R eichsfuhrer Himmler’s driver eased the big black Mercedes through the Bavarian town of Berchtesgaden. The tyres buzzed on the cobbled roads as they passed the twin-spired Stiftskirche near Marktplatz Strasse. It was midmorning and the narrow streets were crowded with shoppers: the men in their traditional leather jackets and feathered alpine caps, and the women in colourful dirndls.
They travelled down the Bahnhofstrasse before turning east onto the bridge that crossed the swiftly flowing River Ache. The river banks were still covered in deep snow. Here and there, the water tumbled over the natural sculptures of ice that had formed on the rocks. The road meandered towards the foothills of the Obersalzberg, a soaring mountain overlooking the town. Occasionally the sun struggled from behind heavy clouds scudding across the sky, illuminating the snow-covered countryside that changed from open fields and cherry orchards to thick pine forests.
Oblivious to the scenery, Reichsfuhrer Himmler sat in the plush red-leather seat in the back, resplendent in the sinister black uniform of the Schutzstaffel-SS, Hitler’s Praetorian Guard. In civilian clothes Heinrich Himmler might easily have been mistaken for a bank clerk or an accountant: his round gold-rimmed glasses supported by a sharp nose, his head seemingly too big for his slight body, his fine black hair trimmed ferociously and shaved well above his ears.
Himmler continued to make meticulous notes on a file marked Geheim – Nur Durch Offizierhande as he read the cable he’d received from the German ambassador in Guatemala City: PERSONAL FOR REICHSFUHRER HIMMLER: Report on possible links between Aryan race and Maya in diplomatic bag soonest. Austrian Professor Levi Weizman last here November, when he visited Lake Atitlan, as well as Tikal. Weizman Jewish but undoubtedly best hope to decipher Mayan hieroglyphics. Catholic priest in Tikal, Father Wolfgang Ehrlichmann, believes we will find Aryan skulls amongst ruins. Uncorroborated reports of an ancient Mayan codex rumoured to contain warning of “coming Armageddon”. Codex may also provide link between Aryans and ancient Maya.
Himmler underlined the words ‘Maya codex’ and ‘coming Armageddon’, and thought back to the 1933 Conference of the Nordic Society, where he’d encountered a crusty old colonel from the Austrian Imperial Army, Karl-Maria Wiligut. Wiligut had produced a yellowed leather-bound manuscript containing a fragment of a warning. When all the trees are destroyed, a day will come when the temperatures will soar; when fires will increasingly ravage the land; when earthquakes will bring pestilence and flood and the land will wither; when mankind will become lovers of pleasure; religion will fight religion and the Catholic Church will be destroyed. A prince, with links to the Aryans and an ancient civilisation, will arise from obscurity. He will wear an iron cross on his chest and it is he who will deliver his people.
According to Wiligut, the complete warning was contained in an ancient Mayan codex that had never been found, one that would explain the links to the past and the destruction of the Maya, and the steps that must be taken in order to avoid a similar catastrophe in the future. Himmler stroked his chin. A prince with an iron cross on his chest, who will arise from obscurity. The Fuhrer had been awarded the Iron Cross during the Great War… He went back to the cable. Whereabouts of codex unknown. Papal nuncio requests Ehrlichmann to assist the expedition in an official capacity. Vatican interest not clear but most likely related to codex. Request advice before approving. Logistics support for expedition being evaluated. Will require construction of an airfield at Tikal. Will advise soonest. Friedrich Waltheim, Ambassador.
Himmler’s Mercedes reached the first of the heavily guarded checkpoints on the outskirts of the Obersalzberg. The boomgate and the right arms of the guards went up in unison. Himmler was expected. With the Nazis’ rise to power, the traditional residents had been unceremoniously evicted from the beautiful Bavarian mountains, and the Obersalzberg was now a Nazi stronghold. Hitler’s beloved country chalet, the Berghof, was here, and other senior Nazis, including Hermann Goring and Nazi Party Chief Martin Bormann, had acquired extensive estates. More soldiers saluted as the Mercedes swept past another heavily guarded entrance adorned with the Eagle of the Third Reich. The greystone buildings belonging to the Gestapo, Himmler’s hated secret police, appeared cold and forbidding. Beneath them, kilometres of tunnels and bunkers had been dug deep into the mountainside.
