Chapter Seven

Broken Dreams

Deutsche Geheime Staatspolizei

Prinzalbrechtstrasse 8, Berlin

2 9 November 1938

My dear Ebert,

I can unfortunately confirm what you were told in Bavaria.

1. Victoria Chesterfield, the Princess von Brunnenstadt, did indeed come to Berlin on the 10th of November. Specifically, she checked into the Adlon Hotel at 14:00 during the afternoon of the 10th of November. She checked out again at 06:00 on the morning of the 11th.

2. John Chesterfield, together with his daughter, crossed the Swiss border at Konstanz at 11:45 am on the 13th of November.

Unfortunately, I have not as yet been able to confirm the current whereabouts of either.

Further to this I have some additional information about Fräulein von Brunnenstadt's actions in Berlin.

1. Berlin police arrested her at 02:15 on the morning of the 11th of November for the crime of attempted suicide.

2. She was released into the custody of her chauffeur, Gerhard Wilhelmsen, at 05:30 of the same morning. The file was marked ‘No further action.’

For your reference I include a copy of the police report.

If you have any further questions, or if I can help in any other way, please do not hesitate in contacting me.

Heil Hitler,

Jan Bock

Berlin Ordnungspolizei

Incident Report: 11/11/38

Officer: Sergeant Emil Muller. 86587

At approximately 02:05 I was approaching the Kaiserhalter foot bridge over the river Spree. In the poor light available I noticed what appeared to be a young woman sitting on the railing. I hailed the individual. This did not have any apparent effect. I continued my approach. The individual toppled forwards into the river and disappeared from my sight. I hurried to the parapet of the bridge and shone my flashlight on the water. I could not immediately see anything other than disturbed water. Then after approximately ten seconds a head appeared in the water. The woman began swimming with some apparent difficulty probably due to the extreme cold, towards the western bank. I hurried off the bridge. At this point the bank is comprised of a high brick wall. The young woman reached the wall but was not able to make any purchase on the bricks due to their slippery condition. The river current was pulling her downstream. I attempted to reach her hand a number of times. But although on one occasion I managed to touch her fingertips I was not able to grasp her hand. Finally, due to exhaustion and the extreme cold of the water the woman slipped under the surface of the water. I made the decision to enter the water in an attempt to effect a rescue. This I did and despite the almost paralyzing cold was able to bring the woman to the surface. Fortunately by this time the current had carried us far enough downstream to be adjacent to some steps that come down to the water’s edge. With considerable effort I was able to pull the young woman out of the water onto the steps.

Initially I believed her to be deceased however after a moment she heaved and coughed and brought up a great deal of water.

Once she finished coughing she uttered one word ‘thank you’ and began sobbing. I asked a citizen who had by now arrived on the scene to summon a vehicle while I remained with the prisoner. When the car arrived I conveyed her to the police station. I now observed the prisoner was a young woman of 18 or 20, blonde hair, blue eyes, slim build and tall, 175 cm. Ensuring the prisoner was provided with a blanket and a warm drink I left her in the charge of Constable Schaefer and went to change my uniform. When I returned I ascertained that Constable Schaefer was behaving inappropriately and reprimanded him. I questioned the prisoner; after some prompting she revealed her identity. She is Victoria Chesterfield, the Princess von Brunnenstadt. After further questioning she admitted attempting suicide. When pressed, she was not very clear, breaking into tears. I finally ascertained that on the previous evening she had arrived unexpectedly in Berlin and had seen her fiance, an SS Sturmbannführer, in compromising circumstances. She said he had betrayed everything their relationship stood for. After deliberation I decided that no good purpose would be served by charging the Princess. It would cause public embarrassment out of proportion with the severity of the crime. Further, a prosecution may also cause embarrassment to the SS due to the misconduct of an officer. Accordingly the Princess was released into the supervision of her chauffeur - Gerard Wilhelmsen, at 05:30.