Derek Pennington: The German Peace

He paused searching for the right words.

“Communism is a deeply flawed and unworkable ideology. This is made far worse in the way it is applied in the Soviet Union, where the peasants and ordinary people groan under the heel of their psychotic dictator, Josef Stalin. I have here a report, a copy of which will be made available to you later today. This report was updated only a few days ago. It is the latest intelligence we have, and it illustrates the nature of Comrade Stalin.

The Soviet famine of 1932–1933 was a result of actions of the Soviet state in implementing forced collectivisation, flawed economic planning, and ruthless political repression. The Russian peasants were even forbidden to eat their own crops!

Estimates vary, but the consensus seems to be that between six and seven million people died . In the report you will see photographs of Soviet citizens lying in city streets, dead or dying of starvation.”

There was silence around the table.

“Not content with this, between 1936 and 1938 there was another campaign of political repression. It is called Stalin’s Great Purge. It was motivated by Stalin’s desire to remove any opposition to him, real or imagined, and consolidate his leadership. Included in the purge was Red Army, as well as peasant, leadership. Estimated deaths are between six hundred thousand and one and a quarter million. ”

There had been rumours and reports of such things in Britain but no facts. Lord Halifax gave a silent undertaking to have these shocking disclosures investigated as soon as he was back in England.

Rommel continued. “Now we look at Poland. There is a forest, Katyn Forest, in the eastern part of Poland which is now occupied by the Soviets. In and around that forest lie an estimated twenty two thousand bodies . These are the bodies of Polish military officers — including fourteen generals — police officers, Polish officials and intelligentsia. They are the victims of a series of mass executions conducted only last month and the month before by Russian forces. All these murders were approved by Stalin. Apparently he wanted to deprive any future Polish government of a large portion of that country’s talent”.

Rommel looked at the British delegates. “Stalin has been reported as saying, ‘One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic’. This, gentlemen, is the man who controls the largest country in the world.”

He continued. “German policy to date has been one of containment of the Soviet Union. We do not want to provoke Stalin into war, and at the same time we wish to ensure that he does not start a program of re-armament. Any such major re-armament by the Soviets would inevitably lead to war between us.

We regard the Soviet Union under Stalin as the greatest future threat to Germany, and indeed a threat to the whole world. For the immediate future we will continue with our existing relationship, while monitoring developments within that country with unceasing vigil.”

Suddenly all the delegates discovered they needed some refreshment. Conversation died for a few minutes.

It was Lord Halifax who now spoke. He had caught the eye of General Brooke and received an imperceptible nod.

He addressed the German delegation. “In my opinion we have had a frank exchange of views and information. I propose we now adjourn for lunch, and meet again at eight o’clock this evening.

During this time I will despatch a summary of our deliberations here today, to our Prime Minister in London. Included in this communication will be this delegation’s unanimous recommendation of acceptance of the offered peace terms.”

The relief of the Germans was obvious.

“It is my sincere hope that I will receive a positive reply before we meet again later this evening. In the unlikely event such a reply is delayed, or if any clarification is sought, I will immediately send a messenger to you, Baron von Altendorf.”

He concluded, “Now, I believe our hosts have prepared a most sumptuous lunch for us. I for one, am looking forward to it”.

As he rose from his seat, he added, with a hint of humour in his voice, “I think good meals have not been so plentiful in our respective countries for some time”.

Even Brooke managed a smile at this comment.

It had taken nearly two hours to prepare and encode the report to London. The intelligence man, Smythe, had handed a separate, shorter note to the British Embassy official for onward transmission.

After a light lunch and some quiet conversations, all were now relaxing in the garden or their rooms.

The waiting was hard.

Warned in advance of the impending arrival of the peace terms, the Prime Minister was ensconced with the other three members of the War Cabinet. They had also found the waiting somewhat trying. Alone among them, Churchill was enjoying some refreshment. He sipped appreciatively at his whisky. It had been extremely difficult for any of them to give their attention to other, less important, items on the agenda.

Churchill had also notified the full Cabinet that they should be available for a meeting later that evening, and an emergency sitting of both Houses of Parliament was scheduled for midnight that night.

At four thirty in the afternoon the Prime Minister’s private secretary knocked on the door, entered and without speaking placed a large envelope in front of his lord and master.

Aware of the eyes upon him, Churchill took his time, carefully opening the envelope and extracting the papers inside.

There was absolute silence in the room as he read through them, a process that took him ten minutes. His eyebrows were seen to rise in surprise at something he read. What was it? It seemed to the watchers that the Prime minister was deliberately making them wait as they tried not to fidget in their seats. Finally he placed the pages flat on the table in front of him, staring at them. He kept the other members in suspense for a little longer. Now he was ready.

“It seems, gentlemen, we have acceptable terms for an agreement on peace.”

That one simple statement broke the tension. The relief was palpable. Now the others present all started speaking at once. They wanted all the details. Now!

In an almost nonchalant tone he told them, “Our delegation in Lisbon has been informed by the German Foreign Minister that their Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, ……. is dead.”

The news astounded them!

By 6.00 pm a jubilant War Cabinet was in complete agreement about the peace agreement. Even if it meant that soon they would have to think about new jobs! They were euphoric.

Churchill wrote an answer to Lord Halifax. His secretary collected it for encoding and despatch to Lisbon. The Prime Minister now treated himself to another small Scotch.

Halifax stared at the letter delivered to him by a British embassy official a few minutes ago. Waiting for this reply had probably been the most frustrating wait he had ever experienced.

Emotion welled up within him. The war Cabinet had accepted the peace terms in their entirety! This was his crowning achievement in a lifetime of politics!

He poured himself a sherry and toasted his image in the mirror in front of him. He drained the sherry and went to find the others. Tonight we will celebrate.

The meeting of the full Cabinet took place at eight pm. Some of the members had suspicions that something exceptional or sinister was going on. There had been no specific rumours, just a vague awareness of an undercurrent. The sudden absence of the Foreign Secretary was also intriguing.

Churchill was thoroughly enjoying himself. He waited until everyone had settled down.