Himmler returned the salute and opened the Gestapo file on Levi Weizman. Was the Austrian professor hiding something on the ancient Maya? While Austria remained outside the greater Deutschland it would be difficult to openly search the Professor’s apartment in Vienna. He studied the photographs of Professor Weizman’s wife and two children. A devoted husband and father. Good. That might be useful.
The road twisted through the pine forests as they climbed 6000 feet towards the Kehlsteinhaus, or Eagle’s Nest. In an engineering feat that exemplified those of the Third Reich, the mountaintop resort had been a birthday present to Hitler, and Martin Bormann had personally supervised its construction. Himmler’s driver changed gear again for the last five kilometres of Germany’s highest road, carved from the side of the cliff, but the big Mercedes’ engine handled the climb with ease. Fifteen minutes later, Himmler alighted outside the entrance to a long tunnel. It was lined with Untersberg marble and lit by big square gothic lamps suspended at intervals from the rock. Two SS guards snapped to attention and their commander, a young tall blond Untersturmfuhrer, saluted.
‘Heil Hitler, Herr Reichsfuhrer!’
‘Heil Hitler,’ Himmler responded with a perfunctory salute. The Untersturmfuhrer accompanied him into the tunnel that led to the heart of the mountain, their boots echoing on the polished stone. Two more guards snapped to attention at the end of the tunnel, where a circular room contained the base of an elevator shaft. Hitler’s elevator was lined with brass and dark-green leather. It had been decorated with Venetian mirrors, a telephone and a large brass clock from a U-boat. The Untersturmfuhrer pressed the ‘up’ button and the elevator hummed quietly as they rose 500 feet inside the mountain towards the Kehlsteinhaus above.
Hitler was on the sun terrace, hands spread on the stone balustrade, staring across the border into Austria. The snow-capped granite peaks of the Hoher Goll, Watzmann and Hochkalter mountains soared into the clouds. Thousands of feet below, Himmler could make out the Konigssee. Surrounded by mountains on three sides, the surface of the King’s Lake shimmered in the cold morning sun.
Himmler hesitated, gathering himself before interrupting his leader. Adolf Hitler was the only man Himmler genuinely admired; the one man who could raise the Fatherland to its rightful place in the world. At the same time, he was wary of the Fuhrer’s notorious moodswings.
‘ Guten Tag, mein Fuhrer.’ Himmler clicked his heels.
‘Ah, Himmler.’ Hitler turned back towards the Alps, brushing at the black thatch of hair hanging over his left eyebrow. ‘You see that?’ he asked, sweeping his hand towards his native Austria. ‘Soon that will all be part of the greater Reich!’
Himmler nodded as he surveyed the vista of the Austrian Alps. It was a cold, clear day and, far below, the Berchtesgaden Valley reached towards Austria. It was as if they were on the roof of the world. Up here, the power of the Reich seemed limitless.
‘I have a proposal for you, mein Fuhrer,’ Himmler began, emboldened by Hitler’s ebullience. ‘We believe we may be able to discover new archaeological evidence that will prove the Aryan master race to be the driving force behind some of history’s great civilisations.’
‘Excellent!’ Hitler responded, slapping his thigh. ‘We’ll discuss it over lunch. I have some ideas for you as well, on this Jewish question and the Catholic Church.’
Lunch included one of Hitler’s favourite dishes: baked potatoes and curd cheese with unrefined linseed oil. The two men sat in the pine-panelled Scharitzkehl room, where an expensive Gobelin tapestry hung on the inner wall. The large window afforded both men views over the snow-dusted pine trees to the Austrian border.
‘I met with the Pope’s financial advisor, il Signor Felici, this morning,’ Hitler said. ‘He tells me that Pius XI’s health is causing increasing concern in the Vatican.’
‘Terminal?’ Himmler asked.
‘It would appear so. Heart disease and some complications from diabetes.’
‘A new pope will need careful watching, mein Fuhrer, and we can’t trust Felici. He’s very close to that pompous Cardinal Secretary of State, Pacelli, whom, I’m informed, is taking a close interest in our archaeological expeditions.’ Himmler was wary of the Vatican. It was not the first time Rome had intervened in the affairs of the Maya. In 1562, during the Spanish Conquistador’s conquest of the Yucatan Peninsula, the Catholic Church ordered that the priceless Mayan libraries be burned. The literary history of an entire civilisation was destroyed and only four codices had survived. Himmler suspected Friedrich Waltheim was right: the Vatican’s interest in the jungles of Guatemala was probably related to the Maya Codex.
