Sun of the Sleepless (18 page)

'NSDAP?' Dale questioned, shaking his head.

It was Jolene that answered him, fluently pronouncing the German.

'The
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei
- National Socialist German Worker's Party, better known as the Nazi Party.'

'Exactly,' cried Jackson, pointing a finger triumphantly, 'and when they started gaining in popularity and power, well, this was a political party that attracted everybody's attention!'

Kappel's face loomed closer in the screen.

'Please get to the point Jackson, your knowledge of history is entertaining but is it relevant?'

'Yes sir,' said Jackson, straightening himself and nodding, 'you see, even right at the beginning, just after the end of World War I and before the Nazi Party had even been founded, the State Department recognised the need to gather more intelligence on the newly developing political situation and we wanted a way in, not just at the grass roots membership level but within the higher echelons of political agitation where decisions were being taken and new personalities and parties were emerging.'

He placed his hands apart as if he was telling a fisherman's tale.

'We didn't just want to know what was
happening
but also what was
intended
,' he said, slicing against the table top to mark the differing objectives.

'In early 1919, somebody somewhere had an extremely oblique but rather bright idea; it was just possible that there was an indirect route into the heart of what was rapidly becoming a political maelstrom via a group known as the
Thule Gesellschaft
, an occult association primarily focussing on the origins of the perceived Aryan race.'

A small cough emanated from Jolene and she adopted a challenging tone.

'I am sure that we've all heard the conspiracy theories on Hitler and the occult, but I'm not convinced that any of them are actually true,' she shook her head disdainfully to emphasise her point, 'I'm reading about the Third Reich now, the Samuel Johnson prize winner for non-fiction 2001; I don't remember any references to a 'Thule' group. Surely there were better ways to get inside?'

Jackson nodded again.

'Well, it isn't surprising that you didn't see the Thule Society mentioned, although I'm sure that there is a passing reference in there somewhere. You have to understand that the Thule Society is a no-go area for historians and academic researchers. Anybody aiming to be taken seriously would be committing professional suicide if they started writing about how a group of rabidly anti-Semitic occultists gave birth to the Nazi party. As you say, that is the domain of cranks and conspiracy theorists. As for the other routes into the political ranks - of course - there were alternative options and the plan that I'm relaying here was just one of many, but importantly, it is the one that we are particularly interested in.'

Leaning back into his chair, Kappel looked about him.

'Alright, so we have an occult group that provides the State Department with a way into German street politics and as things develop, ultimately into the Nazi party. How?'

'Alright, the Thule Society was ceremonially founded around the late summer of 1918 and itself developed from a study group for the origins of the Germanic races. After a short period of time it had gained a reputation for nationalistic and, as I said, anti-Semitic thought and after instigating and running a series of discussion groups it became linked to the DAP; the German Worker's Party which was the precursor to the NSDAP which ultimately evolved into the Nazi Party.'

Dale edged forward; clearly interested in the story that Jackson was spinning.

'So this Thule group was affiliated with the Nazis?'

'No, not as such.'

He looked at each face in turn.

'Don't misunderstand me; the Nazi party was never the political wing of the Thule Society. In truth, as things progressed the society's influence declined rapidly however, specific individuals still attracted enough of Heinrich Himmler's attention to be able to procure his sponsorship and enable them to pursue some distinctly odd projects, not least a research trip to Tibet to locate the source of what they deemed as the Aryan race.'

Dale nodded as he digested what was being said.

'So they were just trying to get direct access to Hitler?'

'No, not as such,' Jackson patiently responded as he shook his head, 'it should be remembered that contrary to popular opinion, Hitler had little time for what he regarded as barmy mystics, sometimes judging them as honourable but always naïve in their neo-pagan beliefs. He considered National Socialism as a highly reasoned method of dealing with the national and international social landscape of the day, espousing it to be based on scientific knowledge and its spiritual expression. He entirely rejected the concept of a cult movement.'

An extremely quizzical expression was cast over Jolene's face but it rapidly turned into the beginnings of a sneer.

'What do you mean by
spiritual expression
? Are you saying that Hitler was an occultist?'

She looked toward the screen.

'I'm not sure where this is going sir, perhaps -'

Jackson interrupted her this time.

'No. No. When I say 'spiritual expression' I mean the way that the Nazi ideology tried to appeal to the essence of what it meant to be German, or at least, from the Nazi point of view. In a way that spiritual aspect could manifest in religious terms; Nazism could be understood as a political religion since matters of race, the perception of the purity of blood, were intrinsically tied up with the divine aspect of the creative movement of life. As far as Hitler was concerned, the laws of the natural world had been rejected by man and, consequently, society had succumbed to corrosive evils.'

He paused and frowned.

'In 1938, Hitler clearly stated that Nazism had grown out of considerations of an exclusively racist nature; it was the central tenet of the Life-Philosophy to which he had adhered right from the very start. He set himself up as a messianic figure to lead the Germanic peoples back to what he envisioned as a pure ideal.'

'I think we're getting sidetracked here Jackson,' Kappel observed, his tone urging him to realign his thinking, 'let's get back to the book.'

'Sorry sir, you're quite right, all of this is beside the point. Ultimately, the State Department managed to get some assets in place within the Thule Society and over the years they were able to get access to some of the higher ranking members of the Nazi Party; however, right from the very beginning of our infiltration, our agents discovered that somebody else was trying to do exactly the same thing.'

