Passenger to Frankfurt

Fiihrer.'

  ' 'I suppose he was beginning to think he was God Almighty

  himself at that time,' said Colonel Pikeaway unexpectedly,

  and he chuckled.

  Dr Reichardt looked shocked.

  He asked me to let him know certain things. He said

  that Martin B. had told him that I actually had a large

  number of patients thinking, not to put too fine a point

  on it, that they were themselves Adolf Hitler. I explained

  to him that this was not uncommon, that naturally with

  the respect, the worship they paid to Hitler, it was only

  natural that the great wish to be like him should end even147

  tually by them identifying themselves with him. I was

  little anxious when I mentioned this but I was delighted

  find that he expressed great signs of satisfaction. He took

  I am thankful to say, as a compliment, this passionate wi

  to find identity with himself. He next asked if he could m
  affliction. We had a little consultation. Martin B. seem

  doubtful, but he took me aside and assured me that H
  Hitler actually wished to have this experience. What he hi]

  self was anxious to ensure was that Herr Hitler did not meet

  well, in short, that Herr Hitler was not to be allowed to r

  any risks. If any of these so-called Hitlers, believing passio

  ately in themselves as such, were inclined to be a little viole

  or dangerous ... I assured him that he need have no won

  I suggested that I should collect a group of the most amiat

  of our Fuhrers and assemble them for him to meet. Herr

  insisted that the Fiihrer was very anxious to interview ai

  mingle with them without my accompanying him. The patien

  he said, would not behave naturally if they saw the chief

  the establishment there, and if there was no danger . . .

  assured him again that there was no danger. I said, howev
  that I should be glad if Herr B. would wait upon hil

  There was no difficulty about that. It was arranged. Messag

  were sent to the Fiihrers to assemble in a room for a we

  distinguished visitor who was anxious to compare notes wi

  them.

  'Aoh, so. Martin B. and the Fiihrer were introduced in

  the assembly. I retired, closing the door, and chatted wi

  the two ADC's who had accompanied them. The Flihn

  I said, was looking in a particularly anxious state. He h;

  no doubt had many troubles of late. This I may say w

  very shortly before the end of the war when things, qui

  frankly, were going badly. The Fiihrer himself, they to

  me, had been greatly distressed of late but was convinc(

  that he could bring the war to a successful close if the ide

  which he was continually presenting to his general sta

  were acted upon, and accepted promptly.'

  "The Fiihrer, I presume,' said Sir George Packham, 'w;

  at that time--I mean to say--no doubt he was in a sta

  that--'

  'We need not stress these points,' said Herr Spiess. 't- was completely beyond himself. Authority had to be tak
  for him on several points. But all that you will know w(

  enough from the researches you have made in my country

  'One remembers that at the Nuremberg trials--'

  148

  ^iSCS^.

  'There's no need to refer to the Nuremberg trials, I'm

  sure,' said Mr Lazenby decisively. 'All that is far behind

  us. We look forward to a great future in the Common

  Market with your Government's help, with the Government

  of Monsieur Grosjean and your other European colleagues.

  The past is the past.'

  'Quite so,' said Herr Spiess, 'and it is of the past that we

  now talk. Martin B. and Herr Hitler remained for a very

  short time in the assembly room. They came out again

  after seven minutes. Herr B. expressed himself to Dr Reichardt

  as very well satisfied with their experience. Their car was

  waiting and he and Herr Hitler must proceed immediately

  to where they had another appointment. They left very

  hurriedly.'

  There was a silence.

  'And then?' asked Colonel Rkeaway. 'Something happened?

  Or had already happened?'

  'The behaviour of one of our Hitler patients was unusual,'

  said Dr Reichardt. 'He was a man who had a particularly

  close resemblance to Herr Hitler, which had given him

  always a special confidence in his own portrayal. He insisted

  now more fiercely than ever that he was the Fiihrer, that he

  must go immediately to Berlin, that he must preside over a

  Council of the General Staff. In fact, he behaved with no

  signs of the former slight amelioration which he had shown

  in his condition. He seemed so unlike himself that I really could not understand this change taking place so suddenly.

  I was relieved, indeed, when two days later, his relations

  called to take him home for future private treatment there.'

  'And you let him go,' said Herr Spiess.

