Chapter 6

It may seem that I am picking on Rome, the Eternal City, but one would be foolish to ignore the evil that has originated from the Pope, the Vatican, Rome and Italy for centuries. Remember things like Nero, Mafia, Vatican Bank frauds, The Medici, Crusades, Papal children, the end of the Templars, the Inquisition and El Duce just to name a few over 2,000 years.

This chapter deals in things/people that used deceit and betrayals for various purposes.

Some really did/do exist, even today. Slavery is still legal in 2 places and tolerated in a few more. Great wealth has and is used for both good and evil and still can buy anyone and anything, anywhere.

Germany circa 1941 AD

Nestled in a mountain of paper, files and holders scattered throughout his office, Field Marshall Hendrick Von Tempke brought his hands up to his face, ran them up over the short thin hair on his head, then decidedly flipped a lever on the interfone unit, calling his aide to him. “Rutger, would you call Col. Kreiger to my office immediately, and when he arrives meet me in my private conference room and see that we are not disturbed, no matter what or who calls. Danke.”

“Jawhol, Herr Field Marshall”, He clicked his heels, did a salute and exited the office.

Things were going badly in the war, very badly indeed. The plans he had made were really something that was against everything he was raised to believe. His family had served in the Prussian army since a time before Fredrick the Great, and supported the German side in every major war effort.

If it had not been for his granddaughter, he would never have even considered the implied support that the group of senior officers had offered him, he would have had them all executed; but he now realized as back then that things were not to be as planned, that if the Reich was to survive it would take many years and huge amounts of support.

Kurt Krieger entered the bunker, walked ahead and reported to Maj. Von Alstine, “follow me, Col.” he said. As the two men went to the conference room, Kurt checked and rechecked his appearance, upon entering both men stood at attention, “Col. Kreiger is here, Herr Field Marshall”, he then turned to exit. “Rutger, stay” said the old man, “close the door and both of you are to be seated”.

Rutger had been a friend for many years, his family and theirs had been friends near 300 years, both were Prussian, both had served their country, and both now were faced with a decision that was a last ditch effort to save their beloved country. Kurt had only recently become friends with the two men. His recent promotions and key assignments he knew were the result of the support and influence the two men exerted on the military establishment, he was only 24 and recently promoted to a Col.

“Rutger, Kurt, what I am about to say and do will be my last act, no matter what your decision will be, tomorrow I will be found dead here in my office.”

“Sir, no, you cannot, we, your friends, your country needs you.” They both rose up from their seats, were stopped by these words, “we will lose this war, and soon. I have one last request to you both, and if you choose not to do this, I will understand”. Both men jumped up, at the same time stood at attention and said, “Sir, what are your orders!”

Tears formed in the old mans eyes, he walked up to both men and placed an arm on each man’s shoulder, he said, “I want you to take my granddaughter and as much treasure as possible and fly to Switzerland, there a group will see to it that you all are able to start a new life. Some of this treasure will go to aid other people and some of it you will need to ensure some things happen, while the rest remains for your use.”

“Gen. Wenk will see to it that she arrives at the aerodrome, a Dornier experimental plane is waiting for you there and a written set of instructions will be onboard detailing who, how and when you will be resettled. You both are my closest and dearest friends, Kurt, I know this may not be the time to say this, but you are my son. I could never marry your mother, but Hannah is your sister’s daughter, my granddaughter too. Rutger, I cannot bear the shame and dishonour of what I am doing, I will accept the responsibility but I beg you both to take Hannah and leave, now, a car is outside, the plane is fueled and loaded and an escort will see that you arrive safely to the plane.”

“When you take off, several He 111 fighters and Me 262 will go with you. When you land you will need to follow the instructions to get out of Switzerland, orders and papers are in this folder, I ask you again to do this not only for me, but Hannah and for yourselves.”

The two men looked briefly at each other, stood rigid before the Field Marshall and said at the same time, “Sir, our lives are yours to command, we give them to you gladly”, they saluted turned and exited the room. Outside 6 SS solders from Gen. Wenk’s command saluted, one said, “you are to be escorted for the next part, are your orders ready, if so follow us”.

