Chapter 94: The Massacre

The plans were all being implemented in an orderly fashion. Germany had purchased almost all the machine tool equipment that could be found on the American market and had also bought a lot of cheap rare metal materials. For a time, German merchants became synonymous with saving the market. They traveled between the once-richest countries in the world, buying anything that interested them.

To save its own economy, Britain even exchanged its shares in Saudi oil production for financial aid from German private capital. It allowed Germany to build its own submarine force, turned a blind eye to the secretly expanding German air force, and even turned a blind eye to Germany’s increasing number of tanks in order to secretly check France.

The world economic crisis brought an unprecedented development opportunity to the Soviet Union. They exported large quantities of grain and raw materials, either through Germany or on their own—the grain was saved by the entire nation tightening their belts, and the materials were mostly obtained from primary extraction, including timber, ore, and oil, all of which were on the list for sale.

Although Germany, having prepared in advance, had made a fortune from the early stages of the economic crisis, with only money going out and none coming in, they soon felt the chill of the crisis as well. Most domestic enterprises and factories closed down, a large number of workers became unemployed, and the bizarre price trends all gave the German government a headache—compared to the few private financial consortiums under the leadership of the Greater Germany Party, most Germans could only endure the economic crisis on their own, just like American businessmen.

Of course, France and Britain were not idle either. They were both pressing Germany for war reparations, but the German government, under the influence of the economic crisis, simply could not produce much money to repay them. The two sides continuously dispatched special envoys and engaged in a war of words, but the amount of money actually moved was not much.

A vast fleet of ships began to travel between Europe and North America. Akado prepared about seventy large-tonnage transport ships for Merkel and also chartered twenty giant cargo ships from Britain according to a support agreement. This number was more than twice the originally estimated transport capacity of Germany. The meticulous Germans organized these cargo ships into ten large transport fleets for easier management and to avoid accidents.

Large sums of money were spent like water, turning into equipment and raw materials shipped back to Germany. But the artificially suppressed production capacity could not consume such a massive accumulation all at once, and Germany’s fragile economy also faced the danger of collapse.

People got their wages in hand, only to find they couldn’t buy potatoes. There was an acute shortage of grain in the market, butter had long been sold out and could only be replaced by margarine. The citizens of Berlin began to panic. Many people began to be swayed by the Nazi Party, which had disappeared for a while. People began to look for the root cause of their increasingly difficult lives.

“Only Mr. Hitler is your future!” a speaker shouted from the stage of a bar. “Those Jews are the main culprits of this economic crisis! They are making tons of money in Germany, but taking it to America and Britain to spend! They only care about how many more machines are in their factories! They don’t care at all about whether you live or die!”

“That’s right!” the audience below shouted along, and an atmosphere of blind obedience began to spread through the bar.

“The Greater Germany Party does not represent your interests at all! They only care about those messy, trivial things!” the person on the stage continued to incite the crowd. “Everyone, think about it! Those things like liberating the Rhineland or expanding the Reichswehr, what real benefits have they brought us? None! Nothing at all!”

“That’s right!” The people below began to boil over! Everyone shouted loudly.

Backstage, Goebbels pointed proudly at the propagandist on the stage and boasted to Hitler beside him, “Mr. Führer, our support among the common people is increasing significantly! The government has not been able to come up with any good solutions for this financial crisis, so they are almost powerless to stop our propaganda and expansion.”

Hitler nodded. “We have finally seized the opportunity! This time, the Greater Germany Party can only watch as we turn the tables.” And in fact, the change in his own mentality was the biggest success of the Nazi Party’s counter-attack this time. Originally, Hitler had been living under Akado’s shadow, unable to recover. But this success told him that Akado was not invincible, which allowed him to regain his long-lost confidence.

Goebbels, having received Hitler’s support, became even more smug. “Führer! The rationality and inclusiveness of the Greater Germany Party, as well as their status as the ruling party, have left them helpless in the face of this economic crisis. But we are different.”

He pointed to the passionately speaking orator on the stage. “We can be irresponsible. We can directly intensify the conflict! We can push all the blame onto the Jews!”

“It’s not pushing it onto them! It’s that they really deserve to die!” Although Hitler was in a good mood, he immediately became enraged at the mention of the Jews. “Sooner or later, I will kill all of those damned animals!”

“Kill them!” As if in coordination with Hitler’s clamor, the crowd outside also began to boil over. Led by a group of Brownshirt Stormtroopers, a terrifying roar erupted from the crowd: “Kill those Jewish dogs!”

