Читать книгу An Ordinary Guy, Operation Saponify - Andrew Gilbrook - Страница 8
ОглавлениеSecrets and Lies
Timeline - February 1976
Most Officers in MI6 have a cover, usually a small business or something to provide the deception of normality while they do their darker business. I worked with my father, the only person in my family that knew what I did. He’d cover for me whenever I needed to go away somewhere, I could use a telephone at work, not secure but I worked that way for years. At that time I had no girlfriend or wife, so things were quite easy should I need to go off somewhere. Of course, given the choice Karen and I would be together, but sadly it was never to be. There were security issues if we became a couple. One day I was at my father’s business, a printing company near Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. The phone rang. I took the phone call in the general office. I recognised the voice immediately as Karen’s.
“Andy, could you come in please,” that was all I needed to know it was a request to go to Century House, 100 Westminster Bridge Road, London, MI6. The line wasn’t secure, I wouldn’t ask any questions to clarify, I’d find out what this was about when I got to London.
“Tomorrow OK?” I replied
“Yes not urgent,” was the brief reply and I hung up. The next day was Saturday, so it was a little quieter on the Metropolitan train line from Rickmansworth into London, 39 minutes and a change onto the Bakerloo Line, a few stops and a quick walk to the MI6 building.
It was very unusual for me to go to London, I never thought it a wise thing to do, but I guessed there must be a good reason to be asked. I wasn’t worried about the request, there was no point in worrying, worry and stress isn’t my thing.
Through security and up to my office, I found Karen busy at her desk, did she ever go home! As there was almost no one around on the floor where my office was, I kissed a greeting on her cheek, “Good morning Karen, you are looking gorgeous as always,” she smiled back happy to see me again. “Morning Andy, good to see you too, your visits are too rare,” Karen looked immaculate as always, she was a beautiful lady her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, dressed less formally, I guessed as it was Saturday and fewer people were around, I never minded how she dressed and my heart rate always went up when I was in her presence.
“So, what have we got?” I asked. Karen reached into her desk drawer and handed me a folder, there were maybe a hundred pages inside. The front had the inscription “TOP SECRET” and someone had handwritten an unusual addition “ULTRA” to the left of it. I had never seen this category level of secrecy, it wasn’t official, Top Secret being the highest level, I wondered if this was just graffiti.
“Go read, I’ll bring some tea, and have a talk to you about this,”
“Okaaay,” I said intrigued by the mystery.
I turned to check the office door to the corridor was closed and made my way through the adjoining door to my office and sat at my desk so I could easily open and arrange the file contents on the top. My office was bright, light and a good place to work, it was business-like yet comfortable with a desk and a sofa where more informal talks could take place, though in my case that would rarely happen here, I’d prefer a hotel or one of the many private clubs that we had membership to.
The first thing I noticed was that the folder hadn’t been signed out, or for that matter in. Inside the folder should be a Routing and Record Sheet, a form where anyone wanting to review the folder would have to sign for it, giving their name, department, a short reason for the review, and then signing back in. This is a permanent part of the folder so it has a history as to who has seen it. I looked at the front again and noticed in small type at the bottom right the address, Hanslope Park. This place, basically a secret storage building, was near Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire and I believe it is run by the RAF to appear to look like a small base that few people would question if they even noticed it. I had heard of this place, “Q” division, I knew the place contained thousands, if not millions, of highly sensitive documents and files. I had never been there, but I heard that the place was huge and contained files that were supposed to never be released after the 30-year rule came up. The 30-year rule is the period before papers can be released on request under the Official Secrets Act. I had heard some documents could be 200 years old and their existence never to be admitted should anyone request any files on whatever subject they contained. Britain is very good, or very bad at hiding secrets from its people.
So what was this file doing here? This was highly improper.
“So, where is this from and why have we got it?” I needed to raise my voice so Karen could hear in the adjoining room.
“It came from Jenny,” Karen came back
Jenny was Karen’s flatmate and the two were best friends. To live with Karen, you had to share her wicked sense of humour. Karen owned a nice flat quite near to Century House, one underground stop away at Elephant and Castle. I had been there a few times, beautifully furnished a gift from her banker father. Jenny was a sweet girl about two years younger than Karen. She also worked at Century House in the secretarial department doing admin work. She was pleasant and very attractive.
