FOREST

 Early February 1944 

The ’forest’ would be used to kill him -- Black Forest.

One of the first plans to assassinate him was to bomb the special train that he travelled in.

They had extensive experience of derailing trains using explosives. 

However, they had to drop this plan as his schedule was too irregular and unpredictable: stations were informed of his arrival only a few minutes beforehand.

They have to scrap this plan.

Another plan was proposed.

Put some tasteless but lethal poison in the drinking water supply on the special train. However, this plan was considered too complicated. This was also scrapped.

The ’black forest’ plan that came up was a brainwave of the youngest in the room.

It was doable. 

It would need an inside man but it was doable. 

All six hands went up in unison. The decision was unanimous. 

Her plan could be executed. 

They would use the black forest plan.

Cyanide would have to be used.

The word is derived from the Greek kyanos, meaning dark blue, as a result of its being first obtained by the heating of the pigment known as Prussian blue.

Cyanide sometimes is described as having a “bitter almond” smell. It had a close resemblance to kirschwassers.

This “bitter almond” resemblance to kirschwassers helped make the connection.

The best kirschwassers have a refined taste with subtle flavours of cherry and a slight bitter-almond taste that derives from the cherry seeds. They would lace the kirschwasser in the kitchen with cyanide.

He loved his black forest and would indulge in it on 20th April.

His special day.

His birthday..

Most of you must have guessed right.

He was the leader of the Nazi Party becoming Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and then assuming the title of Fuhrer und Reichshanzler. 

The target was Austrian born Adolf.

Adolf Hitler.

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The five men and the lone lady around the table were well acquainted with assassination failures.

They and others had tried earlier but failed. The most recent was the failed time bomb on his flight.  

A time bomb camouflaged as a package of two liqueur bottles was given to an officer in Hitler's entourage, as a supposed gift to a friend in Germany. 

On the return flight over Poland, the bomb was supposed to explode. The package was placed in the hold of the aircraft, where it iced up, causing the detonator to fail. 

Realizing the failure, one of them immediately flew to Germany and recovered the package before it was discovered.

They also remembered an earlier plot. A few years back Hitler and several members of his staff fell ill after dining at the revered Kaiserhof hotel in Berlin. Poisoning was suspected, but no arrests were made. Hitler himself seemed least affected by the alleged poisoning, possibly due to his vegetarian diet 

Speculation was that Hitler's vegetarianism may have 

been for health reasons. 

Yes -- Hitler was a vegetarian. 

They could not fail this time. 

The Black Forest should help them succeed. 

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Black Forest gateau consists of several layers of chocolate sponge cake sandwiched with whipped cream and cherries. A claim that has not been substantiated was that Josef Keller a confectioner

claimed to have invented Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte in its present form in 1915 at the prominent Café Agner in Bad Godesberg, now a suburb of Bonn about 500 km (310 mi) north of the Black Forest.

Traditionally, kirschwasser, a clear spirit made from sour cherries, is added to the cake. German law mandates that any dessert labelled Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte must have kirschwasser.

They knew that Hitler loved to indulge in his desserts.

He ate prodigious amounts of cake. It is said that this cake eating was responsible for a slight digestive disorder and his already not too fortunate figure.

The Black forest would be irresistible.

Another thing which would ensure that he ate the poisoned cake first was his break from universal birthday tradition .

Normally after ‘Happy Birthday’ is sung, the birthday girl or boy will cut into the cake first. They will then cut a small piece of cake and feed it to each guest by hand, usually starting with closest family members, then moving on to everyone else. Once everyone has had a bite, family and guests then take turns in feeding the birthday girl or boy in return. 

Being the pompous man that he was, he expected to be fed the cut piece of cake first. This had been noticed year after year, birthday after birthday.

So this routine would ensure that once the birthday cake was cut he would be the first who would taste it.

The poison would kill him instantly.

If they were lucky, as he celebrated with his inner core of trusted men, with this plan they could kill a few others who had a taste of the cake as well.

