I shrank away from such thoughts, physical violence being abhorrent to me, but at the same time I could not forget who was there beside me, what he stood for, how many human lives his war had already taken, what a threat his regime presented to the security of the rest of the world.
He straightened and we both moved back from the edge.
‘[Did you know the cliff once was used as a prison?]’ Hess said, raising his voice above the roar from the cauldron.
‘[A prison?]’
‘[The main jail was elsewhere but they created punishment cells in these cliffs, at the high-tide mark. Troublesome prisoners were put there for a while, so they could have a bad experience of solitary confinement.]’ He gave me another leering smile. ‘[It was the French and German prisoners who were most often placed in the cells. Never the British, though. I wonder why not? Come, let me show you. One of them is along here somewhere.]’
He set off along the footpath once more and I followed, chilled by his oddness. He turned out not to be sure of the site of the cell, because we walked to and fro along the path for several minutes without success. I was becoming guiltily aware how long I had been away from my work. Hess eventually lost interest in the search, looking thoughtfully towards the ground as we sauntered along. We came to a halt in more or less the same place as I was sitting when he came up to me.
Then he said, in a more confidential voice, ‘[We have met before, I think. Do you remember that?]’
‘[I have seen you before, Deputy Leader,]’ I said. ‘[But I am certain I have not had the pleasure of meeting you in person until today.]’
‘[No, you are wrong,]’ he said emphatically. ‘[I know your name from the list of Red Cross negotiators. You are Sawyer, J. L. Why should I remember that name? Your face also is familiar.]’
‘[I was a competitor in the Olympic Games. I had the honour of accepting my medal from you, but I’m sure you would not remember me from that.]’
‘[In Berlin, you were? An athlete, then?]’
‘[I was a rower, sir.]’
‘[Maybe so. We have moved a long way from those days, have we not? So, you are English as I thought?]’
‘[Yes, sir.]’
‘[What do you English people think now of war? We have had a taste of war and perhaps we do not like it as much as we thought.]’
‘[I have always been against war.]’
‘[So you say. But it was you English who declared war on the Reich.]’
‘[Herr Deputy Leader, I should not be talking to you about such matters. I am only a junior official, with no influence on the principals.]’
‘[So why are you here?]’
‘[Ultimately because I am a pacifist and I wish to see peace made.]’
‘[Then we agree more than perhaps you think. I too have made the long journey here because my quest is for a peace between my country and yours.]’
‘[Sir, I am not representing my country. I am working for the Red Cross as a neutral.]’
‘[Yet you say once you competed in the Olympic Games. Were you then a neutral?]’
‘[No. I was rowing for Great Britain.]’
‘[So, tell me, what do the people of Great Britain have to say about the war? Do they want it to continue or do they want it to stop?]’
‘[I think they are tired of war, sir,]’ I said. ‘[But I also know they will never give up fighting so long as there is a threat to them.]’
‘[Tired of it? Already? There could be much worse for them to come, I think. The Leader has many secret weapons at his disposal.]’
The way he instantly seized on the idea that the British were wearying of war made me bite my lip. I remembered the warning we had been given by Declan Riley the evening before.
‘[I believe the British prefer peace to war,]’ I said as carefully as I could. ‘[But the threat of invasion and the actions of the Luftwaffe bombers have made people angry and determined to win.]’
‘[What of the party for peace in Britain? Do you ignore what they say?]’
‘[I’m not aware of them, sir. I have heard no talk of peace when I have been in Britain. Who is in the peace party?]’
‘[They are around you, Mr Sawyer. In this house! Do you think I am imagining them?]’
‘[Mr Churchill is running the country. But in my own opinion, Churchill is a troublemaker and warmonger—]’
‘[Mr Churchill has not been invited here, as you can see!]’ Hess interrupted me without apparently having listened to what I was saying. ‘[Churchill is an impediment to peace! He is the problem I have to solve, Mr Sawyer. The Leader is prepared to sign a peace treaty with the English but he is not willing to negotiate with Mr Churchill or any of his yes-men. The Leader passionately craves peace with Great Britain, but how do we persuade Churchill? Since we are here to speak of peace, what is your opinion? Would Churchill agree to a separate peace, or should Churchill be replaced? Important changes would have to follow an agreement such as the one we seek in this house. I speak of replacements in Germany, as well as in England. Will you British play your part and replace Churchill? With Halifax, say, or one of the able gentlemen who is with us for this conference?]’
‘[I can’t say, Herr Deputy Leader. I am not a representative of the British government.]’
I was terrified by the sudden intensity of the man. His distinctive, deep-set eyes were staring firmly at me, challenging me for an answer. But I was already in over my head. The information or opinion Hess wanted from me was impossible.
For a moment longer he continued to stare at me, then he made an impatient gesture. ‘[It is as I thought! Only the Reich wants peace!]’
He turned away from me with a bad-tempered, dismissive wave of the hand, and began to stride up the rough path in the direction of the house. I walked quickly after him, sensing already that if word of our conversation reached my superiors in the Red Cross, I would be boiled in oil.
