Congressional Floor, U.S. Capitol Building
Washington, DC
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a figure of unwavering resolve, ascended to the podium before the joint session of the United States Congress, ready to deliver a speech that would echo through the annals of history.
“Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, members of the Senate and House of Representatives.
“Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. The United States was at peace with that Nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.” FDR’s voice continued to resonate throughout the chamber as he recounted the treacherous actions of the Japanese Empire.
“I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.”
Roosevelt paused, his gaze sweeping over the sea of faces in the Chamber of the House of Representatives. “Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces—with the unbounding determination of our people—we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God.”
The president’s grip tightened on the podium as he prepared to make his monumental declaration. “I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Empire of Japan.”
With a unanimous vote from every Congressman in the room, the United States took decisive action, entering the tumultuous waters of World War II.
Chapter 63
9 December 1941
The Art of War
Waging War
#3 Victory is the main object of war.
If this is long delayed, weapons are blunted,
and morale depressed.
When troops attack cities, their strength will be exhausted.
Damn! The Japanese brazenly attacked the United States of America—they blatantly disregarded the Council’s commands!
President Roosevelt has thundered forth a declaration of war against Japan. It’s only a matter of time before those Yankee fools set their crosshairs on the Nazis as well and bring this war to its cataclysmic end.
The Final Solution must be enacted and executed without delay. The Vatican must have its future secured. The clock is ticking.
Chapter 64
20 January 1942
Wannsee Conference
Berlin, Germany
Reinhard Heydrich, the formidable director of the Reich Security Main Office, summoned the crème de la crème of the Nazi Party to a clandestine meeting in the tranquil suburb of Wannsee, Berlin. Lieutenant General Hermann Göring had bestowed upon Heydrich the authority to rally these influential leaders, all with the aim of executing the Council’s genocidal mission.
“Another possible solution to the Jewish problem has now taken the place of emigration—that is, evacuation of the Jews to the east . . .” Heydrich’s grumbles rolled across the room, his words piercing the silence. His audience, the Reich elite—more than half of them distinguished with doctorate degrees from prestigious German universities—listened in rapt attention. These men, representatives of various government ministries and members of the SS, were about to be entrusted with a grave task. The SS—the Schutzstaffel Protection Squads—were ready to execute any duty, no matter how morally reprehensible. The Final Solution to the Jewish Question was about to become one of those duties, aided by the Gestapo’s efforts.
Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsführer of the SS handpicked by Hitler himself, rose to his feet. His voice was blanketed in a candid fervor, echoing Heydrich’s sentiments. “It is imperative this mission—this Final Solution—be carried out to its conclusion.”
Himmler, a man whose anti-Semitism ran deep, was eager to see the Jewish population eradicated. His hatred for the Jews was unfathomable, his desire to see them exterminated insatiable.
After hours of intense discussion and probing questions, the fifteen men in the room reached a chilling consensus: the Final Solution to the Jewish Question was to be implemented without delay. Europe’s Jews would be rounded up like cattle and transported by train to one of the 457 extermination camp complexes scattered across Eastern Europe and exterminated.
Chapter 65
24 February 1945
The Art of War
Laying Plans
#20 Hold out baits to entice the enemy.
Feign disorder and crush him.
Adolf Hitler has become an overbearing tyrant that blatantly defies my every command. I have been compelled to renounce our alliance and sever ties with this rebellious despot. Cast adrift from the Vatican’s support, the Third Reich now teeters on the brink of collapse.
The Council graciously accepted my plea to extricate us from any further dealings with Hitler. There is no choice but to put the mission on hold. It shall be resurrected at a more opportune time.
Chapter 66
28 February 1945
Führerbunker
Berlin, Germany
“Destroy it ALL!” Hitler roared, his voice shaking the halls as readily as the bombs that now fell on Germany.
“Every single piece, Mein Führer?” Lieutenant Müller dared to ask.
“Every last one! Leave NO trace behind!”
“Understood, Mein Führer.” The lieutenant departed to carry out the command to annihilate all artwork seized from the Jews, leaving the leader of the Third Reich alone in the depths of the Führerbunker.
The mere thought of the pope betrayal ignited an uncontrollable fury within him. The realization that he had been manipulated all along, positioned as the ultimate fall guy, the sacrificial lamb for this global catastrophe, sent him spiraling. The world had banded together to paint him and his Nazis as tyrants. The grand promises of the Thousand-Year Reich were evaporating before his very eyes.
Where had he faltered? For so long, everything had unfolded just as the pope had foreseen. Hitler’s ascension through the ranks of the Nazi Party. His appointment as Chancellor by President von Hindenburg. His rise to the position of the Führer of Germany. The expansion of the Nazi empire. The conquest of all of Europe. He had been faithful in following every instruction from his mentor. He had dutifully shipped all the gold seized from the Jews to Rome as tribute. What had shifted? What had gone awry?
The horrifying truth was becoming glaringly evident: Hitler was saddled with irrefutable evidence that he and his monstrous regime had ruthlessly looted the Jews of their wealth, their priceless art, and had orchestrated the systematic genocide of an entire race. Unquestionable proof that his Nazis were nothing more than glorified thieves and savages, a far cry from the sophisticated Aryan nation of superior beings he had deluded himself into believing would reign supreme over the world for a millennium. These Nazis, these cold-hearted beings, were numb to the atrocities they committed, their humanity extinguished in the face of their heinous acts.
