The Girl from Berlin: Gruppenführer's Mistress Read online

  The Girl from Berlin

  Book Two

  Gruppenführer’s Mistress

  Copyright 2015 Ellie Midwood

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Chapter 1

  Berlin, March 1942

  I was taking my earrings off under the steady look of my husband. He was leaning on the door, with his arms crossed on his chest. He didn’t look happy.

  “What?” I finally decided to meet his eyes in the mirror of my dressing table while taking hairpins out of the complicated bun in the back of my head.

  “You went to Vienna, again.”

  I said nothing and just kept un-braiding my long, dark blond hair, letting it fall all over my shoulders and back. What was the point in stating the obvious? Of course I went to Vienna. I’d been to Vienna at least four times in the past couple of months, and Heinrich knew it perfectly.

  “You went to see Kaltenbrunner, didn’t you?”

  “I’m not sleeping with him, if that’s what you’re asking about,” I answered coldly.

  I really wasn’t. It would be monstrous to even suggest something like that, especially after all the pain we both were still suffering from: there’s nothing more devastating for parents than losing their first child. We’d lost ours before we even had a chance to hold him in our arms and tell him how much we loved him. I was still blaming myself for that, even though the doctor said that such a tremendous shock caused by the death of my only brother Norbert was responsible for the miscarriage.

  The doctor tried to comfort me by saying that it happens a lot during the first pregnancy, and that it was nothing to kill myself about. We were both still young and healthy, and could have a million kids in the future. I don’t want the millions, I wanted that one, I wanted to tell him. But there was nothing I could do. Just like there was nothing I could do about my big brother laying six feet underground, together with my unborn baby. The only thing I could do was to plan my revenge, revenge on the man who was responsible for their deaths. That man’s name was Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, the Chief of the Reich Main Security Office, mine and Heinrich’s immediate boss. And that’s exactly why I kept going back to Vienna almost every two weeks, because in Vienna lived the only man who could help me carry out my plan. And that man’s name was Gruppenführer Dr. Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the leader of the Austrian SS.

  “I know that you’re not. Even if you were, that would still bother me less than thinking that you’re getting involved in something dangerous.” Heinrich frowned at me. “You’re up to something, and I don’t like it. Especially when you’re not telling me what exactly you’re up to. And considering that you’re dealing with Kaltenbrunner, I know that whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

  Heinrich was right of course. He was always right about everything. But I just couldn’t talk to him about what I was about to do, and that was the only secret I was keeping from my husband since we got married. Before we knew everything about each other. Before, without hesitation, I revealed to him the biggest secret I had – my real origin. I told him that my whole family and I were Jewish even though he was an SD Standartenführer and could have easily sent us all out of the country (if we were lucky) or directly to the camps. But I still told him that. Because I trusted him. Because I loved him. Because I knew he loved me too.

  Before he trusted me too. He had to trust me to say that he had been working for the American Secret Service for years before I’d even met him. Before there wasn’t a thing that would be left unspoken between the two of us. But it was all before – before Heydrich killed my brother.

  He wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger, but it doesn’t lessen his fault. When I came to him begging to transfer my brother from the position of a guard in Auschwitz, the position that was the beginning of the end for my poor Norbert, with the everyday evil and atrocities he had to witness applied to his own people, the Chief of SD simply refused to listen to me. He could have saved Norbert’s life with one little signature. He decided not to. Just because he liked playing God. Just because he didn’t care about anybody’s life. And that’s why he’d lose his soon.

  A grin crossed my face. The plan that the leader of the Austrian SS Dr. Kaltenbrunner outlined for Heydrich was almost flawless. And the best thing about that plan was that in the case of investigation, which would most definitely follow, nobody could possibly find out that the two of us were in any way involved.

  “Heinrich, you know how much I love you, right? I promise that it’ll be all over very soon. Just give me a little bit more time and don’t worry about me, I know exactly what I’m doing.”

  “Why won’t you tell me then? Don’t you think I would listen to you and help you?”

  He sounded a little offended. I understood him perfectly: when your own wife goes to some other man for support and more than that, keeps it a secret from you, you have all the right to be offended. I turned around in my chair to look him straight in the eye.

  “Sweetheart, I can’t. You’re just… too good of a man for it. And I need the help of the one who is not.”

  That’s why Gruppenführer Kaltenbrunner was the most obvious choice. As a counterintelligence agent Heinrich was trying to save as many lives as he could. In comparison, Dr. Kaltenbrunner was able to stand over a dying man who he’d shot in the neck and watch him bleed to death.

  “I don’t like it, Annalise. You’re putting yourself in big danger, I can sense it.”

  It didn’t matter if I was. Since I lost two people who were so close to me, since I watched them being put in the grave, a part of me died too. The good part, the one that was taught to forgive and forget throughout her whole life. I wanted to die right before the funeral. Right after I decided to live, to live with one purpose only: to put Heydrich in a grave as well. It’s a terrible and miserable existence when you live only for your revenge. But I couldn’t imagine any other way for me. I just had to do it.

