Armageddon_ A Novel of Berlin - Leon Uris [130]
END VICTORY CELEBRATIONS IN BERLIN AND STABILIZE SITUATION
Azov was glad the directive finally came. As a man who lived largely by a sixth sense he felt the rising anger among the officer corps over the rape in Berlin’s streets.
The last time the fires erupted in his stomach was during the offensive in East Prussia. Tens of thousands of German troops had been enveloped and trapped in a pocket and attempted to surrender. Azov was ordered to “liquidate the pocket” on the grounds that the Germans were all suspected of being SS troops. For this task Azov brought in Siberian Cossacks, Mongols, and Tartars. The Germans were first disarmed, then slaughtered. During the ten days it took to complete the unpleasant mop-up Azov’s ulcers burned like the fires of hell.
He made a mock salute to the portrait of Stalin with a second glass of medicine and thought that he should switch portraits with Lenin’s so that he would not have to look at Stalin all day. However, in the Soviet life the ritual of taking down pictures had all sorts of connotations. Portraits that suddenly disappeared signified a person had fallen into disfavor; thus, the portrait switching could be reported by some member of political intelligence and used against him.
Azov had not made up his mind whether he liked or disliked his present exalted position. It was the most important of his illustrious but anonymous career. He would remain a mystery man, an enigma to most everyone in Germany; but as Chief Political Commissar and Advisor to German Affairs his “suggestions” to the Army and the Germans would be carried out to the letter. Indeed, this subdued mansion would be the true capital of the eastern parts of Germany.
Azov was painfully aware that the chance for a grave mistake, a miscalculation or error in judgment was much greater in his present post. He did not fathom the exposed position, had deftly avoided it all his life. His mind was like a delicate sail boat, able to react instantly to the slightest shift in the wind.
In the beginning, three decades ago, Azov had caught the eye of Lenin. In those days the Communists supported their illegal activities largely through hold-ups of banks and other robberies. Azov proved a perfect henchman in these operations; he was drab, but entirely dependable; he executed orders without deviation or regard for others.
After the new regime he worked with both the secret and political police as a liaison to Lenin, remaining on the fringe of the inner circle.
After Lenin’s death he stayed clear of involvement on either side of the power struggle that followed. Sensing ill winds, he shifted his sails toward Stalin without ever really expressing an opinion.
Azov was next sent to re-educate a large section of the Ukraine to the new way of life. There was great hope in the Five Year Plan to modernize industry and later collectivize agriculture of that backward land.
Kulaks, the independent farmers, abounded in his territory. This led to his first ulcer. The Ukrainians were always fired with a nationalistic spirit. The Kulaks wished to be Ukrainians first, had no desire to give up their land, and did not understand socialism. There was massive resistance by the burning of crops and destroying of livestock. Azov commanding Action Squads, Agitators, and the Red Army from Russia stamped down the resistance without mercy. The blood bath and deportations brought the economy to the brink of ruin.
He proved to be utterly merciless. Still a man without an opinion, he carried out the edicts to Sovietize the Ukraine with brutal efficiency. His personal hand sealed the fate of a quarter million people.
Once the resistance was crushed he set about building the secret police, military and Propaganda and political units so that they were controlled by Russians, not Ukrainians.
Azov did his job so well that he was recalled to Moscow as a top deputy of the NKVD. His specialty was obtaining confessions and his pride was that no one ever went to trial without first