Target Churchill

Chapter 2

An NKVD soldier brought the man into the office. Dimitrov sat behind his desk, the file open. The soldier placed the disheveled and dirty man in SS uniform in a chair in front of the desk. His rank was Obersturmbannführer, a comparatively high rank for someone still so young-looking. He was tall, blond, with cerulean blue eyes deeply embedded behind high cheekbones. Despite his condition, the man exuded arrogance. Cleaned up, he would look like the Aryan ideal.

“So you are an American,” Dimitrov said in English.

The man nodded and smiled.

Dimitrov noted that his teeth were surprisingly white, his lips moist, and two dimples appeared at either end of his smile.

“Your English is quite good, General,” the man said, as if it were the compliment of a superior.

“And yours equally, Obersturmbannführer,” Dimitrov said, offering a soldier-to-soldier greeting. Normally, he would never address an SS officer by his rank. “But then, you are an American.”

“By birth, not by choice, General.”

Dimitrov studied the man, glanced again at his file, then lifted his face and grinned. He reached into the side pocket of his overcoat and offered him an American cigarette, a Lucky Strike, which had been taken from a high-ranking Luftwaffe officer.

“Well, well, this one has traveled far,” said the American, pulling the cigarette from the pack and smelling it.

Dimitrov lighted it, and the American sucked deep and blew out a cloud of smoke.

“Nobody makes a better cigarette,” the American said.

Dimitrov turned back to the file.

“Camp Siegfried, was it? Yaphank, Long Island. A summer camp for American Nazis, the German-American Bund.”

“You people are good,” the American chuckled. “I’ll say that. You’ve burrowed right into the FBI.” He shook his head again. “They confiscated the records, that I knew. So you found my name?”

“Franz Mueller.”

“Just as I told you. I’m an American citizen. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey. My father was born in Munich. Came to the States in 1913. I was born in 1918.”

Dimitrov made a quick calculation. Twenty-seven.

“A quick rise. You might have been a general. Too bad.”

The American shrugged indifferently and took another deep draw on the cigarette.

“And your mother?”

“Why must you know the provenance of potential dead meat?”

“You are a pessimist, Mueller.”

Mueller and Dimitrov exchanged glances. Then Mueller shrugged his obvious submission.

“I was five when she died in a car crash… some bastard Jew drunk. My father never remarried,” Mueller said, blowing out another cloud of smoke, this one in the direction of Dimitrov.

“And now, you are still Franz Mueller. Why did you not change your name?”

Mueller smiled broadly.

“After… well, after….” Mueller hesitated, scratched his neck, and averted his eyes. “I came to Munich in September 1938. My uncle Karl, my father’s brother, took me in. He had a son named Franz, two years younger. We were both named after my grandfather.”

“Two Franz Muellers,” Dimitrov said, amused by the story. “What happened to the other one?”

“Frail bastard. Died of pneumonia that same winter I arrived. I became him. Simple. So, you see, I was born under a lucky star. Besides, I was running, and I needed an authentic identity.”

“Running?”

“Why the hell do you think I left America, General?”

Dimitrov observed him closely, admiring his brass.

“I killed two men.” He mimed a pistol with his fingers. “No big deal these days, call it a vorspeise. It is now a common gesture.”

The man baffled Dimitrov, the way he spoke, so open, so unruffled. He could see why his promotions had been rapid.

“Who were they?”

“Couple of Yids.”

Mueller’s eyes searched for contact with Dimitrov’s, as if he were seeking confirmation of a similar attitude.

Dimitrov cautioned himself. Beria’s sister was married to a Jew, and there were Jews of influence in high places. Stalin’s late wife was Jewish. Trotsky was Jewish. Ilya Ehrenburg was a powerful Jewish writer, a favorite of Stalin, and his articles were considered fiery and patriotic rallying cries. Not that he mourned the Jews that had been destroyed by Hitler. Indeed, he had secretly marveled at the efficiency and scope of the destruction. Not a bad idea, he had thought it.

Nevertheless, he decided not to pursue the ethnic aspect of Mueller’s admission. It seemed irrelevant to his purposes. Besides, a proper SS man was supposed to hate Jews and show them no mercy.

“Were you suspected of these murders?”

“I could never be certain. I didn’t stay around long enough to find out.”

“Why did you kill them?”

“We had this great spot in Long Island, Camp Siegfried. Trains of brown shirts came every weekend. We had brown uniforms, swastika armbands. We sang Nazi songs. The American flag hung side by side with the Nazi flag. It was great fun. We had rifle practice. I was a crack shot. We started a boycott of all the stores in the area. They had to display this certain label that designated that they were supporters, otherwise we wouldn’t go in. The Yids didn’t like that and started a counter boycott. There were two ringleaders, the Finkelstein brothers. Finkelstein.”

He shook his head and chuckled.

“I followed them home one day and shot them.”

He made a gesture as if he were holding a rifle.

“Got them at one hundred yards — bang, bang — right through their Yid heads.”

“Surely, there was an investigation?”

“Of course. But the cops, you see, loved us. We knew how to grease the skids. Problem was the Jews called in the FBI. You know the power they have. Control everything in America. Just like in Germany.”

Dimitrov made no comment. What lingered in his mind was “crack shot.”

“Only my father knew, you see, no one else. This was my own idea. Anyway, when the FBI stuck their nose in, I was shipped to Germany to my father’s brother in Munich.”

“And the investigation?”

“Came to nothing. I was gone. The rifle was at the bottom of the Atlantic. No witnesses. No prints.”

“And you never went back?”

