He dragged Shapira away. Shapira had never seen Mofav so disconsolate. After a brief orders group the sayeret carefully loaded the bodies of Lev and Itzak on the groaning trucks for the journey south. If Zinoviev had sent the right signal, and if the Germans bought it, they would be looking to the north.
Chapter 31
Heydrich and Eichmann had flown back to Prague by the time Hauptman Reder reported to Globocnik’s office with news of his contact with Samsonov.
“This is good news, Reder!” exclaimed the Globocnik. “Good police work pays off, does it not? Informants are our greatest resource.”
“Ja, Herr General” said Reder, mimicking his superior’s enthusiasm.
“You are absolutely sure about this, yes?”
“Yes sir. It was definitely Samsonov. The signal was slightly garbled—some mistakes in the Morse—but they are usually drunk. Quite typical actually.”
Globocnik ruminated over this for a moment. “The other problem with informants, besides drunkenness, is that they are turncoats in the first instance. We must be cautious.”
“Certainly sir, but Samsonov is not an ideologue” said Reder confidently. “He will follow whoever offers him the better deal. A doubt a fleeing band of bandits could offer more than we do. In any case” concluded Reder “it makes sense that the enemy commandos would turn north back to their own drop zones. It’s what I would do.”
Globocnik could not argue with the man’s logic. The enemy commandos were obviously British or in British employ. They were on the run, and the way out was to the north, where they could at least resupply, or perhaps escape by submarine through the Baltic Sea. Globocnik called in his aide and told him to place a call to Heydrich in Prague.
It was several hours before Heydrich called him back, just as Globo was preparing for dinner with his Polish mistress. The General shuffled back into his office, happy at least that he had not begun drinking yet. Globo briefed Heydrich on Reder’s report, repeating the intelligence officer’s conclusion that the raiders had likely turned north, back to their presumed drop zone. Heydrich had no reason to doubt this assessment, brrt too much was at stake for him to bet the farm on it. He agreed that the search efforts should shift northward and ambushes established at the known British drop sites.
“Has Wirth set off for Belzac?” asked Heydrich.
“Yes General” said Globocnik impatiently “this morning with a detachment of engineers and several hundred Jewish laborers. It will take several weeks, but when the expansion of Belzac is complete it should be capable of processing up to 10,000 a day.”
“Good. It is vital that the camp remain in operation. Reports indicate a general increase in partisan activity throughout the General Government, including within the ghettos.”
“I am aware of this” sighed Globocnik a little disinterestedly. His dinner and mistress would be getting cold.
“Have you initiated reprisals for the latest outrage?”
“No sir” said Globocnik carefully. “The reprisal following the Sobibor raid seems to have done little good. The Polish population does not generally oppose our anti-Jewish actions. Attacking Polish gentiles is counter-productive. And there is not much more we can do to the Jews…”
“Enough of that” broke in Heydrich with irritation, mostly because he knew that Globocnik was right. He changed the subject. “As far as these raiders are concerned” continued Heydrich immodestly “I’ve secured for you the services of a full regiment of Waffen SS, as well as a security division.”
This did impress Globo. Waflen SS regiments were jewels in the Nazi crown, hoarded by Himmler and the Fuehrer himself, and desperately needed on the Russian front. “May I ask what unit Herr General?”
It was a breach of security to speak of specific deployments over an open phone line, but Heydrich was in a particularly boastful mood.
“A regiment of Das Reich—just returned from the east a few months ago. Veterans and capable of doing whatever is required. A courier will deliver detailed orders as to the employment of the units tomorrow. You are to follow them to the letter.”
“Yes General” answered Globocnik enthusiastically. No surprise, thought Globocnik, that he would have little discretion in the employment of the regiment. Nonetheless, it would be a feather in his cap even to have nominal control of such a unit. The Fuehrer himself would probably keep tabs on it. Globocnik settled the phone in its cradle threw on his hat and happily hurried out to this dinner date.
Heydrich’s orders arrived by courier the following morning, the SS motorcyclist, complete with leather duster, delivering the envelope to Globocnik personally, while Captain Reder looked on. The first orders concerned the deployment of the 207 Security Division, a lightly armed unit of modest quality that had extra police and Gestapo attached, as well as a detachment of Russian Cossack cavalry. Globocnik would deploy its regiments to cover rail lines, bridges and other key sites, while its secret police elements and the Cossacks tracked and destroyed the emergent partisan bands.
The second set of orders concerned the deployment of SS Panzergrenadier Regiment Der Fuehrer. Unlike the various SS units already under Globocnik’s control, the Waflen SS was the fully armed fighting element of the organization. The troops were ideologically indoctrinated fanatics, who embodied the ideal of the unyielding an merciless National Socialist superman. Waffen SS divisions were not necessarily better than the best regular German divisions, but the were as good, and better supplied and equipped. More than that although structured and equipped as fighting units, the Waffen SS could be counted on to perform any necessary dirty work against Jews or partisans without compunction. 2rd SS Panzergrenadier Division, Der Ptzehrers parent unit, had already participated several Einsatzgruppen massacres in Russia. If Regiment Der Fuehrer could not pacify eastern Poland, nobody could.
As expected, Heydrich left Globocnik little flexibility in the regiment’s deployment. One battalion was to be sent to Wirth at Belzac. Heydrich believed that with a Wnfifen SS battalion guarding the camp, in addition to the installation’s normal complement, the last of his dedicated death factories would become invulnerable. Globo could hardly disagree. The two remaining battalions were to be held in reserve, once the British commandos or the major partisan force was found and fixed by police and security units. Then the SS battalions would move in for the kill. One battalion was to be deployed north of Lubin, the other to the south.
It would take at least two weeks for the new units to arrive. In the meantime, Globocnik pressed the other formations under his command to the north in hopes of finding the enemy commandos at the suspected British drop zones, or along the coast if escape aboard a submarine was the goal.
Reder thought escape the likeliest possibility given the supposed bloody nose the commandos had suffered at the hands of Marshall Samsonov. But Globocnik began to doubt his intelligence chief when another day passed without Reder getting further word from Samsonov. Samsonov was a drunk and a criminal, but unlikely to remain out of touch for so long. Increasingly uneasy as well, Reder suggested sending a patrol out to partisan turncoat, but Globo could not spare the men—yet.
Globo decided to wait, hoping that his problems would go away Ideally, the enemy commandos would be caught by his available troops, or flee back to Britain on a on a submarine. Either result would have suited Globocnik. Their Regiment Der Fuehrer would find their time in Poland little more than an opportunity for training, and Globo could return them to Heydrich safe and sound.