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That was the one word that had come to mind and iced his blood

He'd had no trouble executing the scientists The sixty-two men and women had been taken outside and shot twice in the head No one must knohat had transpired in the depths of the Wenceslas Mine…or as found Only one researcher was allowed to live

DoktorTola Hirszfeld

Jakob heard her sloshing behind hied by one of his men, wrists secured behind her back She was tall for a woman, late twenties, ss Her hair flowed smooth and black, her skin as pale as round She was to have been killed with the others, but her father, Oberarbeitsleiter Hugo Hirszfeld, overseer of the project, had finally shown his corrupted blood, his half-Jewish heritage He had attempted to destroy his research files, but he had been shot by one of the guards and killed before he could firebohter, soe of die Giocke had to survive, to carry on the work She, a genius like her father, knew his research better than any of the other scientistsBut she would need coaxing from here

Fire burned in her eyes whenever Jakob glanced her way He could feel her hatred like the heat of an open furnace But she would cooperate…like her father had before her Jakob kne to deal with Juden, especially those of e They were the worst Partial Jews There were soe in military service to the Reich Jewish soldiers Rare exemptions to Nazi law had allowed suchtheir lives It required special dispensation Such Mischlinge usually proved to be the fiercest soldiers, needing to show their loyalty to Reich over race

Still, Jakob had never trusted them Tola's father proved the validity of his suspicions The doctor's attee had not surprised Jakob Juden were never to be trusted, only exterminated

But Hugo Hirszfeld's exe not only the father and daughter, but also a pair of elderly parents somewhere in the middle of Gere, he placed his full faith in his fuhrer His orders had been letter specific: evacuate the mine of the necessary resources to continue the workand destroy the rest

That hter

And the baby

The newborn boy addled and bundled into a pack, a Jewish infant, no ht sedative to keep him silent as they made their escape

Within the child burned the heart of the abomination, the true source of Jakob's revulsion All of the hopes for the Third Reich lay in his tiny hands—the hands of a Jewish infant Bile rose at such a thought Better to impale the child on a bayonet But he had his orders

He also sa Tola watched the boy Her eyes gloith ain her father's research, Tola had served as the boy's fosterhi at all It had been a threat on the boy's life that had finally made Tola acquiesce to Jakob's de all to their knees and deafening the world to a sonorous ring Cement cracked, and dust trickled into the foul water

Jakob gained his feet, swearing under his breath

His second in command, Oskar Henricks, drew abreast of him and pointed forward to a side branch of the sewer

"We take that tunnel, Obergruppenfuhrer An old stor to the municipal map, the main trunk empties into the river, not far from Cathedral Island"

Jakob nodded Hidden near the island, a pair of ca, manned by another Kommando unit It was not much farther

He led the way at a more hurried pace as the Russian bombardment intensified overhead The renewed assault plainly heralded their final push into the city The surrender of its citizenry was inevitable

As Jakob reached the side tunnel, he cli filth andonto the ceeway His boots squelched with each step The gangrenous reek of bowel and sliht to chase him from its depths