“Yes. But if the parasites can’t work, can’t be forced to make some repayment for all they have stolen from Germany over the years, then something else has to be done with them. Right?”
“I understand.”
“Elimination is one option,” Heydrich said. “But if you think about it, realize that the basic objective is to get these parasites out of Germany, elimination is not the only option.”
“I don’t think I quite understand,” von Deitzberg confessed.
“Put very simply, there are Jews outside of Germany who are willing to pay generously to have their relatives and friends removed from the concentration camps,” Heydrich said.
“Really?”
“When it first came to my attention, I was tempted to dismiss this possibility out of hand,” Heydrich said. “But then I gave it some thought. For one thing, it accomplishes the Führer’s primary purpose—removing these parasitic vermin from the Fatherland. It does National Socialism no harm if vermin that cost us good money to feed and house leave Germany and never return.”
“I can see your point.”
“And at the same time, it takes money from Jews outside Germany and transfers it to Germany. So there is also an element of justice. They are not getting away free after sucking our blood all these years.”
“I understand.”
“In other words, if we can further the Führer’s intention to get Jews out of Germany, and at the same time bring Jewish money into Germany, and at the same time make a little money for ourselves, what’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing that I can see.”
“This has to be done in absolute secrecy, of course. A number of people would not understand, and an even larger number would feel they have a right to share in the confidential special fund. You can understand that.”
“Yes, of course.”
“Raschner will get into the details with you,” Heydrich went on. “But essentially, you will do what I’ve been doing myself. Inmates are routinely transferred from one concentration camp to another. And, routinely, while the inmates are en route, members of the Totenkopfverbände remove two, three, or four of them from the transport. For purposes of further interrogation and the like. Having been told the inmates have been removed by the Totenkopfverbände, the receiving cam
p has no further interest in them. The inmates who have been removed from the transport are then provided with Spanish passports, and taken by Gestapo escorts to the Spanish border. Once in Spain, they make their way to Cadiz or some other port and board neutral ships. A month later, they’re in Uruguay.”
“Uruguay?” von Deitzberg blurted in surprise. It had taken him a moment to place Uruguay, and even then, all he could come up with was that it was close to Argentina, somewhere in the south of the South American continent.
“Some stay there,” Heydrich said matter-of-factly, “but many go on to Argentina.”
“I see,” von Deitzberg said.
“Documents issued by my office are of course never questioned,” Heydrich went on, “and Raschner will tell you what documents are necessary. You will also administer dispersals from the confidential special fund. Raschner will tell you how much, to whom, and when.”
“I understand.”
“We have one immediate problem,” Heydrich said. “And then we’ll have another little sip of this splendid brandy and go see what we can find for dinner.”
“An immediate problem?”
“We need one more man here in Berlin,” Heydrich said. “Someone who will understand the situation, and who can be trusted. I want you to recruit him yourself. Can you think of anyone?”
That had posed no problem for von Deitzberg.
“Josef Goltz,” he said immediately. “Obersturmbannführer Goltz.”
Heydrich made a “give me more” sign with his hands.
“He’s the SS-SD liaison officer to the Office of the Party Chancellery.”
Heydrich laughed. “Great minds run in similar channels,” he said. “That’s the answer I got when I asked Raschner for ideas. Why don’t the two of you talk to him together?”
In addition to his other duties, Heydrich had been named “Protector of Czechoslovakia.” On May 31, 1942, he was fatally wounded when Czech agents of the British threw a bomb into his car in Prague.