Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
H annah checked her watch and saw she was early. She slowly approached the main door of the building that not too long ago had been the Hotel Majestic.
The imposing stone facade was bedecked with red and black swastika banners fluttering eerily in the icy wind. No longer a welcoming hotel for visitors to enjoy all that Paris had to offer, but it served instead as a sobering tribute to the Reich’s domination of Europe.
Paris, once the celebrated city of light, had become the city that hosted murderers who brought bloodshed in their wake.
Anger raced through Hannah’s veins, and she breathed slowly to maintain her composure. For as long as she could pull it off, she would pretend to be a humble servant of the Reich. She would act as though she was in awe of the Nazi rise to power and for that reason, she was honoured to have been selected to work at one of their most prestigious offices in France.
A guard on the door greeted her and, after checking her papers, stood aside for her to enter the gleaming marble lobby. She thanked him and her eyes strayed to the ominous eagle above the breast pocket of his grey-green tunic glinting in the pale winter sun.
After years of living a double life, Hannah was practiced at not showing her emotions, but her heart pounded, and her throat was dry as she walked through the lobby and followed the soldier’s directions.
This was it. She had wanted to go undercover in a Nazi office in Paris for months. The day had finally come when she had made it a reality. Several times she had suggested such a mission to the SOE via Jack or Lizzie and been refused. Until recently, when she had decided she would do it with or without their support. The intelligence she had received about the intensified persecution of the Jews in France that the Nazis were planning from this exquisite building was more than she could ignore.
Lizzie told Hannah that her boss had intercepted her last message before it reached Jack, and she had commanded them to organise backup immediately.
Hannah had planned that message carefully, after she secured the position as secretary to the second in command. She presented her request as a way for London to receive hand-picked intelligence on the Wehrmacht’s operations straight from German High Command. On top of that irresistible bait, Hannah made it clear she was going ahead anyway and therefore would be engaged elsewhere. The Liberty Network would lose the momentum they had gained in sabotaging German railways and transport systems around Paris. There were no other members of the network who were equipped and available to lead the network without her.
Fortunately, the SOE recognised the incredible opportunity, and Hannah was relieved when they agreed to send backup. She had called London’s bluff and had no intention of stopping the network’s operations, but it would be far easier this way.
Now Hannah could focus on her daytime role, and Lizzie would keep things running with her guidance. The network’s activities and nighttime strikes would continue with or without Hannah’s presence.
At the top of the shiny marble stairs, Hannah turned a sharp right, pausing only for a second to gain her bearings and scan the area. Then she resumed her brisk pace and arrived at a polished wood door with her new boss’s name inscribed on a gold plate.
Hannah knocked and when a woman’s voice called for her to enter, she opened the door to reveal the major general’s secretary, typing at a large, neat desk.
The woman looked up expectantly and then rose from her desk. Hannah saw the recognition dawn on her pale pinched face from when Hannah attended the recent interview.
‘Good morning. Welcome to German High Command,’ she said. ‘Herr Major General isn’t in the office yet, but you should see him this afternoon.’
The secretary seemed nervous. She showed Hannah around the office and explained that she would clear her desk by the end of the day.
‘Thank you so much. This is such an opportunity. You must be sorry to leave such a wonderful position.’
They spoke in French, and the secretary said she was indeed extremely sorry. She was devoted to the regime but had to leave because of ill health.
The hateful words choked Hannah, but she gave no outward appearance of disdain, and the secretary seemed assured she would replace her adequately in serving her Nazi boss. The secretary talked of him as though he were the Messiah, and Hannah wondered how she could be devoted to such a man.
The morning passed quickly as the secretary explained the role in detail and showed her how to perform the various tasks that would be required.
‘Herr Major General likes his coffee dark and sweet. He gets irritated if it’s not made properly, so let me show you exactly how to make it for him.’
The deference the French woman showed the Nazi brute made Hannah feel queasy, but she played her role impeccably as she watched the pandering secretary prepare the coffee.
Then she insisted on watching Hannah do the same.
‘It won’t do to upset him. His temper can be quite harsh,’ she said.
