TO ORACLE WASHDC
EYES ONLY FOR DDWHO GRAHAM
1. SARNOFF HAS DEVELOPED HIGHLY RELIABLE INFORMATION THAT AT LEAST ONE GERMAN-JEWISH MALE INCARCERATED IN SACHSENHAUSEN CONCENTRATION CAMP WAS RELEASED AND PERMITTED TO LEAVE GERMANY AND PROCEED TO ARGENTINA POSSIBLY VIA URUGUAY FOLLOWING PAYMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF MONEY TO GERMAN AGENT, OR REPRESENTATIVE OF GERMAN AGENT, IN URUGUAY.
"This is from Argentina, right? Judging from that very cute 'Station Chief Aggie' business?" "Right."
"This just came in?" "It was sent at five minutes to four Greenwich time. That's one in the afternoon Buenos Aires time, and eleven in the morning our time. For once the Navy brought it over here in a hurry."
"You're not going to change that 'Aggie' business now that we have a new station chief down there?"
"(a) We don't have a new station chief down there, for one thing, (b) I don't think I'd change it if we did. What's wrong with it?"
"What do you mean we don't have a new station chief down there? What's Delojo?"
"Commander Delojo is the titular station chief," Graham said. "And I have-we have-complied with Roosevelt's order that we identify the station chief to the Ambassador and the FBI, also known as the Legal Attach‚."
"And Frade?"
"Frade is Frade. I was a little vague about who has the actual authority. If the Ambassador and the FBI think Delojo's the station chief, fine. I think we can also safely assume that someone down there will let the Argentines know- by accident or on purpose-that the Naval Attach‚, Delojo, is the OSS station chief. With a little bit of luck, the Argentines may decide he really is, which would take some of the pressure off Frade. But I want Frade running things."
"You can't do that, for God's sake, Alex. You can't be a 'little vague' about who has the actual authority."
"Wait a minute, Bill," Graham said coldly. "After the fiasco your pals caused running their own war down there, we made a deal. So long as I tell you everything I'm doing down there, which is what I'm doing now, Argentina is my pie, and nobody-including you-puts their fingers in it. I either run it, or you get somebody else to run it, and I go back to running my railroad."
Before he went on active duty, Colonel Graham was the president of either the second- or the third-largest railroad in the United States-depending on the factors used to make the determination. While he had a good deal of respect for Colonel Donovan, he was no more awed by him than by any other lawyer who had made a fortune on Wall Street.
"Don't be touchy, Alex," Donovan said.
"Sometimes you have a short memory span," Graham said. "Read on."
Donovan dropped his eyes to the message, and almost immediately asked, "Who's Sarnoff?"
"His name is Ettinger. Detailed to us from the Army's CIC. He's a Spanish Jew whose family had a Berlin branch. Or vice versa. Before he went into the Army, he worked for Dave Sarnoff at RCA. Electrical engineer, and according to Dave, a damned good one."
"Yeah," Donovan said, and resumed reading.
2. SARNOFP HAS REASON TO BELIEVE THAT AS MANY AS SEVERAL THOUSAND JEWS HAVE BEEN RANSOMED. DEVELOPMENT OP INFORMATION IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT. MEMBERS OF REFUGEE AND PREEXISTING ARGENTINE JEWISH COMMUNITIES ARE EXCEEDINGLY RELUCTANT TO TALK, EVEN THOUGH MEMBERS OF REFUGEE COMMUNITY WERE WELL KNOWN TO SARNOFF IN GERMANY, AND ARE AWARE MOST OF HIS FAMILY HAS GONE INTO CONCENTRATION CAMPS.
" 'Several thousand' have been gotten out?" Donovan said. "You believe this, Alex?"
"Ettinger is a very clever fellow," Graham said. "Yeah, I believe it, and so does Cletus Frade, or he wouldn't have sent that."
"If Mr. Hoover has heard anything about this, he hasn't felt the urge to say anything about it to me," Donovan said.
"Or anybody here I asked-at least anyone here who felt I had the need to know," Graham said.
Donovan dropped his eyes to the message again.
3. INFORMATION DEVELOPED SO FAR INDICATES RANSOM OPERATION (HEREAFTER LINDBERGH) OPERATING WITH SACHSENHAUSEN (POSITIVE) AND BELSEN (PROBABLE) BUT SARNOFF BELIEVES OTHER (PERHAPS ALL) CONCENTRATION CAMPS MAY BE INVOLVED.
4. INASMUCH AS VACUUM HAS CLOSE TIES TO BUENOS AIRES JEWISH COMMUNITY STRONG POSSIBILITY EXISTS THAT VACUUM IS AWARE OF LINDBERGH. POSSIBILITY EXISTS THAT FURTHER INVESTIGATION BY SARNOFF MIGHT HINDER VACUUM INVESTIGATION. REQUEST DIRECTION.
"Vacuum is Hoover, right?" Donovan asked. "The FBI?"
"Right," Graham said. "As in Hoover vacuum cleaner, sucking things up down there. That very cute code name was your idea, as I recall."
This earned him a dirty look from Donovan, who for a moment seemed about to respond, then changed his mind and resumed reading.