I flicked through some of the papers in the file, they seemed to be mostly American CIA documents, some had been redacted, which means they had probably come from the public domain. Redaction is when papers requested by the public are censored by blacking out names or information that could be sensitive to release, what’s left is a readable document, but all the best stuff is covered up.
I started to read some of the pages,
“JEEZ,” I exclaimed under my breath, this stuff was shocking. I’d seen some secrets before, created some secrets before, but this was shocking. If what I was reading was true history books would have to be altered. Karen came through with two teas and sat with me at the desk, her beauty was a distraction, I loved her so much and she loved me.
“So, come on fill me in, what’s the story? This is shocking to read I have to say, have you read all this too?” I asked her.
“I’ve read some of it not all,” and she began to recount how the folder had found it’s way to my office. “Jenny has been seconded to the digitalisation department for a while,”
“What is dig-i-tal-isation?” I said the word in struggled syllables as it was a new word for me, although we used computers and today it’s a commonly used word, this was the first time I’d heard it, I wasn’t a technical person.
“There’s a team converting secret paper files onto the new computer system. Files are delivered to her desk, they are photographed and entered into a database, it’s huge, and the work will take years,”
“Sounds quite boring work, unless she has time to read some of this stuff, I don’t think I’d have the patience for that work,” I said and added “Dig-i-tal-isation, is difficult and long-winded to say, I think I’ll call the department Double D it’s easier,”
Karen smiled at my simple ignorance,
“So, this file passed over her desk, and it has concerned her,” Karen informed me.
“She shouldn’t let that happen, what the files contain is none of her business, I agree this file is highly controversial but she must be seeing thousands of controversial stuff, why this one in particular? Also, by removing it from the department, she has committed a grave offence, she could be in big trouble if it’s found missing. Why has this concerned her so much she was prepared to risk her job and everything?” I added.
“The simple answer is – she is Jewish,” Karen answered the question.
“This is worrying, that she is letting her religion affect what she does here, is Jenny available to come and chat?” I asked.
“She is at home I’ll call her, she is half expecting you to ask her in any way, it won’t take her long to get here,”
“OK, do that, while I study this stuff, this is incredible,”
I continued to read the papers one at a time, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, I hadn’t heard even the tiniest rumour about this, so I was shocked by what I was reading, and, if it were true it meant the world has been and is continuing to be lied to. One by one I read each document and turned them over to the left, as I’m lefthanded, to keep it all in the same order.
What was unfolding on my desk was altering history as I knew it. I’m no historian, I never had much interest at school, because my history teacher was quite possibly the most boring teacher I had. He tried to get me to absorb into my brain names and dates about what seemed to me to be quite irrelevant things. Things from the past that can’t be changed, they’ve happened, nothing can be done to change it, so why worry about it. Now I see how history is important and this file was changing it. We’ve all been lied to. What I knew then about the Second World War I could write on a matchbox, but since school, and because I’m involved in creating history in my job of Intelligence Officer, I’d taken some interest. I’d watched a few documentaries on television, but I’d still not read much. I had a small idea of how the war had ended.
What I was reading now meant all history books on this subject had to be thrown in the bin. The files I was reading were some reports of sightings, some reports of witnesses, reports of interviews with witnesses, and a few pictures offering proof, nearly all of which were CIA, one or two were British pages too, which meant the British were for some reason involved in this.
According to these documents, Hitler was alive, alive and living in Argentina, but also having travelled via other countries such as Columbia and Chile. He had not died in Berlin by his own hand as we are told in history lessons, books and documentaries. Hitler and his wife Eva Braun were possibly using the surname Shüttelmayer.
By the time I read most of the stuff in front of me, Jenny had arrived. Karen brought her through into my office. She looked quite cute, dressed in a black tracksuit quite tight-fitting that showed her figure off well. About 5’3” tall, curvy in all the right places, obviously fit from working out, her body was tight and slightly muscular. She was attractive, with short one-inch long black hair, she had an enviable complexion with no moles or imperfections and a slight natural tan that indicated to me there was a Mediterranean heritage in her somewhere. I would be quite attracted to her if I weren’t in love with Karen.