As they left the bunker, 6 more troops joined the escort; they led to a procession of armoured vehicles and several truckloads of troops. Everyone was silent, when they arrived at the aerodrome the checkpoint cleared, gates opened for them and they were whisked to a part of the field where dozens of fighter bombers and cargo planes were starting engines. They were led to a shiny new airplane, a very tall Gestapo officer came down the plane’s ramp, walked to the men, saluted and said, “sir, your special cargo is on board, may I please see your orders”, reaching for the folder, he took it, opened the first portion, turned the page, handed the folder back to the dazed men and said for any close enough to hear, “your papers are in order, an escort will be flying along, should you be attacked, it will be by enemy planes that appear to be ours but have been captured, fly to your destination as indicated. 54 fighter escorts fly ahead to clear a path for you and 36 more planes will convoy with you. Gen. Wenk sends his regards and will delay any efforts from the East that could fire upon you.”

The men heard a voice, “Uncle Rutger, I am scared please help me”. It was the young Hannah, the two men raced up the ramp; an engineer exited the cockpit, saluted and hurried down the ramp, closing the door behind him.

Seats were taken, the plane manned by both men who taxied ready for take off, a voice came on over the headpiece, “You are cleared for takeoff, good luck” and with that the Dornier 310 joined a long line of planes headed toward their first stop.

Just then several heavily armed vehicles pulled all around their plane, the pilots had no choice but to bring the plane to a halt, then open the door as motioned to do by several very tall, armed troops and a leather coated Gestapo agent. They knew they were caught, both men tried to get in front of the little girl trying to shield her from the rain of bullets they knew was to soon come.

The Gestapo man entered the plane, motioned to several men to get aboard, then said to the men, “You had almost left before these gifts from a friend were aboard”, then approached Hannah and handed her a pouch and a small package, “this for you from someone who wishes you well.” After several crates were brought aboard and secured he saluted, exited, closed the door and waved the troops away then saluted the pilots and motioned the convoy to continue.

At the bunker, all hell was breaking loose, a company of SS and several giant sized guards wearing the iron cross entered the Field Marshall’s office, they lined the doorway, armed with machine guns and assault gear, body armour and shields on their backs, all wore dark helmets.

A small man entered, motioned the guard away then closed the door, “Hello, my friend” he said then extended his hand to the Field Marshall who said, “Hello, Jossef”, took his hand and the two men shook hands. “Marta(his wife), the children and I will remain in the bunker, by this time my men have also provided Hannah with some going away gifts, also Wenk is having some of his troops guarding the takeoff of the convoy. Heidi and her daughter have already been escorted to Bavaria and will not be joining us here.”

Goebbels reached into his pocket and took out a small box, placed it into his friends hands and said, “this has not gone as planned, we have been overmatched by all our enemies and deserted by those who would be our partners, only our friends in Japan remain committed to the cause and continue the fight.”

“Arrangements have been made to provide them with whatever we can, but I fear much will never reach them. We have provided a few of the wonder weapons already, but many more are being destroyed as we speak, we will see you in the next life, my old friend, hopefully something will go on even after we are gone.” He turned then left.

The Field Marshall opened the small box and removed the two whitish pills that were inside, he smiled then opened the desk drawer, took out a Walther P-38 and brought it under his chin, fired it and slumped down in the chair. As a soldier, he knew how to die, no help was needed but it was a nice gesture in these times.

All the planes had gotten off the ground safely and were proceeding in formation towards Switzerland, the cockpit door opened and one of the crew came to them and told then to remove their uniforms and handed both men small bags with clothing and more papers inside.

Another of the crew came out almost one hour later, he said, “This is where we leave the convoy; a few things have changed, and we will head to Zurich, there, people will meet the plane and take us onward. When we land, say nothing, if we are inspected hand over this set of documents and hopefully that will be the end of the inspection. Several men will also board, each dressed in Red Cross uniforms and will remove Hannah from the plane, before we land have her take this pill, it is harmless but will make it appear that she is very ill, no one will stop her.”