'The Russians?' Dale offered somewhat tentatively.

Jackson shook his head quickly.

'No, not the Russians, they generally used politically biased approaches, subsidising communist groups within Germany. From all appearances it was, shall we say, a private enterprise. Now, this wasn't especially unusual, every man and his dog were trying to jump on the bandwagon as the Nazis power base increased. Getting access to the upper echelons brought with it any number of perks, however; in this case it was clear that the other agents were in it from the very beginning, representing some kind of alternative occult group with a very clear objective.'

He extended a forefinger and pressed it to his lips.

'In retrospect, it was the timing that was unusual. As things progressed, many such people tried to make the most of the esoteric roots of Nazi mysticism, from astrologers to treasure hunters. The point is, such opportunists were generally interested only in the personal benefit to be had by association with the Nazis in power, however, this alternative group appeared to have infiltrated for an entirely different purpose and something like thirteen years before there was really any power base to be taken advantage of.'

In his eagerness to create a dramatic effect, Jackson paused, attempting to build up the tension for his
expose
. He looked from face to face.

'Even in the beginning, this group had seen where the Nazis were headed and wanted to take over from within!'

Jackson scanned the faces again to see if his denouement had had its desired effect. It had not. Although Dale seemed absorbed by the tale, Kappel was clearly still wanting more detail and had a look of impatient expectation, Jolene's expression was one of pure disdain.

She coughed gently.

'Officer Revere - Jackson - this is all very interesting but as far as I can see, much of this is conjecture based on ninety year old intelligence reports emanating from a state that was soon to be at war again. Misinformation was rife even prior to the outbreak of hostilities, from both the allies and the axis powers, even during the political decline of the Weimar Republic. It seems to me that this was a clear attempt to undermine the credibility of the Nazi Party elite by associating them with cranks and crackpots. This story could have come from anybody at any time, including enemies jealous of Hitler within the Nazi party itself.'

She turned to the screen.

'Sir, I really do not see how this is helping us or indeed, what the connection is with the book.'

Kappel nodded, seemingly in agreement.

'Jackson?'

'Sir, this is not conjecture, it is clearly stated in the official intelligence reports with facts and details.'

'Which reports? Are they in your documentation?'

'Well sir,' Jackson responded before hesitating for a moment, 'not as such. Most of the material is still classified above my access levels but I am sure that if I did have access I could -'

'So how do you know that this information is in there if you do not have access to it?'

Jackson swallowed drily.

'Actually sir, I was able to access a couple of documents that detail explicit references between the group mentioned in the declassified reports and the book,
Dirigo Lux
. sir.'

Leaning his head wearily to one side, Kappel almost rolled his eyes.

'Alright, where did you find this material?'

'Orphaned documents sir, they're documents that have never been classified properly and basically end up in a kind of dead letter zone. In 1942 the Office of Strategic Services was formed, largely inheriting the previous ad-hoc intelligence infrastructure of the various executive branches of government including the State Department section that was still running the Thule agents. During the transitional period some documents were basically filed into a black hole, they became forgotten about. I was able to find some documents that relate directly to the original case portfolio but which have never been linked in properly.'

'Alright,' Kappel sighed, 'I'm not interested in the whys and wherefores right now, just tell me what you found.'

'Well sir,' said Jackson, frowning slightly, 'it seems that there was an occult group operating very effectively within the upper echelons of the Third Reich called the
'
Sun of the Sleepless'.'

Kappel sat back as if he had just been told that the White House had just burned down. He looked about the room he was in, seemingly scanning for something before gazing directly into his camera again, his eyes deadpan. He began to nod his head slowly.

'The Sun of the Sleepless. Talk to me.'

Jackson was obviously on to something. He could feel that Kappel's tension levels had risen a considerable few notches, even via the abstracting interface of the video screen. In truth, he had found only one set of orphaned documents of interest, however, it was clearly much more important than it's lack of classification suggested, especially considering the reaction on screen.

'Back in 1919 and way before the inception of the OSS, our agents in the Thule Society were able to link certain individuals to a group known as the 'Sun of the Sleepless'. Now, this was a pretty mysterious group and not much is known about them, however, they appear to have some historical pedigree if the facts are, shall we say, interpreted, in a certain way.'

Kappel sounded impatient.

'Who were they Jackson? How are they connected? Why is the book important?'

'Well sir, it would appear that the book itself is not important per se, however, it provides the first real physical evidence of this group that we have. The book is indicated as being a kind of initiation guide, kind of like an espousal of a certain spiritual point of view and it is reported by our agents as having been in the possession of a certain Maria Orsitsch who frequented occult circles at this time.'

'Maria Orsitsch?' Jolene queried vaguely.

'Yes, now, Maria Orsitsch is a relatively famous figure in occult circles, references to her can be found on numerous esoteric websites under many different names, Orschitsch, Orsic, Orsec, however, the basic story is the same. She was probably born around 1895 in Vienna to a Viennese mother and a Croatian immigrant from Zagreb. Not much is know about her younger years but at the age of around twenty-five, having already made her name as something of a psychic medium, she moved to Munich to be with her fiancé. Once in Munich, she came into contact with the Thule Society and soon became involved in her own circle, the
Alldeutsche Gesellschaft für Metaphysik
or Pan-German Society for Metaphysics, commonly known as the 'Vril Society'.'