After greetings, I invited her to sit at my desk and Karen sat on the sofa to support Jenny.
“Am I going to be in trouble for this?” she asked nervously.
Karen jumped into the conversation before I could speak
“Jenny you can trust Andy,”
“Jenny you realise by removing this file you have committed a crime, you’ve effectively stolen the file even though it’s still in the building. But I want you to know, if you have a concern you can trust me, and if you are asking for my help, if I can, I will, I’ll try to resolve whatever your problem is with this. Nothing said in this office ever leaves this office ok?”
“Ok,” Jenny wasn’t completely at ease with my reassurance. We had met before of course, and we had chatted before, but the poor girl was concerned by her actions.
“Tea or coffee?” I asked her, I continued to try to reassure her that I was on her side, but I was simply trying to get her to tell all she knew and then I’d decide if she was right or wrong.
“No, thank you, I thought I would go down to the gym and have a work out while I’m here, so no,” which explained her outfit.
“So what’s your problem, I have read the contents and I have to say I am shocked myself. What do you want me to do and what resolution are you looking for? How do you want this to end? You are in Double D right?” Jenny, “What?”
Me, “Double D”
Jenny, “What?”
Me, “Karen told me”
Jenny, “You’ve been discussing my boobs?”
Me, “No”
“Yes” Karen said at the same time
Jenny “What?”
Karen, trying to prolong the comedy
“He’s finding it difficult to say, it’s on the tip of his tongue”
Jenny, “What?”
Me, “Karen stop it!”
Karen, “Boobs, tip of the tongue”
Me, “What?”
Jenny, “You’re playing with me”
Karen, “I’m sure he’d love to”
Me, “What?” Jenny at the same moment “What?” Karen “Play with you, I’m sure he’d love to play with you”
Me “Stop it, Karen”
Karen to me “Just ask, I’m sure Jenny will oblige”
Me “No, stop, get out, go to your room, bad girl!” I pointed to Karen’s room through the door indicating she should leave now.
Any other time I’d have gone along with the comedy sketch, but right now wasn’t the right moment at all. Jenny obviously had a problem with this folder and it should be taken seriously, Karen’s sense of humour was one reason why I loved her so much but now wasn’t the time. Two sexy women and discussing boobs has to be on the agenda for another day.
“Tell me first why this file hasn’t been signed out?” I asked Jenny, we were now alone together as Karen did as she was told, walking away she sat at her desk with a dead straight back and pretending to type in the air with her hands like a good secretary, nose up in the air. Signalling she wasn’t at all bothered by my demand for sensibility to return. Fun is always encouraged in my office.
Jenny began,
“The files arrive in the Digitalisation Department, or Double D room, as you put it, by trolley, there is a runner who fetches and returns the trollies loaded with boxes of the files. We take a box, do what we have to do to transfer to the computer, put everything back into the box exactly as it was, the box is returned to a pile for the runner to return a loaded trolley to the filing room. Nothing is signed in or out, other than a dated label that shows the box has been digitalised. It would be far too complicated and time consuming to sign everything in and out.”
“I see, but this file has no record of ever being created or updated, yet the documents inside are from different locations and dates,” I said.
Jenny continued, “Yes this folder is very different from any other I’ve seen, there is no coherence and everything is a mishmash of origination.”
I questioned,
“Do you think it’s been put together deliberately for you to find?”
“I have no idea” Jenny replied
“So, what do you want me to do, and what resolution are you looking for?” I asked
“My family were persecuted by the Nazis, my Grandfather was gassed with his brother, it means too much to me to ignore. I’d like to know the truth, for my family, I want the truth, I saw this file, read it and I want answers.”
“But we can’t reveal any of the secrets contained in this folder,” I pointed out to her still not knowing what I could do for her.
“May I ask if you could try to find the truth, please? I think by looking into this you will find the resolution yourself. You will realise what needs to be done about this,” Jenny asked slightly begging in her tone.
“Ok, here’s what I will do, but of course I make no promises. If I find a truth that I think you should know, I will tell you. I can’t do this full time, I will work on it as a side-line, and it may take some months. Can you be patient enough to wait however long this takes?”