Several of the convoy planes including theirs headed toward Zurich, when they landed armed men were stationed all around the planes, a uniformed man approached the plane and opened the door before they could even exit, he told them in no uncertain terms to remain seated, the plane was to be searched. Just then a well-guarded motorcade arrived, lined up near the plane and a well- appointed man emerged, followed by a clergyman who wore an unusual set of robes.

Both men entered the plane, the well dressed man faced the seated men, bowed and asked how the meeting had gone, he was interrupted by the uniformed man and jerked by the arm to face him, several of the men who boarded with the two men drew weapons and pointed them directly at the inspector, who then turned a pale shade of red and blurted out, “do you know who I am, you cant d...”

Another man entered, whispered something in the man’s ear. He fell to his knees then started to beg for forgiveness, the clergyman took over, saying “although we have just come from the Prime Minister’s office to escort his Holiness’s sacred relics back to the Vatican, I assume that you must feel it necessary to delay us in order to do your job. All I ask is that you call so that the Chancellor knows what he will tell the Pope why we were delayed here, and the sacred relics subject to this monstrous seizure.”

The inspector was dumbstruck; he had just stopped several planes from Germany and seized Vatican treasure obviously being returned to the Pope, now these men were asking him to do what he felt he had to do, but to tell the leader of the country why.

He stood frozen in place, his face ashen while several more men in red cross garb approached, asking where was the ill passenger, the two men got up and pointed to the girl lying across the seats, without saying anything a blanket was placed around the girl, she was hoisted up and quickly removed from the plane, it was obvious she was in pain and burning up, the inspector then mumbled something to his aide then bowed to the 2 men and apologized for anything he or his people had done. It was not until they left the plane that the guards lowered their weapons, clicked their heels and followed the inspector and his people down.

“You will change planes here, Hannah has already been taken there and should by now be fully awake, our people will also move these, mmm, gifts for your trip to the new plane also, I do not think you will be bothered anymore. Bishop Krulari will accompany you to the Vatican, when you land several things will happen, crates bearing a P will be loaded on trucks to accompany you to the Pope, several others, including those on your plane, will be loaded in the vehicle you 3 will be using, the rest, marked with a red cross, are going elsewhere. Please wish the Pope well and tell him that we wish that more could have been returned to him, but that all the promised items are included in this shipment, bow down, kiss his ring and hand him the list I now give you.”

They were taken to a huge cargo plane, several crates, from theirs and several other planes, as well as Hannah’s bags also followed them aboard, Hannah ran up to both of them, put her arms around them and softly asked - no stated, “I’ll never see grandpa again, will I?” Both men shook their head no, while she began to quietly sob, tears flowing from her eyes. They were shown to makeshift seats, 2 bags were placed in Hannah’s lap and the door on this plane was closed, in all they had been in Zurich a little over 2 hours before they were on the way to the Vatican, some food, water and chocolates were brought to them. An attractive young lady leaned over to Hannah, whispered something in her ear, Hannah nodded and left to the back of the plane holding her hand. She returned shortly with a smile on her face, the young woman returned and whispered to the men that a place was available now should they need to use a facility, she smiled and turned back, girl time is over for a bit and laughed at Hannah.

As they prepared to land, another man came up to them and said, “My name is Rob Soellner, I will be your pilot to another destination after you leave the Vatican, everything to accompany us will be moved, have Hannah take her 2 bags with her, and go with Katya, she will take her onboard and we will be waiting for you.” He then handed each man a bag saying “although it is unlikely, should you be delayed this should aid you, before you open it, there is a fine thread underneath the handle, remove it them push on the lever you will find there, do this before you attempt to open either bag, inside you will see a small flap on the inside of the bag, it has a port and ship name, use the funds inside to try to reach that ship.”

