I’ve found out.”
That shut Luke up for a moment, because it was exactly what he had been going to say.
19. WEREWOLVES
I n the late summer of 1944, World War II was turning against Germany, with Russian forces closing in from the east, and British and American troops advancing through France
.
The Third Reich, the German empire that was supposed to last a thousand years, was being dismantled after little more than a decade, and curtains were soon to be drawn on one of the most violent and bloody episodes in human history
.
Heinrich Himmler, the much-feared head of the SS (Schutzstaffel), ordered one of his senior officers, Obergruppenführer Hans-Adolf Prützmann, to set up a secret and elite troop of volunteer forces to operate behind enemy lines. They were to be known as Werwölfe (Werewolves)
.
About five thousand troops were recruited, mainly from the SS and the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth). Their tactics included sabotage, arson, and assassination, and by early 1945, about two hundred recruits were in training at the Hülchrath Castle near Erkelenz, Germany
.
Their symbol was the Wolfsangel (German for “wolf’s hook”)
.
As the war drew to a close, however, the objectives, and the training of the Werewolves, changed
.
They became a terrorist organization, trained to operate in secret after the war was over
.
A “National Redoubt” was planned—a heavily fortified and defended base in the Bavarian Alps, from where Hitler said that Nazi Germany would “strike back at one minute past twelve using the most efficient secret weapons yet invented.”
A system of bunkers was built underneath a hill in Obersalzberg, near Berchtesgaden
.
The concrete- and brick-lined tunnels were sheathed with rubber to protect the occupants from the shock waves of aerial bombing. The entrances were covered by fortified machine-gun positions and anti-aircraft defenses
.
In the last few weeks of the war, however, it became clear that there would be no last great stand for Nazi Germany. Himmler dismantled the Werewolf organization, and on April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler killed himself in a bunker in Berlin
.
Luke shut the book with a snap that echoed around the silent library and gave it back to Tommy.
The book had been full of photos and biographies of the top people of Nazi Germany—people such as Himmler,Göring, and Speer. There were photos of Obersalzberg and their fancy holiday homes, and pictures of the bunkers. There was also a timeline of the events leading to the end of the war.
It was amazing how much you could learn from a book, really.
“Werewolves,” Luke said. “You reckon Mueller is a Werewolf?”
“I’m sure of it.”
Luke was doubtful. “He’d have been just a kid when the war ended.”
Tommy nodded. “Yeah, I thought about that. But the Werewolves were recruited from the Hitler Youth, or maybe he is the son of one of the Werewolves.”
“But the book said they were disbanded.”
“Maybe they weren’t,” Tommy said. “Maybe shutting down the Werewolf organization in 1945 was just a cover-up. Maybe they’ve been hiding out somewhere, waiting for Hitler’s ‘one minute past twelve.’ ”
“Hiding for over sixty years, waiting for their chance to strike back,” Luke said. “That doesn’t figure. Why wait till now?”
Tommy shrugged. “Beats me. Maybe they were waiting for something like a particular date or a certain world event. I don’t know.”
“It has something to do with the book,” Luke said slowly. “
Leonardo’s River
. It all seems to hinge on that book.”
“How could it?” Tommy asked. “That book was written almost a hundred years
before
World War Two!”
“Dunno, bro,” Luke said, “but that book is the key. Muellerdropped everything to come here and search for that book.”
“So what was your news?” Tommy asked.
“These Werewolves,” Luke said with a dry mouth. “Mueller and his neo-Nazi terrorists. They’ve got a nuclear bomb.”
20. JUST
That shut Luke up for a moment, because it was exactly what he had been going to say.
19. WEREWOLVES
I n the late summer of 1944, World War II was turning against Germany, with Russian forces closing in from the east, and British and American troops advancing through France
.
The Third Reich, the German empire that was supposed to last a thousand years, was being dismantled after little more than a decade, and curtains were soon to be drawn on one of the most violent and bloody episodes in human history
.
Heinrich Himmler, the much-feared head of the SS (Schutzstaffel), ordered one of his senior officers, Obergruppenführer Hans-Adolf Prützmann, to set up a secret and elite troop of volunteer forces to operate behind enemy lines. They were to be known as Werwölfe (Werewolves)
.
About five thousand troops were recruited, mainly from the SS and the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth). Their tactics included sabotage, arson, and assassination, and by early 1945, about two hundred recruits were in training at the Hülchrath Castle near Erkelenz, Germany
.
Their symbol was the Wolfsangel (German for “wolf’s hook”)
.
As the war drew to a close, however, the objectives, and the training of the Werewolves, changed
.
They became a terrorist organization, trained to operate in secret after the war was over
.
A “National Redoubt” was planned—a heavily fortified and defended base in the Bavarian Alps, from where Hitler said that Nazi Germany would “strike back at one minute past twelve using the most efficient secret weapons yet invented.”
A system of bunkers was built underneath a hill in Obersalzberg, near Berchtesgaden
.
The concrete- and brick-lined tunnels were sheathed with rubber to protect the occupants from the shock waves of aerial bombing. The entrances were covered by fortified machine-gun positions and anti-aircraft defenses
.
In the last few weeks of the war, however, it became clear that there would be no last great stand for Nazi Germany. Himmler dismantled the Werewolf organization, and on April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler killed himself in a bunker in Berlin
.
Luke shut the book with a snap that echoed around the silent library and gave it back to Tommy.
The book had been full of photos and biographies of the top people of Nazi Germany—people such as Himmler,Göring, and Speer. There were photos of Obersalzberg and their fancy holiday homes, and pictures of the bunkers. There was also a timeline of the events leading to the end of the war.
It was amazing how much you could learn from a book, really.
“Werewolves,” Luke said. “You reckon Mueller is a Werewolf?”
“I’m sure of it.”
Luke was doubtful. “He’d have been just a kid when the war ended.”
Tommy nodded. “Yeah, I thought about that. But the Werewolves were recruited from the Hitler Youth, or maybe he is the son of one of the Werewolves.”
“But the book said they were disbanded.”
“Maybe they weren’t,” Tommy said. “Maybe shutting down the Werewolf organization in 1945 was just a cover-up. Maybe they’ve been hiding out somewhere, waiting for Hitler’s ‘one minute past twelve.’ ”
“Hiding for over sixty years, waiting for their chance to strike back,” Luke said. “That doesn’t figure. Why wait till now?”
Tommy shrugged. “Beats me. Maybe they were waiting for something like a particular date or a certain world event. I don’t know.”
“It has something to do with the book,” Luke said slowly. “
Leonardo’s River
. It all seems to hinge on that book.”
“How could it?” Tommy asked. “That book was written almost a hundred years
before
World War Two!”
“Dunno, bro,” Luke said, “but that book is the key. Muellerdropped everything to come here and search for that book.”
“So what was your news?” Tommy asked.
“These Werewolves,” Luke said with a dry mouth. “Mueller and his neo-Nazi terrorists. They’ve got a nuclear bomb.”
20. JUST
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