The Doomsday Testament

XXI

‘This was to be the centre of the world.’

The phrase stirred something on the outer limits of Jamie’s memory, but he struggled to place it as Magda’s hypnotic voice echoed eerily around the walls. Inside the crypt the only light came from a series of small windows set in the domed ceiling. Out there in the sunlight, Himmler’s obsession with the occult might appear foolish, even comical, but here in the darkness it took on a frightening reality. The room was empty but a shallow basin five paces across and surrounded by a low concrete wall dominated the centre of the floor.

‘Above you, the hackenkreuz, the swastika symbol of the Nazi party.’ She pointed to an ornate carving in the centre of the ceiling. ‘It is physically linked to the famous Black Sun which is the centrepiece of the room above us.’ Jamie tensed at the mention of the sun symbol and his eyes met Sarah’s. The American girl’s face appeared unnaturally pale in the gloom. He was reminded of an image he had once seen of an avenging angel with a fiery sword; firm of purpose, grim and unyielding. Something had changed since they had left London. This had been his quest and she had tagged along more or less on a whim. Yet with every hour that passed it was clear her emotional commitment to the search increased. It was as if the only way she could combat the aura of evil around them was by creating a super-hardened shield of her own. He had felt her strength right from the first, but he began to understand that this new Sarah Grant had a core of steel.

‘Here were to be stored the Death’s Head honour rings of every SS officer who fell in battle. You see.’ Magda knelt by the basin and indicated a short piece of copper pipe just visible in the very centre. ‘An eternal flame would have burned to prove that the spirit of the SS warrior was unquenchable. The rings were the personal gift of Himmler and as well as the Totenkopf they were also engraved with rune symbols and the name of the bearer. It is said that the crypt was to be Himmler’s last resting place, but as you know, that was not to be.’

Jamie struggled to contain his simmering impatience. Sarah hovered by the doorway and he could see that she, too, was desperate to reach the sun symbol. Now that he was within feet of the symbol itself, he felt the chilly fingers of doubt close around his heart. Every inch of this vainglorious Nazi monument had some sordid story to tell of murder or madness, slavery or repression, but what was the secret behind Matthew Sinclair’s silk map? What if there was no message? What if the Black Sun was simply a decoration? No, his grandfather wouldn’t have left him the map unless it contained some kind of clue and the clue had to be visible in the original.

‘Now we will proceed to the Obergruppenführersaal, the Hall of the Generals.’

Magda led the way to the ground floor and through a doorway — where they were met by a barred metal grille. Behind it Jamie could see a large empty room encircled by stone pillars and windowed alcoves. He held his breath as he prepared to look upon the true Black Sun for the first time. The guide’s next words made him feel as if he’d been kicked in the stomach.

‘Unfortunately, the hall is closed for special cleaning, but if you move to the front you will be able to see everything and I will explain it for you.’

Jamie felt Sarah stiffen beside him. He turned on Magda and gave her his hundred-watt smile.

‘But we’ve come all the way from England to see this.’ He sighed. ‘The Hall of the Generals was always going to be the highlight of our trip. Surely you could let us in for a few minutes?’

‘Please?’ Sarah added. For a moment he thought that membership of the sisterhood would achieve what charm was patently incapable of doing. Magda retrieved her keys from her jacket and fiddled nervously with one that was large and silver. He saw the conflicting arguments race across her face. She was a nice girl who enjoyed helping people. Truly, she wanted to help them. But she was also a good German girl, and despite all her unease about the war and what had happened here, a good German girl still obeyed orders. If her manager said this gate stayed closed until Thursday, then that’s what would happen. She shook her head and returned her keys to her pocket.

‘I’m sorry, I cannot.’ Her face mirrored the genuine regret in her voice. ‘But please, ask me anything you wish.’

They looked through the bars at the Black Sun twenty feet away in the centre of the marble floor and as available for close inspection as if it had been on the moon. Jamie was surprised when Sarah smiled and enquired what the room had been used for.

Magda smiled back, relieved the moment of confrontation was past.

