Free The Maya Codex by Adrian D'Hagé Page A

lawyer, was waiting for him in the otherwise eerily quiet Chancellery.
    ‘It was a grave mistake to take a plebiscite to the people, Herr Bundeskanzler.’
    ‘The people were asked whether or not they wanted a free, independent Austria, Ja oder Nein,’ von Schuschnigg responded angrily.
    ‘Hitler is furious. He sees it as an act of betrayal, a broken promise.’
    ‘You seem to have a direct line to Berlin,’ von Schuschnigg observed icily.
    ‘These are difficult times. I’m merely trying to achieve what is best for the Austrian people.’
    ‘We’re all trying to achieve that. And as far as promises go, I seem to remember we had an agreement with Herr Hitler that he would respect Austrian independence.’
    ‘He will still hold to that, Herr Bundeskanzler, but on one condition.’
    ‘Which is?’
    ‘You are to resign and I am to take your place,’ Seyss-Inquart replied bluntly, his face inscrutable.
    ‘Anything else?’ von Schuschnigg growled.
    ‘I can assure you such a move will save a lot of bloodshed. It is for the good of the Austrian people and for them alone.’
    ‘That is your view. I will give you my answer directly.’

    The young women in the basement of the main telephone exchange in Vienna were keenly aware that something was afoot. For three hours, in a flurry of activity, they’d connected the President and the Bundeskanzler to some of the most important people in Austria and Europe. By early afternoon, von Schuschnigg and President Miklas had both given way to the inevitable.
    Von Schuschnigg stared pensively out his office window at the snowy courtyard. Perhaps the agreement to restore some prominent Nazi officers to their posts in the police force had been a mistake, he thought grimly. The Chief of Police had warned him the government could no longer rely on its own police force. The army would fight, but von Schuschnigg knew they would eventually be overwhelmed. The cost in young Austrian lives would be horrific. It would be better, he’d assured the President, to accede to the German Führer’s wishes.

    Her boutique devoid of customers, and she herself fearful for the safety of both Levi and her children, Ramona listened to the radio with growing disbelief.
    ‘The roads are lined with huge crowds anticipating the arrival of the Führer,’ the announcer crowed. ‘In every town the swastika of the Third Reich flies regally from the Rathaus and other community buildings.’
    Hitler’s massive six-wheel Mercedes crossed the Inn River at Braunau at 3.50 p.m. on the twelfth of March, flanked by a large motorcycle escort and a motorised armed guard. The convoy sped beneath the towering snow-capped Alps, slowing at the towns.
    ‘People are cheering and waving to the German Chancellor as he heads towards Linz, and then on to Vienna,’ the radio announcer continued, ‘where over a half a million people are expected to gather in the Heldenplatz , the Heroes’ Square.’
    How could the Austrian people be so stupid, Ramona wondered incredulously.

    Hitler’s driver eased the Mercedes into the Heldenplatz behind a German infantry band playing ‘In Treu Feste’. Hitler stood in the open back and raised his hand. The crowd went wild.
    ‘Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!’
    The beat was primeval, echoing ominously off the historic walls of the Hapsburg Palace. Huge red-and-black swastika banners flew from the palace, the Rathaus, the balcony of the Imperial Hotel and the Burgtheater. The crowd was still chanting as Hitler walked onto the palace balcony, placed both hands on the edge and looked down onto the sea of people below. Hitler was home. He moved in front of the microphone and held up his hand. The vast crowd fell silent.
    ‘Years ago I went forth from this country, and I bore within me precisely the same profession of faith which today fills my heart! Judge the depth of my emotion when after so many years I have been able to bring that profession of faith to its fulfilment.’ His