Read Online The Hunt aka 27 by William Diehl - Free Book Online Page A

Cold sober he was incoherent.”
    “He was not picked for his oratorical skills—or his good manners, for that matter.”
    “ Yes, mein Führer, but . .
    “Your instincts about Ernst are correct,” Hitler said. “He has failed to give the SA a soul of its own.” Hitler stood up with his back to the fire and shrugged his shoulders. “It has no pride or direction.” He thought for a moment more, then added enigmatically, “These things eventually outlive their purpose.”
    He paused again.
    “Besides, Röhm has pig eyes,” Hitler said, changing the mood again and chuckling at his own insult.
    “I wouldn’t want to spend the evening with Attila the Hun either, but he was very effective.”
    “Precisely. I see you understand that even rats can serve a useful purpose. He serves a purpose, a very necessary purpose. But I assure you, he will have no voice in the future of Germany. He is uncouth,” Hitler said abruptly.
    “Exactly!”
    Ingersoll was obviously a student o f politics, his observations were accurate . Die Sturmabteilung, the SA, were Hitler’s personal storm troopers. Ruffians and thugs, most of the brown- shirts had originally been recruited from prisons or from beer halls where they were bouncers. They had become an undisciplined paramilitary force. Marching t hr o ugh the streets, smashing windows, beating up Jews, guarding political meetings and privately engaging in blackmail and extortion, the SA had become dangerously out of control and so Hitler had brought Ernst Röhm, a compatriot from the old Putsch days, back from a diplomatic post in Bolivia to head it. Hitler still needed this private police force of his, but he had his own plan for dealing with them. He had created the SS, the Schutzstaffel, putting one of his closest friends, Heinrich Himmler, in charge. It also had a satellite, the SD, a security service e n gaged in counterintelligence in Germany and abroad. It was the SD in which Wilhelm Vierhaus played a vague but obviously important role. Hitler’s plan was to build the SS into the most fearful organization in the Nazi party, shifting its power until it w a s stronger than the SA and then...
    But each thing in its time.
    “I realize I probably seem like an elitist Ingersoll started to say.
    “ You are an elitist ,” Hitler said matter-of-factly. “There is nothing wrong with that. It’s one reas o n you are here.”
    “I have little in common with Rö h m and his brownshirts other than politics. I prefer to support the National Socialist movement in other ways.”
    Hitler’s eyes narrowed and he leaned forward slightly.
    “Such as?” he asked.
    “Financial contributions. Encourage my associates to join the party. Defend your ideas to those who, uh . . . don’t fully understand them.”
    “So, you are a good Nazi then?” Hitler asked.
    Ingersoll thought for a moment before he answered.
    “Perhaps I am a good Hitlerite, mein Führer. That might be a more accurate way of putting it.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I see the party as a means to the end. To me, it’s a necessary glory show. There are too many buffoons and hooligans.”
    “Buffoons and hooligans?” Hitler echoed with surprise. Vierhaus was right, Ingersoll was certainly outspoken. Ingersoll could sense Hitler’s growing irritation.
    “I would follow you into fire, mein Führer,” he quickly added, “But there are some I’d prefer to shove into the flames.”
    Cajole and flatter. Hear him out.
    “As I told you, I’ve read Mein Kampf cover to cover many times. It is always on my nightstand. It is a great book, greater than the Bible. I agree with everything you say, particularly regarding the Jewish problem.”
    “Herr Schauspieler, tell me the truth. How do you really feel about the Jews?”
    “I hate them,” Ingersoll said, his voice taut and low. “I bate their Marxist tricks. Their whining
    “ Ja. Ja ! Very good. They are whiners. And you’re right, they are the backbone of the Marxist