  “You have nothing to worry about, darling. Whatever Dr. Kaltenbrunner is helping me with, he’s in it too. And he wouldn’t risk his life or incriminate himself.”

  It was partly true. But the other part I didn’t want to say aloud. Dr. Kaltenbrunner wouldn’t allow anything to happen to me. He needed me alive. He wanted me alive. He wanted me for himself; but that was something Heinrich didn’t have to know about.

  _______________

  Two months earlier, Vienna, 1942

  “That’s a very interesting proposition, I have to say. It’s not every day a beautiful woman shows up at my door asking for my assistance in the assassination of one of the top Party members.” Gruppenführer Kaltenbrunner paused for a second and then added with a grin, “But you certainly have come to the right place.”

  We were sitting in his car in a secluded area near the park, where no one would be able to overhear us. Of course we couldn’t talk about it in his office, and that’s why he told his adjutant to cancel his further appointments and instead decided to take a ride with me.

  “So you’ll help me then?” I held my breath expecting his answer.

  “What did he do to you that you want him dead?” Dr. Kaltenbrunner asked instead. “Pinched your behind while you were serving him coffee? Because I’d personally shoot him for that.”

  “He’s responsible for the death of my brother.”

  “That’s a little more serious than I thought.” He wasn’t smiling anymore; instead he put his hand on top of mine and sl
ightly squeezed it. “I’m very sorry for your loss, Frau Friedmann. Please accept my sincerest condolences.”

  I nodded. “Thank you, Herr Gruppenführer.”

  “Was that the same brother who I saw you with in Paris?”

  “Yes, it was him. He was my only brother. I don’t have any other siblings.”

  “I understand. It’s very sad.”

  “It is, Herr Gruppenführer.”

  He was still holding my hand and I was glad to feel that silent support. I only wished that we both weren’t wearing gloves so I could feel the warmth of his hand on top of mine.

  “So what happened exactly?”

  “What happened was that Heydrich refused to transfer Norbert from the position of a guard in Auschwitz back to Waffen-SS on the Eastern front. My brother was never a coward, Herr Gruppenführer, he loved his country and was ready to fight for it. He was highly praised by his commanding officers after the Warsaw siege, but he was not made to be a prison guard. He was sick of it all. And I’ve been there and I can understand why. It’s disgusting what they do to people there, and he never wanted to be a part of it. He wanted to fight against the real enemy, not torture innocent people for no reason.”

  I paused for a moment. I suddenly realized that I wasn’t talking to my husband who was very much against the whole Nazi Party politics in relation to the ‘Jewish problem,’ but to the man who was most likely supporting it. I glanced at Dr. Kaltenbrunner, wondering if I had said too much already, but couldn’t tell from the look on his face what he was thinking. I decided to continue.

  “The official version that they gave us was that Norbert ‘accidentally’ shot himself while cleaning his weapon. But how can you accidentally shoot yourself in the temple? I know that he just couldn’t take it anymore, and… he took his own life.”

  I tried really hard not to cry after those last words, even though my chest was burning from all the tears inside.

  “Heydrich could have saved him if he wanted to. All he needed to do was to put his signature on the transfer order, and my brother would still be alive. I begged him to help me, and told him that I would do anything; that I would be in his debt forever… But he still said no. Not because it was something that was out of his power, not because it would jeopardize his image... Just because he didn’t want to.” I felt that poisonous hatred spreading through my body again, which was always there since Norbert died. It was a part of me now, and I felt like I’d never get it out of my system again. “That’s why I want him dead, Herr Gruppenführer. He deserved it. He must die.”

  After a minute pause Dr. Kaltenbrunner finally said, “I’ll help you, Frau Friedmann. And I think I already know how.”

  I couldn’t contain a smile after hearing his words.

  “Thank you so much, Herr Gruppenführer. You don’t know how much it means to me.”

  “Don’t thank me, I haven’t done anything yet.” He grinned at me. “But I’m going to need something from you though.”

  “Anything.”

  “Anything?” Gruppenführer Kaltenbrunner raised an eyebrow and laughed. “You’re tempting me to ask for a completely different thing from what I had in mind, but I will try really hard to remain a gentleman, especially taking into consideration your vulnerable position.”

  I caught myself smiling and blushing at the same time. One thing Heydrich was right about: Gruppenführer Kaltenbrunner really needed to have his mouth washed with soap several times before he could talk to a lady.

  He finally got serious again. “I’m going to need you to snatch up Heydrich’s travel schedule from his adjutant’s table. Is it possible for you to do that?”

  I thought about his request for a second. It was next to impossible, but I was sure I could find a way, I had to find a way.

  “Yes, I can do it.”

  “On second thought, don’t take it, it’ll be very suspicious if it suddenly disappears. Just copy it for me, will you?”

  “Yes, but I’m going to need some time.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll be out of town anyway, so let’s meet on Saturday, in two weeks. I can pick you up right from the train station and then we’ll go to some quiet place where we can talk. Sounds good?”

  “Yes, Herr Gruppenführer. Thank you again for helping me.”

