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“Where are they getting these poor people?” Rossi asked softly.
“Sturmbannführer Müller of the SD—”
“The Sicherheitsdienst?”
Napoli nodded.
Rossi knew the reputation of the SD, the SS’s intelligence branch. They were ruthless in the execution of their job: to take out any threat to the Nazis.
“—he has ordered them brought in from the island prisons.”
“That’s where they took town leaders who opposed Mussolini. Many were mafia.”
“And many of these here are mafia. Sturmbannführer Müller says the SD, with Il Duce’s blessing, wants to neutralize them. This way, they’re not a possible threat—and they’re no longer ‘useless eaters.’”
Rossi nodded slowly. That was another of the stories he had heard in Rome. As far as the Nazis were concerned, you either actively contributed to the war effort or you were a burden—a useless eater.
“So Müller says at least now they are useful,” Napoli said.
Rossi stared him in the eyes.
“For what? I do not understand why they bring this virus.”
Napoli checked behind them and down the
hallway before responding.
“They’re useful in the preparations for the Americans and British,” he said softly.
Rossi shook his head.
Napoli went on: “There is much talk that they could invade Sicily and then Italy on their way to Germany. As Hitler has not sent many German soldiers here—perhaps cannot send many, as rumors suggest he is stretched thin on other fronts—he needs other methods to defend against such an invasion. And so the few forces that he has sent—Müller, for example—have very short and very mean tempers….”
The two men glanced at the bodies on the gurneys.
Rossi softly finished the thought: “…And they are not at all unwilling to do the unspeakable.”
They stood there a long time before Rossi broke the silence.
“What about Carlo? He would never stand for this.”
A brilliant mathematician and a kind man, Dr. Carlo Modica was, like Napoli, in his seventies, and had served as the head of the University of Palermo for almost ten years. In his specialty as a metallurgist, Rossi had at times worked closely with him.
Napoli put his hands on Rossi’s shoulders.
“Carlo is the reason I felt you had to see this for yourself.”
“You’re not telling me that he is permitting this?”
Napoli stared him in the eyes.
“What I am telling you, Arturo, is that Sturmbannführer Müller made it clear to Dr. Modica that his participation would be in his best interest. Müller said that it would send a good message to others if someone in such a prestigious position participated.”
Rossi’s eyes grew larger.
“With all due respect, I would like to hear Carlo tell me that personally.”
Napoli dropped his hands to his sides.