For a second, Hannah fantasised about throwing the hot black coffee in his arrogant face, and then wringing his neck.
She chided herself. It wouldn’t do to get carried away, no matter how much she despised her new boss.
‘Would you like a cup of coffee, Collette? Collette is such a beautiful name, by the way,’ the secretary said, flushing slightly as she complimented Hannah.
‘Thank you. Yes, I would love a cup.’
They stood by the large window, holding their coffee. The frost-covered Eiffel Tower twinkled in the sun and loomed in the Paris sky like an avenging giant.
‘The coffee is wonderful,’ Hannah said. ‘I don’t think I’ve tasted coffee this good since early in the war, before supplies ran out.’
‘Yes, we are fortunate Herr Major General commands only the best for our office. The entire building is entitled to the best coffee and food supplies. That’s one benefit of working here,’ she said, as if the Nazis hadn’t stolen her country .
Hannah’s hands itched to shake the collaborating secretary, who had clearly sold her own people out.
‘Herr Major General is so generous’ she gushed, oblivious to Hannah’s contempt. ‘You may eat lunch here and I recommend you do. It’s delicious and there’s plenty of choice.’
Hannah’s stomach rumbled at the mention of plentiful food, despite her disgust at the woman’s eagerness to accommodate the Germans.
‘That sounds excellent,’ Hannah said. ‘It’s difficult to get a good meal in Paris these days.’
‘You won’t have to worry about that now. I admit I will miss it tremendously. Back to ersatz coffee and dry bread for me,’ she said.
‘Do you intend to return to work when you recover?’ Hannah asked.
The woman looked suddenly miffed. ‘I want to, but unfortunately, Herr Major General says it is out of his hands.’
‘That is a shame. Thank you for so generously showing me what to do, so I don’t mess it up.’
‘I take great pride in my work. It’s not every French woman who gets posted to a job as prestigious as this. You should be proud of being selected for this role.’
Hannah agreed they were both very lucky and she would do her best to fill her shoes and not let the major general down.
‘You do important work here. I understood from the interview that this office is instrumental in leading the way on the statutes against the Jews.’ Hannah said Jews with disdain to encourage the secretary to share what she knew.
The woman preened at Hannah’s effusive praise.
‘Yes, that’s correct. It is such important work, and we have only just begun. Herr Major General evaluates the proposed ordinances and decides what to pass on to his superior—the general.’ Her voice grew louder with enthusiasm. ‘ They say that soon they will rid us completely of low life Jewish scum.’ She leaned closer to Hannah and her voice dropped to a whisper. ‘You probably won’t see much of the general himself, but there will be correspondence and reports for you to translate and type.’
Hannah looked nonchalant, as if the words didn’t pierce her heart like a sharp blade. ‘Do you mean there’ll be reports to type up about the pending laws regarding Jews?’
The secretary nodded, and her eyes were solemn. ‘That’s right, we oversee all of that, and it’s a mammoth task. There are big plans to speed things up.’
Hannah finished her coffee and rested the cup on the table, sick to the stomach at the dark future the secretary painted with such glee. ‘I will look forward to learning more about that. I have heard the whispers about how they mean to rid France completely of the vermin Jews, just like they did so successfully in Germany.’
‘Well, you’ve got the right job. Herr Major General is extremely passionate in that area. He advises the general closely, you know. He is such a committed man.’
Another bolt of fierce anger ripped through Hannah, and she held her hands stiffly at her sides to retrain herself from attacking the odious woman. Her urge was to grab the cruel collaborator by the scruff of her neck and stick her face in the steaming hot water in the sink until she couldn’t breathe.
There was a cough behind them, and they both turned.
‘We don’t employ you to stand around idle,’ the major general snapped as he strode across the room. The door to his private office slammed behind him and he disappeared.
Hannah arranged her face into an expression of regret. ‘I hope he won’t fire me,’ she whispered.
The secretary flushed. ‘No, no, don’t worry. That’s how he is most of the time. You’ll get used to him. He’s charming beneath his brusque exterior.’