Chapter Twenty Six

T4

White expressionless faces, black uniforms, gleaming Schmeisser MP-40 submachine guns, slips of scarlet on arm-bands formed a flat abstraction which Frank actively composed in order to distance himself from the terror threatening to coalesce from the air in his lungs. Herr Handkerchief paused before a mahogany door, the heavy wood made heavier by a sheet of black iron that was bolted to it, covering most of the surface. A rectangle slid aside in the matt area, revealing for a moment an intense synthetic light within. A figure intervened and then Herr Handkerchief stepped away as the door opened.

The room was an operating theatre, furnished with the latest medical technology. The intense illumination was produced by two large banks of lights suspended over a pair of tables. Both tables were occupied by male patients, one of whom was receiving the attentions of a surgeon; working on him with the aid of a nurse of indeterminate gender.

“Just one moment, Herr Kørner,” said the surgeon as he deposited something pink and bloody into a metal tray held by his assistant. He turned and peeled away the mask covering the lower half of his face. “These, Herr Kørner, are degenerate testicles. To be precise they are homosexual testicles. Our friend on the operating platform is an abomination to the Lord, of course, but he is in all other respects pure Aryan. The Fuhrer has decreed that he be given a chance for redemption; therefore I am grafting a pair of heterosexual testicles to his body. It has been shown by my research at the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft that such a procedure will remove the hormones that cause this vile perversion. Our friend will be able to play his proper role in the triumph of the Master-race. There will need to be psychiatric work to help him overcome the self-disgust he will feel; but in all life is good for him. The Fuhrer has offered him a second chance.”

“I was under the impression that the Institute was recently closed, Doctor...?”

“Mühsam, Professor Mühsam. It was closed; in fact Hiller, the administrator, is an enforced guest of this very camp. It was found that those in charge of the Institute were promoting vile practices. Their library of so-called ‘scientific research’ has been burnt. The director has fled the country. I have been entrusted by the Fuhrer himself to carry forward the good work that was done there.”

Frank glanced at the contents of the tray and felt his scrotum tighten around his own degenerate testicles. The professor’s ideas about hormones were absurd, but given the fact that Frank was surrounded by miles of barbed wire and dozens of armed guards he felt it wise to appear to take him seriously. “I am impressed; but I wonder why you have summoned me here. My work takes place at a molecular level.”

“I am aware of this, and I will explain; but you will excuse me if I attend to my presently incomplete patient.”

“Of course.” Frank stood back as Mühsam moved to the other table. With terrifying speed and a precision that was impressive he removed the donor testicles and tied the vas deferens. He neglected to close the scrotum, instead quickly moving back to the recipient and carefully grafting the testicles using minute stitching. Equally fine needlework closed the scrotum and the nurse was entrusted with managing his resuscitation and removal to a recovery ward.

Frank considered the anonymous donor and Mühsam seemed to sense his thought. “A mental defective and of impure race. You are probably aware that this camp has a hygienic function. We harvest that which has value before... before disposing of the body. We are men of science and need not concern ourselves with these matters of house-keeping.” The surgeon leant against a shelf that carried an array of surgical saws. “That last case neatly demonstrates the manner in which we believe you can assist us, Herr Kørner. That young man’s parents are very good people; active in the party and the father has an important position in munitions. Even such exemplary Germans can unfortunately produce a diseased child. Obviously the Aryan race is much less prone to such mutations as others, but sometimes imperfections develop.

“Herr Kørner, we want you to screen the cells of good Germans who fear they may conceive defective children; screen the cells and eliminate the cause of such imperfections. We are primarily concerned with male homosexuality and mental defects. Female homosexuality does not exist, of course. I could make this work attractive to you by stressing the quality of the tools you will be given and the accommodation we will provide here, but we do not require your agreement. The work will commence immediately.”

They left the theatre. The guards no longer trained their guns on him as he passed by, but that made him no less a prisoner. He would have to work on his own liberation as well as Aryan cells. Cologne could have been a mistake.