Hitler's peace

“I don’t believe it,” said Colonel Freytag von Loringhoven, his keen nostrils already sucking in the aroma. Food at the Zossen mess was poor, consisting almost exclusively of field rations and ersatz coffee; for most of the officers around the table, who were more used to dining at the Adlon or the Cafe Kranzler, it was just another reason to hate Zossen and the Army Field HQ, code-named Zeppelin. “Coffee. Real coffee.”

“I brought it back from Madrid,” said Canaris. “As well as some other provisions which I have given to the cook. I’ve asked him to prepare a special meal for us.” Canaris liked good food and was something of a cook himself. There had been a time, before the war, when the admiral had even cooked dinner for Heydrich and his wife at his house in Dolle-Strasse.

“No one could accuse you, Herr Admiral, of not looking after your men,” said Colonel Hansen, savoring the coffee in his cup.

“Don’t tell anyone,” said Canaris. “This really is top secret.”

“And how is Madrid?” asked von Bentivegni. As head of Section III he was especially concerned with the AA’s infiltration of the Spanish intelligence service.

“The Spanish government is under pressure from the Americans to stop their exports to us of wolfram and to expel all German agents.”

“And what does Franco say about that?”

“I didn’t actually get to see the general,” admitted Canaris. “But I saw Vigon.” General Juan Vigon was the chief of the Spanish general staff. “And I saw the new foreign minister, Count Jordana, too. I was obliged to point out the number of occasions on which the Abwehr and the Spanish police have acted in concert against Allied and anti-Franco resistance groups.”

Canaris continued describing the diplomatic aspects of his visit, even describing the strategic importance of wolfram as a material for manufacturing bomb electrodes, until the orderly had finished serving the coffee and left the room. As soon as the door was closed, Canaris came to the main point of the meeting.

“While I was in Spain I had a chance to speak to Diego. For the benefit of our colleagues in the Wehrmacht, Diego is the name of a successful Argentinian businessman who is also our top agent in South America.”

“Our top lady-killer, too,” observed Colonel Hansen, who, as head of Section I, was responsible for radio and courier links with all the Abwehr’s agents abroad. “I’ve never known a fellow quite so successful with the ladies.”

Canaris, who had little interest in ladies these days, did not mind Hansen’s interruption; he welcomed any opportunity for levity at Zossen, where the atmosphere was becoming increasingly desperate.

“Diego?” von Loringhoven said.

“Diego is his code name,” he explained. “Since the Pastorius experience we only use code names. None of us has forgotten the executions of six good men in June. We try not to mention names in the Abwehr. No, not even the name of the man we are planning to kill in Teheran. From here on I shall only refer to him by his operational code name, Wotan.”

Canaris paused for a moment, to relight his cigar, before continuing: “Now, then. Diego was in Washington only a few days ago, where he met Harvard. Harvard is the Abwehr’s last important spy in Washington and an agent we have been using since 1940, when he was a rich man in his own right, owning a decent-sized chemical company. When an investment went badly wrong for him, the Abwehr was able to pay off his debts, refinance the company, and buy lots of defense shares in his name. I tell you this so you will understand that his loyalty is to Germany and the Abwehr, rather than National Socialism.

“At the beginning of the war we encouraged Harvard to become a member of the American Ordnance Association, a pro-defense lobby with close ties to the War Department. As a result he receives a great many War Department press releases and is well-known around Washington, with lots of friends in the Senate and Roosevelt’s cabinet. Since 1942 he has, to all intents and purposes, been the owner of a house in Acapulco, where he has often entertained senators who have been totally unaware that the place is full of hidden microphones. Harvard’s main usefulness has been in reporting Washington gossip, but occasionally he has also been able, on an informal basis, to recruit people who are sympathetic to our cause.