfred hesitated a moment too long and the soldier advanced on him.

"Put you hands on the hood."

Gerry knew what was coming when the patrolman raised his pistol; Manfred was about to be bashed. Then they would be manacled and taken for interrogation. He didn't bother drawing his pistol from his coat pocket but elevated it in his coat pocket and fired.

The bullet went high grazing across the soldier's jaw, swinging him off balance. The patrolman's pistol discharged, the bullet going wide.

Instinctively, Gerry bent forward and rapidly fired again, the bullet shattering the soldier's sternum, pieces of bone rupturing his aorta and depositing in his heart and lungs. The soldier was dead as he hit the road.

Gerry ran to the patrolman, kicking his pistol away, he felt for a pulse in his neck and satisfied that he was dead he rolled his body over. He dragged him off the road and rolled him into a ditch alongside the verge. He pushed and kicked snow over him until he was completely covered.

Manfred wanted to flee from the scene but he knew that they had to hide the motorcycle. He kick started the engine and unsteadily he rode it a hundred metres off the road into a snowdrift. He piled snow around the rear end until the motorcycle was completely covered then he joined Gerry kicking fresh snow over the copious bloodstains on the road until they were obliterated.

As Gerry was about to get back into the car, he vomited explosively on to snow covering the verge, as he continued to retch Manfred went to him.

"Pick up some snow and suck on it, try and control the reaction," Manfred said with his arm across his shoulders, comforting him.

Gerry eventually stopped heaving and he sat in the drivers seat, both of them were breathing hard and sweat was pouring off Gerry's face. He quickly wiped his face with the sleeve of his coat.

"Let me drive," Manfred said. He was concerned that Gerry was no longer capable of driving.

"No, I want to drive I need the distraction."

He engaged first gear, and gripped the steering wheel tightly. He was trying to stop his hands from trembling. Treading hard on the accelerator he succeeded in tail wagging the rear end as he tried to gain forward speed.

"Slow down Gerry, we have to act like nothing has happened, drive normally."

When Gerry had the car under control, Manfred wiped his face free of sweat.

"I want to thank you for rescuing me from that bastard, they won't find him until spring when the snow melts but he had me worried. I knew he was going to hit me with his pistol and I just froze. I really didn't know what to say when he asked me where we got the gasoline."

"If he had searched the car he would have seen the auxiliary petrol tank, the communications set and my white cape. We would have had a hard time explaining all that away. So when I saw him getting ready to swipe you with his pistol I just fired without thinking but I'm worried now."

"Why? We covered our tracks, there were no witnesses."

"Think Manfred, he wouldn't be patrolling alone, he'd have back up ready to transport us to the nearest cells. I'm so worried I'm going to get off the highway and take some back roads. How far is it to Stuttgart?" Gerry asked his body still shaking.

Gerry felt emotionally drained and fatigued as he turned off the road at Richard Farber's farm, he drove slowly into the garage and switching the engine off he set handbrake. Fatigue swamped him and his head flopped forward onto his hands that were still tightly gripping the steering wheel. Manfred was on the rear seat sleeping. He guessed that it was about seven but it was still as dark as midnight.

He knew he had fallen asleep when his arm was gently shaken; his mind struggled back to reality when his door opened and Anna was gently shaking his arm again. When his eyes focussed, he could see Anna and standing behind her was Alex, he heard the rear door open and Cornelia was wailing as she climbed in, fearing the worst had happened to Manfred.

He felt Anna's tear stained face against his cheek; she gripped his hand urging him to get out of the car. Stepping slowly off the car's running board he leaned down and briefly kissed her. As he drew away, "I'm exhausted," he said, his voice hoarse, his throat dry.

He allowed himself to be led through the house to Anna's room where she quickly stripped his thick outer clothing and then his underwear. He started shivering as she pulled clean underwear onto him.

Anna stood back as he collapsed onto the bed; she leaned down and kissed his cheek, and pulling the covers over him, she left the bedroom.

In the dining room, Alex and Cornelia were listening intently to Manfred. Alex looked up and beckoned Anna to sit with them.

"Gerry killed an SS patrolman," she said quietly to Anna.

The blood drained from Anna's face, covering her face with her hands she leaned her elbows on the table and tears flowed into her hands. Settling her face on her hands and ignoring her tears she asked Manfred, "How's he been afterwards."

"He drove us home without going to pieces. But I think that he'll have some after effects, I know I would. His quick thinking saved me from being pistol whipped by that arrogant SS bastard. We had a lot of incriminating evidence in the car and we were heading to our deaths."

"Would you like coffee darling?" Cornelia asked Manfred.

All three smiled at Cornelia and nodded yes.

"Are you sure that you can't be traced by the SS?" Alex asked Manfred.

"Impossible, he was a lone rider and there were no witnesses. We hid his body in a ditch and covered it with snow. I hid his motorcycle off the road and then we covered any tracks on the road with fresh snow."

Gerry slept for eleven hours it was six PM when he woke. Anna's room was in darkness, he felt thirsty and he urgently wanted to urinate. He struggled out of the bed and down the hall to the bathroom. He could hear the women talking in the kitchen.

After urinating, he splashed his face with cold water, the shock bringing him to full consciousness. He drank water from his cupped hands and then staggered back to Anna's room wondering why he felt so lethargic.

Fully dressed he walked slowly to the dining room where the three women gathered around him, they were smiling and they wanted to know where he had been in Holland.

As he drank his coffee, he felt weak and he was trying to decide what and how much he should tell them. He feigned sleepiness, playing for time as he quickly finished his coffee and asked for another.

