"In that case, I offer my apologies."
"Don't. If I had the influence you think I have, you would never have gone to submarines in the first place. And I have tried and failed ever since you went to submarines to get you out."
"That's dishonorable!"
"Let me tell you something, Karl," his father said. "For reasons we can only guess at, God gives some men authority over others. How a man uses that authority, for good or evil, is between himself and God, as well as between himself and the
State. We are engaged in an evil war, if I have to tell you that.
If I can keep my son from being killed in an evil war, I will do that, and I think God will be on my side."
Karl didn't reply.
"Tell me, Karl," Vizeadmiral Boltitz said, "do you remember your first cruise out on the U-241?"
Karl did, vividly.
His first patrol aboard U-241-as the gunnery officer, in charge of the deck-mounted cannon and the conning tower-mounted machine guns-had not been quite what he had expected.
For one thing, firing his cannon at an old, battered, and rusty merchantman and watching her sink mortally wounded beneath the waves, and then leaving her crew afloat in lifeboats, three hundred miles from shore in the
North Atlantic in winter, had not seemed to be much of a glorious victory at sea.
And what had happened in the captain's cabin immedi ately afterward was not in the honorable naval tradition of, say, Admiral Graf Spec.
The captain-Kapitanleutnant Siegfried von Stoup-had been two years ahead of Karl Boltitz at the Naval Academy.
They had not been friends, but they knew each other. "Con gratulations on your marksmanship, Boltitz," Kapitanleutnant von Stoup said.
"Thank you, Sir," Boltitz replied.
"You may examine the entry in the log," von Stoup said, and slid it across the tiny table to him.
Sank by gunfir e(obleBoltitz )ss star of Bombay, Est. 12000 Gross
Tons No Survivors.
"No survivors, Sir?"
"I am sure, Boltitz, that if there were any survivors, you would have seen them. In which case, in compliance with orders from our Fiihrer, you would, as an obedient officer, have made sure there were no survivors. Nicht war?"
"You mean fire at the seamen?"
"I mean ensure there were no survivors, as our Ftihrer has ordered."
"That's the order?" Boltitz asked incredulously.
Kapitanleutnant von Stoup nodded. "So far, I have not informed the enlisted men of the order," he said. "Except, of course, the Chief of the Boat. Some of them might find machine-gunning seamen in lifeboats distasteful."
"Good God!"
"The Fiihrer is of course right, Boltitz. Survivors of a sunk merchantmen are skilled seamen, who can serve aboard other ships. This is total war-we can't permit that to happen."
Karl had looked at him in disbelief.
"You will make sure, won't you, Oberleutnant Boltitz, that no one on your gun crew saw any survivors either?"
"Jawohl, Herr Kapitan."
"That will be all, Karl, thank you."
It was the first time Kapitanleutnant von Stoup had ever called him by his Christian name.
Later the same day, the Chief of the Boat told him that he had served under his father when he was a young seaman and would be grateful, when the Herr Oberleutnant had the chance, if he would pass on his respects. The Chief added that he had already spoken to the deck gun crew to make sure no one had seen any survivors of the Star of Bombay.
"As an honorable officer," Karl's father was saying, "how did you feel about machine-gunning merchant seamen in their lifeboats?"
"That never happened on U-241," Karl said.
"You have sworn an oath of personal loyalty to the Fiihrer.
Was it honorable to disobey an order from the Fiihrer? Or did you perhaps think that disobeying an order to commit murder was the more honorable thing to do?"
"I was never actually given the order," Karl said. "My captain-Kapitanleutnant von Stoup-was an honorable man, incapable of murder."
"It's always easier, of course, to let a superior decide questions of honor and morality for you. But sometimes you will have to make those decisions yourself. That, I suspect, is what you are going to have to do when you go to work for
Wilhelm Canaris."
"Are you suggesting he's not an honorable man?" Karl asked, genuinely surprised.
"My experience with him, over the years, is that he is far more honorable than I am, and certainly more than the people he serves."
"What are you saying?"
"The best advice I can give you, Karl, is to listen to what
Canaris is not saying."
The validity of his father's advice became immediately apparent on the second day of Oberleutnant Boltitz's duty with Section VIII (H).
His immediate superior-Fregattenkapitan Otto von und zu Waching, a small, trim, intense Swabian-took him to meet Admiral Wilhelm Canaris.
"I always like to personally greet officers newly assigned to me," Canaris began, looking intently into Karl's eyes. "To make a snap judgment, so to speak, about how well suited they may be for work in this area."
Karl could think of nothing to say in reply.
"You come highly recommended for this assignment, if I am to believe Kapitanleutnant von Stoup," Canaris went on.
"He seems to feel that your belief in, your dedication to,
National Socialism and your unquestioned obedience to the orders of our Fiihrer is to be expected from an officer of your heritage."
What the hell is that supposed to mean? I'm surprised that he even knows who Siegfried van Stoup is, much less that van Stoup recommended me for an assignment here.
God, what did the Old Man say? "Listen to what Canaris is not saying."
My God! Canaris is telling me that he knows van Stoup is disobeying the "no survivors" order; and that he also knows-the crack about "someone of your heritage"-that my father believes we are in an evil war.
"Where we're going to start you off, Boltitz, under Fregat tenkapitan von und zu Waching, is as the liaison officer between this office and that of Foreign Minister von Ribben trop. You will be expected to make yourself useful to both von Ribbentrop and von und zu Waching, and to keep your eyes and ears open over there for anything that might interest us. Additionally, to give you a feel for the conduct of a covert operation, I want you to come up with a plan to have the officers-and the men, if this is feasible-of the Graf
Spee to be returned to service from their internment in
Argentina."
"Jawohl, Herr Admiral."
"It would appear that you have some unusual qualifica tions for this assignment. You speak Spanish; you served aboard the Graf Spee; and it is self-evident that submarines will have to be involved. And it will serve as a learning experience for you. Both initial assignments will serve that purpose."
"Yes, Sir."
"I will be interested in your progress, Boltitz. I hope that you will not disappoint me. Or your father. Or Kapitanleut nant von Stoup."
"I will do my best, Herr Admiral."
"That will be all, gentlemen," Canaris said, dismissing them.
Though no one had told him anything specifically, Boltitz had quickly come to understand that making himself useful to both von Ribbentrop and von und zu Waching consisted primarily of carrying messages between von Ribbentrop and
Canaris without anyone in the Foreign Ministry knowing about it. But he additionally made mental notes recording everyone in the Nazi hierarchy who called on von Ribben trop, and passed this information in person to von und zu
Waching in a daily report.
Most of his time, however, was occupied with planning the escape from Argentina of the two hundred-odd German officers interned there and bringing them back to Germany.
Since he knew absolutely nothing about Argentina or about planning a covert operation, he at first imagined the assign ment was intended (as Canaris had said) to be a learning experience and nothing more.
But in time he came to understand it was more than that.