  He eyed me for some time and then asked, “Weren’t you afraid to come and ask me something like that? You were risking your life by doing so. High treason is punishable by death.”

  I shrugged. “You’re the only person who I could trust with that.”

  He liked that, I could see it in his eyes.

  “I’m not the person who people normally trust, Frau Friedmann. I’m the Chief of the Austrian Gestapo, you know.” He paused for a moment and then added with a smile, “But it’s certainly nice to know that you think otherwise.”

  “After all the time that I’ve known you I’ve come to the realization that you’re a much better man than people picture you, Herr Gruppenführer.”

  He liked that even more. He liked to know that I was thinking so highly of him, even though my opinion could be very wrong.

  “I appreciate you saying that, Frau Friedmann. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure that bastard will pay for all the pain he caused you. I hate to see you like that. I want to see you happy and laughing again, like you used to be every time with me.”

  “I promise you, Herr Gruppenführer, that after his funeral I’ll be more than happy.”

  He was looking at me for some time with his dark brown eyes and then finally said, “You know how much I care about you, right?”

  “Yes, Herr Gruppenführer.”

  “You can always come to me if you need something. Anything.”

  “Thank you, Herr Gruppenführer.”

  He looked at me a little longer as if waiting for me to say something else, but I kept silent. He let go of my hand that he was holding all this time and asked, “Do you want me to take you to the station?”

  “I can take a bus. I don’t want to impose on you, Herr Gruppenführer.”

  “You never impose on me, Frau Friedmann. I’ll drive you there and wait till you board your train.”

  He did. And already sitting in my coupe for some reason I started feeling very guilty, as if I did something very wrong.

  _______________

  Berlin, January 1942

  The working day in the Reich Main Security Office was coming to an end, and I nervously shifted in my chair. I had just finished typing the transcript of the messages I recently exchanged with the British base. Several days ago the Gestapo got a hold on one Englishman working as a radio operator here in Berlin, and after the latter refused to work for them or give away any information, they ordered two especially ruthless agents to help him change his mind. The poor operator died the next morning from massive head trauma, but before that he told his tormentors where the code book he used for coding his messages was hidden. Now my new assignment was to pose as him and try to make the English drop their ‘cargo’ – several parachutists that were supposed to join the Allied underground spy net, where the Gestapo could easily intercept them.

  But my mind was preoccupied with a completely different thing. Today I needed to get my hands on Heydrich’s travel schedule just like I promised to Gruppenführer Kaltenbrunner, and it was now or never. In the past week I had found where his adjutant was keeping it, and now all I needed was two minutes alone in the anteroom. For this purpose I kept all the important correspondence together with my transcripts on my desk till I had a whole pile of them. Barbara, my fellow SS-Helferin, gladly handed me her paperwork as well, since she was in awe of Heydrich and loathed going to his office.

  At a quarter to five I finally got up from my chair, put together all the papers as neatly as I could and proceeded to Heydrich’s office. His adjutant was at his table, doing some paperwork. I faked a guilty smile at him.

  “I’m sorry there are so many of them today,” I half-whispered to him since Obergruppenführe
r didn’t like any noise in his anteroom, including conversations between his own adjutant and agents. He said it distracted him from his work. “I couldn’t leave my table to bring them earlier, I was waiting for the signal from the British.”

  Heydrich’s adjutant let out a suppressed grunt taking the pile of papers from me and shook his head. “He will not be happy.”

  “I know. I’m very sorry. I put the important ones on top, he wanted to see them as soon as they’re done.”

  He walked to the door leading to his chief’s office, and I whispered loudly before he opened it, “I’ll wait here if he needs me to explain something.”

  He nodded and disappeared behind the door. I was finally alone. I waited for several seconds, listening to the voices behind the door, making sure that Heydrich wasn’t busy with something else and wouldn’t send his adjutant back to the anteroom. But as soon as I heard them talk, I rushed to the table where his adjutant kept all the paperwork, and as carefully as I could opened the top drawer. In the past several days I kept searching through his papers in thirty seconds intervals when he would go inside the main office to deliver my reports. And I already knew where he was keeping the schedule.

  Still listening to the voices inside and hoping that no one else would enter the anteroom with their report, I opened the file and let out a desperate sigh. There was no way in the world I could copy so many dates and places in less than a couple of minutes. My mind was racing. I didn’t know if I would have another chance like this.

  I started thinking. February and March would be out of the question because Dr. Kaltenbrunner would definitely need more time to thoroughly plan and prepare everything. April and May then. I took out a piece of paper I brought in a pocket of my uniform, and thanked God for learning stenography at my SS-Helferin classes. Heydrich barked something at his adjutant behind the closed door. I hope he didn’t dismiss him. There was a thick carpet under Heydrich’s desk and I wouldn’t hear his adjutant’s first three steps, but then he’d have to make eleven loud ones on the wooden floor, which would give me exactly four seconds to put the file with the schedule back in the drawer, close it and move away from the table. But I didn’t hear the steps yet.