Authors: Leon Uris
He handed her a handkerchief and she dabbed her tears. “Of course, you’re right,” she said. “Frankly, I don’t know who I like better, the old Abe or the new one.”
Lady Sarah, dressed in slacks and mink coat, arrived in her Bentley followed by Morgan carrying a sack of groceries.
She was a cordon bleu chef.
Abe turned tired very suddenly. He lay his head in her lap and she rubbed the back of his neck and his temples with a lovely practiced skill, then she slipped down beside him. Sarah was nearing the line when a woman was suddenly no longer attractive, but she knew how to make the best of what she had. He decided she had not yet crossed the line.
“Christ, I’m tired.”
“You really will be by the weekend. Let’s go to Paris.”
“I can’t. The witnesses will be arriving from Israel. I should be on hand.”
“Paris.”
“I may not be able to resist,” he grunted.
“Don’t worry, love. Things will go better when Tom Bannister gets started.”
“Funny, I haven’t taken my mind off Kelno. Poor bastard. What he’s lived through.”
“It doesn’t justify what he did, Abe.”
“I know. But I keep asking myself if I would have done any differently if I had been in Jadwiga.”
Angela was awakened by a gagging noise. She could see the beam of light from the opened bathroom door and rushed to it. Adam was on his knees vomiting into the toilet. When he was finished she helped him to his feet and he fell against the wall gasping. She cleaned the mess and put him down and applied a cold towel to his clammy forehead and neck.
Then, she medicated him and held his hand until the spasm was gone. The scent of disinfectant flowed in from the bathroom.
“I am afraid of Bannister,” Adam said. “For two days he has sat there never taking his eyes off me.”
“You’re in an English court. He can’t bully you. Sir Robert will watch his every move.”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right.”
“Shhhh ... shhhhh ... shhhh ...”
6
A
BE ENTERED THE NOW
familiar courtroom and for an awkward moment found himself standing next to Angela Kelno and Terrence Campbell. They exchanged hard looks. “Excuse me,” Abe said, and slipped down the row next to Sarah Wydman and Shawcross.
“The plane will be in from Tel Aviv after the weekend, but Alexander said we were not to go out and meet them. We’ll see them in mid-week,” Shawcross said.
Bannister and a very weary appearing Brendon O’Conner filed in with Alexander and Sheila Lamb from the consultation room at the same moment the jury made its appearance. Two of the women and one of the men carried cushions to alleviate the discomfort of the long sit on hard wood.
“Silence!” the usher said.
Gilray entered and the ritual rise and bow was made.
A preliminary announcement was made from the bench. Sir Adam Kelno had received a number of threatening phone calls and Gilray issued a stern warning that it would not be tolerated. Then he told Thomas Bannister to proceed.
Bannister unfolded his legs as Adam Kelno returned to the witness box, seated himself, and set his hands on the rail, thankful his tranquilizer was taking effect. Bannister played with the “fee bag” on his robe.
“Dr. Kelno,” he said in a voice softly contrasting Highsmith’s. The entire tone of the room lowered. “I appreciate the fact that English is not your mother tongue. Please ask me to repeat or rephrase any question you do not follow.”
Adam nodded and slowly sipped from the water glass to moisten his parched throat.
“What is the ordinary medical meaning of the term casus explorativus?”
“Ordinarily it is an operation performed in order to assist in a diagnosis, for example, to see the extent of a cancer.”
“Is that how you would describe the removal of a testicle or ovary?”
“Yes.”
“Sin referring to the left and dex to the right.”
“Yes,” he answered, remembering his instructions to keep his replies brief and not volunteer information.
“Would it not be correct to add that some kind of operation would be performed of this nature as the result of an X-rayed gland.”
“Yes.”
“For example, as part of Voss’s experiments.”
“No,” he said sharply. “I did not experiment.”
“Did you castrate?”
“A castration is done to a healthy man. I never performed a castration.”
“Weren’t healthy men and women forced to be X-rayed?”
“Not by me.”
“Isn’t it the usual practice to obtain the consent of a patient before you operate?”
“Not in a concentration camp.”
