wise enough to keep those thoughts to himself, and smiled self-deprecatingly. He said to Scheidler, “Oh, there’s no question that the Führer understands where he’s taking us, Herr Oberst. I’m just delighted that I’m alive now to serve him.” He rocked back on his heels and looked down at his wine glass as if he was unsure of himself. “I’m glad to be a part of the Reich, even if it’s just in a small way.”
“Your part may not be quite as small as you think, Reinhold. You and I were amongst the first police officers to join the party. This story, as we heard tonight, has a long way to go yet. And you know, being in the police is going to be a much better spot for a man with your talents. Once the fighting ends, the best place to be in the Third Reich will be in the SS – especially in the SS’s police and security services – not the army. The army is good, but it’s not the future for the Reich. This is where we think men like you, men with talent and ambition, will advance the interests of the police and the SS. The SS is the future of the Thousand Year Reich, and you are lucky and smart enough to be one of its early members. That will be something to tell your grandchildren.”
Neumann shrugged and smiled self-deprecatingly again. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Maida absorbed in some tedious conversation with Scheidler’s shy, fat, garishly dressed wife. “Herr Oberst, for me, joining the party seemed like the right thing to do at the time. It was obvious where the country needed to be taken. And lots of good men have joined since.”
Scheidler beamed. It was what he wanted to hear. Like Neumann, he’d joined the party when influential officers frowned upon it. Not that his superiors disagreed with what the party stood for; but in the early days, Austria’s Nazis were regarded as a déclassé bunch, scruffy and dangerous – the kind of people who routinely ended up in Vienna’s jails on a Saturday night. That image had changed now and Reinhold Neumann was proud of his new status.
“Look around you tonight, Reinhold,” said Scheidler. “This is a splendid example of how well the party has fared here in Vienna, but there aren’t many police uniforms here. Yours, mine, and handful of others. And that’s the very point: you joined at the outset and you stayed on even after the party was outlawed. That showed insight and allegiance.” Scheidler looked around the room and lowered his voice. “And tonight, I think I can tell you that we are both going to Berlin very shortly.”
Neumann nodded and fixed the older policeman with his most captivated stare.
“Yes,” said Scheidler, “Himmler himself has directed that we are to send our most promising officers to Berlin. I received the order this afternoon. There is to be a course to standardize our procedures and to develop methods to make certain that when our enemies are defeated, we have the processes in place to ensure that our new territories are properly governed and are no security risk to the German state.”
Neumann didn’t have to pretend that he was pleased with the news. He smiled broadly. “I’m truly honoured by this, Herr Oberst. As I said earlier, I feel we’re at a crossroads of history, and it’s my good fortune and privilege to play a part in it.”
“Oh, we shall both be playing a part in the historic days ahead of us, and very soon. Mark my words, Reinhold.” Scheidler gestured towards his medals, nearly spilling his wine in the process. He leaned forward, until he was almost in Neumann’s face. “Your generation is much luckier than mine. We endured the Great War, only to be betrayed by Jews, socialists, and the rich; but you and your generation will enjoy our final triumph. The Third Reich is going to be something we can all dedicate ourselves to building. Before long, the war is going to heat up again. Believe me, when we are ready, we will be on the move, and we will crush the British and French and take our rightful place in Europe. This time things will be very different.”
Neumann was listening intently and waved away a waiter with canapés. Scheidler’s voice grew low and he leaned forward even closer. “We will also get ourselves ‘Lebensraum’ in the east. We will have land to expand and grow Germany in that direction. It’s our destiny. It’s not just talk, Neumann. Trust me. I heard this from Himmler himself at our briefing this afternoon. This is not just wishful thinking. The next year will be the most momentous period in all of European history. We are going to smash the German people’s traditional enemies and carve out for ourselves and future generations the Greater German Empire. Our destiny has been sleeping since Charlemagne, but not for long now. What this means for people like you and me is the opportunity to distinguish ourselves in the service of the Reich.”
Despite his previous scepticism, Neumann felt a frisson of pride and enthusiasm. The disdain he felt earlier was rapidly disappearing. He had undergone this transformation in the past. It happened so frequently now that Neumann didn’t even notice it. He had often been ambivalent about the party, but his ambition was kindled by the prospect of opportunity, and this created an uncritical kind of enthusiasm. The rapid change from cynic to disciple was no longer quite so remarkable. Reinhold Neumann had come such a long way from a Viennese slum, and now his talents were clearly being recognized for what they were. It was hard not to feel exultant.
* * *
ANNIKA’S SURPRISE PARTY for Saul was a tremendous success. Everyone she’d invited had come, and they were joined by people she had never seen before. It didn’t matter. They were all friends of friends. Saul’s sister’s house was crowded with dozens of their colleagues and associates. The air was blue with cigarette smoke, and two dozen people were talking at the top of their lungs. A gramophone trumpeting out a scratchy swing-band tune was losing hopelessly against the chattering of so many boisterous conversations.
Annika sidled up to Saul, who was talking animatedly in German with a small circle of guests. In another part of the room she could hear a conversation in French. In the background someone else was speaking English. One of the things Annika loved about the Netherlands was the nation’s fluency in so many languages. It was a skill that made them unique in Europe. It also helped keep the country prosperous, as it gave them a great trading advantage over all their largely unilingual neighbours. Both she and Saul, like all their educated friends, spoke Dutch and German, and could get by in either English or French. She slid her arm around his waist.
“Annika,” Saul said enthusiastically, “I want you to meet Pauli Herschel.” He introduced her to a tall man with a fair complexion, horn-rimmed glasses, and thinning brown hair. “Pauli has just come from Germany. I was explaining to him that next semester he could probably get a spot teaching a tutorial in the law school. I’m sure he could eventually get a job here at the university.”
Annika nodded vigorously. “Yes, of course. I don’t know what positions are open, but I hear that you have excellent qualifications. Where exactly did you come from in Germany?”
“We lived in Stuttgart, but we managed to get out three months ago via Switzerland. We’re lucky to be here in the Netherlands. Things were getting unbearable at home. I got my immediate family out. I used to have a small office specializing in business law, but I haven’t been allowed to practise law for several years now. It’s hard to believe what it was like living in that environment.”
“Will you be able to sell your house and have the money forwarded here?” someone from the circle of guests asked.
Pauli laughed bitterly. “No, not at all. We were lucky to get out with the clothes on our backs. Jews must have travel permits and special exit visas to get out of Germany. We had a phoney set of papers made up for us, identifying us as non-Jews, but I won’t tell you how we got them. Others are still using the system. But no, there’s no possibility of getting money from your bank account or from any kind of sale. Still, I think we were lucky. We had to leave home separately, without luggage, and we met at the train station. My wife took my daughters and I took my son. We travelled separately; travelling as a family would have been too suspicious.”
“What
