‘We removed the main explosive charges when we captured the cathedral,’ he explained. ‘At least the ordnance that was meant to blow the place right up to heaven when the Ivans cleared out of Smolensk. Now that’s what I call a bloody assumption. The Red Army had filled the whole fucking crypt with explosive, just like they did in 1611, and they thought to detonate it with radio-controlled fuses from several hundred kilometres away, the same as in Kiev; only this time they forgot that the signal couldn’t travel underground, so the charges didn’t go off. We were walking around upstairs for days before we found the stuff down here. It could have blown us up at any time.’
‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ I asked Von Gersdorff. ‘I don’t see any point in us both risking our lives. This was my crazy idea, not yours.’
‘You forget,’ said Von Gersdorff, ‘I’ve armed and disarmed anti-personnel mines before. Or had you forgotten the Arsenal? Besides, I speak much better Russian than you, and more to the point, I read it too. Even if you do manage to open one of the NKVD’s filing cabinets without getting your head blown off, you don’t really know what the hell it is you’re looking for.’
‘You have a point there,’ I admitted. ‘Although I’m not even sure that what we’re looking for is down here.’
‘No, of course not. But like you I think it’s certainly worth a shot. I’ve been longing to get a chance to come down here and now you’ve given me a good reason. Anyway, two of us can get the job done much more quickly than one.’
At the foot of the stairs Schlächter unlocked a heavy oak door and switched on a light to illuminate a long and windowless basement that was full of filing cabinets and bookshelves and religious paraphernalia, including some precious-looking silver icons, and a couple of spare chandeliers. A large marker sign of a yellow skull and crossbones hung on a length of wire that extended across the width of the room and here and there – on walls and cupboards – were some red chalk marks.
‘Right gentlemen,’ said Schlächter. ‘Pay attention please. I’m going to tell you what I would tell anyone who joins the panzer engineers. I apologize if any of this sounds like basic training but it’s the basics that will help to keep you alive.
‘What we have down here is the handiwork of a real joker of an Ivan. He must have had days down here setting up practical jokes for us. Funny for the enemy no doubt, but not I can assure you for us. You pull something open and find that whatever it is you’re pulling – a drawer, a cabinet door, a box-file off a shelf – is linked by a short length of detcord to a half-kilo of plastic explosive that goes off before your arm has stopped moving. I’ve had one man lose his face and another lose his hand, and frankly I just don’t have the men to spare for a job like this right now – not when there’s still so much to clear up top. The SS have offered me some Russian POWs to clear this room, but I’m the old-fashioned type; I don’t believe in that sort of thing. Besides, it would defeat the object if the hidden bomb clearance resulted in the destruction of the very thing that makes hand clearance of this kind of ordnance necessary in the first place.
‘So here’s how it works. You get to find them. That’s the hard part – which is to say it’s hard finding them without getting a nasty surprise. Then I’ll come along and do the business. Now the first thing is to understand your adversary. The aim of using a hidden bomb is not to inflict casualties and damage. That is merely a means to an end. The main thing is to create an attitude of uncertainty and suspicion in your enemy’s mind. This lowers morale and creates a degree of caution that slows up his movement. Maybe so. But there’s nothing wrong with a bit of uncertainty in here.
‘Please put out of your mind any preconceptions you might have about Russians, because I can tell you that the man or men who made these devices had a keen understanding of the essence of hidden bombing, which is low cunning and variety, not to mention human psychology. While you are in here continual vigilance is essential. It must become second nature. Keen eyesight and a suspicious mind will keep you alive in this room, gentlemen. You must look for signs of unusual activity which will warn you of potential hazards. Spend a good while looking at something before you think to touch it.
‘And the following clues may indicate the presence of a trap: anything valuable or curious that might make a good souvenir; apparently harmless but incongruous objects. On other occasions elsewhere I have found bombs in the most unlikely objects: a flashlight filled with ball bearings and explosive; a water bottle; a table-knife; a clothes peg; underneath the butt of an abandoned rifle; if it can be moved or picked up it can also explode, gentlemen.’
He pointed at one of the icons leaning against the crypt wall. It had a valuable-looking silver frame. On the wall immediately beside the icon was a red chalk mark.
‘Take that icon, for instance,’ he said. ‘That’s just the sort of thing some light-fingered Fritz might steal. But underneath the frame is a piece of paper covering a hole in the floorboards and a release switch connected to five hundred grams of plastic explosive. Enough to take a man’s foot off. Maybe his whole leg. The chandeliers are wired, so don’t touch them either. And in case you were wondering about it, the remains of the filing cabinet that you see at the head of the room ought to be eloquent proof of the risk you’re running.’
He pointed at a blackened wooden filing cabinet that had once contained three drawers and been the height of a small man: the top drawer was hanging at an angle off its rails and the contents looked like the remains of a bonfire; on the wooden floor immediately below was a dark brown stain that might have been blood.
‘Take a long hard look at it. That drawer was hiding just two hundred grams of plastic, but it was enough to take a man’s face off and blind him. From time to time take another look at it and ask yourself – do I want to be right in front of a hidden bomb like that when it goes off?
‘Other things to look out for are nails, electric leads or pieces of wire; loose floor boards, recent brickwork; any attempt at concealment; new paint or marks that don’t seem to fit in with the surroundings; but frankly there is no end to this kind of list, so it’s best to tell you of the three main methods of operating a hidden bomb that you will find in this room. These are the pull method, the pressure method, or the release method. Also be aware that an obvious trap may be used to disguise the presence of another; and always remember this: the more dummies we find the more your vigilance is likely to be reduced. So keep paying attention. Safe procedure is to do everything slowly. If you meet the least bit of resistance stop what you’re doing. Don’t let go but call me and I will take a closer look. With most of these devices there’s a safety pin hole; to neutralize the device I will use a nail or a pin or a piece of strong wire and put it in the safety pin hole, after which the device will be safe to handle.’