  'Naturally I let him go. They had a responsible doctor

  with them, he was a voluntary patient, not certified, and

  therefore he was within his rights. So he left.'

  1 don't see--' began Sir George Packham.

  'Herr Spiess has a theory--'

  'It's not a theory,' said Spiess. 'What I am telling you is

  fact. The Russians concealed it, we've concealed it. Plenty

  of evidence and proof has come in. Hitler, our Fiihrer, remained in the asylum by his own consent that day and a man

  with the nearest resemblance to the real Hitler departed

  with Martin B. It was that patient's body which was subsequently

  found in the bunker. I will not beat about the

  bush. We need not go into unnecessary details.'

  'We all have to know the truth,' said Lazenoy.

  'The real Fiihrer was smuggled by a pre-arranged under149

  ground route to the Argentine and lived there for some

  years. He had a son there by a beautiful Aryan girl of good

  family. Some say she was an English girl. Hitler's mental

  condition worsened, and he died insane, believing himself to

  be commanding his armies in the field. It was the only

  plan possibly by which he could ever have escaped from

  Germany. He accepted it.'

  'And you mean that for all these years nothing has

  leaked out about this, nothing has been known?'

  'There have been rumours, there are always rumours. If you remember, one of the Czar's daughters in Russia

  was said to have escaped the general massacre of her family.'

  'But that was--' George Packham stopped. 'False--quite

  false.'

  'It was proved false by one set of people. It was accepted

  by another set of people, both of whom had known her.

  That Anastasia was indeed Anastasia, or that Anastasia,

  Grand Duchess of Russia, was really only a peasant girl.

  Which story was true? Rumours! The longer they go on,

  the less people believe them, except for those who have

  romantic minds, who go on believing them. It has often been

  rumoured that Hitler was alive, not dead. There is no one

  who has ever said with certainty that they have examined his

  dead body. The Russians declared so. They brought no


  proofs, though.'

  'Do you really mean to say--Dr Reiehardt, do you support

  this extraordinary story?'

  'Aeh,' said Dr Reiehardt. 'You ask me, but I have told

  you my part. It was certainly Martin B. who came to my

  sanatorium. It was Martin B. who brought with him the

  Fuhrer. It was Martin B. who treated him as the Fuhrer.

  who spoke to him with the deference with which one speaks

  to the Fiihrer. As for me, I lived already with some hundreds

  of Fiihrers, of Napoleons, of Julius Caesars. You must

  understand that the Hitlers who lived in my sanatorium, they

  looked alike, they could have been, nearly all of them could have been, Adolf Hitler. They themselves could never havr believed in themselves with the passion, the vehement with which they knew that they were Hitler, unless they ha;

  had a basic resemblance, with make-up, clothing, continui

  acting, and playing of the part. I had had no person;

  meeting with Herr Adolf Hitler at any previous time. On'

  saw pictures of him in the papers, one knew roughly wh;

  our great genius looked like, but one knew only the pictun

  that he wished shown. So he came, he was the Fiihrer, Marti'i 150

  B. the man best to be believed on that subject said he was the

  Fiihrer. No, I had no doubts. I obeyed orders. Herr Hitler

  wished to go alone into a room to meet a selection of his?

  what shall one say??his plaster copies. He went in. He

  came out. An exchange of clothing could have been made, not

  very different clothing in any case. Was it he himself or one

  of the self-appointed Hitlers who came out? Rushed out

  quickly by Martin B. and driven away while the real man

  could have stayed behind, could have enjoyed playing his

  part, could have known that in this way and in this way

  only could he manage to escape from the country which

  at any moment might surrender. He was already disturbed

  in mind, mentally affected by rage and anger that the orders

  he gave, the wild fantastic messages sent to his staff, what

  they were to do, what they were to say, the impossible

  things they were to attempt, were not, as of old, immediately

  obeyed. He could feel already that he was no longer in

  supreme command. But he had a small faithful two or three

  and they had a plan for him, to get him out of this country,

  out of Europe, to a place where he could rally round him

  in a different continent his Nazi followers, the young ones who

  believed so passionately in him. The swastika would rise again

  there. He played his part. No doubt, he enjoyed it. Yes, that

  would be in keeping with a man whose reason was already

  tottering. He would show these others that he could play

  the part of Adolf Hitler better than they did. He laughed

  to himself occasionally, and my doctors, my nurses, they

  would look in, they would see some slight change. One patient

  who seemed unusually mentally disturbed, perhaps. Pah, there

  was nothing in that. It was always happening. With the

  Napoleons, with the Julius Caesars, with all of them. Some

  days, as one would say if one was a layman, they are

  madder than usual. That is the only way I can put it. So

  now it is for Herr Spiess to speak.'

