In addition was the fact that Himmler had already shown a kindly disposition toward him. The future for the Jewish sphere of the SS’s mission lay in Poland. As despicable as the Christians were, or anyone, for that matter, with religious superstitions, it must be admitted that it was on the coattails of the Semitic solution that advancements in the SS were based. The hated secret police were already constructing more advanced facilities throughout this country. If he could make himself look good, perhaps he could make a name for himself here, however it turned out.

So far everything had gone well… until the order had come—from Himmler personally—to find and capture this rabbi. The order had, in fact, been so specific as to leave little doubt about the Jew’s importance—he was to drop everything else and concentrate all his personal efforts on the capture of Rabbi Wissen.

The rabbi’s eluding him didn’t bode well for his record. It had been such an easy assignment—arrest a bearded history professor, who knew every important Jew and synagogue leader in Poland, and who also maintained a file of certain key undiscovered Jews in the Nazi government who wanted to privately stay in touch with their faith, and bring him to Berlin.

The section chief was angry with himself to think how he had allowed the thing to be botched. If Himmler learned that information had been withheld about the artifacts the man possessed, it would be his head. Himmler wanted the swarthy traitor only to torture information out of him, but the section chief had himself learned that the rabbi possessed treasure of a far more valuable kind. Hitler would give anything for it—that much he knew without the least doubt—once the power of the stones was known. With the contents of the rabbi’s box, as much as he believed in all that cultish hocus-pocus, Hitler might be able to win this war after all!

If he chose to take them to Hitler, the chief thought to himself, he would be able to name his price. Himmler just might find himself the subordinate in the end! Or perhaps he would just keep them. Those stones would be worth more after the war than any bank account! And who was to know about them?

But the Jews could be clever people, and the rabbi-professor had gotten out of the city and taken the holy box with him.

Yet… if he could bring in the rabbi, and his ridiculous sacred stones—whether or not he decided to turn them over to Hitler—he might be able to deal himself even further up the line, even past the echelons of Heydrich and Kaltenbrunner, right into the inner circle.