At five-foot nine, his adjutant, Hauptsturmfuhrer Hans Brandt, only just cleared the SS height restrictions, but Brandt was well-connected and what the fair-haired, oval-faced, olive-skinned Aryan captain lacked in height, he made up for in ambition and naked ruthlessness.
‘Kommen Sie!’
‘The Jew is outside, Herr Kommandant, and I’ve been advised that Reichsfuhrer Himmler’s car is approaching Mauthausen. He will arrive in just under half an hour.’
‘The guard is ready?’
‘Jawohl, Herr Kommandant. I’ve inspected them personally. I’ve also been advised that Doktor Richtoff is accompanying the Reichsfuhrer.’
‘Everything is ready for the doctor?’
Brandt nodded. ‘The technicians have finished installing the equipment, including the high-altitude pressure chamber, and Barrack Block 6 has been refurnished in accordance with Doktor Richtoff’s instructions.’
Von Hei?en grunted. ‘Good. Bring the Jew in.’
‘Jawohl. Heil Hitler!’
‘Herr Professor, I’m told that your apartment has been thoroughly searched and there is no sign of the figurine. So where is it?’ Von Hei?en put his question very slowly, his voice ominously calm.
‘I’ve already told you -’
‘Liar!’ Von Hei?en lashed Levi with his cane. Levi gasped and stifled a cry.
‘Filthy Jewish liar!’ Von Hei?en whipped Levi’s face again, smashing his glasses. ‘Where is it?’ Von Hei?en was shouting now, lashing at him uncontrollably. Levi’s eyes watered, and he fought against the searing pain.
Von Hei?en wondered again if the Jewish archaeologist might be telling the truth, but the moment was fleeting. ‘And what does this map mean?’ von Hei?en asked, picking up the huun bark from his desk.
‘It’s nothing more than a small boy’s drawing,’ Levi answered defiantly, his knees starting to wobble.
‘You’re lying!’ Von Hei?en turned towards his adjutant. ‘Have the guards take him away and when the Reichsfuhrer has left, Sturmscharfuhrer Schmidt can take him to the parachute jump.’ As powerful as von Hei?en had become, he knew he would have to seek approval from Himmler himself before he disposed of the Jewish professor.
‘Achtung!’ The guard of honour came to attention and saluted as an armoured car, followed by a new black BMW staff car, with a silver eagle and swastika pennant fluttering above the bonnet, swept through Mauthausen’s gates. The staff car bore the registration plates: SS1. Von Hei?en snapped to attention, right arm outstretched as the SS Commander alighted.
‘Heil Hitler, Herr Reichsfuhrer. Wilkommen zum Mauthausen.’
A hundred metres away, in the middle of the quarry, Ramona, Ariel and Rebekkah struggled to lift a large rock into one of the hoppers. Levi moved to help them and he winced in pain as an SS guard hit him with his rifle butt.
‘Try to pick smaller ones, meine Lieblings,’ Levi whispered. He turned and felt a cold shiver run down his spine as Reichsfuhrer Himmler, accompanied by Obersturmbannfuhrer von Hei?en, appeared at the railing of the nearest watchtower. Suddenly a squad of SS guards doubled towards the quarry, rifles at the carry. At the far end of the quarry a line of marching prisoners, all in black-and-grey striped garb, were suddenly halted and ordered to turn to face the cliff.
A rifle shot echoed around the quarry, and the prisoner on the far left of the line crumpled to the ground, her face blown away by a bullet to the back of the head. Ramona fainted and Ariel and Rebekkah started to cry, cowering behind the hopper. For the next hour and a half the quarry reverberated to the crackle of rifle fire as every two minutes a Jew was shot in the back of the head in honour of the Fuhrer’s birthday.
Von Hei?en watched Himmler’s car disappear through Mauthausen’s main gate before turning to walk back towards the quarry. It had been a very successful day. The Fuhrer’s birthday celebrations had gone very well, and Himmler had personally congratulated von Hei?en on the efficiency of the camp. It was, Himmler said, the main reason Mauthausen had been chosen for Doctor Richtoff’s top-secret medical experiments. The Reichsfuhrer had even intimated that all going well, another promotion was in the offing. Standartenfuhrer! Von Hei?en could almost see the oak leaves on his collar. He felt a surge of pride and whacked his boots with his cane as he walked along the path leading to the top of the quarry cliff. He looked back towards the gates of the prisoner compound where, as per his instructions, the Weizman woman and her offspring had been chained to one of the stone towers. Good, he mused, feeling a rising sense of satisfaction. From there they, too, would be able to see the quarry.
Schmidt shoved Levi over the rough ground towards the steps. ‘There are 186 steps, Jew, and you’re going to climb every one of them.’
Levi glanced back to where Ramona and the children were chained to the stone tower. Ramona’s eyes were full of fear.
‘Pick up that rock!’ Schmidt shouted when they reached the narrow stone staircase leading up to a high granite outcrop overlooking the quarry. ‘On your shoulders, Jew man!’ Schmidt’s jowls were crimson now and a strong stench of garlic assailed Levi. He heaved the heavy rock onto his right shoulder.
‘ Jetzt lauf! Now run!’
Ramona, her hands chained to an iron ring in the wall behind her head, watched in horror as Levi struggled to climb the staircase, a massive rock teetering on his shoulder.
Schmidt turned to two young guards. ‘You know what to do. Follow him!’
The taller of the two guards bounded up the stairs and yelled in Levi’s ear. ‘Come on, Jew, you’re not even halfway yet!’
Levi’s knees buckled under the weight of the granite boulder. He staggered and fell to the ground, and the other guard smashed a rifle against his ribcage.
‘Get up, Jewish pig! I don’t want to be here all fucking night!’ Levi levered himself to his feet and hoisted the boulder back onto his shoulders, closing his mind to the searing pain in his ribs.
‘What are they doing to Papa, Mama?’ Rebekkah sobbed, her hands chained high above her head.
Levi rasped for breath and glanced ahead of him, not daring to stop. Ten steps to go. Nearing exhaustion, he staggered over the very last step and let the boulder fall at his feet.
‘Who gave you permission to drop the rock?’ The taller guard swung his rifle butt into the small of Levi’s back. Levi fell face-first onto the rocks, breaking his nose and two of his teeth. ‘Get up!’
Levi got to one knee, coughing blood and fragments of teeth.
One of the guards looked at his watch. ‘We’re losing fucking drinking time up here, Gunther!’
‘ Ja. Get up, you Jewish shit!’ Gunther snarled, kicking Levi in the stomach. Levi stumbled forward onto a large flat rock that overlooked the quarry. A hundred metres below a jagged outcrop of granite extended from the cliff base to where the prisoners, their ribcages clearly visible, were quarrying stone with picks and shovels. Levi looked up to the left and a chill ran through him. The unmistakeable figure of von Hei?en was silhouetted against the fading light.
Levi shuffled back, but he was shoved violently from behind.
Ramona watched in horror as Levi tumbled over the cliff, his arms flailing wildly. His scream pierced her very soul as he bounced off a rock halfway down, before smashing into the jagged granite at the base of the cliff.
‘That’s what happens when you criticise the Reich!’ Schmidt shouted at the prisoners in the quarry. ‘Now get back to work or you’ll be next!’
Von Hei?en’s batman and the chief steward, the latter holding a large crystal glass of Glenfiddich on a silver tray, were standing at the ready, just inside the heavy cedar doors of the officers’ mess. Flags of the Third Reich and the SS were mounted on one of the stone walls, and the bar had been decorated with a large gold eagle.