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‘That’s very insightful of you.’
‘Well, it’s obvious. That girl is many things, but stupid is not one of them. She’s got a sharp intellect, and is using that paper, just as they are using her. I’m sure she won’t stay long…’
‘Well, I think she and Peter make an unlikely pair.’
‘I think it will be good for her,’ said Viktor. ‘It’s probably exactly what she needs.’
On the final day of evidence, the courtroom was packed. The atmosphere was electric, as first the judges and then the defendants filed back into court.
Hitler was allowed to make a final statement. Once again he spoke with passion, as if addressing the entire courtroom:
‘The hour will come when the masses who stand in the streets under our swastika flag will unite with those who fired at us on November eighth…the army we have formed is growing from day to day.’
A murmur of approval rippled around the spectators. Hitler continued, his voice rising with emotion as he made his final plea to the assembled court.
‘Even if you pronounce us guilty a thousand times, the eternal goddess of the eternal court of history will smilingly tear up the proposition of the prosecutor and the verdict of the court: she will acquit us!’
The courtroom erupted into thunderous applause. The spectators in the gallery leapt to their feet and cheered, while those seated in the courtroom below surged forward, desperate to shake hands with the man in whom so many had placed their faith.
The journalists looked on in astonishment. ‘My God…’ murmured Leila, ‘they really love him, don’t they?’
Peter reached across, squeezed her hand and whispered back: ‘One day they’ll realise their monumental mistake.’
As the spring sunshine streamed through the large windows of the courtroom, the judge called for order, announcing that he would defer sentencing for five days.
Edmund Goldschagg immediately leapt to his feet and pushed past the others towards the end of the row. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘but I must get back and start work.’
Minki, Leila and Peter filed out of the courtroom and stood together outside in the street.
‘Shall we have a drink?’ asked Leila.
‘Not today,’ replied Minki, ‘I’ve got to be somewhere.’
‘So have I, I’m afraid,’ added Peter.
Slightly dispirited, but not surprised by the refusal, Leila turned to leave. When she got to the end of the street, she looked back. Minki and Peter were kissing passionately.
Returning to the office, Leila found the newsroom in an uproar.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked.
‘The authorities have banned us from going to press until after the sentencing. We’re too left-wing, apparently,’ said Julius Zerfass.
‘Can they do that?’
‘It seems they can,’ he replied. ‘They’ve also banned an extreme right-wing paper here in Munich – which was even-handed of them, I suppose. They’re scared of whipping up dissent, apparently.’
‘It’s a disgrace, an absolute disgrace!’ Martin Gruber shouted across the newsroom, before retreating to his office and slamming the door.
Through the glass window of his office, the reporters watched as he and Edmund, along with the chief editor Erhard Auer, paced the room, locked in what looked like a fierce debate.
Leila dutifully wrote up her notes and placed them on Edmund’s desk.
‘Go home,’ Julius told her. ‘There’s nothing more we can do here. It’s not the first time this has happened. We’ve walked this sort of tightrope before. The last time was just after the war. Then it was the communists demanding we cease our work. It’s absurd really – all we want to do is tell the truth. But don’t worry, Leila. The ban will be lifted in time for the sentencing and that’s all that really matters.’
With no work to do, Leila spent the weekend with Viktor. The bars and cafés of Munich were filled with people discussing the trial, and the couple couldn’t avoid eavesdropping on the neighbouring tables over lunch. To their surprise, they found there was a huge groundswell of support for Hitler and his fellow defendants.
Strolling through town in the late afternoon spring sunshine, they passed the Hofbräuhaus. A poster outside announced a cabaret starring the famous comedian Weiss Ferdl.