When the plane landed in Italy, trucks lined up near the unloading ramp at the rear of the plane, another line of vehicles also were lining up, this time at the side. Hannah and Katya hurried past them, Katya told the men not to worry, they would be fine. The clergyman walked up to the men, saying that they should go with him, a truck approached, doors were opened, and as they speed off the bishop said they would be going to see the Pope, then it would take them to where they would meet Hannah.

The meeting with the pope was brief, the men handed him the list that they were given, said the things they were told to say, knelt down took the ring on the Popes hand, kissed it and remained kneeling. Hands were placed on their heads, some words in Latin they did not understand spoken, and several small packages placed into their hands.

They were escorted back to the waiting car, the clergyman who had met them in Zurich leaned into the car window saying, not asking, that the agreements were fulfilled and somewhat even exceeded, that when the list had been read off to the Pope that tears could be seen, he had asked that this package be given to the men as a symbol of his thanks. The car went to the waiting plane; they were escorted on, saw Hannah next to Katya and took seats as the doors closed. Rob opened the door of the cockpit, motioned the men over and told them the new destination was a port in North Africa, a ship would be waiting there and would take them to a South American country where a new life awaited them.

He told them to open at last the several bags, several of the small packets they received at the Vatican had Rob and Katya’s name, he handed one to Hannah also, each saw the two men’s name then several more with names he did not recognize. Rob extended his hand, saying he would see to their travel. They boarded the plane.

All the passengers fell asleep. They were jarred awake by sounds all around them, from the plane Katya took Hannah’s head and placed her arms about her as if to protect her. They slowly awoke as from a dream, the plane was in one piece, Rob could see cuts on Katya and blood on her face and hand, but just one large cut on the back of Hannah’s head. They were all very, very lucky to even be alive, Rob came out to them, “well”, he said “I think this stop was not planned for, our ride has had it I’m afraid, and if you like sand, there is plenty here to go around, but not much water.”

The other crew staggered out, then Rob introduced them then added that both were Katya’s brothers and could be trusted with anything, even Hannah. A quick inventory was made, doors opened to allow fresh air to circulate that added to air from the broken windows, the sun gleaming though the torn roof seemed to require something extra be done to stay alive. Rob took note of what his crew told him, he said, “I have some good news and some bad news, first, the good news, We know where we crashed, we have food for several months and water for 10 days, the bad news is ... we know where we crashed and have water for 10 days, if we stay out of the sun. We are in the middle of a desert, and, no one will ever find us”. Just then, off in the distance a shot was heard, then riders, many riders, rode down to the plane, surrounded it, then a young man walked in, gestured for us to raise our hands up, then saw the two injured and bleeding girls, said something that sounded like Arabic and several more men carried them from the plane, wrapping them in a blanket and placing their own head gear over the girls faces.

The young man motioned to us to lower our hands, then said in perfect German, then repeated in English, “I assume you wish to be the guests of my father? No harm shall come to you, you will be taken to our summer home, the two girls are also being taken there and will receive medical attention, everything aboard this plane will follow you, but if you have any personal items or small luggage please feel free to bring it with you, Hassan, my aide, will take you now, I need to do another task first before I return there. Go in peace.”

He and a host of men rode off, Hassan came up and asked us in several languages, French, German, English and Arabic, which would we prefer to use. We said German, and he proceeded to recount, in perfect German how they had been so near to rescue us. It seems that a water well and oasis had been attacked, many people killed and was now in the hands of another tribe unfriendly to theirs, the Prince was sent by his father, Sheik Oman al’a Salanni, along with several hundred riders to avenge those killed and return control of the oasis to the family, they had seen our plane going down, and the Prince along with a few of his guards had ridden to the plane. He was now on his way to complete that original task.

Horses were brought, and we rode to the summer home, when we reached a small canyon entrance, a shot rang out and we contined to their camp, or so we thought, upon reaching a wider gap on a hilltop, we were shocked. Before us was a small city, it was green with trees, flowers, shrubs and rows upon rows of white walled buildings, Hassan led on.