“From time to time weren’t there German court orders to castrate a homosexual or other undesirables?”
“I recall no such incidents.”
HE’S FISHING,
Chester Dicks wrote to Highsmith, who nodded to Kelno that he was doing fine. Adam became relaxed by the softness of Bannister’s voice and the seemingly aimless line of questions.
“Had there been such cases, you would have certainly asked to see the court order.”
“I cannot speculate about something that did not happen.”
“But you would have refused to operate on a healthy man.”
“I never did.”
“Dr. Kelno, did any other prisoner/doctors ever leave Jadwiga Concentration Camp to work in private German hospitals.”
“Dr. Konstanty Lotaki.”
“Did he also perform operations in Barrack V in connection with Voss’s experiments.”
“He did what he was ordered.”
“Was he ordered to remove testicles and ovaries?”
“Yes.”
“And he did that and he also left Jadwiga to work in a private German hospital.”
The first brief flush of comfort began to fade from Adam Kelno along with any ideas of an easy time with Bannister. I must be very alert, he thought, think out my answers with great care.
“Now, when you got to Rostock to work in the private clinic, you no longer wore prison clothing.”
“I don’t think high ranking German naval officers would like their wives to be treated by a man in concentration camp stripes. Yes, I was given a suit of clothing.”
“Perhaps, they wouldn’t like being treated by a prisoner,” Bannister said.
“I don’t know what they liked and didn’t like. I was still a prisoner.”
“But a rather special prisoner with special privileges. I am suggesting that you cooperated with Voss to work your passage.”
“What?”
“Would you try again, Mr. Bannister,” the judge interjected. “He does not understand the term.”
“Yes, my Lord. In the beginning you started as a laborer and took beatings and abuse.”
“Yes.”
“Then you became an orderly of sorts.”
“Yes.”
“Then a physician for prisoners.”
“Yes.”
“Then you were placed in charge of a very large medical complex.”
“In a manner of speaking. Under German control.”
“And finally, you became a doctor for German officers’ wives.”
“Yes.”
“I suggest that you and Dr. Lotaki, the only two prisoner/ doctors ever released from Jadwiga, were released for their cooperation with SS Colonel Dr. Adolph Voss.”
“No!”
Bannister stood motionless except for the repeating gesture of rolling his fee bag. He dropped the modulation of his voice even lower. “Who wanted these operations performed?”
“Voss.”
“You knew full well he was experimenting on sterilization.”
“Yes.”
“By X-ray.”
“Yes.”
“In fact, Dr. Kelno, wasn’t the removal of a testicle or ovary the second stage of the same experiment?”
“I am confused.”
“I’ll try to clarify matters. Let’s go through it step by step. These people were all Jews.”
“I believe so. Maybe a gypsy. Mostly Jews.”
“Young Jews.”
“They were young.”
“Exactly when were they brought into Barrack V for surgery?”
“Well, they were all kept in Barrack III as material for the experiments. They were X-rayed in Barrack V and sent back for a month, then returned for the operation.”
“Aren’t you omitting a step?”
“I don’t recall.”
“I suggest that prior to their being X-rayed they were brought to Barrack V and had a piece of wood shoved up their rectums in order to induce an ejaculation and this sperm was analyzed to see if they were potent.”
“I knew nothing about that.”
“Were they shaved before the operation?”
“Yes, they were prepared in a normal way.”
“Did they protest?”
“Of course they were unhappy. I spoke to them and told them it was necessary to save their lives.”
“You testified, I believe, that you were removing dead glands.”
“Yes.”
“How did you know they were dead?”
“It was quite easy to assume by the large radiation burns.”
“And you testified that you were afraid the irradiation could develop into cancer.”
“Yes.”
“So you operated as a doctor fully convinced that what you were doing was for their welfare.”
“Yes.”
“You never said to any of them, if I don’t get yours, the Germans will get mine.”
“I deny these kinds of lies with all my soul.”
“You never said that?”
“No, never.”
“On occasion, you testified to assisting Dr. Lotaki.”
“Maybe a dozen times.”
“Did you ever overhear him say that?”
“No.”