“I got into this, the SS, the real thing. No more playtime like the Bund in America. Hell, General.” He seemed suddenly wistful. “…I loved it. We killed so many fuckin’ Jews.”

He sucked in a deep breath.

“And Russians, Obersturmbannführer,” Dimitrov reminded him.

“Hate to say it, but the Führer fucked up. He should have hit England, left Russia alone. Am I right? Look at us. You’ve got us by the balls. We’re over, General, kaput.”

He curled his lips in a gesture of disgust.

“So why tell me you’re American? What did you hope to gain by such an admission?”

“I’m still alive, aren’t I? And here I am sitting in your office.”

He lifted the nub of his cigarette, held it up like a specimen.

“You give me American cigarettes. Okay, General, I’ve had my jollies. Now, I’m in the survival business. I know what NKVD guys do, you’re the cleanup squad, the executioners. Hitler is over. The SS was fun while it lasted. They catch Himmler, they’ll tear out his balls. Fact is, General, our boys didn’t measure up — all that hailing and goose-stepping, all that ritual. I was one good fucking SS man. I dug the whole thing. I loved it. And I still believe, in the end, we will win. But die for it now? I’m not ready. No, dying is not an option at present. You have a plan to keep me alive. I’ll buy that. But die for it? That’s another matter entirely.”

“You call this loyalty, Mueller?”

This was a man after his own heart, Dimitrov thought, a brave, arrogant bastard with a survival instinct.

Mueller sucked in a last puff, then stamped out the nub before it burnt his fingers.

“You got to know when to hold and when to fold. You guys have been making your way across Eastern Europe and now into Deutschland. Here’s the way I figure it: It’s more than likely your next war will be with the Americans and their European stooges. Wouldn’t be such a bad thing if you won. In America, like in Germany, maybe even like in Russia now, the Yids run everything. That’s my war. Someday, you guys will get the message and start getting rid of your Kikes, like Hitler. Maybe we didn’t finish the job, but someone will. I’m volunteering, General. Besides, it’s my only chance to avoid being dead meat.”

Dimitrov was astonished by the man’s cheek. He admitted that some of the man’s slang baffled him, but he had gotten the gist of it.

“Did your father know you were SS?”

“Proud of it. Only he’s dead now; I’m a fucking orphan.”

“Do you have siblings?”

He shook his head.

“I’m an only child. Poor me.” He looked up. “Got another cigarette?”

Dimitrov offered him another cigarette from the pack of Lucky Strikes and lit it.

“And your uncle? Was there an aunt?”

“They’re still in Munich.”

Dimitrov’s mind began to race with ideas and possibilities.

“Women? A wife? A sweetheart? Children?”

Mueller smiled.

“I’ve had my fair share,” he chuckled. “Nothing permanent. I’ve been lucky.” He inhaled and looked at his cigarette ash. “I hear your troops have fucked their way across the Continent.”

It sounded to Dimitrov like an obvious accusation. He ignored it. He was on another track.

“Let me ask you, Mueller. Would you go back to America?”

Mueller’s eyes narrowed.

Dimitrov noted a flicker of optimistic expectation.

“Why ask? You know the answer.” He paused. “How would you get me there? You know, without complications.”

“Never mind.”

“What’s the catch?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Quid pro quo, General. There’s no free lunch.”

Again Dimitrov was confused by the slang. Mueller apparently understood.

“I mean, what do I have to do?”

“I don’t know, perhaps you’d be too much of a risk.”

“Risk?” Mueller reflected for a moment. “I get it. I go back to America to do a job for you.”

“Something like that.”

Dimitrov observed him closely.

“Of course, you could be the wrong choice.”

“Your call, General. I’m game if you are.”

“Game?”

“American talk,” Mueller said. “You see I’m tailor-made to pass. I’m the real thing.”

At that moment, a sharp knock sounded on the office door.

“Yes?” Dimitrov called.

A voice could be heard beyond the door: “The division awaits orders, comrade.”

“Give the order to move them out. I will follow shortly.”

Dimitrov got up from behind his desk and signaled to the American.

“Come with me, Mueller.”

They moved through the dank, brick-lined corridors, and then to a stairwell, followed by four Russian soldiers with NKVD markings holding automatic weapons. Dimitrov led them to a large holding cell; inside were the forty-odd SS officers. They were seated, packed together with their hands tied behind their backs. The room stunk of feces and urine.

“What a bunch of pigs,” Dimitrov said.

Mueller didn’t answer, and his face’s expression seemed neutral and indifferent.

“Hand this man your weapon,” Dimitrov ordered one of the Russian soldiers.

He looked momentarily confused but handed the weapon to Mueller.

“You know how this works?” Dimitrov asked.

“My expertise, General.”

“Shoot them, Mueller,” Dimitrov ordered, pointing with his chin. “Shoot your SS shit comrades.”

Mueller smiled and, without hesitation, sprayed the occupants of the cell with bullets. The men screamed and blood began to puddle on the floor. When the bullets ran out and some men were still alive, Dimitrov ordered the remaining soldier to hand over his weapon. Without missing a beat, Mueller continued the killing spree. Some men were still alive, writhing in pain.

Mueller carefully finished them off.

“Now them,” Dimitrov said, pointing with his chin at the two NKVD soldiers.

Mueller promptly shot them both then threw the weapons on the floor, now rust-colored, pooling with blood.

“Like a Coney Island shooting gallery,” Mueller muttered, as they moved into the corridor, tracking bloodstains on the stone floor. “Hell, they weren’t worth shit. We were supposed to win.”

This man has possibilities, Dimitrov thought. He would discuss it with Beria.

“Did I pass, General?”

“Not yet, Obersturmbannführer, not yet.”