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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
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WHEREVER THEY MAY BE © 1972, The
Beate Klarsfeld Foundation |
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Back |
Page 146 |
Forward |
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