Read Online Valkyrie: The Story of the Plot to Kill Hitler, by Its Last Member by Philip Freiherr von Boeselager - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Philip Freiherr von Boeselager
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and the police (Höherer SS und Polizeiführer) in the central Russia sector. He reigned like a satrap over a sinister empire that included Minsk and Mogilev. Ruthless, coldly calculating, he was truly a creature of the devil. 2
Among the army’s officers, Bach-Zelewski had a scandalous reputation as an unscrupulous careerist who was full of bitterness toward the military men who had expelled him from the army fifteen years earlier. But in the spring of 1942, news of the atrocities committed by his henchmen had not yet spread beyond the limited group of eyewitnesses. Moreover, in the sulfurousrumors that swirled about him, it was hard to distinguish fiction from reality. In any case, he had been assigned to carry on the battle against the partisans that the regular army, which was busy holding the front, could not handle. Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski was thus an unavoidable partner.
I was present at the discussion between Bach-Zelewski and Kluge. They talked first about the guerrillas: how to limit their range, how to eliminate them from the countryside, and especially how to secure the vital connections with Germany. A discreet reminder on my part, once the technical presentation was complete, caused Kluge rather abruptly to ask the SS officer, “Oh, by the way, I was about to forget: What do you mean in your report by ‘special treatment’? You apparently gave ‘special treatment’ to five Gypsies.”
“Those? We shot them!”
“What do you mean, shot them?! Following a trial before a military tribunal?”
“No, of course not! All the Jews and Gypsies we pick up are liquidated—shot!”
The marshal and I were both taken aback. I felt the kind of internal dislocation and devastation that leads to panic. Obviously, we sensed that something was wrong. Kluge could not have been unaware that crimes, major crimes, had been committed in areas under his authority. Still, we had attributed them to the uncontrolled excesses of the SS. But here was Bach-Zelewski stating a doctrineof extermination as though it were perfectly natural. What we had taken to be terrible blunders were, in reality, part of a coherent, premeditated plan. The shooting of Jews and Gypsies turned out to be a commonly shared war goal. According to the SS, the instructions were clear and came from the highest level of the government. The marshal got a grip on himself and controlled the trembling of his voice: “But why did you shoot them? You’re only creating new partisans by killing them like that. It’s incredible! Are you really executing them outside the military code of procedure, without trial?”
The atmosphere became more heated. The old marshal, even though used to dealing with Nazi high officials, was on the verge of exploding. The placid coolness of our interlocutor, his quiet hatred, and simply his way of expressing murderous obsession so calmly may have enraged the marshal even more than the fate of the five unfortunate Gypsies. Overwhelmed by anger, and no doubt emboldened by my presence, he protested in the name of the Geneva convention, the laws of war, and even the interest of the German armies. Bach-Zelewski grew angry as well. He was pale, and his eyes were piercing behind his round tortoiseshell spectacles; his expression, which a moment before had been unctuous, hardened. After a few minutes he put an end to the dispute with these dreadful words: “Jews and Gypsies are among the Reich’s enemies. We have to liquidate them.” And he added, his myopic eyes fixed on Kluge, withoutany regard for his rank or function, “Yes,
all
the enemies of the Reich, our mission is to liquidate them!”
The threat was thinly veiled. The SS officer turned on his heel and left.
Kluge was not a man to temporize. He immediately called General Franz Halder of the Army General Staff. Leaving aside pointless humanitarian or legal arguments, Kluge tried to prove the inanity of this enterprise, which stiffened resistance instead of breaking it.
Among the army’s officers, Bach-Zelewski had a scandalous reputation as an unscrupulous careerist who was full of bitterness toward the military men who had expelled him from the army fifteen years earlier. But in the spring of 1942, news of the atrocities committed by his henchmen had not yet spread beyond the limited group of eyewitnesses. Moreover, in the sulfurousrumors that swirled about him, it was hard to distinguish fiction from reality. In any case, he had been assigned to carry on the battle against the partisans that the regular army, which was busy holding the front, could not handle. Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski was thus an unavoidable partner.
I was present at the discussion between Bach-Zelewski and Kluge. They talked first about the guerrillas: how to limit their range, how to eliminate them from the countryside, and especially how to secure the vital connections with Germany. A discreet reminder on my part, once the technical presentation was complete, caused Kluge rather abruptly to ask the SS officer, “Oh, by the way, I was about to forget: What do you mean in your report by ‘special treatment’? You apparently gave ‘special treatment’ to five Gypsies.”
“Those? We shot them!”
“What do you mean, shot them?! Following a trial before a military tribunal?”
“No, of course not! All the Jews and Gypsies we pick up are liquidated—shot!”
The marshal and I were both taken aback. I felt the kind of internal dislocation and devastation that leads to panic. Obviously, we sensed that something was wrong. Kluge could not have been unaware that crimes, major crimes, had been committed in areas under his authority. Still, we had attributed them to the uncontrolled excesses of the SS. But here was Bach-Zelewski stating a doctrineof extermination as though it were perfectly natural. What we had taken to be terrible blunders were, in reality, part of a coherent, premeditated plan. The shooting of Jews and Gypsies turned out to be a commonly shared war goal. According to the SS, the instructions were clear and came from the highest level of the government. The marshal got a grip on himself and controlled the trembling of his voice: “But why did you shoot them? You’re only creating new partisans by killing them like that. It’s incredible! Are you really executing them outside the military code of procedure, without trial?”
The atmosphere became more heated. The old marshal, even though used to dealing with Nazi high officials, was on the verge of exploding. The placid coolness of our interlocutor, his quiet hatred, and simply his way of expressing murderous obsession so calmly may have enraged the marshal even more than the fate of the five unfortunate Gypsies. Overwhelmed by anger, and no doubt emboldened by my presence, he protested in the name of the Geneva convention, the laws of war, and even the interest of the German armies. Bach-Zelewski grew angry as well. He was pale, and his eyes were piercing behind his round tortoiseshell spectacles; his expression, which a moment before had been unctuous, hardened. After a few minutes he put an end to the dispute with these dreadful words: “Jews and Gypsies are among the Reich’s enemies. We have to liquidate them.” And he added, his myopic eyes fixed on Kluge, withoutany regard for his rank or function, “Yes,
all
the enemies of the Reich, our mission is to liquidate them!”
The threat was thinly veiled. The SS officer turned on his heel and left.
Kluge was not a man to temporize. He immediately called General Franz Halder of the Army General Staff. Leaving aside pointless humanitarian or legal arguments, Kluge tried to prove the inanity of this enterprise, which stiffened resistance instead of breaking it.
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