The Mistery of Belicena Villca Mountaineering , horse riding and survival techniques , separated us from the conventional sports practices carried out by the other student corps of NAPOLA .
It was “ vox populi ” among the students of the “ Selective Body of Oriental Studies ”, that they were training us for future missions in Asia , but no one was able to give news of the character of those .
In 1936 , my third year of studies in a career that lasted four , I was selected for aerial training and transferred to the Flieger H . J . ( Flieger Hitlerjugend ) division of the Hitler Youth specialized in glider flight . However --there were twenty of us under the same conditions-- we were instructed in handling Messerschmitt aircraft and perfected our poor practice with offensive weapons . At that time we also received a course on " The Graal and the Destiny of Germany ” dictated by
SS Colonel Otto Rhan , prestigious scholar in History of the Middle Ages and author in 1931 of the book " The Crusade Against the Graal ".
Finally , came the graduation from the NAPOLA in 1937 and the consequent possibility to channel a successful professional career .
The options offered to graduates ranged from a career in the army or the party , until the incorporation to the administration , the industry , or the academic life . Those who followed nonmilitary careers , attended the University and received their doctorates in Philosophy and Literature / Letters , in Laws , or in Mathematics and Exact Sciences .
Most of the graduates aspired to join the Waffen SS for which they had to undergo rigorous entrance tests . But for the Selective Corp , this entrance was automatic , since the effort that the country deposited in our training had been very great . And besides , we were only ninety graduates who aspired to the degree of Ostenführer of the SS .
It may be thought that a great joy filled everyone , and that was true of my eighty-nine companions . I , on the other hand , felt my happiness tarnished by a strange event that deserves to be mentioned in this story , because of the later implications it had .
Upon completion of the study program , the first promotion of the Selective Corp , – of which I was a part – one of our Professors , Ernst Schaeffer , set about selecting a small group for a " Special operation ". The rumor began to circulate among us that the said operation was actually an important mission in Asia , so there was a consequent state of general excitement . There was no one who did not yearn to participate in the ultra-confidential mission that , it was said , had been entrusted by the Reichsführer Himmler himself .
Professor Ernst Schaeffer taught chairs of Eastern religions , especially Buddhism , Vedism and Brahmanism with singular scholarship , but he was not an SS officer but an Abwer officer , the Secret Service of Admiral Canaris . For this reason the conjectures indicated that the mission in Asia would be an espionage operation , perhaps in India or Russia .
Our small group of Flieger pilots – H . J . had not been included in the selection for some reason that we ignored and , although the rigid internal discipline demanded absolute obedience and subordination , I did not believe I was breaking any regulation if I volunteered . I did not know the destination of the mysterious mission , but the enthusiasm for being admitted made me think that the knowledge of ten oriental languages would be a good argument to achieve my purposes .
In accordance with this conviction , one day I went to meet Ernst Schaeffer . He was in a classroom with a group of six comrades from the Selective Corp , giving them some kind of instruction . A single glance at the blackboard , where the prints of human bodies covered with lotus flowers hung , was enough for me to know that he gave explanations on the ancient Physiological concepts of the Tantra Yoga .
The disgusted look on his face when he saw me was like a presage that I had been wrong in assuming that the Professor could include me in his plans . Despite my bad feeling , I decided to play my card . – Heil Hitler , --I said for all salute . – What do you want Von Sübermann ? – he said ignoring the political greeting . – Pardon me Herr Professor . I have learned that you select personnel for an important mission in Asia , and while I don ' t know much about it , I would like to be considered for inclusion . That is , I volunteer .
– You Von Sübermann ? --he was looking at me sharpening his eyes , with a cynical expression . And why do you want to go to Asia Von Sübermann ?
– I think Herr Professor has not understood me . I wish to be useful to the fatherland and this is one way to show it . Perhaps my knowledge of Middle Eastern customs and languages , may serve your mission . Or my pilot ' s license . Or the languages of the Far East . I have the will to serve and that ' s why I offer myself --I said with conviction .
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