Kapitel 8: Schneider's offer

The letter from Mr. Schneider was short and to the point. It followed the day after his visit, and it constructed the fundament of an offer too intriguing for a man like Franz Weiher to refuse. The sum offered in exchange for his cooperation was ridiculously low, for the Ahnenerbe had little to no money to spare, however, the promise of a higher SS rank and the opportunity to dive back into the world of research was unparalleled.

Dear Comrade Weiher

I was told you are currently without an occupation after having served some time at the frontlines for our country. In the Elsass! Now, I'd like to officially present to you an opportunity to return to the Elsass, which we conquered with the help of your sweat and blood, to the University of Strassburg.

Based in the medical faculty - or more strictly, at the Institute of Anatomy, there is a position open for a researcher and assistant. You would be working for the IWZ, Ahnenerbe, in Professor August Hirt*'s department. You're time at the front and your knowledge of the area could be a great asset to his work. Professor Hirt has been experimenting with mustard gas and working on both a cure and a protection.

You would be compensated with a check of 325 Reichsmark monthly. All of the materials Professor Hirt and his Department H of the IWZ will and are being allocated at all costs. If you are to take the position which we very much hope, you will be promoted from SS-Hauptsturmführer to SS-Sturmbannführer.

Wolfram Sievers himself reached out to me and suggested you for the position. We along with Professor Hirt, would be honoured to have you working with us. As I understand, you and Professor Hirt fought in the same battalion in the war in 1916 and with whom we both conversed at the opening ceremony of the University of Strassburg last November.

Please, take your time to consider the offer. We will speak of the details in person.

Take care, with greetings from one comrade to another!

Rolf Joseph Scheider

Heil Hitler!

Martin sighed and lay the letter down on the desk, which was cluttered with many others of its sort. Not from the Ahnenerbe, but from other institutions or important people. Franz Weiher must have taken his unemployment seriously because he had answered with scarce, handwritten scribbles or not at all.

Martin had not found a single slip of paper that confirmed that he - or rather, Franz, had been making any kind of income in the last few months. The family Weiher of 1942 must have been living off of their savings. Martin had not the slightest clue if it was smarter to join the Ahnenrbe or politely decline. To work in Strassburg he'd have to move, to leave this house that he held no attachment to, but was obviously important to the rest of its inhabitants. Or he could move to Strassburg alone - it would put a comfortable distance between him and his great-grandmother, or Franz's wife. As Martin further mused over his options he poured himself a glass of whiskey. Franz Weiher could hold his liquor, something Martin never had been able to.

He wasn't even sure what the Ahnenerbe was all about. It was some kind of research society, that much he remembered from the history textbooks he'd read, and he was quite sure that Heinrich Himmler* was the head of it. But he didn't have the slightest clue what kinds of research the Ahnenerbe did exactly or the IWZ. He decided he'd ask Marlene for her opinion in the morning: if he was lucky, he might be able to squeeze some information out of her as well. Discreetly, of course.

He went to bed feeling nauseous. Not because of the whiskey - or at least not entirely. He wished he knew what was going on. Franz's journal hadn't spoken of the Ahnenerbe or the IWZ, perhaps he hadn't had much to do with it, or he'd never wanted to get involved. Whatever the reason was, Martin was left with little to no way to find out what this offer would mean to him. His dreams were restless.