The poisoned Black Forest.

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18th April 

The Wolf's Lair

The top-secret, high-security site lay in the Masurian forests about eight kilometres east of the small East Prussian town of Rastenburg. Three security zones surrounded the central complex where the Führer's bunker was located. These were guarded by personnel from the SS-Begleitkommando des Führers, Reichssicherheitsdienst and the Wehrmacht's armoured Führerbegleitbrigade. 

The insider had managed to slip in the vial of cyanide into the complex. His handlers had managed to get him assigned to the pastry kitchens.

He worked as a kitchen porter helping out cleaning and moping out the back areas and the kitchens. He never had access to the prime locations that were used by the higher echlons of the group. 

In fact he never saw areas outside the cellars and bakery section that he worked.

He had arrived a week back and had been whisked through security. A small vial holding drops of cyanide had been cleverly smuggled in by him inside a loaf of bread he was holding.

Nobody bothered to tear open the loaf or else the vial would have been detected.

The Furhers birthday was in two days and a elaborate lunch was being organised for him. The activity in the kitchen was crazy. The bakery and pastry chefs were busy carrying out their production for the lunch celebrations.

The centre of attraction would be the Black Forest birthday cake that would be cut by Hitler.  

As he went about his night routine of cleaning, deep in the cool dark cellars of the kitchen, his eyes fell upon the row of glass bottles . A bottle containing kirschwassers had been kept aside for the birthday cake by the chef. The elderly chef had earmarked it with a hand scribbled note dangling on a string tied around the bottle of it's slim neck. 

The words ’kirschwassers zum Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte’ were barely legible. 

Siezing the opportunity he opened the bottle and emptied out the contents of the vial into the Kirsch. Giving it a a good shake he left the bottle, as it was, back on the shelf. The clear, colorless brandy  traditionally made from double distillation of morello cherries, a dark-colored cultivar of the sour cherry now had an additive.

Cyanide!!

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20th April

He watched as the chef in the kitchen meticulously layered the sponge, whipped cream and cherries.

He watched as the earmarked bottle was brought up from the cellar to the kitchen . He recognised the writing on the tag hanging from the neck.

As he mopped the floor he felt a flutter as he saw the elderly chef open the Kirsch bottle and generously pour the tainted liqueur into the cake. The chef then went about decorating the top and the sides. It was decorated with additional whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and chocolate shavings.

The cake would be ready in time for the lunch celebrations.

Hitler stood along with ten of his confidants. It was a joyous mood.

Everyone was satiated as it was a delectable spread. They had just finished a sumptuous main course and were getting ready for the cake cutting.

Bondi lazed in one corner of the room. He also had eaten well.

Eva Braun, Hitlers companion, was gurgling with energy as she orchestrated the rolling of the trolley carrying the beautifully decorated Black Forest birthday cake. A shining silver knife sat on the trolley with a ribbon neatly tied around it's handle.

Hitler picked up the knife and cut the cake as they wished him ’Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag’

With all the sudden commotion Bondi, Hitler’s pet, suddenly woke up and jumped. He lunged forward and fell straight in the middle of the celebrations.

The huge German Shepherd, fell on the trolley and toppled it over. All watched in aghast as the cake flew up in the air and came shattering on the ground.

Another cake, a chocolate cake, was hastily brought up and the celebrations continued. 

The cleaners came and cleared the mess. The damaged black forest found itself tilted into the rubbish bin.

Along with the rest of the garbage it was transported into a pit in the middle of the deep forest.

Next morning a dead hyena lay in the pit. The scavenger had entered the pit searching for food and must have unknowingly eaten the poison. 

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There is a  thing about forests. 

Unheard by human ears they told each other secrets. They keep secrets. 

This was a secret that got buried here in the forest of The Wolf's Lair

The trees here could be heard whispering and sighing among themselves.

It was a story about a failed assassination. 

It was about Adolf Hitler and the Black Forest!

Image credit -- Internet