For an Ss Treasure

Michael Kiker

Description

From the hell of Berlin as it fell at the end of WW2, follow the trail of a treasure of Nazi SS gold bullion to Indochina. Smuggled out of Berlin, as it fell to the Russian Red Army in 1945 by 5 young SS officers, who end up joining the French Foreign Legion, the gold is lost in South Vietnam.
In 1968, after he is given a map to find the lost SS treasure, Mike Bennett returns to South Vietnam to search for the lost gold and his lost love. To succeed in this mission Bennett must fight the enemy from the North and battle the demons of the past to find the SS Treasure.

Sujets

• Military
• War
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris AU
• Date de parution: 13 février 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669886969
• Langue: English

Extrait

For An SS Treasure








Michael Kiker



Copyright © 2023 by Michael Kiker.

ISBN:
Softcover
978-1-6698-8697-6
eBook
978-1-6698-8696-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.





Rev. date: 03/03/2022





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CONTENTS
Chapter 1 The Treasure
Chapter 2 The Legion
Chapter 3 Srp In Indochina
Chapter 4 The Temple
Chapter 5 The Battle Of Bac Kan
Chapter 6 Saigon 1968
Chapter 7 Getting To The Temple

About The Author



CHAPTER ONE
THE TREASURE
H uge bombs rained down on the city of Berlin, as they had done for weeks. A glowing orange aura stretched across the clear night sky, as what was left of the once beautiful old city burned.
The relentless daily air raids, carried out by the Allied Armies, had destroyed most of the centre piece of Nazi German’s empire. And now a brutal ground battle for the control of Berlin had begun.
The shells that now fell on the city came from long range artillery pieces of the Russian Army, which was slowly closing in on a final victory over Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich, Nazi Germany.
The war was as good as over and Ernst Kruger, a Major in the Waffen-SS, knew this better than most.
He was a tall, strong, and immensely proud young German with almost white blond hair, shaved short up the back and sides of his noble head. With a strong square jawline, sapphire blue eyes, and a tanned face, he had the striking good looks of an Aryan God.
His blue eyes looked out from under the short black brim of his Waffen-SS officer’s cap. In the centre of the cap, above the brim, was the recognisable silver scull emblem of the notorious Waffen-SS.
Ernst wore the rank of Major with pride on the dark grey jacket of his SS uniform, which fitted his strong, well-built body like a glove. The dark grey trousers of his uniform ballooned out above knee-high black leather riding boots, which were far from the immaculately polished leather they had once been.
His uniform was coated with a film of dust and grime and stained with sweat from fighting the Russians for days on the streets of the devastated city of Berlin.
Just above the left breast pocket of his jacket, he wore the ribbons of the medals he had earned fighting for his beloved Fatherland. Just below the ribbons he wore the most important of his decorations, the Nazi Iron Cross, won for his bravery in deadly battles around Greece early in the war.
Ernst was standing outside a huge vault in the basement of the Deutsche Bank, on Friedrich Straze in Berlin. He was fumbling with a cluster of large keys. One of the keys would open the lock of an iron bar gate that barred entry to the bank’s huge underground vault. The vault was filled with wooden pallets stacked high with gleaming 400-ounce bars of Nazi gold bullion.
The gold shimmered brightly in the light of kerosene-burning lanterns held up high by two of his four companions, who crowded in close behind him.
Ernst was in the bank’s basement with four other young SS officers. They had been friends since they were conscripted from Berlin University in 1939, just after the start of the Second World War.
Ernst Kruger had been studying economics when his conscription papers arrived, requiring him to join the mighty German Army.
Standing close behind Ernst was his closest friend at university, Hans Muller, who had been studying Engineering when his papers arrived.
Hans was a tall, well-built, proud young German, with blond hair, cut in a similar style to Ernst. He to, had blue eyes and strong Aryan features. He had been drafted into the army and now stood a few feet behind Ernst holding five empty German military-issued field packs. On his uniform he wore the ribbons of his medals, and the rank of Captain.
After their initial officer training, the two friends were both inducted into the Waffen-SS as Lieutenants, where they met the other three young men standing with them at the gate to the bank vault, and the stacks of gleaming gold.
