His hatred toward Christians was as intense as Hitler’s toward Jews. While Hitler’s was ideological and racist, Korsch’s was born out of personal experience. The Germans who had persecuted his father and mother and had been so cruel to him had not been Jews but Lutherans, good German Christians every one, and he had had nothing but antipathy toward the hypocrisy of the National German Church ever since. Christians, he found, were the most prejudiced of the lot against those who were different from themselves. Who was it but millions of so-called German Christians that had voted Hitler into power, and who had now turned so viciously against the Jews?

He had, over the years, kept files, adding to them continually, and as soon as the Pastor’s Emergency League had been formed in 1933, he had begun watching its leaders more closely, convinced that the information would be useful in time. When the Confessing Church was formed by an anti-Nazi faction, he had immediately begun attempts to quietly infiltrate the new movement. While Hitler and Himmler were focusing on the Jewish problem, he had seen a vast potential for his own advancement in becoming an expert on “the Christian threat” to fascism.

He had also known early that the Americans were as great a threat to the Nazi future as the British or French. They all had their ideals of freedom and religion and the self-righteous pride in their democratic form of government. So he had been accumulating useful information there too.

In all these areas, while he had played the loyal lackey to those above him, he had slowly and carefully been developing his own network of underlings, finding and recruiting young zealots whom he might teach to do his bidding.

But it was time to put all these thoughts and plans on hold. He had arrived. The moment of his destiny had come.

He could not keep his heart from pounding a little more rapidly than usual as he walked up, hesitated only a moment, then knocked on the closed door.

10 Low Advancement

10

Low Advancement

“Ah, Herr Korsch,” said Himmler, glancing up as the other entered after his summons. “I am glad to see you again.” The head of the SS did not rise from his desk or offer his hand.

“The pleasure is mine, Herr Reichsführer,” replied Korsch, clicking his heels together, shooting his right arm out stiffly in salute, and then walking crisply to the desk and standing before it at attention.

“My nephew speaks very highly of you, Korsch.”

“I am honored.”

“He says you will be one of my top Gestapo agents one day, and that I would do well to find a role for you of higher standing.”

Korsch said nothing.

“Indeed, I have been looking over your file,” Himmler went on, “and I find it an admirable one, full of meritorious achievements on behalf of the Reich.”