The Mistery of Belicena Villca knowledge , denied me ; and thus I fostered the Initiatic Kairos , according to the confirmation made by the Initiates of the Black Order ; then I was Initiated and Konrad Tarstein explained to me the nature of the mission “ First Key ”, such its codified name , and described the faculty that I should use to " close the Gate of Shambhala ", a gate that Ernst Schaeffer proposed to open and that perhaps he was opening in that moment .
Those thoughts , and this possibility , distressed me greatly , and I would tell the truth if I affirmed that even those four days to leave became endlessly long .
The first stage was by plane . We would fly from Berlin to Tanzania on the eastern coast of Africa , stopping in various African countries or colonies of allies of Germany , such as Spain and Italy . In Tanzania , in the region of what was until the First World War the State of Zanzibar , we ' d parachute over the farm of an old German settler family now working for the Secret Service . I had to follow that route because the mission was classified as " ultra-secret operation of the Waffen SS " and because the flight was carried out in a military plane specially adapted for the case : it was a Dornier , or “ flying pencil ”, which had been replaced its classic loading of bombs by supplementary fuel tanks .
In Tanzania , then , we descended without problems both we and the load of weapons and equipment . The settlers had been waiting for us for a long time and they had purchased for us a shipment of cotton threads , in which they hurried to hide the compromising objects . A day later , and wearing an outfit of undoubted Levantine tailoring , very appropriate for the role of Egyptian merchants we were to represent , the settlers led us to the island of Zanzibar in a boat of regular dimensions . In the port was anchored the Italian ship Taranto , which was secretly participating in the operation and would transport us to Dhaka , in North East India .
In Zanzibar our identity completely changed . Both I and the two SS Haupsturmführer , would be from there on " Egyptian merchants ". It was a risky move , since Egypt was in the power of the English , but our passports and forged stories had few flaws and it seemed difficult that we arouse such suspicions as to initiate an investigation . I myself was truly Egyptian and spoke English as well as Arabic , a language that my Comrades also dominated , but not English , which they spoke with a strong German accent . However , if necessary , it would be enough for them to express themselves correctly in Arabic , since in Egypt no one was obliged to know English .
The Taranto crossed the Indian Ocean , with only one stopover in Ceylon , and then it entered the Bay of Bengal bound for Calcutta and Dhaka . Finally it ascended the Dalasseri River , which is an arm of the Brahmaputra , and anchored in front of its left bank , in the port of Dhaka , an important city of what was the Presidency of Bengal Itself , then Province of Bengal , then the Islamic State of eastern Pakistan , and today Bangladesh . The shipment of African thread , with its precious contraband , was disembarked without inconvenience and stored in a warehouse that we rented for this purpose .
We did not plan to stay in Dhaka too long : long enough to sell or exchange the threads for the rich Bengali silks and muslin , stock up on food , and hire porters . Our next goal was the city of Punakha , Winter capital of the Country of Bhutan . There awaited us the SS Standartenführer Karl von Grossen and his assistant , the SS Obersturmführer Heinz Schmidt , both from Division III of the R . S . H . A . 35 , called “ Foreigner Service of Information ” or “ Exterior S . D .". Von Grossen was the head of the " Operation First Key " and , although he had as immediate superiors Schellemberg and
Heydrich , for this mission he was placed under the direct command of the Reichsführer Himmler . He had gone ahead many months ago and maintained , in some strange way , under permanent observation Ernst Schaeffer ' s caravan . He had a reputation as an intelligent and tough man . He had also been a policeman , like my assistants Kloster and Hans , reviewing several years in the Gestapo of Bavaria . Later then he requested the pass to the Exterior S . D . to assert his doctorate in History . He was an expert in the History and Geography of Asia , as well as a specialist in rapid deployment tactics , knowledge that explains why the Reichsführer Himmler chose him to command Operation First Key .
Three days later we left Dhaka for the North , taking a road that skirts the left bank of the Brahmaputra to Bonarpara and then deviates in the direction of Rangpur , the residence of the Rajah of Assam . We were in the Autumn of 1938 and the oppressive climate of those swampy regions , crossed by countless rivers and only suitable for rice cultivation , made us wish the ascent to the high and cold areas of Bhutan . Both SS Haupsturmführer , Hans Lechfeld and Kloster Hagen , marched in front , preceded by fifteen pure Aryan porters , of the Holite Race , with all the cargo ; I closed the
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R . S . H . A .: General Reich Security Directorate ( S . S .).
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