Hitler nodded. ‘You are right. The Vatican is not to be trusted, but there are twenty-three million Catholics in this country, and once we return Austria and the Sudetenland to their rightful places in the Reich, there will be over half that number again. The German and Austrian bishops must be kept on a tight leash, and we stand a much better chance if Secretary of State Pacelli takes over as Pope.’
‘Do you know where Pacelli will stand if he’s elected?’
‘I’ve asked von Bergen to find out.’ Diego von Bergen had been Germany’s ambassador to the Vatican since 1920. ‘But if Pacelli wants me to sign a concordat so he can retain control over the German curricula in his precious Catholic schools, then he’d better support us. And I’ve told von Bergen to pass on to Pacelli that if the German Catholic Centre Party continues to oppose us in the Reichstag, there will be no concordat.’
Himmler looked thoughtful. ‘Do you think Pacelli… if he gets up… do you think he might side with the Jews?’
‘I think Pacelli takes the view that the Jews have brought retribution on themselves, so it will be useful for us if he succeeds Pius XI. But it’s one thing to exterminate the Jews here,’ Hitler added, looking towards the Austrian Alps. ‘There are a lot more of them across the border.’
‘ Jawohl, mein Fuhrer. As best as we can estimate, about 185 000.’
‘Which is 185 000 too many. The question is, what do we do with them?’ Hitler mused matter-of-factly. ‘Dachau is already full of them, not to mention all the homosexuals, squinters, gypsies and other subhuman species.’
‘We’ll need many more camps,’ Himmler agreed, ‘and I’ve already drawn up plans for the Austrian takeover. I’ve been informed that several camps can be built around Gusen, and we have a proposal for another large one at Mauthausen. There’s an old quarry there that can be brought back into use – the Jewish scum can quarry the stone.’
‘Preferably with their bare hands.’
‘You’ve only to give me the word, mein Fuhrer, and by the time Gusen and Mauthausen are finished, you’ll be able to walk around any quarter of Vienna and not encounter a single Jew.’
Hitler nodded thoughtfully. ‘Good. However, the Austrian Chancellor is somewhat obstinate. I’ve arranged a show of force on the border to compel him to comply. I’m also having an agreement drawn up for the Austrians to sign. Kanzler von Schuschnigg’s ban on the Austrian Nazi Party is to be lifted and our people in his jails are to be released!’ Hitler banged his fist on the table. ‘It shouldn’t be long before you start construction, Himmler.’
A cold smile spread across Himmler’s sallow face.
‘Now, what’s this archaeological evidence you were talking about?’
‘I’ve received a cable from our ambassador in Guatemala City. There’s a possibility the Aryans were instrumental in the rise of the great Mayan civilisation.’
‘That wouldn’t surprise me in the least. I’ve been reading Der Mythus des Zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts – it’s excellent, excellent,’ Hitler emphasised, slapping his thigh again. ‘Alfred Rosenberg has it absolutely right. The lower race of Jews has corrupted the Aryan culture, and we must pursue the purification of the master race with every fibre of our being. We are building the foundations for a Reich that will last a thousand years!’ Hitler’s eyes blazed as he warmed to his theme. He got up from the table and placed his hands on the window casing.
‘With that in mind, mein Fuhrer,’ Himmler said, quickly seizing his moment, ‘I’m planning to set up a research establishment to promote the purity of our ancestral heritage. The bulk of the funding will come from big industrial conglomerates like Bayerische Motoren Werke, which will also fund archaeological expeditions to the Middle East, Tibet and Guatemala. For Guatemala we’re planning to use an Austrian, Professor Levi Weizman.’
‘Weizman? That sounds Jewish?’
‘We’re looking into that, mein Fuhrer,’ Himmler replied evasively. ‘The Mayan hieroglyphics are notoriously difficult to decipher, however, and Weizman is one of the most eminent scholars in the field.’
‘I wouldn’t trust him,’ Hitler warned, ‘any more than I’d trust Felici or Pacelli.’
‘Weizman will not be difficult to control. We already have a great deal of information on him, including the fact he has a young wife and family. After our mission is complete, we can dispense with all of them.’
Hitler grunted.
‘The expedition will be led by Hauptsturmfuhrer von Hei?en, a promising young SS officer,’ Himmler continued.
‘Ah, yes, I met him at the Reichstag. A fine young man. If we’re to undo the damage the Jews and the Christians have inflicted on the Fatherland, Himmler, we’re going to need many more like him.’