Sins of the Fathers by Herbert J. Stern

Author:Herbert J. Stern
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781510769434
Publisher: Skyhorse
Published: 2022-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

Carla and I talked all night and late into the early morning. When I awoke, I planned to meet with Rüdiger von der Goltz, Fritsch’s lawyer, and brief him on Rittmeister Frisch and the physical evidence that proved it was the cavalry captain and not Werner von Fritsch who met Bavarian Joe. Moreover, Goltz would learn of the Gestapo’s interview of the old captain weeks before the scene in the Chancellery, and the fact that Himmler and Heydrich knew the charges against the Colonel General were false when they staged the Schmidt-Fritsch confrontation before Hitler.

With this body of evidence, Goltz would build a case that would crush Heydrich, Himmler, and Göring in court and, in the process, bring the army’s boots down on Hitler.

First, I needed to speak with Bernhard Weiss. Weiss had promised to tap into his connections on what the Berlin Police had on the “Fritsch Affair.”

*

“My sources tell me that Josef Meisinger constructed the original report on Fritsch four years ago. He heads the Reich’s Central Office for the Repression of Homosexuality. In fact, Herr Meisinger met with Otto Schmidt to prep him for the military tribunal.”

“Will they call Schmidt at the trial?” I asked.

“Without him, there is no evidence. You should know that they threatened to kill Schmidt if he did not cooperate at the trial. They spent hours browbeating the so-called ‘facts’ of the case into him. Schmidt is cunning, but not the brightest. Meisinger will review everything one more time with him before the trial. Schmidt will perform like a trained parrot.”

“Why does that not surprise me?” I said.

Weiss coughed before saying. “One of my men gained access to Schmidt’s list of clients in the police files. Two names jumped out: Walter Funk, Reich minister of economics and Gottfried von Cramm, this year’s Wimbledon runner-up. Cramm has won the French Open twice.”

“Funk proves Hitler is two-faced. Funk remains in the cabinet without concern about his homosexuality. For that matter, Hitler never cared about Röhm’s predilections, either. That putsch business was about getting the army off his back because the Brown Shirts were getting too powerful, not that their leaders were gay. But Cramm? He is venerated in Germany as one of our greatest tennis players in history. They wouldn’t dare touch him.”

“He’s on tour now. The minute he returns to Germany, I suspect they will grab him. People are hardened to the pink roundup.”

“And risk the bad publicity?”

“Arresting Cramm will add to Schmidt’s credibility when he testifies against the colonel general. It will prove that another big-fish client of Schmidt’s has been brought to justice.”

“Speaking of which, I am on my way to bring everything I discovered about the Rittmeister to Fritsch’s lawyer: Rüdiger von der Goltz. Do you know Goltz?”

“Like Colvin, father and son have the same name. I knew Goltz’s father.” Then Bernhard added, “It would be good to update Ian Colvin. He went out of his way to meet you at the Chancellery steps. As we discussed before, Colvin is well-connected.

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