The Sixth Key(11)

The day Rahn confronted Weisthor on the matter, he was feeling rather unwell from a bout of the flu and this made him incautious. Weisthor heard his words in a blank silence and afterwards remained quiet, as if undergoing some internal debate.

When he spoke his voice was serious and conspiratorial. ‘Tell me, Rahn, are you the sort of chap whose ears are disposed to hearing extraordinary things?’ He blinked and blinked at Rahn, quite full to the brim with a fierce form of enthusiasm.

‘I would like to think so,’ Rahn said, blowing his nose.

‘Well then, close the door, dear boy. Sit down and listen.’ He regarded Rahn heavily. ‘I like you, I think you know that,’ he said. ‘I feel that when I talk to you I am speaking to an intellectual equal. You’re different from the empty-headed puppets that walk about this place and so I want to tell you something that might save your life. Can I trust you to be discreet?’

Rahn nodded, trying to appear the very model of prudence.

‘In the coming months, Rahn, you must get used to the idea that Germany is going to have to kill an inordinate number of Jews. But not just Jews,’ he said. ‘You must get used to the idea that the master race has no time for the sick and the ailing and the degenerate. Do you know what Eugenics is? Darwin’s half-cousin came up with it. It is the science of racial hygiene, the science of culling out riffraff; a kind of enforced natural selection. You see, the weaker races can only survive by breeding with the stronger ones, and this weakens the stronger race. Simple really. We become less than animals because even animals do not mix together. Have you ever seen a monkey mating with a zebra? Of course not! If this were allowed to go on in the human race it would be headed for doom!’

Rahn felt this comparison distasteful in the extreme and it bristled his every sensibility. ‘But you and I know that this is nonsense!’ he risked saying. ‘Science shows that when races mix they become stronger, not weaker. Look at what happens in small German towns where inbreeding is rife – you see nothing but imbeciles.’

Weisthor’s face grew very serious. ‘Well, Reichsführer Himmler would disagree with you. Certainly it has been known to happen that imbeciles are born this way, because negative faults are emphasised, but so are positive traits accentuated! At least that is what he is trying to prove. He wants to show that this is so because our Führer himself comes from such a small township. So, he has our department investigating our Führer’s genealogy for evidence that he is a product of such a union  , which one would have to say, in his case, has bred a genius. To his mind, it is no wonder that the church continues to decry incest, considering it fears the birth of Nietzsche’s super-human man!’

Robakidze’s words now returned to Rahn and he felt a chill.

‘My advice to you, Rahn, is to forget what has happened to your friend Schmid. It would have happened sooner or later, believe me. This is a new Germany. The curse on society will be scourged: astrologers, mediums, Freemasons, clairvoyants, Jews and gypsies will be rounded up; and the disabled, the elderly and the insane will be despatched in their hospitals.’

Can the man hear himself? He who has not long been discharged from a sanatorium?

‘But if you go around asking too many questions, Rahn, you will be tarred with the same brush. That is the danger.’

Rahn blew his nose. ‘What do you mean, the same brush?’

‘The same brush, Rahn. Why would a normal man befriend a homosexual?’

Rahn looked up. ‘Are you suggesting . . . ?’

Weisthor’s eyes narrowed a touch. ‘This is the question that will be asked. One might think you don’t seem to fancy women. Look at my dear Gabriele, for instance; she spends all her time swooning over you, throws herself at your feet and you are, how should I say it, as cold as a seal. Be careful, Rahn! Do you think they don’t know everything there is to know about you? For instance, they know you are intimately connected with a certain Raymon Perrier.’

‘I’ve known him for years and love him as a dear friend!’

‘But what are you doing mountain-hiking with him? You even shared a house with him in Switzerland!’

‘As a friend!’

‘But that is not all, Rahn! What about Dietmar Lauermann, who is associated with the outlawed Grey Corps?’

‘Lauermann? I met him when I was at university! I’ve had nothing to do with him for years.’

‘And what about your Jewish connections?’

Rahn felt his palms grow moist. A bead of sweat was forming on his brow.

‘The shopkeepers, where you buy your groceries, Rahn! You should not be seen in such places owned by Jews!’