Back again in Berlin, I typed up my report. My conclusions were pessimistic, but lucid: the French right was fundamentally against the war, but had little weight politically. The government, influenced by the Jews and the British plutocrats, had decided that German expansion, even within the limits of its natural Grossraum, constituted a threat to the vital interests of France; it would go to war, in the name not of Poland itself, but of its guarantees to Poland. I conveyed the report to Heydrich; at his request, I also sent a copy to Werner Best. “You’re definitely right, I think,” Best said to me. “But that’s not what they want to hear.” I hadn’t discussed my report with Thomas; when I described its contents, he looked disgusted. “You really don’t understand anything. It’s as if you had just turned up from the backwaters of Franconia.” He had written exactly the opposite: that the French industrialists were opposed to the war because of their exports, and so the French army was too, and that once again the government would bow before the fait accompli. “But you know very well that that’s not how it’s going to happen,” I objected.—“Who gives a damn what will happen? How does that concern us, you and me? The Reichsführer wants just one thing: to be able to reassure the Führer that he can take care of Poland as he intends. What will happen afterward, we’ll deal with afterward.” He shook his head: “The Reichsführer won’t even see your report.”
Of course he was right. Heydrich never reacted to what I had sent him. When the Wehrmacht invaded Poland, a month later, and France and Great Britain declared war on us, Thomas was posted to one of Heydrich’s new elite Einsatzgruppen, and I was left to vegetate in Berlin. I soon understood that in the interminable National-Socialist circus games, I had gone seriously astray, I had poorly interpreted the ambiguous signs from above, I hadn’t correctly anticipated the Führer’s will. My analyses were correct, and Thomas’s were mistaken; he had been rewarded with an enviable post doubled with chances for promotion, and I had been shunted aside: that was worth reflecting on. During the following months, I detected from sure signs within the RSHA, newly formed from the unofficial fusion of the SP with the SD, that Best’s influence was waning, despite the fact that he had been appointed head of two departments; Schellenberg’s star, however, was rising day by day. Now, as if by chance, around the beginning of the year Thomas had begun spending more time with Schellenberg; my friend had a strange and infallible genius for finding himself in the right place not at the right time, but just before; so that it seemed every time as if he had always been there, and that the ups and downs of bureaucratic precedence did nothing but catch up with him. I could have understood this sooner if I had been paying attention. Now, I suspected that my name remained linked with Best’s, and thus equated with the labels bureaucrat, narrow-minded lawyer, not active enough, not tough enough. I could continue to write legal opinions, they did need people for that, but that would be all. And, in fact, in June the following year, Werner Best resigned from the RSHA, although he had contributed more than anyone else to its creation. At that time I volunteered for a position in France; I was told that my services would be more useful in the legal department. Best was clever, he had friends and protectors elsewhere; over the past few years, his publications had been evolving from the penal and constitutional fields to international law and the theory of the Grossraum, the “large spaces,” which he was developing against Carl Schmitt in the company of my old professor Reinhard Höhn and a few other intellectuals; cleverly playing these cards, he obtained a post high up within the military administration in France. As for me, I was even allowed to publish.
Thomas, on leave, confirmed this diagnosis: “I told you what you did was stupid. Anyone who is anybody is in Poland.” For now, he added, he couldn’t do much for me. Schellenberg was the star of the day, Heydrich’s protégé, and Schellenberg didn’t like me, he thought I was uptight. As for Ohlendorf, my other support, he was having enough difficulties with his own position to be able to think about me. Maybe I should go see my father’s former directors. But everyone was a little busy.
In the end, it was Thomas who started things going for me again. After Poland, he had gone to Yugoslavia and Greece, from which he returned a Hauptsturmführer, decorated many times over. He always wore a uniform now, as elegantly tailored as his suits had been before. In May 1941, he invited me to dine at Horcher’s, a famous restaurant on the Lutherstrasse. “It’s my treat,” he declared, laughing loudly. He ordered some Champagne and we drank to victory: “Sieg Heil!” Past victories and victories yet to come, he added; had I heard about Russia? “I’ve heard rumors,” I acknowledged, “but that’s all.” He smiled: “We’re attacking. Next month.” He paused to give the news all its weight. “Good God,” I finally let out. “There is no God. There’s just Adolf Hitler, our Führer, and the invincible power of the German Reich. We are in the process of amassing the largest army in the history of humanity. We will crush them in a few weeks.” We drank. “Listen,” he finally said. “The Chief is forming several Einsatzgruppen to accompany the assault troops from the Wehrmacht. Special units, as in Poland. I have reason to believe that he would positively welcome any talented young SS officer who would volunteer for this Einsatz.”—“I’ve already tried to volunteer. For France. They refused.”—“They won’t refuse this time.”—“What about you, are you going there?” He gently swirled the Champagne in his glass. “Of course. I’ve been posted to one of the Gruppenstäbe. Each Group will direct several Kommandos. I’m sure you could land a slot in one of the Kommandostäbe.”—“And what exactly is the purpose of these Groups?” He smiled: “I told you: special actions. SP and SD work, the security of the troops to the rear, intelligence, things like that. Keeping an eye on the military, too. They were a little difficult, in Poland, a little old-fashioned; we don’t want that to happen again. You want to think about it?” Does it surprise you that I didn’t even hesitate? What Thomas was suggesting seemed only reasonable to me, even exciting. Put yourself in my place. What man of sane mind could ever have imagined that they’d pick jurists to assassinate people without a trial? My ideas were clear and strong and I scarcely gave it a thought before replying: “No need. I’m bored to death here in Berlin. If you can get me in, I’ll go.” He smiled again: “I always said you were a good guy, that you could be counted on. You’ll see, we’re going to have fun.” I laughed with pleasure and we drank some more Champagne. Thus does the devil expand his kingdom.