“Yes, however long,” she started to smile because I had agreed to help.
“No promises,” I said.
“I believe you will discover the truth, I have faith in your abilities,” Jenny flattered me.
“I have no expertise in detective work,” I added.
“Karen, could you copy all this folder, we need to get it back to where it should be,” I raised my voice toward the now professional secretary in the other room. I handed the folder to Jenny who took it to Karen.
“Jenny, when Karen is done with this file can you return it unnoticed to where it’s supposed to be, as it should be”
“Sure,” Jenny replied
“Karen when you are done, I’ll delete the photocopier hard drive, you never know, in this place someone may be making copies of our copies,” I halfjoked but I wanted to be sure to leave no trace.
“Thank you Andy,” Jenny seemed happier now, I couldn’t imagine what this news meant to her and her family.
“I’ll keep you updated, should I find anything, but promise me not to reveal anything to anyone until I say my work is complete ok?”
“I promise,” with that Jenny left my room and went to say goodbye to Karen next door. I sat back thinking about how to go about this. As soon as Jenny left the office, I asked Karen to come back.
“Karen, I need Jenny’s personal file,” I requested.
“I trust her, don’t you? She has been fully background checked, she’s worked here for years,” Karen said accusingly because I was doubting her best friend.
“Karen, what she is asking me to do is the work of Israel’s Mossad or the Nazi Hunters or any other kind of anti-Nazi group. To seek the truth, and to find escaped Nazis and the biggest prize of all, to find Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun as according to these files he may be still alive. I have to check her out, right now, I think she may be an infiltrator, think about it, you’ve seen the files, and, where has this file come from? I find it very odd indeed it has no routing attached to it.”
Karen looked hurt that I didn’t trust her best friend. “I’ll get it but you’ll see she is legitimate, even you have to see this is really important incredible stuff, we are best friends and I think I know her well enough,”
“I have to double-check her background Karen I’m sorry,” I tried to assure her, I had the best intentions for everyone, including discovering spies within MI6.
“Oh and Karen,”
“Yes?” Karen sounded hurt
“I love you and never forget it,”
“I love you too Andy,”
Karen took the file and began copying the contents taking care to replace each file in the exact order they came from the folder. I sat pondering where to start and how to go about this project.
Karen came back, the copying finished and the file locked away in her drawer again, she handed me an unmarked folder containing all the copies she just made. I stood up to place the folder in my safe
“Andy can you stay tonight? I’ll make some dinner. I miss you”
“I can’t Karen, I’m so sorry, I wish I could but I’m out tonight. Of course, I’d rather be with you”
“Anywhere nice?” She enquired in her hurt voice again,
“Sally Lunn’s restaurant in St. Albans. There’s a group of about ten of us going. I can’t drop out now, I’ll have to give them a reason. I wish there was a way that you could join me, but you know it would be awkward to explain who you are.” I needed to keep my job a secret, I’d much prefer to be with Karen and I hated myself for turning her down.
With that Karen walked right up to me wrapped her arms around my neck, her face next to mine she whispered in my ear
“Then do me now”
“What?” I replied surprised.
“Right here and now, do me” damn this sexy woman, I couldn’t resist her, I kissed her on the lips, her breasts pressing into my chest, I felt so good. Our lust grew, we kissed passionately, we were safe in the office on this Saturday morning. Very few people were around and no one was likely to disturb us. As we kissed, clothes were removed and dropped onto the floor and we made a move for the sofa. In no time at all, we were both naked and enjoying our intertwined bodies together. Her legs wrapped around my waist encouraging me to enter her. The love and passion we had for each other showed in the way we moved and the lovemaking went on for some time. As we turned again for a different sex position I felt Karen freeze,
“What happened, cramp?” No, stood inside the office, the door having silently opened and closed was Jenny, arms folded, her weight on her right leg while her left foot tapped the floor like a cross teacher. Now I froze too.
“I came back to ask Andy if he would like to work out with me, maybe spot some weights for me. I see though, you’re already having a workout,” she said trying to stifle a giggle and to look sternly at us both naked on the sofa, legs and bits dangling over the side, my manhood disappearing like a tortoise had been tapped on the nose.