‘The Obergruppenführersaal and the crypt below are the only two rooms in the north tower known to have been completed to Himmler’s satisfaction. This was to be the meeting hall of the twelve generals, the Obergruppenführer, who commanded the Allgemeine-SS.’ She saw Jamie’s puzzlement. ‘What one might call the civil SS, as opposed to the Waffen-SS, who were the military arm. You will count twelve alcoves and twelve pillars, perhaps the alcoves would have contained statues of these men, yes? Twelve generals, as there were twelve Knights of the Round Table. If you half close your eyes you will be able to imagine a round table in the centre of the room and beneath it the Black Sun, the centre of Himmler’s universe.’

‘Are you saying that Himmler really thought he was King Arthur?’ Jamie laughed.

Magda smiled again. ‘Perhaps that is more difficult to imagine, he was such a… a kümmerling.’ The word meant runt of the litter, but more besides. ‘But his interest in the occult was very real. It extended even to the search for a forgotten race of superhumans who were the forerunners of the Aryan people.’

Something puzzled Sarah. ‘What was it that made the Black Sun so important? If it was the centrepiece of Himmler’s world it must have been of enormous significance?’

Magda frowned. ‘It is one of the enigmas of Wewelsburg,’ she admitted. ‘No one knows for certain. This was to be the room of the great mysteries. The inner sanctum, like the cella of a Roman temple. To understand the significance of the Black Sun, you had to be one of the twelve men versed in the mysteries. It is certainly a form of sun wheel, perhaps of pagan origin. As the planets of the solar system revolve around the central figure of the sun, so Germany, and perhaps the rest of the world, must revolve around Himmler and his SS. At one time a gold disc formed the centre of the Black Sun. The sun is the giver of life, so the Black Sun could give life or take it away. But that is only my own theory.’

‘Perhaps if we could get a closer look we could come up with an alternative?’ Sarah suggested.

Magda gave her a tight smile. ‘One of the reasons this door is here is that, for certain people… certain organizations… the Black Sun is still important.’

‘Nazis?’

‘I believe they are now called neo-Nazis. Certainly groups who still follow the Nazi ideology, perhaps worship the memory of Adolf Hitler, and believe in the same mysticism in which Heinrich Himmler believed. There have been several instances in the past of these groups holding ceremonies here.

‘But not now.’ She shook the bars of the gate. ‘It would take someone very strong and very determined to break through here. And first they would have to get into the castle.’

Jamie smiled, but his heart was somewhere near his boots. If a bunch of neo-Nazi fanatics couldn’t get inside the north tower to see the Black Sun, how the hell was he going to manage it? Magda escorted them back to the gate. They thanked her and declined her suggestion of lunch at the museum’s café. Jamie stood back as Sarah apologized for her earlier behaviour. She whispered something in Magda’s ear and the German girl wrapped her arms round her in a tight hug. When they parted, her cheeks were damp with tears.

They walked back down towards the car. ‘What did you say to her?’ he asked.

‘You wouldn’t understand.’

He stared up towards the north tower. ‘I’m going back tonight.’

‘I know. I’m coming with you.’

He shook his head. ‘It’s certainly illegal and it could very well be dangerous. You’re my researcher, remember, not my accomplice. And…’

‘And I’m only a girl?’

‘What?’

‘That’s what you were thinking. I could tell.’ He shook his head, but she continued before he could deny it. ‘How are you going to get inside? After all, it is a fortress and then there’s that big metal gate to get past.’

When she said big metal gate she mimicked a child’s voice. Christ, she could be infuriating. Not for the first time he decided he would never understand women.

‘I’ll make up my mind once I get here. There has to be a way. Maybe through one of the windows.’

‘Wow! What a master plan. The Pink Panther strikes again. Raffles has a rival.’

He turned to ask whether she had a better idea, and blinked.

‘Perhaps these would help.’ She held up a bunch of keys that were suspiciously similar to the ones the guide had carried.

‘How…?’

‘I grew up in a rough neighborhood.’ Sarah smiled. ‘You had to be kinda tricky to get by. I didn’t think Magda would miss them for one night.’

‘But…?’

‘Do you have a better idea?’