Arno Zimmer - Death Comes to the Torpedo Factory

Willoughby agreed that Woody could proceed with Prof. Humboldt and secure any helpful details surrounding the Dumont photographs. Then, as planned, he would make the call to Bellows that evening but only after Willoughby secured approval for recording devices and extension phones to be installed.

“The call will be made from your house, Pudge. And Woody, just to be cautious, you had better stay there tonight. We will assume that whoever is helping Bellows may come looking for you at your apartment. I’ll meet both of you back here later. Give me your house keys, Pudge.” Willoughby had rolled up the newspaper and had been thumping it against the palm of his other hand the entire time he laid out the plans for the evening.

WHEN WOODY REACHED Humboldt, the professor sounded excited. “The insignia on his jacket indicates that he was a member of the Brandenburg Commandos, Woodrow. A very interesting group that handled special missions but eventually fell out of favor with the High Command and were absorbed into the SS. I’ve written up a brief summary and my secretary is typing it up as we speak. Shall I send you a facsimile to the same number you used?” Pudge had his ear close to the phone and nodded yes.

“Listen, Woodrow. I’m not sure what this is all about and won’t pry but hopefully you’ll fill me in some day. More importantly, at least to me, it sounds like you have a penchant for historical research. I have a teaching assistantship opening up in the Fall. You should consider coming back to Thorndyke for your PhD. You don’t need to say anything now. Just consider applying and if you decide you’re interested, come up for a visit. Just don’t wait too long.”

Woody was stunned. A historian, eventually a professor? The idea had never entered his mind but he was flattered and did manage to say, “Thank you, Professor. I will definitely be in touch.”

BEFORE LEAVING THE lawyer’s office, Pudge made two copies of the facsimile of Humboldt’s document. Willoughby was certainly justified in keeping certain privileged information from them but Pudge was determined that everything that happened from here on out would be shared with the detective, especially after his magnanimous gesture back at the bar.

Woody and Pudge started reading Humboldt’s summary as they walked back to the saloon. Both of them were fascinated by what the professor had uncovered.

Humboldt described the Brandenburg Commandos as an elite unit within the German intelligence service. They eschewed traditional military tactics and functioned as warrior spies who infiltrated enemy positions. Their missions were often designed to capture roadways and bridges so as to disrupt logistics and communications in advance of German Panzer attacks. They were chosen for difficult assignments because they had the ability to speak their opponent’s language fluently and assume their culture and customs to such a convincing degree that they could easily pass as natives.

The unit was created by Capt. Theodor von Hippel, a master saboteur. Unlike the SS leadership, von Hippel did not seek out recruits with Nordic features who would never be able to blend in with the enemy. Rather, he recruited highly intelligent, self-reliant Germans from the frontier. To complete their missions, his boys learned to assume disguises as diverse as enemy officers, members of Dutch cargo crews or Serbian laborers. In the event of capture, they always wore their uniforms underneath their disguises so as to be treated as prisoners of war. Their exploits were so successful that many Commandos were awarded the Iron Cross commendation and received their accolades in ceremonies attended by the Fuhrer himself.

Capt. von Hippel’s unit was disbanded in 1944 when special operations were no longer seen as vital to the war effort. After the Commandos were absorbed into the SS intelligence apparatus, some members ended up on the Eastern Front in the monumental battles with Russia. Others deserted and were said to have joined the French Foreign Legion and gone off to fight in Indo-China. As masters of disguise, many of the commandos simply disappeared and took on brand new identities far from Germany.

Was the soldier in the photograph with Helga Dumont dead or still on the run? Was he even a Nazi and, if not, was he worth tracking down? Humboldt posed these questions at the end of his summary and closed with an offer to have a professor at the University of Potsdam, with whom he collaborated on several research projects, investigate marriage, birth and death records in Berlin if Woody had names he wanted checked out.

Woody and Pudge were speechless as they stood outside the bar. It was if they had been suddenly inserted into a spy movie and the director had not told them what role to play or what lines to read. They looked around furtively as if a Commando might be lurking anywhere. Pudge broke the silence and laughed, then found his voice and said, “Well, Woody, I’m not sure about you but no one would mistake me for a spook, right?”

Woody tried to laugh. For some reason, he thought of the Belgian with the French accent who had asked for directions a few days earlier and then just happened to stop by Pudge’s that very afternoon. There was something intriguing about him but Woody knew it was just fanciful speculation, engendered by Prof. Humboldt’s research.

HUMBOLDT’S BRIEF HISTORY of the Brandenburg Commandos was correct, as far as the time constraints on his cursory research would allow. Had he delved deeper, he would have discovered that the group had performed a number of spectacular missions on several fronts which were critical to Germany’s early war successes.

In one foray, Siegfried Fuettener took part in the recapture of the island of Kos, off the coast of Turkey. In another, his regiment was transported by glider to destroy British supply routes in North Africa. That raid was a disaster and Fuettener was one of the few paratroopers who survived and made it back to Germany. The truth was that the SS hierarchy, all racial purists, were jealous of the Commando’s success and used their prejudice to get the unit merged into their own intelligence operation.

Fuettener was what might be considered a typical Commando. Born in Western Pomerania, now present-day Mecklenburg, in the city of Schwerin, his family’s roots went back to what were original known as the German Vikings, a Slavic heritage that the Nazis despised and were diligent in suppressing.

Fuettener grew up near the Baltic Sea and still dreamed of his youthful years running on the white sandy beaches of Usedom Island. He was a patriot but never understood the German mysticism for racial superiority and why it was so important to the maniacal clique that had seized dictatorial power after the suspicious Reichstag fire. He had served and risked his life for his homeland. He had followed orders, but was still looked down on as an unworthy, second-class citizen. As the war neared its climax, his loyalty to the fatherland died, along with the disbanding of the Commandos.

Fluent in several languages and adept at donning the many disguises that were essential for serving in the Commandos, Siegfried used forged documents to cross the border into Belgium as the Allies tightened their grip on Germany. He settled in the city of Charleroi in the Walloon region near the French border and assumed the name of Andre’ Mathieu. There, he honed his talents in the coal and iron industries.