“I thought perhaps you might know someone who would be suitable.”
“I’ll have to give it some thought, Herr Reichsleiter, but off the top of my head, no one comes to mind.”
“But you do have friends in Argentina?”
“None that I would entrust with knowledge of Operation Phoenix,” Canaris said. “We simply cannot afford any risk of having the Argentine government learn what we plan to do, and what friends I have there are officers of the Armada Argentina.”
“So?”
“They might feel honor bound to inform their government what we are planning.”
“Well, we can’t have that, can we?” Bormann said. “Does the name Perón mean anything to you, Canaris?”
“He’s one of the colonels around General Ramírez. According to the late Oberst Grüner, he was instrumental in the coup which deposed President Ramón Castillo a couple of weeks ago—on June seventh, to be precise.”
“You didn’t meet him when he was here?”’ Bormann asked, as if surprised.
“I knew of him,” Canaris said. “But I don’t think I ever met him.”
Of course I knew of him.
Despite what Bormann and his ilk like to believe, all Argentines are not two steps away from embracing Der Führer and National Socialism. There are God only knows how many refugees from the Thousand-Year Reich down there.
It was my duty to learn something about an Argentine officer attached to their embassy here and being fawned over by the elite. It was possible—unlikely but entirely possible—that he was working for the British.
I’ve often thought that the same Germano-Argentines who helped me escape from internment so I could return to serve the Fatherland would now go out of their way to ensure that Germans interned there now stay there, rather than return here to serve Hitler, proof of that being Oberst Grüner having absolutely no success getting any of the Graf Spee crew out of internment and back here.
Oberst Juan Domingo Perón is not a very interesting man, except for his unusual, if rather disgusting, sexual proclivities.
What’s Bormann’s interest in Perón?
“I made an effort to get to know him while he was here,” Bormann said. “And, as a result, learned there are several very interesting things about him.”
Well, one probably is that he likes young girls.
I wonder what Bormann thinks the others are?
“And they are?”
“He believes in National Socialism,” Bormann said. “The philosophy, Canaris, not the party. That distinction is important. He came to Europe first to study Mussolini’s fascism. He was impressed that our friend Benito has made the trains run on time. Efficiency, in other words, impresses him. Then he came here and—I think surprising him—learned that we Germans are somewhat more efficient than the Italians. He was particularly impressed with the autobahn. And with our social programs.”
He’s waiting for my response.
What I would like to say is, “So what?”
“That doesn’t surprise you, does it, Herr Reichsleiter?” Canaris asked.
“He sees how Germany is doing things as something Argentina should emulate is my point, Canaris.”
“I see.”
“And he is very impressed with our Führer, Canaris, the man and the leader.”
“Well, of course, he should be.”
I daresay Roosevelt and Churchill are also impressed with the Bavarian corporal. Again, “So what?”
What the hell is he talking about?