Johann and Daniel
by Charles Lacey
Chapter 15
Bill Ryder.
I'd no idea, when those two lads ended up at The Hotel, just who they were or what they were doing. My first thought was that they were double agents, perhaps genuine Austrians, or perhaps Germans posing as Austrians, but either way working for the Nazis. Eulenberg put me right on one thing: they were genuine Austrians. But they were very well behaved and appeared to be making no attempt to find out anything, and in the end I came to believe their story. All the more so as one of them was clearly Jewish.
At first I was puzzled by their relationship. They were closer than brothers, always standing together, and sometimes when they thought I was not looking, even holding hands. I checked with one of the agents in place, and he confirmed that a boy named Stresemann, the son of the local bank manager, had disgraced himself at a Hitler Youth camp, and subsequently disappeared. So either they were genuine, or they were bloody clever. On balance, I thought the former. Eventually I came to the conclusion that they were a pair of pansies, probably on the run for that reason.
I can't say I liked the idea of that kind of lad, but they seemed to be harmless enough and when poor old Ernst Eulenburg went sick they made themselves very useful. Young Stresemann also did a good bit of work in the grounds, which made the place look a lot tidier as well as producing a lot of very palatable fruit and vegetables. What they didn't know was that there was a microphone in the Library, hidden in the table lamp in the centre, and I was able to eavesdrop not only on the teaching, but on their private conversation. Well, I was right, they were a pair of pansies.
I talked it over with Ruth Freeman, and she, to my surprise, defended them strongly. She made the point that in a world filled with war and hatred, love was to be welcomed wherever it was found. I couldn't argue with that, but I can't claim I felt comfortable about it.
They turned eighteen, and shortly after that I was commissioned by Mr Eden, the Foreign Secretary, to find out just what Ernst Kremer was doing in Linz, and what his plans were. I puzzled over this for a while, as neither of the agents in place in that area would be likely to be willing to take on the task, but then I thought of Johann Stresemann. He accepted the commission, as I thought he would, but his little paramour Daniel Kohn went white as a sheet. I don't think poor Kohn got a wink of sleep until he heard that Stresemann was in Switzerland and about to board a plane back to Manston.
Anyway, he got back, and to my utter astonishment told me that by accident he had killed Ernst Kremer. My first anxiety was that the death would be blamed on the Resistance, and punished by a mass killing of Austrians. Actually, the report that came in from Peter Newman, the agent in place in Linz, made me laugh out loud, which is not something I do often. His report made out that it had been established that he had tripped over a cat and fallen down the stairs.
But the pictures Stresemann came back with were astonishing. I had a message from the F.O. to say just how useful they were. I called Stresemann into my office – his little friend was there as well, of course – and said to him, "Stresemann, you did a good job there in Linz. The Foreign Secretary has just telephoned to say that the pictures were quite clear, and the information in them has been more than helpful. You ought to have a medal, but you won't get one as it was a secret mission and has to stay that way. But I want you to know that the whole British Government, from Mr Churchill down, is grateful to you."
He flushed at this and said, "If anything I have done has helped the Allies towards winning the war, then I am glad. Thank you, sir." And the two of them left and went upstairs to their room. I didn't have a microphone there, but I think that's probably a good thing; goodness knows what I might have overheard. And we did have a small celebration on the next afternoon: Ruth Freeman got the kitchen people to bake a cake for him which we had at tea.
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