Anna was curious after Manfred had told them of the women that he had been with while he was away.

Gerry decided that he would tell them the truth and when he told them about Karla, and her act of murder, he saw the women shivering in horror.

It was Anna who asked, "She didn't attack you and try to castrate you did she?"

They all laughed, Manfred was wondering how much Gerry would tell Anna about Karla, he knew that Gerry's episode with Karla under the kitchen table was none of his business. Not conscious of his action he reached down and settled his testicles into a more comfortable position.

It was the way that Gerry adroitly skirted around various parts of his story that told Anna that he had been more intimately involved with Maike. When he asked the time and then moved with her to the communications room, he fixed a frequency and tapped out 'MAIKE'. She decided that she would not pursue her suspicions unless he told her about his relationship.

'After all, he came back to me, didn't he?' The thought consoling her.

Friday 30th January 1941.

"Richard has arrived," Anna spoke down the drain that led to the pit where Gerry and Manfred had been hiding for the last hour, it was a precaution that they always took in case Richard was followed and the house was raided by the SS. They were heavily clothed, the temperature below zero.

They walked with Anna to the house and hung their overcoats on the pegs near the back door. When they entered the dining room, they greeted Richard who was looking sombre. Cornelia quickly set hot coffee in front of them.

"Something worrying you Richard?" Manfred asked.

"Yes there's a few things that are making me anxious. But let me tell you about the allies that helped us with money and weapons, allowing us to sabotage the refinery. The weapons came from the UK and the Americans helped finance the raid, this was the reason for your trip to Bern. When I reported the results to them they were highly delighted and promised me further support but I was saddened and it disturbed me that we lost five of the people who took part. Five who won't ever know how much damage we've done to the Nazi cause."

Richard sipped on his coffee, he looked dejected and when he saw that they were waiting for his news, he continued.

"The destruction of the refinery has caused the SS to redouble their internal security measures. I want you to cease all radio transmissions until I tell you that it's safe to resume. Then you will transmit at the times nominated using the codebook to encrypt your messages. There are vans ranging all over central Germany armed with sensitive detection receivers coupled to rotating antenna. They can triangulate and pin point the source of a transmission very quickly. They've caught a number of people and they executed them on the spot for being in possession of a transmitter. Some of them were radio hams simply talking to one another, and they had nothing to do with the people's resistance movement. The SS have intensified their patrols questioning anyone that looks even remotely suspicious."

"That certainly cuts short our activities," Alex said.

Manfred cut in, "Gerry shot an SS patrolman, he pulled us over while we were driving from Mander; it was just after midnight. It was my fault because I didn't think fast enough. The bastard was about to pistol whip me and Gerry let him have it."

"Was he alone?" Richard asked wondering how he could possibly cover up a murder.

"He was a lone patrolman, we hid his body in a ditch under about a metre of snow. I drove his motorcycle off the road and buried it in snow. It'll be spring, when the thaw comes, before anyone finds him."

"You shouldn't have any problems then. How about you Gerry? Have you recovered?"

"I'll never get over the shock, but I'm okay. I want to keep fighting; I owe it to my special friend and my family. I want to keep going."

"Good man! Now before we discuss what we can do, allow me to tell you that I'm being pressured to leave my job at the camp and take charge of a factory making synthetic rubber. There are nine hundred working at this plant producing tires and rubber for many different pieces of war equipment. About a third of these people are slave labourers. I've tried three different strategies to avoid being moved and so far I've been unsuccessful."

"If you're moved that will put an end to all of our activities," Manfred said.

"Maybe, I'm telling you now what may happen to me because if I'm transferred to the rubber plant, which is located near Munich, then my access to the materiel's that I've supplied for our use here, will stop immediately."

"Did you bring the code books with you Richard?" Anna asked.

Richard opened his brief case and dropped a large envelope on the table. He placed his hand on the envelope as if stopping any further discussion.

"We'll talk about codes later. They're not a priority any more."

"If you're moved, what do you think we should do?" Gerry asked.

"There are many possibilities but this is what I've been thinking, there will be nothing as large as the refinery at Ems. You can forget about doing anything at all until spring when there will be suitable weather for you to move down to Chris's camp, the women will stay here to grow and preserve food and tend to the livestock..."

Shocked, Manfred interrupted, "You mean that Gerry and I should be permanently located at Chris's place?"

"Yes, my ability to get supplies of gasoline diverted here will cease, if I'm moved. Don't forget it's not yet certain that I'll be appointed to the rubber mill."

"So we conserve gasoline by working with Chris and then we start doing all those little acts of sabotage that Chris has been doing for so long," Manfred said.

"Yes, that's it precisely."

"What would you like us to do during February and March?" Gerry asked.

"Whenever the weather will allow I would like you to buy a boar from the pig farmer. Now is the rutting season and I want you to mate it with the sows that you want to keep. The more meat we have the better. Also I want you to do an assay of wildlife on the property. Toward the end of March, I want you to increase the number of chickens and increase the size of the gardens. You should also look at stockpiling wood for fuel for next winter. I have a shopping list of necessities for Alex to purchase and excess money that should be kept here to be used as required."

"You're telling us that we should adopt a low profile and prepare to become even more self supporting?" Manfred said. He wasn't happy about moving to Chris's camp.

"You can never know what the future holds but my prediction is that Germany is headed for tougher times. Our survival is possible but only by being prepared. Now, the codebooks; all of you must study them. Get to know them but no transmissions until I tell you that's it's safe. I want you to maintain the listening schedules outlined in the books. If I hear of anything that will affect you, I'll send you the emergency code listed in the front of the codebook. This will allow you to take action as required."