It had been a warm, congenial get together. Both the King and Churchill expressed their sincere appreciation for the swift and smooth repatriation of the British prisoners of war, an operation which would be completed in the next few days.
There was no doubt in von Altendorf’s mind that there had been an unbelievably huge, and he hoped permanent, thaw in Anglo-German relations.
Von Brauchitsch had invited the Interior Minister to join him for a private meeting at his convenience. Today was that meeting.
Firstly he asked Speer how conditions were in the concentration camps now that he had been tasked with closing them. As usual Speer gave a short concise answer.
“The teams I have sent into the camps have made great progress. Their first action was to change the SS guards for regular army guards, as we had already agreed.
There were almost one hundred thousand prisoners in the camps. Far more than we had expected. The SS ran an extremely brutal and uncaring system. Conditions were not good, to say the least. Poor and inadequate food, and only basic accommodation. The prisoners were overworked and physically abused. There was sickness and unnecessary deaths, some of them no doubt due to mistreatment.
Accommodation is now improved, food rations have been increased, and they are of better quality. Working conditions are more in line with industrial norms.
Ordinary criminals have been separated from the political and other prisoners who were considered to be enemies of the previous Nazi state. The criminals will be dealt with only after all the other, more deserving, cases are finalised. The teams at each camp are working through the records of the inmates, interviewing them, and where they are considered to have been wrongly incarcerated, they are immediately set free. They are then transported to a rehabilitation centre of their choice and given every possible assistance to integrate back into society.
In the case of alleged communist prisoners, the interviewing officers have to feel confident that the prisoner will not engage in subversive activities and are not Moscow controlled. Otherwise those particular cases are relegated for future consideration.
Prisoners are being released at the rate of about three thousand a week but we will increase this as time goes by. My staff are working ten hour days, six days a week.”
It was obvious that Speer was handling this unpleasant problem with his usual skill and speed.
Von Brauchitsch now broached the subject of their meeting. “Albert, I would like to ask you a personal favour. One that I need to be handled very discreetly.
Somewhere in the camps there were, or possibly still are, the relatives of a Jew called Max Baum. I think there may be his father, a brother, and some other relatives, possibly uncles, aunts and cousins. Can you find out what has happened to them? If they are still there, could you please release them immediately and have them accommodated with sufficient cash for them to get by for a few weeks?”
Speer asked no questions. “I will attend to it immediately.”
“Thank you Albert. I’ll wait to hear from you.”
After Hitler’s death, von Brauchitsch had waited for Goering to quietly mention that he had honoured his promise to Max Baum. Goering had said nothing. Possibly he had done what he said he would do, but von Brauchitsch’s conscience needed confirmation. Also he was not entirely confident that Goering wouldn’t arrange for Baum’s relatives to be eliminated, thus avoiding any possible trace back to him, should certain previous events ever come to light.
Confirmation came three days later. Speer handled the matter personally and came to the General’s office with the results.
Von Brauchitsch read the sheet of paper handed to him.
Goering had done nothing! Baum’s father, brother, and eight aunts, uncles and cousins had still been imprisoned in the camps up until this morning. They were guilty only of being Jewish! They had now all been released and at this very moment were being driven to a furnished house in Berlin owned by the Interior Ministry. A nurse had been allocated to them as the father was sick. A junior clerk from the Interior Ministry was also assisting them to re-adjust after their unpleasant time in the camp. They had been given enough money to get by for the next month pending further instructions from von Brauchitsch.
Von Brauchitsch was full of mixed emotions. Relief they were still alive, anger at the callousness of Goering, and gratitude to Speer for his usual super efficiency.
Speer saw himself out.
The General thought about Goering. He had noticed that the Field Marshall had been paying only minimal attention at the last few Governing Council meetings. Perhaps it is time he retired.
Jamie MacLellan was in his study at home writing a long personal letter to his President. When finished, he leaned back and read through it.
Dear Mr President
The first two personal reports I sent to you were basically no more than my initial impressions during the short time I have been in Berlin.
Over the past weeks I have made some progress in establishing contacts that I regard as important. I now feel I have more insight into how things stand here in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
In particular I mention a friendship I have developed with the British military attaché in Berlin, Colonel Jeremy Blackstone, who before this appointment, was aide to General Brooke, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. Jeremy talks freely with me about matters that he believes are of mutual concern to our two countries.
He seems to have struck up a close friendship with Colonel Klaus von Altendorf, the son of the German Minister of Foreign Affairs. Klaus is also aide to General Rommel. They meet often, both on a formal and informal basis.
I mention this because I suspect he may be one of the sources of Blackstone’s information.
Within the German Government, the Soviet Union is perceived to be the only potential threat to Germany. Indeed, they see it as a threat to the whole world. Germany is as anti-communist as it ever was.
While nobody here wants another war, many think one may be inevitable with the Soviets. However, the appraisal of their intelligence services is that this is not likely for at least the next two years. They are keeping a close watch on the situation, but have based their military and strategic review on this thinking.
The army continues to demobilise its soldiers, but keeps them listed in the Reserves. The immediate aim is a professional and well trained army of considerably fewer than one million men. This could be expanded quickly to four million men, and probably to more than five million, in my judgement.
Armour and equipment lost in the war is not being replaced immediately. They are using the envisaged two year breathing space to upgrade all equipment, using lessons learnt in the war. The aim is for the German army to be a superbly equipped and trained fighting force by no later than the end of 1942.
Much the same policy is being pursued with their air force. They are upgrading some of their existing operational aircraft, but have down-graded research and development of conventional piston engine aircraft in favour of jet powered aircraft. The have had a jet aircraft flying for the past year and apparently their aim is to introduce a jet fighter into general service by the end of 1942.
I am aware that our own jet aircraft programme is nowhere near as advanced. Neither is that of the British.
Of particular interest to myself is the German navy. Here, there is an even more radical change. They are down-sizing their surface fleet. The superb Battleships Bismark and Tirpitz, together with the navy’s battlecruisers and heavy cruisers, will be sold if buyers can be found, otherwise they will be scrapped. The new philosophy is that the days of the capital ship are over! Except for aircraft carriers.