We breasted the rise and came to the stand of trees that grew between the grounds of the house and the cliff area. Two SS officers in their sharp black uniforms were waiting on the lawn, staring towards us. I sensed trouble piling up on trouble for me. Hess came to a halt and faced me as I caught up with him.
‘[We have work to be doing,]’ he said in a more reasonable tone of voice. ‘[Mr Sawyer, let me tell you that even if you do not remember our earlier meeting in Berlin, I have myself now recalled the circumstances. Perhaps you have deliberately put them from your mind. We have indeed moved a long way since then. I understand the danger you are in, of being a British neutral in time of war. You can be sure I will say nothing of it again.]’
‘[Thank you, Herr Deputy Führer,]’ I said.
‘[Later, perhaps, you and I will have another opportunity to speak in private.]’
It was not to be. That was the only private conversation I had with Rudolf Hess during that stage of the negotiations. In fact, I scarcely saw him again before the end of the conference.
Almost from the moment when I returned to the villa the pressure of work on us greatly increased, with dozens of position papers, protocols, draft agreements, revised drafts, codicils and memoranda in need of practically instantaneous preparation and translation. None of us complained about the strain that the workload was placing on us, because of the unique importance of what we were doing, but for the next thirty-six hours we worked with hardly a break.
In the early hours of our last morning at Boca do Inferno Dr Burckhardt unexpectedly walked into our room and we rose to our feet in astonishment. Smilingly he signalled to us to relax. He was looking as tired as everyone else: I knew from the glimpses I had had of the main discussions that he had hardly been away from the conference hall. He was the only one of the principal negotiators who had visited us in our workmanlike domain, with its typewriters and notebooks on every working surface, the dirty glasses, cups and plates scattered everywhere, the piles of discarded papers all over the carpet, the jackets slung across the backs of chairs, the tobacco-heavy air.
/> Dr Burckhardt made some self-deprecating remark about being curious to see for himself where the real work had been going on: the furnace of the engine-room, as he described it. He said he was pleased to report that the talks between the British and German delegates had reached a conclusion and he thanked us for our dedication and uncomplaining labours. We gave him a polite but enthusiastic round of applause. As it sank in what the conclusion to the conference might actually mean, our applause turned quickly to loud cheering. Dr Burckhardt smiled modestly, nodding around to all of us.
At the end he caught my eye and with an inclination of his head indicated that I should follow him out of the room. I did so, with my hard-working colleagues watching me with noticeable curiosity.
Outside in the corridor, when he had closed the door to the room, Dr Burckhardt shook my hand warmly.
‘[Mr Sawyer, I wish to thank you on behalf of the International Red Cross for your contribution this week.]’
I mumbled something about doing no more than what I had been asked to do, and so on.
‘[Yes, indeed. We are all working for the same thing, but it has been a particularly effective meeting. You should say nothing to your colleagues at the moment, but there will be a second round of talks in a few weeks’ time, when the agreement will be ratified. The date and place have not yet been set, but the conference will take place near the beginning of May. I should add that your personal presence has been especially requested by one of the principals. May we count on you to be available?]’
‘[Yes, of course, Dr Burckhardt.]’
‘[You have a family in Britain, I believe. Would your responsibilities there prevent you from making a second journey on our behalf?]’
‘[No, sir. My wife and I are expecting our first baby. But it is not due until the end of May.]’
‘[All our business should be completed by then. Indeed, you’ve helped make it probable that your baby will be born in peacetime. Congratulations, Mr Sawyer!]’
With that cheering news he shook my hand again and wished me well, and that was that. I stood in the corridor, thunderstruck by the idea that peace was not an abstract notion but an achievable reality in my own life. Our baby would be born to a world of peace.
I had not fully realized that before! I felt joy rising in me. Great relief consumed me. I wanted to run and shout, but instead I stood by myself in that corridor, tears in my eyes, realizing that I was privy to the greatest, most important news in the world.
I went back into our office. In a daze I helped my colleagues to finish off the few remaining tasks and then to tidy up the room. A little more than an hour later I was in my bed in my hotel room, so excited I could hardly sleep, despite the exhaustion that was drowning me.
The next day I returned to England in the same white-painted plane, and two days after that I was reunited with Birgit at home in Rainow.
xiii
Everyone who was involved in the Lisbon agreement was sworn to secrecy and was provided with a cover story of some kind, to explain our absence. I had been to North Wales, it turned out, training with new rescue equipment received from the USA.
The events of that sunny winter’s week in Cascais are a matter of history, and no secrecy remains. What we drew up and agreed was a protocol for peace, terms which required to be ratified only at the highest levels for the armistice to be binding. Several weeks lay between the first and second peace conferences, a time of intense diplomatic and governmental activity, unwitnessed by anyone outside the inner circles of the two governments and the ruling council of the Red Cross. I certainly had little to do with what went on and was left in a vacuum of uncertainty.
