Upton Sinclair - Dragons’s teeth

Emil talked freely about the new Regierung. He had despised the Republic, but had obeyed its orders because that was the duty of an army officer. Now Adolf Hitler had become his Commander-in-chief, and it was necessary to obey him, however one might privately dislike his manners. But Emil was sure that the stories of abuse of power had been greatly exaggerated, and for malicious purposes. There were bound to be excesses in any governmental overturn; the essential thing was that Germany had been saved from the clutches of the Reds, and every civilized person owed the new Chancellor a debt of gratitude for that. Lanny indulged in no Pink arguments, but said that he and his wife had been greatly impressed by what they had found in the country.

They waited late for a call from Freddi, but none came, and they went to bed speculating about it. Doubtless he was avoiding risks, and perhaps also afraid of bothering them; but it was too bad they couldn’t give him the news which would so greatly relieve his mind. Lanny was prepared to state that he had come upon a wonderful Bouguereau!

Morning came, and the papers had editorials about the case of the Jewish Schieber; in Hitlerland all news stories were editorials, and were full of rancid hatred and venomous threats. At last the sneaking traitors were feeling the stern hand of the law; at last the vile Semitic parasites were being shaken from the fair body of Germania! Der Angriff was especially exultant. Here was proof to all the world that National Socialism meant what it said, that the stealthy influence of the Jewish plutocracy was no longer to rule the Fatherland! Lanny translated the words, which really seemed insane in their virulence. "Mr. Mouth doesn’t sound so pleasant in print," he remarked.

Breakfast, and still no call from Freddi. They didn’t like to go out until they had heard from him. Irma had her hair dressed and got a manicure; Lanny read a little, wrote a few notes, roamed about, and worried. They had a luncheon engagement at the Berlin home of General Graf Stubendorf, and they had to go. Irma said: "Clarinet can call again; or he can drop us a note."

Driving to the palace, they were free to discuss the various possibilities. Goring might have had Freddi arrested; or the Brownshirts might have picked him up, without Goring’s knowing anything about it. Freddi was a Jew and a Socialist, and either was enough. Irma suggested: "Mightn’t it be that Goring wants to keep the whole family in his hands until he’s ready to put them out?"

"Anything is possible," said Lanny; "except that I can’t imagine Freddi delaying this long to call us if he is free."

It rather spoiled their lunch. To tell the truth it wasn’t an especially good lunch, or very good company—unless it was enough for you to know that you were the guest of a high-up Junker. The General Graf’s attitude was the same as Emil’s; he was a cog in the Reichswehr machine, and he obeyed orders. His special concern was getting his home district out of the clutches of the Poles; he knew that Lanny sympathized with this aim, but even so, he could talk about it only guardedly, for the Chancellor had given the cue by a pacific speech, so it was the duty of good Germans to let the subject of boundary lines rest and to concentrate on the right of the Fatherland to equality of armaments. Having expressed regret over the plight of Lanny’s Jewish relative, the General Graf Stubendorf talked about other friends, and about the condition of his crops and the market for them, and what did Lanny’s father think about the prospects for world recovery?

Lanny answered with one part of his mind, while the other part was thinking: "I wonder if Freddi is calling now!"

But Freddi wasn’t calling.

WHEN Mr. and Mrs. Irma Barnes had visited Berlin a year previously, they had been the darlings of the smart set, and all the important people had been glad to entertain them. But now the social weather had changed; a thunderstorm was raging, and nobody could be sure where the lightning might strike. The story of Johannes Robin was known to the whole town; and who could guess what confessions he might have made, or what might have been found in his papers? Many persons have dealings with moneylenders which they don’t care to have become known. Many have affairs of various sorts which they prefer not to have looked into by the Secret State Police, and they carefully avoid anyone who might be under surveillance by that dreaded body.

Moreover, Irma and Lanny were worried, and when you are worried you are not very good company. Another day passed, and another, and they became certain that something terrible must have happened to Freddi. Of course he might have been knocked down by a truck, or slugged and robbed by one of the inmates of an Asyl für Obdachlose who suspected that he had money. But far more likely was the chance that a Jew and Socialist had fallen into the clutches of the Brown Terror. Their problem was, did Goring know about it, and if so was it a breach of faith, or merely a precaution against a breach of faith on their part? Would Goring be content to keep his hostage until the bargain was completed? Or was Freddi to remain in durance for a long time?

The more Lanny thought about it, the more complications he discovered. Could it be that there was a war going on between the two powerful Nazi chiefs? Had Goebbels becomes furious because Goring had taken the prisoner? Had he grabbed Freddi in order to thwart Goring and keep him from carrying out his bargain? If so, what was Lanny supposed to do? What part could a mere man play in a battle of giants—except to get his head cracked by a flying rock or uprooted tree? Lanny couldn’t go to Goebbels and ask, because that would be breaking his pledge to Goring.

No, if he went to anybody it must be to Goring. But was he privileged to do this? Had it been a part of the bargain that the Minister-Prasident of Prussia and holder of six or eight other important posts was to lay aside his multifarious duties and keep track of the misfortunes of a family of Jewish Schieber? All Goring was obligated to do was to let them alone; and how easy for him to say: "Mr. Budd, I know nothing about the matter and have no desire to." Was Lanny to reply: "I do not believe you, Exzellenz!"?

It seemed clear that all Lanny could accomplish was to center the attention of the Gestapo upon the Robin family. If they set out to look for Freddi they would have to inquire among his friends. They might ask Lanny for a list of these friends; and what could Lanny say? "I do not trust you, meine Herren von der Geheimen Staats Polizei"? On the other hand, to give the names might condemn all these friends to concentration camps. The wife of Johannes was hiding with one of her former servants. The Gestapo would get a list of these and hunt them out—Jews, most of them, and doubtless possessing secrets of Johannes and his associates. Who could guess what they might reveal, or what anybody might invent under the new scientific forms of torture?

Lanny and his wife attended the very grand inauguration ceremonies of the Minister-Prasident of Prussia. They were met by Ober-leutnant Furtwaengler and introduced to Ministerialdirektor Doktor X and General Ritter von Y. They were surrounded by Nazis in magnificent uniforms covered with medals and orders, behaving themselves with dignity and even with charm. Very difficult indeed to believe that they were the most dangerous miscreants in the world! Irma in her heart couldn’t believe it, and when she and Lanny were driving afterward they had a bit of an argument, as married couples have been known to do.

Irma was a daughter of civilization. When she suspected a crime she went to the police. But now, it appeared, the police were the criminals! Irma had listened to Lanny’s Red and Pink friends denouncing the police of all lands, and it had annoyed her more than she had cared to say; there were still traces of that annoyance in her soul, and Lanny had to exclaim: "My God, didn’t Goring tell me with his own lips that he would find a hundred of Johannes’s relatives and friends and torture them?"