Upon reaching a courtyard lined with date palm trees, pools of water, and what appeared to be several lush gardens he dismounted, clapped his hands and several young veiled girls ran up, bowed then prostrated themselves before us, Hassan said something to them in a language which seemed like Arabic but was different. He turned to us, then asked that we follow these girls who will attend to our needs, let us rest, then be taken to meet the Sheik and reunite with Hannah and Katya, who were in another place also being attended to.

Each of us were led to a separate rooms, first clothes were removed and we were led into separate baths, another girt wearing a collar and thin gold chain that ran to a bracelet on one leg appeared, I was helped into the bath where oils, spices and rich soap was rubbed on every inch of my body. If we spoke each of us could hear the other, but each was not in sight, towels of a thickness I had never seen before were used to dry us. As a soldier, my body had been scarred many times, when the girl bathing me had seen that she called out softly again, another girl came to me, things were taken from the tray and placed on the scars, then I was led back to a room where my original guide placed me onto a huge bed, motioned for me to turn over and proceeded to massage my body so gently as to make me think an angel was touching me, sleep came to me. When I began to awake I had to shake my head, clear my eyes, the angel knelt before me, pointing to several sets of garb, an English suit, military desert wear and a long flowing robe, white in colour with silver trim, and a matching piece of headgear and head band made of strands of silver thread. I indicated the robe and began to reach for it, the tender hand of my angel touched my chest, I stopped she clapped her hands, 2 more angels came in, lined me up and proceeded to dress me as if I was a king.

After another hand clap, a large, very large man wearing a sword at his side motioned for me to follow, my angel approached me, undid part of her veil, and pointed to a long red scar on her neck, then gestured that she could not speak, returned the veil and lowered her head as she knelt before me. I exited and followed the man, he lead me to a large room, I saw my friends all arriving from a different point of the room, we looked at each other, a gong sounded, a small procession of young very beautiful girls entered, followed by 2 veiled and demure very beautiful and very young girls outfitted in what appeared as gossamer with silver strands running across every inch, they seemed like a Princess from some fairy tale, the gong struck again, we were lead further into the room, each of us was now being seated on a large cushion by other angels; the 2 Princesses were already seated, but on a separate lounge seat attended by a dozen more angels.

The gong sounded again three times, rows of very large men, each with a large curved sword at their side entered and lined the room, then several more entered, this time with swords drawn and held up in front of their faces then stood by a raised divan like area, the gong struck 7 times now, and two men entered, first a young man whom I recognized as the man who helped us at the plane, he held a curtain open as the other man entered, he was much older, both wore robes which seemed to glow as if they were made of pure gold.

The older man took a seat, the younger man came up and said that...”the Sheik welcomes his friends, the Sheik punishes his enemies”, with that, two large baskets were placed in front of each of us, an attendant near them opened the lids, in one were gold, silver, ivory, gems of all sizes and colours, as well as an assortment of spice, in the other, neatly stacked hands with fingers, pointing up as if to the sky, he further spoke, “choose which basket you desire to be sent to your rooms, are you a friend or an enemy?”

We all pointed to the friend basket, they were removed, the young man then spoke to the Princesses as all the armed men left the room, he said to them, “When all of the other men have left you may lower your veils”, it was then my heart stopped, before us were Hannah and Katya, they could have been the Sheik’s daughters, wives or even captured Princesses. The son spoke further, “a simple meal will be served,” he clapped his hands and at least 200 very young, veiled girls began to bring out trays of food, before any were served, a small tray of bread, salt, oil and water were placed in front of each of the men, having all served our country in Africa we all took small portions, placed them in our mouth, then swallowed it with a sip of water, he seemed pleased and continued, “while you partake of this humble meal, the Sheik would like to address all of you, including our 2 young lady guests.”

A man speaking to and not ordering a female was unheard of, let alone that this man was a Sheik, a rich and powerful Sheik.