Because I was a party to the drawing up of the agreement, I believed I knew every clause, paragraph and sentence by heart. What I did not know was what the people at the highest levels would make of the deal.
Would Hitler accept it? Would Churchill?
14
Prime Minister’s Personal Minutes and Telegrams, January–June 1941; from Appendix B of The German War: Volume II – Their Finest Hour (1950) by Winston S. Churchill (Duke of London).
Prime Minister to Secretary of State for Air and Chiefs of the Air Staff
January 17, 1941
Some of the German aircraft shot down on our shores must still be in repairable condition. I have seen enlightening reports on the state of their armour, engines, weapons and so on, after detailed technical examination at Farnborough. Are we able to get any of the aircraft back into a condition in which they might be flown, as for training sessions?
In particular, are we able to get one of their twin-engined Messerschmitt 110s working and flying again? One is needed urgently.
Prime Minister to Home Secretary
February 28, 1941
What sort of facilities do we have ready, should one of the people presently running Germany fall into our hands? We shall of course use the Tower of London as a salutary short-term measure (and let it be known we are doing so, as it would be a popular move in, e.g., the USA) but since we expect the war to be a long haul we must have other provisions to hand. Ordinary criminal prisons would be out of the question, as would for different reasons the PoW detention camps, so we should have as a contingency some other kind of secure accommodation. There must be several country houses, castles, etc., which could be sealed off at short notice without too much trouble or rumours spreading.
Pray let me have a list of suitable sites in due course.
Prime Minister to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
March 2, 1941
I’m grateful to our security advisers, through your good offices, for the information concerning Germany’s plans for Madagascar. I recollect the idea goes back to Bismarck’s day and has been resurrected from time to time by those who wish only to move the Jewish ‘problem’ to another part of the world.
British policy in this matter should be discussed and settled in Cabinet at the most convenient upcoming meeting, but for the time being may be briefly summarized thus:
As the mandated power for Palestine we have no wish for mass and ultimately destabilizing immigration in that region. Although this is not an option under the Madagascar Plan it is as well to be certain of our own policy on such a related matter.
Madagascar itself is currently under the control of Vichy France and sits athwart our main circum-Africa sea-route for the importation of oil from Persia and Iraq. However, so long as the UK controls the Suez Zone, as we intend to go on doing indefinitely, and so long as there is no effective German presence on the island, we perceive no real threat from Vichy-controlled Madagascar to our supplies.
Any attempt by Germany, as outlined in your memorandum, to set up a puppet state on Madagascar, administered by the SS and populated by disaffected exiles from European Jewry, no doubt under conditions of extreme inhumanity, would be a matter of the utmost seriousness. In such a case we would be obliged to mount prompt and effective military intervention, a duty from which we would not shrink.
Pray advise me of the numbers of the Jewish population, as best known, not only in Germany but also in the states currently controlled by the German occupiers. We should be prepared for all contingencies.
Prime Minister to Secretary of State for Air and Chiefs of the Air Staff
March 4, 1941
The bombing results against German targets for last month show no marked improvement on the previous month. The number of sorties is up but the photographic reconnaissance shows a remarkable lack of accuracy. Our new four-engined heavy bombers will be operational in the next week or two so I am looking for better results all round. I note also that losses of aircraft are increasing steadily and the numbers of our airmen posted as missing is almost twenty-five per cent up on the previous month. The war will not be won if we merely send our young men into danger and death, without prospect of result.
I enclose a copy of the final report from the Min. of Works concerning the damage caused by the Luftwaffe to the city of Co
ventry. Since November, when the attack occurred, it has seemed that the nightly bombing of British cities has, if anything, been stepped up. Kindly report back to me with your proposals.
Prime Minister to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
April 23, 1941
Red Cross representatives have been noticeably busy in recent weeks, using our airfields for their various enterprises in travelling abroad, presumably to neutral countries. Although the procedure for Red Cross use of our air space is well regulated, I note that we are provided with little information about the known destinations of their several flights, or indeed what is intended by them. We do enjoy excellent relations with all levels of the Red Cross, their work in the Blitz has been exemplary and much official gratitude has been expressed to them. We remain tolerant in every respect of Red Cross activities, hoping for the best. We do not actually need to know what they are about, nor should we officially enquire.
Pray let me have a summary of what intelligence on the British Red Cross you have to hand and any more that arises in the foreseeable future. We do naturally have vital national interests in all parts of neutral Europe.
Prime Minister to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Lord Privy Seal
April 25, 1941
In response to your several private memoranda I am content for Foreign Office staff to make yet another search for any files or written material concerning the Duke of Windsor, our former king. The papers to which I allude are the sort of papers to which I always allude in this context.
All personal and state papers, to the point of his abdication, are naturally sacrosanct and are anyway safely in the usual repositories. I am concerned with the later period in His Royal Highness’s peregrinations, up to the point in August last year when he accepted Governorship of the Bahamas.