tier.

"You will proceed to Prague," Richter instructed him, "and lose
yourself in the city. As soon as it is safe, go to Langenau near
Boehmisch-Leipa and report to Frau Anna Suchy.[2] She will give you
further instructions."

Oertel nodded. It was his first important espionage job--assigned to
him after the twenty-five-year-old secret agent had finished his
intensive course in the special Gestapo training school in Zossen
(Brandenburg), one of the many schools established by the Nazi secret
service to train agents for various activities.

After his graduation Oertel had been given minor practical training
in politically disruptive work in anti-fascist organizations across
the Czech border where he had posed as a German emigre. There he had
shown such aptitude that his Gestapo chief at sector headquarters in
Dresden, Herr Geissler, sent him to Czechoslovakia on a special
mission.

Oertel hesitated. "Naturally I'll take all possible precautions
but--accidents may happen."

Richter nodded. "If you are caught and arrested, demand to see the
German Consul immediately," he said. "If you are in a bad predicament,
we'll request your extradition on a criminal charge--burglary with
arms, attempted murder--some non-political crime. We've got a treaty
with Czechoslovakia to extradite Germans accused of criminal acts
but--" The Gestapo chief opened the top drawer of his desk and took a
small capsule from a box. "If you find yourself in an utterly hopeless
situation, swallow this."

He handed the pellet to the nervous young man.

"Cyanide," Richter said. "Tie it up in a knot in your handkerchief. It
will not be taken from you if you are arrested. There is always an
opportunity while being searched to take it."

Oertel tied the pellet in a corner of his handkerchief and placed it
in his breast pocket.

"You are to make two reports," Richter continued. "One for Frau Suchy,
the other for the contact in Prague. She'll get you in touch with
him."

Anna Suchy, when Oertel reported to her, gave him specific orders: "On
August 16 [1937], at five o'clock in the afternoon, you will sit on a
bench near the fountain in Karlsplatz in Prague. A man dressed in a
gray suit, gray hat, with a blue handkerchief showing from the breast
pocket of his coat, will ask you for a light for his cigarette. Give
him the light and accept a cigarette from the gentleman. He will give
you detailed instructions on what to do and how to meet the Prague