“Ermm, another time perhaps?” was all I could muster.
“Another time then,” she spoke to me “and you madam, I’ll talk to you later,” pointing at Karen. She left as easily and unembarrassed as she had arrived muttering as she went, “That’s what happens when you talk about my boobs, you get all horny and you can’t help yourselves,” she disappeared through the door closing it behind her.
Karen and I burst out laughing, giggling like school kids, caught and guilty.
“How long had she been there?”
I asked Karen “I have no idea, goodness only knows what she’s seen standing at the foot of the sofa,”
“Most people would have opened the door, seen what was going on and left quietly closing the door behind them, but she, Jenny, just came in and stood there watching!” I exclaimed.
We were both laughing with embarrassment, we couldn’t stop, laughing while we gathered our clothes together and got ourselves dressed.
“I think she is jealous, she hasn’t had any sex for ages,” Karen theorised.
“Really? I replied, “She is such an attractive girl, I can’t believe she can’t get any when she wants it, or even find a nice boyfriend,.”
Karen informed me,
“We share everything at home, we talk about everything, we are best friends in every sense, so close that even our periods have synchronised,”
“Is that a thing?” I asked, having never heard of this phenomenon.
“Apparently so,” Karen responded
“Must be bad news for the Sheik and his harem” I tried to make light of my embarrassment.
I added, “But you see that strengthens my worry that she may be Mossad or something, she has no boyfriend, no place of her own, her set up is quite temporary, how long has she lived with you?” I asked
“Must be four years by now, that’s not so temporary,” Karen was sure her friend was legitimate.
“But don’t you see, she arrives and you take her as a lodger almost at the same time you become my secretary, give or take a few months. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”
Karen went back to work looking slightly miffed, our lovemaking was not finished, but the coitus interruptus by Jenny had ruined the moment. I sat at my desk and decided, as I had a few hours before I needed to get home to change and drive to St. Albans, to join my friends on our evening out, that I would spend a little time setting about my new job as a detective. I retrieved the folder I had just placed in the safe and sat again at my desk. Now I looked at the copies of the documents I didn’t have to be so careful to keep it all in order, but I did anyway to retain some kind of chronology, if there was one.
I got a few sheets of paper and started to create lists from the documents. A list of names, code names, places, countries and then dates. Once all the information was on paper in a simpler form it was easier to see if names and places repeated to try to visualise which were the stronger most often mentioned items. I then thought how all this could be verified from another source. Some names and places repeated, Bariloche, Argentina seemed to have several references and the names that were at those locations seemed to occur more than once too. I called Karen into my room.
“Want to go again Andy?” she asked cheekily.
“No, the moment has passed, but thank you for asking, another time soon I hope. I want you to check on the company database or any files, to see if we have anything on Bariloche, Argentina please,”
“Of course,” and Karen returned to her desk and started to type on her computer. I knew she was way more efficient at looking for the data than me, sometimes I’d watch her work to try to learn something from her, computers were still very new to me.
My thoughts now went to the files again. If what I was seeing was true this was going to be incredible stuff. I had four lines of thought on this.
1. Who compiled this folder and how did it get here?
2. Is Hitler still alive? How did he escaped Berlin if indeed this was all true?
3. Who was complicit in allowing Hitler and other Nazis to live and continue to operate, and, did they have any great influence?
4. I think the biggest question, why, was Hitler permitted to escape and continue to live, as these documents in front of me seemed to infer his survival was known by various agencies including the British.
I continued to look at the lists to try to find a chronology of events. Just from these few documents, the results were shocking but there was nothing solid of Hitler.
Here is a list of just a few of the Nazis and war criminals who escaped, according to these documents. They are in the chronological order I created from the files:
● Sándor Képíró, fled to Argentina date not stated.
● Dinko Sakic, fled to Argentina in 1947.
● Ante Pavelić, escaped to Argentina in 1948, died in Spain, in December 1959, of wounds sustained two years earlier in an assassination attempt.
● Eduard Roschmann, escaped to Argentina in 1948
● Hans-Ulrich Rudel, fled to Argentina in 1948, started the "Kameradenwerk", a relief organization for Nazi criminals that helped fugitives escape.