He began, “I welcome you all, and while you are in my world you are all under my protection and also that of my son as his friends. All that I may have you are most welcome to, I ask nothing from you but to respect our laws and accept our way of life, as we will respect yours. Most of your belongings have or soon will be in your rooms, some things such as arms, munitions, food, water, fuel and the like are stored in sheds which are for your use if you need them. This is our summer home, the quarters you had earlier were merely to service you from your trip here, now that you have elected to be our friend, more fitting quarters have been arranged for you.”

“Lady Hannah and Lady Katya, your new quarters will be near the men, however, if you leave it to visit them, do not enter alone, nor forget to be veiled. Gentlemen, you will not upon the severest action ever be allowed to visit in their quarters, the guards there would, I fear never allow this, and their Palace is very well guarded as is yours. We live in a land that has not changed in over 4,000 years, so please understand this.”

“When and if you need to leave, you will go with our blessings and our hearts, there is something you should know, the Field Marshal for whom you all were friends of was also my friend, it was chance that brought us together, but it was not fate that planned your new life. Now eat,” he nodded and food was served, after a few bites the Sheik excused himself, saying Prince Abdullah would attend to our needs. The Prince spoke as his father rose then left.

“Hassan will lead the men to their new homes, inside those palaces each of you rule, no other man commands there. Inside will be a staff, they will perform anything you shall need or command, although our language is right now strange to you, it is much like Arabic, but at least each of you shall have the lead person of your staff be able to understand several languages, you may add or change your servants as things progress, I will show you more of the slaves as they become available, also those who have received, shall we say, special training, for now I think you will be very satisfied with our selections for you, very, very happy indeed.”

Hassan appeared, I (Rutger) addressed the prince, “May I ask a question, and if so a favour”, his reply was simply, “Ask and if it can be done it will ... By the way, if it is impossible it may take a bit longer, what is your question”. “When I was first brought in, there was a slave girl attending me, would it be too much to ask if she could be head of my home here, she was like an angel to Me” he said. “Mmmm, my friend, you are mistaken in some of the things you say, she is not an angel nor is she a slave, but she is what do you say, unique, you may ask her yourself if she will join you in your home, follow Hassan to your home, she will arrive there this evening, I think you both will need some time before that question can be asked and answered.”

I followed, still thinking what the Prince had said, I shook my head, I had never seen anyone like her before, even if she could not speak I was in love with her, every part of her, the moment I had seen her I was lost, she was truly an angel to me.

When Rutger entered his quarters, the staff lined up, a bevy of girls collared with thin gold chains, the marbled palace with a seemingly endless array of rooms, then a slim tall Nordic beauty knelt before him, she asked, “May Inga speak, Master?” He did not understand, she asked again, “May Inga speak Master? mmm, I am she.” He nodded and said “Of course,” Inga began, “You are Master here, and everything and everyone in this place is yours to command, to sell off if you are displeased, to punish or even kill. I am in charge of all your slaves, only because I understand your language and shall see to it that all obey.” She began to relate all the things that were like rules within the palace, until we learned their language she would be there to assist and supervise, gesture and simple pointing like drink or eat or bathing could be understood by most, but Inga suggested that until we were more familiar with things it might be best to tell her what was wanted and it would be done, any time of the day or night, she added. There was a knock on the front, Rutger approached and two servant girls opened them for me, it was Hassan, “Effendi,” he said, “I have asked the girl that attended you when you first arrived, she has agreed and will meet you near here shortly.”

This was very unusual, in this country women were not asked if they would do something, they were told or beaten if they delayed, what was Hassan saying to me? In the distance I saw a dozen armed guards leading the angel of my dreams, since she had been in my thoughts since I met her, I became very excited. Following her was the largest man I had ever seen, probably 40 years old, well over 3 metres tall it seemed and over 180 kilos in weight, a giant of a man, the guards lined up, then she and the giant approached Hassan and myself. She stood then nodded to Hassan, he started the introduction, I took my angel by the arm and started to take her inside, I had barely started to reach her arm before there was the largest knife I had ever seen, made near my throat, every guard had also drawn a blade and were moving towards me, my angel merely touched the giant man who removed the blade as I quickly dropped my arm away from the girl.