Standing to the right of Hans was Dieter Schneider, who had been a political activist at university where he was studying political science, before he happily joined the German Army and was inducted into the Waffen-SS.
Dieter was a staunchly loyal soldier to the Fatherland and the Waffen-SS and a fearlessly loyal friend to his four SS comrades. He stood six feet tall with striking Aryan features, short blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He also wore his medal ribbons on his grimy uniform jacket and the rank of Captain.
One of Captain Schneider’s more important tasks, within the Waffen-SS, was to gain intelligence from captured soldiers or German citizens. Over the years of loyal service, he had become a master in interrogation. He had developed and perfected many forms of torture to gain valuable information. Many of his information-gathering sessions ended badly for the person or persons who Dieter thought were withholding information. He was ruthless and it seemed without remorse.
After the death of a prisoner he had been interrogating, usually in excruciating pain, Dieter would slip a playing card into a pocket, if they were wearing clothes, or between their buttocks if they were naked. The cards became a calling card or warning that Captain Dieter Schneider was responsible for the death.
On the back of the playing cards was the infamous zig zag SS symbol of the Waffen-SS, printed in black on a red background. The zig zag SS was above a skeleton and cross bones SS symbol, printed in white.
Dieter purchased twenty decks of fifty-two playing cards when he first joined the SS and as the war went on, he had used almost half, tagging each of his victims with a card.
Ralf Meyer stood just behind Hans and held one of the lanterns high above his head, giving light to Ernst as he fiddled with the keys and the gate lock.
Ralf was the oldest son of a very wealthy Berlin family and was also studying economics but was a year behind Ernst when he was drafted and allocated to the SS.
He looked different to Ernst, Hans and Dieter with dark hair and fair skin. He was slightly built and stood just less than six feet tall. He was a Lieutenant and his filthy uniform hung untidily from him and looked as though it had not been cleaned or touched by an iron for weeks.
Ralf was well known within the SS as a soldier who had the handy knack of acquiring items that were needed. When he had the chance to spend time with his friends, Ralf would supply the alcohol and food for the parties the five young officers would throw.
The limit to what Ralf could get his hands on was almost limitless. On one occasion when he and his four friends were to spend a few days together in the city of Bordeaux France, Ralf acquired a small marquee and filled it with tables, chairs, food, and fine wine.
The party lasted three days and by the end of the three days the five SS officers had entertained many high-ranking German officers and most of the young women of Bordeaux.
Franz Becker was the fifth member of the group and held the other lantern, waiting impatiently as Ernst tried each key of the cluster in the lock of the vault gate. Franz was the shortest of the group and wore the rank of Lieutenant. He had ginger hair with a freckled face and looked boyish next to his companions.
He had not taken to soldiering well but would never let his friends or the Fatherland down in battle. He was the youngest of the five soldiers and had only just commenced his university studies, in business, when he had been drafted.
Franz’s father had been a greatly decorated German war hero of the First World War. Franz tried his best to live up to the memory of his father and was given many privileges most other soldiers did not receive. Although he tried hard, he was a great disappointment to his beloved father.
All five young officers in the bank’s basement were dressed in the dark grey uniform of an SS officer and had served together throughout the war in various positions within the Waffen-SS.
They spent as much time as they could together throughout the war years, when time and location permitted. They all enjoyed time away from their jobs and the war; drinking, womanising, and having a good time together.
They were all wearing field webbing with two canvas pouches at the front and water bottle holders on their hips, attached to the webbing harnesses. The front pouches were filled with magazines crammed with 9mm ammunition for their MP 40 submachine guns, slung across their chests, and Luger pistols holstered on their right hips.
The water bottles in the holders on their webbing were filled and they had food in small bum-bags at the rear of their webbing; enough to get them through the next few days.
And now, as the city was being destroyed above them, they stood around Ernst and waited for him to find the correct key to open the gate and allow them access to the precious gold withi