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Chapter 21

Fritz Opfenmundt his brain for a long time, measuring, scheming and weighing, to make sure that everything would come out the way he wanted it. He was like a general planning the annihilation of an army and who had already destroyed it in his mind; what remained was the mere butchery-something his soldiers could take care of. When he met Eric he talked about everything under the sun-except Anna. It was the tall Heinz who brought the reports to him. Heinz knew in detail when and where the lovers met, when they quarrelled and when they made up. He knew that Eric and Anna were drawn to each other by some ironic fate that was forcing them into the fury of self-destruction. But he could not wait until the lovers were struck down by their own fatality; he wanted to precipitate their disaster. He had heard that they were going to be married during the coming summer vacation, and this seemed like a sign from heaven to encompass their ruin, before they tasted the temporary delights of married bliss.

Fritz listened to his reports eagerly and agreed with Heinz that the marriage between Eric and the Jewess must be thwarted for the sake of German honor and the purity of Aryan blood.

Addressing Heinz as a sort of subordinate officer, Fritz confided to him that Eric's election as president of the German Club had been the first maneuver in a grand plan