  'Fantastic!' said the Home Secretary.

  'Yes, fantastic,' said Herr Spiess patiently, 'but fantastic

  things can happen, you know. In history, in real life, no

  matter how fantastic.'

  'And nobody suspected, nobody knew?'

  'It was very well planned. It was well planned, well

  thought out. The escape route was ready, the exact details

  of it are not clearly known, but one can make a pretty

  good recapitulation of them. Some of the people who were

  concerned, who passed a certain personage on from place

  to place under different disguises, under different names,

  151

  some of those people, on our looking back and making ,. ? . ..-^ts their inquiries, we find did not live as long as they might have eir spearhead, their anarchists, their propnets, meir

  done.' he Castros, the Guerrillas, their followers, a long

  You mean in case they should give the secret away or aining in cruelty and torture and vlolence aM should talk too much?' after it, glorious life. Freedom! As Rvlsrs of the

  The SS saw to that Rich rewards, praise, promises of d State.' The appointed conquerors.'

  high positions in the future and then--death is a much nonsense,' said Mr Lazenby. Once all this is pui

  easier answer. And the SS were used to death. They knew

  the different ways of it, they knew means of disposing of

  bodies--Oh yes, I will tell you that, this has been inquired

  into for some time now. The knowledge has come little by

  little to us, and we have made inquiries, documents have

  been acquired and the truth has come out. Adolf Hitler

  certainly reached South America. It is said that a marriage

  ceremony was performed--that a child was born. The child

  was branded in the foot with the mark of the swastika.

  Branded as a baby. I have seen trusted agents whom I can

  believe. They have seen that branded foot in South America.

  There that child was brought ud. careful)" ^.---' . . -

  d State. The appointed conquerors.'

  nonsense,' said Mr Lazenby. 'Once all this is put

  -the .whole thing will collapse. This is all quite

  What can they do?' Cedric Lazenby sounded srulous.

  ess shook his heavy, wise head.

  ay ask. I tell you the answer, which is--they do They don't know where they're going. They don't ,t is going to be done with them.'

  iean they're not the real leaders?'

  _.._??.?. are the young marching Heroes, treading their

  believe Theyha^etn"^ T" '^sted agents whom I can lorv' on-the stepping-stones of violence, of pain, of

  Theretha?cL?d was hrolh. foot in south Ameri<:a hey have now their following not only in south>
  prepared^prePared b Z n^' T^ guarded' shielded. and ^P6- The cult has travelled north- In the prepared for h^ereaT^n c" Lama might have been tetes, there too the young men riot, they march,

  Ac fanaticS vou pounds th?^y" hat was the idea behind 3W the banner of the Young ^^ Th^ are theyhadsSrtS^uTw^ ^ was greater than the idea that s ways, they are taught to kill, to enjoy pain, they

  new Naris tnP ou /? s was not merelv a reviv^ of the .t the rules of the Death's Head, the rules of Himmler.

  but it was'manvw "emlan ^P61- race. It was that, yes, s being trained, you see. They are being secretly

  many oSernauon^ ^8S besldes- It was the Y^Sof ated. They do not know what they're being trained

  neaSy Terv
  istic worid taTn^Y' troy the old worid' the material- ^ssia they know, in America they have begun to

  violent broth^^n^ great Dew band of kmme murdering, hey know that there are the followers of the Young

  to powerAnTrt,^ fi, on destnlcti0^ and then on rising iegfried, based on the Norse Legends, and that a

  riehtMood- r y now thw leader- A leader with the iegfried is the leader. That that is their new religion.

  up with no ereat lik0"" ^ ^ lTder wh0' ^"S" he grew ?ion of the glorious boy, the golden triumph of youth.

  golden hairp^f nt T dead father' w
as--no, is--a. :he old Nordic Gods have risen again.