● Josef Mengele, fled to Argentina in 1949.
● Erich Priebke, fled to Argentina in 1949.
● Adolf Eichmann, fled to Argentina in 1950, captured in 1960 by Mossad, executed in Israel on the 1st June 1962.
● Joachim Peiper, also known as Jochen Peiper, did not flee to Argentina. Rather, he was apprehended on 22nd May 1945 by American troops, sent to trial and convicted of war crimes.
Note: I have included Jochen Peiper in this list for a very special reason which will become apparent further into this story. More on him in a bit.
Here was massive evidence of Nazis fleeing to Argentina. This was shocking to learn.
I kept Hitler out of this list, I made a separate one for him because I felt his escape if he had escaped, was the only one in the list whose documentation appeared to be possibly fake. Therefore, I needed to verify by some other means the reports on him as true before I included him in this list.
I left for home a few hours later for my evening out with my friends, leaving Karen still working after kissing her goodbye and apologising again that I could not invite her to be with me. She understood and I always loved her for that.
A few days later Karen received the personal file on Jenny from the human resources department and called me back to London to look at it. It would have been so much easier if everything was computerised as things are today, it would have save me so much travel. I read it briefly as there wasn’t much I could do alone. I took it to a specialist department that could do an even more thorough job at checking her out. I requested under the strongest terms that their investigations came to me and only me first, which they agreed, with little explanation from me as to why I was asking. There could be multiple reasons for this and it wasn’t their job to ask, only to do the work I requested and give me the completed work. I didn’t know why but I had a hunch, a huge hunch, that Jenny wasn’t all that she appeared, lovely as she was.
I went with Karen to the in-house library. This was more of a depository of knowledge and data rather than a reading library. Two people working together could find far more information than one and Karen knew her way around this place far better than me. I wanted all kinds of stuff, Argentinian census results, maps, anything demographic to try to figure if new villages or towns had sprung up in the period from 1943 to more recent times. I wanted anything on the Argentinian scientific development, I knew some Germans had gone to live there by invitation to work on rocket development.
Picture 2. A typical document I had to read and collate information from to form a coherent database.
We found documentation on Operation Paperclip and Operation Overcast. There was a Project Safehaven which seemed to be tied into what we looking for. All in all, it became apparent there was plenty of reading for me to do and learn. None of this stuff was likely ever taught in Rickmansworth Grammar School lessons that I attended. After a few hours, we had a trolley loaded with documents, reports, papers, and books. All this would take a while to sift through and Karen kindly volunteered to help day and night.
I have to stress that I treated this project as a side-line and worked on this in whatever spare time I could find. I continued to work on my normal activities and I did not allow this to interfere with the work I was doing at that time. But for the purposes of this book, my normal work is not of any relevance to this story so I do not include it here.
Very soon it was clear to me many Nazis were running and hiding all over the world, I suppose that is a natural thing to do to escape trial or whatever they thought may happen if they stayed in Germany. Their escape was via what has been called “Ratlines”.
"Ratlines" were a system of escape routes for Nazis and other fascists fleeing Europe in the aftermath of World War II. These escape routes mainly led toward havens in Southern America, particularly Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Bolivia, as well as the United States and Switzerland.
There were two primary routes: the first went from Germany to Spain, then Argentina; the second from Germany to Rome to Genoa, then South America. The two routes developed independently but eventually came together. The ratlines were supported by clergy of the Catholic Church, and there are claims this was supported by the Vatican. Indeed evidence would soon arrive to confirm this.
The important realisation to me was that we could find so many records regarding this topic in MI6 archives. To me, this meant whatever happened after the war British Intelligence knew full well of it. If there were any clues, I became more determined to find them and cross-check by other means, to confirm the truth rather than rely on what may be false news or information. At this point, I had no idea how I would make the cross-checks, but I was hoping to come across actual witnesses that may be in a position to talk, if not to me but through an agent I would set up if necessary.
Soon, I decided as we were finding so much information, we had to narrow the spectrum and refine the search to just Hitler, or our work would become endless because there was just too many escaped Nazis.
So, before I get too deep into my work to find Hitler, in case you are not aware of the official story I’ll give you a short history lesson as we know it.
