Philip Kerr - Berlin Noir

Karl Weisthor was in the S S. I almost said it aloud, it seemed so fantastic. Nor was he merely an NCO like Otto Rahn, but judging from the number of pips on his collar, at least a brigadier. And something else too. Why had I not noticed it before – the physical similarity between Weisthor and Julius Streicher? It was true that Weisthor was perhaps ten years older than Streicher, but the description given by the little Jewish schoolgirl, by Sarah Hirsch, could just as easily have applied to Weisthor as to Streicher: both men were heavy, with not much hair, and a small moustache; and both men had strong southern accents. Austrian or Bavarian, she had said. Well Weisthor was from Vienna. I wondered if Otto Rahn could have been the man driving the car.

Everything seemed to fall in with what I already knew, and my overhearing the conversation in the hallway confirmed my earlier suspicion that the motive behind the killings was to throw blame on to Berlin’s Jews. Yet somehow there still seemed to be more to it. There had been Himmler’s involvement. Was I right in thinking that their secondary motive had been the enlistment of the ReichsFührer-S S as a believer in Weisthor’s powers, thereby ensuring the letter’s power-base and prospects for advancement in the S S, perhaps even at the expense of Heydrich himself?

It was a fine piece of theorizing. Now all I needed to do was prove it, and the evidence would have to be watertight if Himmler was going to allow his own personal Rasputin to be sent up for multiple murder. The more so if it was likely to reveal the Reich’s chief of police as the gullible victim of an elaborate hoax.

I started to search Weisthor’s desk, thinking that even if I did find enough to nail Weisthor and his evil scheme, I wasn’t about to make a pen-pal out of the man who was arguably the most powerful man in Germany. This was not a comfortable prospect.

It turned out that Weisthor was a meticulous man with his correspondence, and I found files of letters which included copies of those he had sent himself as well as those he had received. Sitting down at his desk I started to read them at random. If I was looking for typed-out admissions of guilt I was disappointed. Weisthor and his associates had developed that talent for euphemism that working in security or intelligence seems to encourage. These letters confirmed everything I knew, but they were so carefully phrased, and included several code-words, as to be open to more than one interpretation.

K. M. Wiligut Weisthor

Caspar-Theyss Strasse 33,

Berlin W.

To S S-UnterscharFührer Otto Rahn,

Tiergartenstrasse 8a,

Berlin W.

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

8 July 1938

Dear Otto,

It is as I had suspected. The ReichsFührer informs me that a press embargo has been imposed by the Jew Heydrich in all matters relating to Project Krist. Without newspaper coverage there will be no legitimate way for us to know who is affected as a result of Project Krist activities. In order for us to be able to offer spiritual assistance to those who are affected, and thereby bring about our objective, we must quickly devise another means of being enabled legitimately to effect our involvement. Have you any suggestions?

Heil Hitler,

Weisthor

Otto Rahn

Tiergartenstrasse 8a,

Berlin W.

To S S-BrigadeFührer K. M. Weisthor

Berlin Grunewald

10 July 1938

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

Dear BrigadeFührer,

I have given considerable thought to your letter and, with the assistance of S S-HauptSturmFührer Kindermann and S S-SturmbannFührer Anders, I believe that I have the solution.

Anders has some experience of police matters and is confident that in a situation created out of Project Krist, it would not be unusual for a citizen to solicit his own private agent of inquiry, police efficiency being what it is.

It is therefore proposed that through the offices and finance of our good friend Reinhard Lange, we purchase the services of a small private investigation agency, and then simply advertise in the newspapers. We are all of the opinion that the relevant parties will contact this same private detective who, after a decent interval to apparently exhaust his putative inquiries, will himself bring about our entry into this matter, by whatever means is deemed appropriate.

In the main such men are motivated only by money, and therefore, provided that our operative is sufficiently remunerated, he will believe only what he wishes to believe, namely that we are a group of cranks. Should at any stage he prove troublesome, I am certain that we will need only to remind him of the ReichsFührer’s interest in this matter to guarantee his silence.

I have drawn up a list of suitable candidates, and with your permission I should like to contact these as soon as possible.

Heil Hitler,

Yours,

Otto Rahn

K. M. Wiligut Weisthor

Caspar-Theyss Strasse 33, Berlin W.

To S S-UnterscharFührer Otto Rahn

Tiergartenstrasse 8a, Berlin W.

30 July 1938

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

Dear Otto,

I have learnt from Anders that the police are holding a Jew on suspicion of certain crimes. Why did it not occur to any of us that the police being what they are, they would frame some person, albeit a Jew, for these crimes? At the right time in our plan such an arrest would have been most helpful, but right now, before we have had a chance to demonstrate our power for the benefit of the ReichsFührer, and hope to influence him accordingly, it is nothing short of a nuisance.

However, it occurs to me that we can actually turn this to our advantage. Another Project Krist incident while this Jew is incarcerated will not only effect this man’s release, but will accordingly embarrass Heydrich very badly indeed. Please see to it.

Heil Hitler,

Weisthor

S S-SturmbannFührer Richard Anders,

Order of Knights Templar, Berlin

Lumenklub, Bayreutherstrasse 22 Berlin W.

To S S-BrigadeFührer K. M. Weisthor

Berlin Grunewald

27 August 1938

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

Dear BrigadeFührer,

My inquiries have confirmed that Police Headquarters, Alexanderplatz, did indeed receive an anonymous telephone call. Moreover a conversation with the ReichsFührer’s adjutant, Karl Wolff, indicates that it was he, and not the ReichsFührer, who made the said call. He very much dislikes misleading the police in this fashion, but he admits that he can see no other way of assisting with the inquiry and still preserve the necessity of the ReichsFührer’s anonymity. Apparently Himmler is very impressed.

Heil Hitler,

Yours, Richard Anders

S S-HauptSturmFührer Dr Lanz Kindermann

Am Kleinen Wannsee

Berlin West

To Karl Maria Wiligut

Caspar-Theyss Strasse 33,

Berlin West 29

September 1938

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

My dear Karl,

On a serious note first of all. Our friend Reinhard Lange has started to give me cause for concern. Putting aside my own feelings for him, I believe that he may be weakening in his resolve to assist with the execution of Project Krist. That what we are doing is in keeping with our ancient pagan heritage no longer seems to impress him as something unpleasant but none the less necessary. Whilst I do not for a moment believe that he would ever betray us, I feel that he should no longer be a part of those Project Krist activities which perforce must take place within this clinic.

Otherwise I continue to rejoice in your ancient spiritual heirloom, and look forward to the day when we can continue to investigate our ancestors through your autogenic clairvoyance.

Heil Hitler,

Yours, as ever,

Lanz

The Commandant,

S S-BrigadeFührer Siegfried Taubert,

S S-SchoolHaus,

Wewelsburg, near Paderborn,