  ^^^^^?^ --------

  ..^-- u^u ^'vJ^*xv vj^v?lj ^ju*^ iu^^l a^aXLL.

  hat, of course,' said Herr Spiess, dropping his voice

  mmonplace tone, 'that of course is not the simple

  truth. There are some powerful personalities behind

  il men with first-class brains. A first-class financier, a

  idustrialist, someone who controls mines, oil, stores

  ium, who owns scientists of the top class, and those

  ones, a committee of men, who themselves do not

  ilticUlarlv intWWrfino r?r CYtr'tnrdinot-ir hut OTnunythn

  K^^^^- ^S

  they despised, where Moses led hi? f^J.L-.l-'1^' whom

  _^ __... ,,..? v^,^w ^vM.^i^t^w v/i. M-t*/ *.^F ^idoa, aixu iuuac

  thpv ri^^i. a "" ^r ^^o?se(l land of the Jews, whom ones, a committee of men, who themselves do not

  dead 3s fh e Moses led his Lowers. The Jews were irticularly interesting or extraordinary, but nevertheber
  Th- e ground' klued w murdered in the gas cham- we got control. They control the sources of oower. vein. iiiis was to be a land r>f fhfir ^.,-- - ?

  .--- ^us-w, icu ms rollowers. The Jews were

  dead under the ground, killed or murdered in the gas chambers.

  This was to be a land of their own, a land gained by their

  own prowess. The countries of Europe were to be banded

  together with the countries of .South a------ "

  ----,-,^^wi*j al.^wa?/i3mi& Jt t^A IA dVA U-IUA1 y , UUl UCVCilUCve

  got control. They control the sources of power, 'ntrol through certain means of then" own the young

  ho kill and the young men who are slaves. By control

  IgS they acauire slaves. Slavps in fvrrv mnntnf iuhr>

  ___ _?__ ?^..^?.*t/ ?/*- t*A^-AA wn HAfc/ J JUILI.ly

  together with the"^^""1"
  me wiinines of South America. There already yes they acquire slaves. Slaves in every country who

  ^2 myy little progress from soft drugs to hard drugs and who

  H 153

  are then completely subservient, completely dependent on

  men whom they do not even know but who secretly own

  them body and soul. Their craving need for a particular

  drug makes them slaves, and in due course, these slaves prove

  to be no good, because of their dependence on drugs, they

  will only be capable of sitting in apathy dreaming sweet

  dreams, and so they will be left to die, or even helped to die.

  They will not inherit that kingdom in which they believe.

  Strange religions are being deliberately introduced to them.

  The gods of the old days disguised.'

  'And permissive sex also plays its part, I suppose?'

  'Sex can destroy itself. In old Roman times the men who

  steeped themselves in vice, who were oversexed, who ran

  sex to death until they were bored and weary of sex, sometimes

  fled from it and went out into the desert and became

  Anchorites like St Simeon Stylites. Sex will exhaust itself.

  It does its work for the time being, but it cannot rule you

  as drugs rule you. Drugs and sadism and the love of power

  and hatred. A desire for pain for its own sake. The pleasures

  of inflicting it. They are teaching themselves the pleasures of

  evil. Once the pleasures of evil get a hold on you, you cannot

  draw back.'

  'My dear Chancellor--I really can't believe you--I mean,

  well--I mean if there are these tendencies, they must be put

  down by adopting strong measures. I mean, really, one--

  one can't go on pandering to this sort of thing. One must

  take a firm stand--a firm stand.'

  'Shut up, George.' Mr Lazenby pulled out his pipe, looked

  at it, put it back in his pocket again. 'The best plan, I think,'

  he said, his idee fixe reasserting itself, 'would be for me to

  fly to Russia. I understand that--well, that these facts are

  known to the Russians.'

  They know sufficient,' said Herr Spiess. 'How much they

  will admit they know--' he shrugged his shoulders--'that is

  difficult to say. It is never easy to get the Russians to cc'ne

  out in the open. They have their own troubles on the Chinese

  border. They believe perhaps less in the far advanced stage,

  into which the movement has got, than we do.'

  'I should make mine a special mission, I should.'

  'I should stay here if I were you. Cedric.'

  Lord Altamount's quiet voice spoke from where he lea:'d