The Counterfeit Traitor Page #4

All I want is a sound, legitimate

reason to travel to and from Germany.

I'm working for the Allies, Gerhard.

Eric.

Sometimes friendship

makes me deaf.

I didn't hear what you just said.

Please leave now.

And don't contact me again.

I can't.

I'm here to ask you to work with me.

I wouldn't do that.

Remember, you have a son

in a Russian prison camp.

All they'd have to do

is send a message.

I'm not a Nazi, Eric.

You know that.

But at the moment,

they are Germany...

...and I am a German.

Don't ask me

to betray my country.

You're their choice, not mine.

I have to do it because

they've got me in a vise too.

I'm sorry, Gerhard.

It's a stinking, rotten business.

He was trapped.

There was nothing

he could do but cooperate.

He called a meeting of the oil

commission, explained the project

and suggested that the commission

meet with me periodically

and keep abreast of any

future developments.

When the members

nodded agreement,

I knew I'd be making

weekly visits to Berlin,

and that's all I wanted.

I had expected opposition

from the man next to me,

who was a Gestapo colonel

in charge of Scandinavian countries,

but he went along

without too many questions.

Later in his office, though,

he called Kortner in Stockholm,

just to check

on me firsthand.

Kortner assured him

that I was trustworthy, loyal

and that the refinery plan

had great possibilities.

Kortner's enthusiasm, of course,

was based mainly on larceny.

A little graft, it seemed,

could open more doors

than a passkey.

Colonel Nordoff

and I had a pleasant chat.

When it came time for me to leave,

I felt I could ask an important favor.

Oh, one more thing.

I was wondering if on my return

trip I could go via Hamburg.

I'd like to say hello to Otto Holtz,

old friend of mine.

You seem to have

many friends in the oil business.

Oil is a fraternity.

You've been in it for a while,

you know all the members.

I think it can be arranged.

Please.

- Thank you, you've been very kind.

- Thank you.

It's comforting to know that we

have such loyal Swedish friends.

- Goodbye.

- Goodbye.

Have him put

under surveillance.

Express train to Hamburg

departing 8:
10 on track 11.

Train to Mnchen departing

8:
20 on track six.

The trip was slow and uncomfortable.

We were sidetracked a dozen times.

It gave me a chance to see

the condition of the rolling stock.

By the time we pulled

into the main station in Hamburg,

I'd been able to make mental notes

on troop trains and marshaling yards.

I hadn't found out

too much about oil yet,

but I was picking up other bits of

information that might prove valuable.

Otto!

You didn't have

to come to meet me.

Those are the people I like to meet,

the ones I don't have to.

I even brought an honor guard.

My son, Hans.

- Hello, Hans.

- Heil Hitler!

Herr Gunderscharf.

Please contact the stationmaster.

There's a message for you.

I had never been

to Otto's new home.

After his first wife died,

we'd always gotten together

in his office or my hotel room.

When I met his second wife,

I understood.

Klara was not

someone to be proud of.

She flaunted her sex,

was tawdry and rather stupid.

I wondered why

he ever married her.

And then I found out.

How long have

you been married?

Eleven years, but for Hans' sake,

we say 12.

Papa!

Papa!

I heard just now on the radio

that six people here in Hamburg

were arrested for treason.

- Jews?

- No, Germans.

A boy in our class does treason.

- What are you talking about?

- It's true, Papa.

Every morning, our teacher says,

"God strike England."

And we answer

all together, "He will."

Well, this boy Klaus does not say it.

I watched him.

He opens his mouth

and makes movements,

but he doesn't say it.

Maybe his father and mother

like the English.

That's ridiculous, Hans.

The boy's probably

just daydreaming.

No.

I think soon I must report

him and his parents.

You'll do nothing of the sort!

Go to your room!

Otto, you must

not discourage the boy.

If he really has such an idea,

it's his duty to report it.

Klara, Klara.

What are you teaching him?

The boy will grow up to be...

If they're guilty, they should

be taken. If they're not,

no harm will be done to them.

In either case,

it's good for Hans' record.

My Jugendfhrer

said if I report things like that,

I will get the star for my uniform.

Ah, your Jugendfhrer is a...

Go on, go on.

We'll talk about it later.

Mr. Erickson and I have

some business to discuss now.

Eric.

- You mind if we talk in the garden?

- Of course not.

After dinner is the only time

I have to work on my vegetables.

I'll get my old clothes on.

Otto was not hard to recruit,

but difficult to satisfy.

He didn't want any money, but he

insisted on some kind of document

stating that he was

cooperating with the Allies.

I tried to dissuade

him but he...

No.

When the Allies

march into Hamburg,

I want something

I can take to headquarters.

I'm sorry, Otto, I can't do it.

It's too risky.

It's the only way I'll cooperate.

Papa.

You think about it tonight.

I'll meet you in my office

in the morning.

- At the refinery.

- No, my office in town.

Come about 10.

I have an appointment first.

Mama says you

should come in now.

You'll catch cold.

- What are you doing sitting out here?

- Just changing my shoes.

By the next morning, I had decided

to give Otto the letter he wanted.

It was a death sentence

for both of us if anybody found it.

Otto was willing

to take the risk, and so was I.

On one condition:

I want to be sure that where

you put that is really a safe place.

Eric,

for a long time, I've been

withdrawing money from the bank.

Little by little.

Not enough to create suspicion,

but sufficient to live on for a time

when the war is over.

Somewhere in these cabinets

are 200,000 marks.

If you can find them,

you can have them.

What if this building is bombed?

Someone goes through the debris,

finds a piece of paper...

If this building is hit,

the chances are

a hundred to one that it'll catch fire.

And if the office is searched?

They'll break open the safe,

tear up the rug,

smash the desk.

But I doubt if they'll wade

through all these files.

But they might.

They might also find the money.

I might also be

arrested... and talk.

I honestly don't know

how I'd react under torture.

Those are risks

you have to take, Eric.

Well?

All right.

Wait a minute.

This is dated March 5th.

Today is September 5th.

You see, I have to be

protected too, Otto.

If tomorrow

you should get cold feet

and decide to turn the letter over

to the Gestapo,

they'd wonder why

you held on to it for six months.

Otto gave me the two-dollar tour, and

I saw the refinery from top to bottom.

When I got back to Stockholm,

I talked into the recording machine

for what seemed to be hours,

trying to remember every little detail.

During the air raid of August 23rd,

the distillation plant was burned,

but not extensively.

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