A second session convened on October 30. Klop picked up three Germans from the frontier and drove them about 150 miles to Best’s business office in The Hague. In addition to “Grosch,” the mufti-clad visitors were “Captain Schämmel” and “Colonel Martini.” The latter actually was Max de Crinis, head of the psychiatric division of Berlin’s leading hospital, posing
as the elusive dissident general’s representative. “Schämmel,” wearing a monocle like the real captain whose name he borrowed, was none other than Schellenberg, who took charge of the Ger-man side of the discussions.

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The two sides, acting on instructions from the highest levels of their respective governments, agreed on a united anti-Communist front, conditional on a change of leadership in Germany. A document was drafted, according to which the Reich would relinquish most of its conquests in return for regaining its former overseas colonies lost after World War I. Nearly four hours of talk were followed by a sumptuous dinner at Best’s home and a drive to a villa where the Germans would spend the night. During a final get-together the next morning, the Germans were given a transmitter-receiver, with codes, so that they could communicate directly with MI-6 in The Hague. When the Germans tried to use the radio set from their base of operations in the Rhine city of Düsseldorf, however, they found it was too weak. They were able to make radio contact on November 2 using a stronger German instrument, and began to exchange progress reports with the British.

Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain informed the British war cabinet of the alleged peace talks with the Germans on November 1. The First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, saw these talks as efforts toward further appeasement and objected vehemently. In Berlin, too, there was uneasiness about the sting operation, and there were reports of other peace feelers. Hitler, his ego perhaps bruised by all this talk about ousting him, was on the verge of putting his foot down to show the world he had no opposition within Germany. The Führer was also preparing to launch his Western offensive (initially set for mid-November). Hitler’s objections, and the realization that the risky operation could go on for only so long without showing results, caused Heydrich to decide to kidnap Best and Stevens. It would be a great propaganda coup to coincide with Hitler’s invasion of the West. As things turned out, the timing of the kidnapping was determined by an attempt to assassinate the Führer, but, in the meantime, Heydrich had organized his strongarm team.

Alfred Naujocks, described by one historian as “a sort of intellectual gangster,” would help coordinate the kidnapping of the British agents. No stranger to Hitler’s dirty tricks, Naujocks was a charter member of the SD and had led the “Polish” attack on the German border radio station at Gleiwitz on August 31, 1939. Although this was only one of numerous incidents drummed up to justify the invasion of Poland, Naujocks gained a reputation as “the man who started World War II.”

For the kidnapping plan, Naujocks selected a dozen men he had worked with in the past, and they drove to Düsseldorf. Informed of this new development, Schellenberg, whom Naujocks considered a “namby-pamby, pasty-faced little man,” was clearly disturbed. He was convinced that the British were completely taken in by the sting and that it could lead to bigger prizes. He had just recruited a Nazi industrialist to pose as the dissident general, and a trip to London was in the offing. Moreover, Schellenberg had taken a liking to this game of wits with MI-6. In any case, a new meeting with the British had been arranged for 2 p.m. on Tuesday, November 7.

Lieutenant Klop chose the site, the Café Backus in Venlo, which was on Dutch soil but in the no-man’s-land between the Dutch and German frontier stations. Schellenberg and Christensen made the hour-long drive from Düsseldorf to the cafe for a session that was nothing more than a stalling maneuver while Schellenberg tried to talk his bosses into continuing the sting. The two parties agreed to another meeting the following day, one which the supposed anti-Hitler general would attend before accompanying the British to London. There, the talks would proceed at a higher level. Berlin vetoed the London trip. Schellenberg, wondering how to explain arriving at the November 8 session without his general, nevertheless radioed The Hague to confirm meeting arrangements.

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