Hitler's peace

“My father always said that Lenin ordered the extermination of the entire Don Cossack people-a million men, women, and children,” she had told me. “It’s not that I like the Nazis. I don’t, as it happens. It’s just that I fear the Russians more. I know that however stupid and cruel the Nazis can be, the Russians are far worse. If Hitler wants the Sudetenland, it’s because he thinks he needs it as a bulwark against another Russian invasion. Perhaps the Czechs have forgotten what Trotsky did to them, in 1918, when he tried to turn their army into slave-labor battalions. Mark my words, Willy, they wouldn’t hesitate to do the same thing again. The Nazis are a bad lot, but the Bolsheviks are evil. That’s why Hitler got elected in the first place. Because people were terrified that the Reds might gain control in Germany. So you won’t convince me that there is anything good to be said about communism. Perhaps it sounds good in principle, as an ideal. But my family has seen it in practice, and it’s nothing short of bestial.”

Disliking the Russians was one thing; spying for the Nazis was another. There was only one thing for it. In order to be sure, one way or the other, I was going to have to search Elena’s house. If there were photographs of Major Reichleitner in an album, then there might easily be other evidence that would prove one way or the other if Elena were working for the Abwehr.

Elena roused herself, gave me a brief kiss, and returned to the bathroom.

I picked up the photo album. I wanted to see what she would say when she found me looking at it. At the pictures of her with Reichleitner. It would be instructive to see exactly how she tried to explain them. But when she emerged from the bathroom, she didn’t bat an eye.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I couldn’t resist having a peek. I suppose I thought there might be one or two pictures of you and me, back in Berlin.”

“They’re in another album,” she said coolly, her only concern seeming to be that we dress and find some dinner. “I’ll show you later. It’s time you got ready. I thought we could go to the club. But you’ll need to change. We can stop at your hotel on the way.”

“Who’s the man in the white suit?” I asked, putting aside the album and going into the bathroom.

“Don’t tell me you’re jealous,” she said, pulling on her underwear.

“Of course I’m jealous. You’re the best thing that’s happened to me since this war started. And now I see I have yet another rival.”

“Take my word for it, he’s no threat to you.”

“I don’t know. You and he seem pretty close in those pictures. Good-looking fellow, too.”

“Max? Yes, I suppose so.” Elena shrugged and, sitting down on the edge of the bed, began to roll on a pair of stockings. “For a while we were, you know. Close, like you say. But it didn’t last long. He was a Polish officer from Sikorski’s staff. From Posen. A rare bird.”

“Oh? How do you mean?”

“A German-speaking Pole who fought for the Polish army. That’s how rare.”

“And where is he now?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t seen him in several months. Since the summer, I think. Max did a lot of work for SOE. In Yugoslavia. At least that’s what he told me.”

I nodded, thinking that these were good answers-they had the merit of being possibly true.

Elena finished fastening her stocking to its garter and, opening her closet, stared at an armory of devastating gowns. She pulled one out and put it on. Then she looked at her watch again. “Hurry up,” she said.

XXI

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1943,

IRAN

In its southern part, the streets of Teheran were narrow and tortuous; in the northern part, there were broad avenues. Misbah Ebtehaj, the wrestler who was acting as North Team’s guide and translator, said that much of the character of the city had been destroyed by the previous shah. But North Team’s commander, Captain Oster, thought that Reza Shah’s modernization could hardly have altered the fact that it was not a good location for a city. The nearest river was forty kilometers away, which meant that potable water was always in short supply. Two of Oster’s men were already sick from drinking the local water.

It was cold, too, much colder than they had expected, which Oster felt Berlin ought to have known about, given that Shimran, the northern part of Teheran, was built on the slopes of a mountain more than 5,600 meters high. But apart from a lack of warm clothing, everything had gone as planned.