“Two thousand people survived, among them Captain Harold Hennig—obviously—and many of the Gustloff’s worthless crew, including the ship’s captain, Friedrich Petersen. Hennig was one of almost five hundred men who managed to get into lifeboats and who were rescued by Gustloff’s escort vessel, the Löwe. Within less than forty-eight hours, these people were all safely landed in Kolberg, some two hundred and fifty kilometers to the west of Danzig. As for the Amber Room, it’s by no means certain it was on the ship. Later on there were rumors that this was just a lie—disinformation to try and dissuade the Russians from sinking the ship—and that the Amber Room was actually transferred onto a train for Germany. But if it was on the ship it went to the bottom of the Baltic Sea with all those people, including Irmela and her unborn child.

“Of course, if she hadn’t been on that ship she might easily have died on any of the other ships carrying German refugees that were sunk in the winter of nineteen forty-five. The Goya, on which seven thousand people lost their lives. The Cap Arcona, on which another seven thousand also died. And the Steuben, on which three and a half thousand Germans died. Six months later, the S-13’s captain, Marinesko, was dismissed from the Russian navy. And that’s as much as I know, most of it from a book about the Gustloff that was published about four years ago, which is the factual account of a survivor. Until I saw Harold Heinz Hennig checking into the Grand Hôtel in Cap Ferrat under the name of Harold Hebel, that was the last I’d seen or heard of him in more than ten years. Now you know why I hate him so much. And what kind of man we’re dealing with.”

“And after the war? What happened to him? Why was he never brought to justice?”

“He was much too small a fish for anyone to bother with. The Allies were after more important Nazis. Believe me, no one gave a damn about Harold Hennig. And that is especially true now as the Federal Republic of Germany tries to move on and become a good partner for America and Britain in the war against world Communism. These days, justice takes second place to pragmatism. But Erich Koch was arrested in nineteen forty-nine and is in a Polish prison awaiting trial for war crimes. The Poles have a different attitude than the Bonn Republic about the deaths of half a million Poles. Frankly, I don’t give much for his chances. My guess is that they’ll hang him and good riddance. If ever a man deserved to be hanged, it’s Erich Koch. Not that Hennig doesn’t deserve to be killed a hundred times over for what he did, too.”