He pushed the SPEAK lever on his interoffice communication device. "Would you show the Herr Deputy Foreign
Minister in, please?" he asked courteously.
The left of the double doors opened a moment later. "Deputy
Minister von Lowzer, Herr Reichsfiihrer-SS," Frau Hassler announced.
Georg Friedrich von Lowzer, a plump forry-five-year-old in a too-small black suit, was carrying a leather briefcase. He took two steps inside the office and raised his arm and hand straight out from his shoulder in the Nazi salute. "Heil Hitler!" he said.
Reichsfiihrer-SS Heinrich Himmler stood up and returned a less formal salute: He bent his arm at the elbow and replied, "Heil Hitler!", then added, with a smile: "My dear von Lowzer, what an unexpected pleasure to see you."
"I regret, Herr Reichsfiihrer-SS, that I am the bearer of unpleasant news." Now what?
He smiled at von Lowzer. "Of such importance that someone of your stature in the Foreign Ministry has to bear it?"
"I believe when the Herr Reichsfiihrer-SS reads the docu ment, he will understand Herr Foreign Minister von Ribben trop's concern that it be seen immediately and by no one but yourself," von Lowzer said. He unlocked the briefcase, took a sealed, yellowish envelope from it, and handed it to Himmler.
"Please, have a chair," Himmler said graciously. Can 1 have Frau Hassler get you a coffee? Something a little stronger?"
"No, thank you, Herr Reichsfiihrer-SS."
Himmler stood behind his desk and attempted to open the envelope flap with his fingernails. He failed in that attempt and had to reach for his letter opener-a miniature version of the dagger worn by SS officers. It had been a gift to him from one of the graduating classes of the SS Officer Candidate School at Bad Tolz.
When the envelope had been slit, he found that it con tained another sheet of teletypewriter paper. He laid it on his desk, then placed a coffee cup at its top and his fingers at the bottom to prevent curling.
CLASSIFICATION: MOST URGENT
CONFIDENTIALITY: MOST SECRET
DATE: 23 APRIL 1943 FROM:
AMBASSADOR, BUENOS AIRES
TO: IMMEDIATE AND PERSONAL ATTENTION
OF THE FOREIGN MINISTER OF THE GERMAN
REICH
HEIL HITLER!
DEEPLY REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT
STANDARTENFUHRER JOSEF LUTHER GOLTZ
AND OBERST KARL-HEINZ GRUNER WERE
KILLED BY GUNFIRE AT APPROXIMATELY
0945 19 APRIL 1943 NEAR PUERTO MAG DALENA, ARGENTINA., MAJOR FREIHERR
HANS-PETER VON WACHTSTEIN NARROWLY
ESCAPED DEATH IN THE SAME INCIDENT.
INASMUCH AS BRINGING THE MURDERS OF
THESE MEN TO THE ATTENTION OF THE
Reichsfuhrer-SS Himmler looked up from the document and fixed his gaze on Deputy Minister von Lowzer, who was now sitting in the center of a small couch, his hands folded on his lap, his briefcase at his feet. "You are aware of the contents of this message?" he asked.
"I am privy to the details of Operation Phoenix, Herr
Reichsfiihrer-SS," von Lowzer replied solemnly.
ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT WOULD HAVE MADE
IT NECESSARY TO EXPLAIN THEIR PRES ENCE AT PUERTO MAGDALENA, THE UNDER SIGNED HAS INFORMED THE ARGENTINE
GOVERNMENT THAT BOTH OFFICERS, IN
COMPLIANCE WITH ORDERS, HAVE RETURNED
TO GERMANY, AND HAS ARRANGED FOR THE
TRANSPORT OF THEIR REMAINS TO CADIZ,
ABOARD THE SPANISH MOTOR VESSEL
OCEANO PACIFICO, WHICH AS THE RESULT
OF UNSUPPORTED CHARGES OF ATTEMPTED
SMUGGLING HAS BEEN ORDERED TO LEAVE
ARGENTINE WATERS IMMEDIATELY.
CAPTAIN JOSE FRANCISCO DE BANDERANO,
MASTER OF THE OCEANO PACIFICO, WAS
DENIED PERMISSION TO OFF-LOAD ANY OF
HER CARGO, AND NONE OF HER CARGO OF
ANY KIND WAS UNLOADED IN ARGENTINA.
ABSENT SPECIFIC ORDERS FROM YOUR