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The Holocaust History Project.
The Holocaust History Project.

WHEREVER THEY MAY BE
© 1972, The Beate Klarsfeld Foundation
 
 
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That Sunday we inspected all the sites and practiced our moves. We left the apartment, each car following the other, with David at the wheel of the R-16 and I at the wheel of the Mercedes. Immediately we lost each other in the traffic. A half hour later we met back at the apartment, where we agreed that we had to stop being so nervous, and that the success of the operation depended on our ability to keep cool.

We skipped lunch, which greatly displeased Eli. He had an extraordinary and exasperating ability to be completely at ease and think of nothing but inconsequential matters while the rest of us were gradually coming to acknowledge the seriousness and the considerable risk of what we were about to do. We began to be obsessed by the tiniest details. We decided to prepare ourselves psychologically by having each one foresee, and then continually repeat, every move he had to make – moves that would take only a split second.

Now I have some doubts about the thoroughness of our preparations. When the moment came for us to go into action, everything happened exactly the other way.

That day we went to look over the neighborhood where Lischka lived. We decided on the exact spot for action, but we got a little worried, for there were lots of people around. Beate reassured us and explained that this was due to a minor holiday and that on the next day the place would be almost deserted.

To practice capturing our victim and stuffing him into the trunk of the R-16, we went deep into the magnificent forest that surrounds Cologne. We looked for a deserted spot, for obviously we did not want anyone to see us at this kind of game. David played Lischka. The plan was for only three of us to do the actual kidnapping. One of us would have to stay at the wheel and cover the others' movements. One of the three was to grab Lischka under the arms; the other two by the legs. Everyone played his part superbly, and David found himself locked in the trunk in only a few seconds.

That was when I remembered that the key to the trunk was in his pocket.

At the same moment there came a muffled shout from inside the trunk: "I've got the key in here!"

I had a moment of panic. Thank heaven, however, the trunk could be opened by a device on the instrument panel. It would
    
   
 
WHEREVER THEY MAY BE
© 1972, The Beate Klarsfeld Foundation
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