“You have stated a preference for spinal anesthetic.”
“Under the conditions and for this type of operation.”
“And you testified that you gave a pre-injection of morphia.”
“Yes.”
“Even with morphia, isn’t a spinal injection rather painful?”
“Not if given by a skilled surgeon.”
“Why the pre-injection of morphia?”
“To induce a feeling of peace and a state of semiconsciousness.”
“And this was all done by you in the operating room?”
“Yes.”
“Even though there is a screen between the patient’s vision and the area of the operation, I suggest he can see it all from the reflection lamp overhead.”
“Reflection is very distorted as a mirror.”
“So then, you saw no reason to put the patient completely under.”
“I have so many operations of all kinds to do in a single day I must use the quickest and safest method.”
“What was the actual state of these patients?”
“Drowsy and semiconscious.”
“I suggest, Dr. Kelno, they were quite awake because no morphia had been given.”
“I say I gave them morphia.
“Yes. Well now, was Voss present at these operations?”
“Yes.”
“And he told you what he was doing. You were aware he was experimenting to sterilize healthy, potent men.”
“I knew.”
“And of course he was conducting those experiments because at that time no one really knew whether X-ray could or could not sterilize a sexual gland.”
Kelno gripped the rail and balked as Bannister’s trap became obvious. He looked to his counsel quickly but they did not rise.
“Well?” Bannister pressed ever so softly.
“As a physician and surgeon I knew some of the harmful effects of X-ray.”
“I suggest that no one really knew about this. I suggest no work had ever been done in this field.”
“Voss may have consulted with a radiologist.”
“I suggest not. I suggest that no radiologist can tell what dosage of radiation will sterilize a potent man because no such work has been done in that field.”
“Any medical man knows radiation is harmful.”
“If this were known, then why was Voss carrying on his experiments?”
“Ask Voss.”
“He’s dead but you, Dr. Kelno, were closely associa
t
ed with him when he was doing this. I suggest that Voss wanted to know how much radiation was needed to sterilize a healthy man because he didn’t know and no one else knew, and I suggest he told you what he was doing, and I suggest you didn’t know either. Now, Dr. Kelno, what was done with the removed testicles?”
“I don’t know.”
“Weren’t they, in fact, taken to a laboratory to ascertain if they were potent or not.”
“Perhaps.”
“I suggest that the removal of such testicles was the second step in the experiment.”
“No.”
“But when these men were X-rayed, the experiment wasn’t over, was it?”
“I operated to save lives.”
“Concern for cancer? Who did the X-ray?”
“A German medical orderly by name of Kremmer.”
“Was he quite skilled?”
“He was not very skilled and that is why I feared cancer.”
“I see. Not too skilled. He was hanged for what he did, was he not?”
“I am going to object to that,” Sir Robert said, bouncing up.
“Objection sustained.”
“What became of Corporal Kremmer?” Bannister pressed.
“I object, my Lord. My learned friend is clearly trying to implicate Sir Adam as a willing accomplice. He was not a Nazi and he did not volunteer in this work.”
“The nature of my question, my Lord, is completely in order. I am suggesting that these operations were part and parcel of the experiments and therefore experimental surgery. Others were hanged for their participation in these experiments and I suggest Dr. Kelno need not have performed these operations and did so in order to work his passage.”
Gilray pondered. “Well, we all know by this time that SS Corporal Kremmer was hanged. I ask the jury to receive this information with the gravest reservation. You may continue, Mr. Bannister.”
Sir Robert slipped to his seat slowly as Bannister thanked the judge.
“Now then, you saw these two dozen or so people in your operating room and observed the results of heavy exposure to radiation.”
“Yes.”
“And you testified that Corporal Kremmer was not too skilled and you were fearful of the effects of the X-ray. Is that your testimony?”
“It is.”
“Now, Dr. Kelno, let us say that Corporal Kremmer did not do the X-ray but the most skilled radiologist did it. Wouldn’t there be danger to the partner testicle and ovary?”
“I don’t believe I understand.”
“Very well, let us clarify again. The male testicles adjoin each other in separate compartments but under a fraction of an inch apart. Is that correct?”