While it didn’t come as a huge surprise, when the call came to summon him to the SMAD in Karlshorst Werner was visibly shaken.
As the vehicle stopped in front of the building, he stepped out with trepidation. Werner had been here many times and always found the building impressive, but today it looked dark and threatening. He suppressed a shudder and walked inside, where he was told to wait.
Several minutes later, a soldier came and said, “General Sokolov is ready to see you.”
Sokolov sat at his monumental desk, looking down the table with six chairs in front of him. Five chairs were already occupied: chief-of-police Markgraf, SED head Gentner, two men from the NKVD and Kurt Lang, Werner’s successor at the education department.
An acute awareness took hold of Werner and he felt his pul
