The campaign against the Jews reached new heights in November of 1938, when Heinrich Himmler, then head of the Gestapo under the Sicherheitsdienst, carried out a rash of violent acts against the Jewish population of Berlin. SA and SS troops led a huge looting raid of Jewish shops throughout the city. Thirty-six persons were killed. More than 190 synagogues were burned, 76 completely destroyed. Observers and police watched, but did nothing, even as whole Jewish families were herded out of their homes. Whatever innocence the great masses of Germans may have been able to claim in allowing the rise of Nazi cruelty and barbarism was quickly disappearing. The riot, known as “Crystal Night” for the enormous breakage of glass and windows, proved a turning point. Henceforth, the Nazi programme against Jews would be violent, unpredictable, and lawless.

In January of 1939, an order was issued liquidating all Jewish businesses. Jews began to leave Germany in massive numbers. Some 400,000 fled Germany and Austria. Late in that same year, less than 300,000 remained, mostly those either too old to emigrate or those married to non-Jews who wanted to remain in their homeland. The danger, however, had become apparent enough.

Hitler occupied Prague in March of 1939, and every indication told him that he could take the rest of Czechoslovakia without fear of reprisal. Now his greedy eyes of conquest and power began to look eastward toward that ancient land of Prussia and Poland.

He had, however, nearly pushed Great Britain and France too far. Hostilities loomed. Freedom hung in the balance. Paris, London, and Washington—the latter behind the scenes—at last woke to the threat.

As the summer of 1939 opened, they reluctantly but quickly accelerated their belated military preparations to catch up.

40 Frustrated Vendetta

40

Frustrated Vendetta

Emil Korsch had been through every file on his desk six times. He had exhausted every lead. He had talked to every church leader, both those sympathetic and those unsympathetic to their cause. No one had seen hide nor hair of the underground rabble-rouser and seminary leader.

He had even managed to slip one of his own men into their little ruse of “collective pastorates” up north in the two Pomeranian villages of Köslin and Groβ-Schlönwitz. But that lead had gone dry, too. None of the simpletons knew where their leader and founder was. He hadn’t actually visited in the flesh for over a year.

He had considered more arrests. But what good would it have done if the young radicals honestly didn’t know of his whereabouts? He could have tortured them, even killed them, and still learned nothing!

Besides, those fool Christians were as righteously fearless about their cause as the Nazis! They almost enjoyed torture, it seemed. The more painful you made it, the more they prayed and chanted out their ridiculous Scriptures!