"Wilson, F Paul - Adversary 1 - The Keep" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilson F. Paul)

The calendar said April, but it was still cold in Warsaw. Kaempffer wore his

overlong SS greatcoat. He removed it and his officer's cap slowly and hung them

on the wall rack with great care, forcing Hossbach to watch him and, perhaps, to

dwell on their physical differences. Hossbach was portly, balding, in his early

fifties. Kaempffer was a decade younger, with a tightly muscled frame and a full

head of boyishly blond hair. And Erich Kaempffer was on his way up.

"Congratulations, by the way, on your promotion and on your new assignment. The

Ploiesti position is quite a plum."

"Yes." Kaempffer maintained a neutral tone. "I just hope I can live up to

Berlin's confidence in me."

"I'm sure you will."

Kaempffer knew that Hossbach's good wishes were as hollow as the promises of

resettlement he made to the Polish Jews: Hossbach had wanted Ploiesti for

himselfЧevery SS officer wanted it. The opportunities for advancement and for

personal profit in being commandant of the major camp in Romania were enormous.

In the relentless pursuit of position within the huge bureaucracy created by

Heinrich Himmler, where one eye was always fixed on the vulnerable back of the

man ahead of you, and the other eye ever watchful over your shoulder at the man

behind you, there was no such thing as a sincere wish for success.

In the uncomfortable silence that followed, Kaempffer scanned the walls and

repressed a sneer as he noted more lightly colored squares and rectangles where

degrees and citations had been hung by the previous occupant. Hossbach had not

redecorated. Typical of the man to try to give the impression that he was much

too busy with SS matters to bother with trifles such as having the walls

painted. It was so obviously an act. Kaempffer did not need to put on a show of