And so, led by about twenty Stormtroopers, the entire bar’s audience of several hundred people poured out of the main door. They left in a vast, menacing procession, disappearing at the end of the street.

…

“Mr. Chairman,” Fanny said, looking down at the document in her hand with a frown as she reported on her work. “Recently, due to the economic crisis, our Greater Germany Party’s approval rating has been declining. This is a very dangerous signal. It proves that we can no longer maintain the people’s trust.”

Loic Kater also took a step forward and presented his own report. “Mr. Chairman, many party members of Jewish ethnicity have reported that they are frequently harassed by followers of the Nazi Party. Although the SS has done its best to protect them, this situation is indeed on the rise.”

Fanny continued, “Our reporters have secretly investigated and found that the Nazi Party is inciting the people’s dissatisfaction with the Jews. Although this method is very despicable, they have indeed achieved the effect they wanted! If we don’t regain the initiative before the next parliamentary election, we may lose some parliamentary seats.”

“Our predictions in this area are not very accurate. The Chairman can ask our party’s election consultant,” Loic Kater added.

“We are secretly stockpiling supplies! You know this,” Akado finally spoke, his tone revealing exhaustion and helplessness. “And I am discussing with President Hindenburg and the Ministry of Defense the issue of continuing to secretly expand the army.”

He sighed and said, “I originally planned to expand the regular army by 20 divisions to alleviate the unemployment brought by the economic crisis. Of course, I can’t be sure how much will be left after haggling. On the other hand, I have already presented another plan to Krupp and Mr. Jellinek, asking them to find a way to call on the companies in better situations to expand their recruitment by 500,000 technical workers.”

No one knew that for these few large-scale plans, Akado had paid a price of 50 million US dollars. And this did not even include the efforts and personal favors his faction had put in.

“But these measures of ours, compared to the free scapegoating, are slow to take effect and not obvious,” Fanny also sighed and said.

“Why don’t we also find an excuse, randomly frame some people, package them up, and push them out to be killed to vent the people’s anger?” Loic Kater said after some thought. “Although this idea is being used by the Nazi Party, and it seems not very respectable for us to pick up their leftovers, perhaps it might actually be useful…”

“Then what’s the point of me struggling to hold on here? Wouldn’t it be more convenient for everyone to just join the Nazi Party?” Akado asked with a sneer, looking at Loic Kater.

Loic Kater knew his idea was not approved by Akado. He sensibly shut his mouth and said no more.

The atmosphere in the room grew even worse.

…

The University of Berlin is one of the most famous institutions of higher learning in Germany. Many Nobel Prize winners were born here, as were many great artists in history. It could be said that this place is sacred and solemn in the hearts of the German people.

But today seemed a little different. The university’s gatekeeper saw from afar a large, dark crowd of people walking towards him with a menacing air. He was so scared that he quickly hid back in his guardhouse. And just as he closed the door of the guardhouse, he did not see, on the other side, a professor holding a chemistry book, reading as he walked out of the Berlin University gate.

Luck did not seem to favor this elderly professor on account of his profound knowledge. The unlucky man walked right into the path of the approaching angry mob. His eyes, focused on his book, did not notice the changes happening around him at all—of course, he also made no effort to hide the Star of David ring on his finger.

On the side of the street, a soldier in a black SS uniform saw all of this. He quickly threw down the cigarette butt in his mouth and ran towards the professor, pulling out the pistol from his waist as he ran…

“Kill this Jewish stupid pig!” Someone in the crowd finally discovered the professor’s identity. A roar broke the strange silence. The glasses on the professor’s nose, along with blood, flew into the air. The crystal-clear lenses shattered, like crystals.

“Bang!” A gunshot rang out, but it still did not stop the brutal mob. The SS soldier fired shot after shot into the crowd surrounding the professor, beating and kicking him, until he had emptied his bullets. Finally, he was knocked to the ground by the charging Brownshirt Stormtroopers and felt the same pain as the elderly Jewish professor.

An SS truck screeched to a halt at the street corner. Twenty-some SS soldiers carrying rifles jumped out of the truck. These soldiers didn’t take long to form a line and raise their rifles at the still-chaotic crowd.

The crowd began to panic, in disarray, and finally, cursing, they dispersed, leaving behind four already cold bodies, and several wounded people moaning on the ground.