Chapter 154: Fog City Conference
Germany's openly raised antisemitic banner received broad approval across Europe.
The wave Jörg had wanted arrived, but it did not come as a few ripples upon the shore. It came as a vast, overwhelming tide.
By the middle of 1930, governments across the continent had found a convenient object upon which to place the blame for their economic suffering. In many smaller European states, Jewish communities became an outlet for public resentment. Officials turned blind eyes as mobs looted ordinary families, while the assets of major Jewish merchants were seized under the name of national emergency.
At first, some newspapers condemned Jörg's policies as violations of private property and human rights. Yet as other governments descended into naked plunder, Germany, absurdly enough, began to appear restrained by comparison.
Pacifists and egalitarians who had once criticized Berlin now spoke of Germany as a symbol of relative civilization.
Its artists remained under strict supervision. Writers could only create within approved circles, and anyone who dared promote Zionist political separatism among German Jews faced imprisonment. Yet ordinary Jewish citizens who renounced separatist organization, accepted German civic identity, and submitted to the state's cultural transformation were treated far better than in most other countries.
Those unwilling to abandon their ethnic identity and political networks gathered almost entirely in Britain.
Across the Atlantic, Hoover believed the United States still needed Jewish capital to maintain competitiveness and preserve jobs. He accepted Jack Morgan's proposed egalitarian strategy and began investigating antisemitic agitation.
The moment the news was published, Hoover's reputation collapsed.
His approval rating fell by fifteen percent almost overnight, and the Republican Party was dragged down with him. At the same time, compensation for retired soldiers remained delayed, and resentment within the Army began to grow.
By October 1930, that resentment reached its peak.
People from all over the country gathered on Wall Street. Streets burned. Financial companies identified on public lists were smashed open, their offices looted and their records scattered into the wind.
The New York police neither dared nor could stop them, because among the crowds were too many veterans.
Hoover, knowing he could only continue betting on Jewish capital, became furious. He ordered the Army to suppress the riots by force.
The result was direct armed conflict.
Wall Street, stitched together with blood and bodies, became a vision of hell.
The riot was suppressed, but the government's credibility died with it. No one treated Washington's orders as sacred anymore. Political organizations rose like mushrooms after rain. The White House was threatened by explosives twice in succession, creating an atmosphere so chaotic that one might almost call it vigorous growth.
Roosevelt, backed by Ford, watched his approval rating soar.
His declaration that Jewish assets would be confiscated to compensate the nation for its losses during the economic crisis received thunderous public support.
At the same time, Anglo-Saxon capitalists swarmed forward like wolves scenting blood. A new American financial bloc, led by Ford, began taking over the Jewish capital being sold off on a vast scale.
It was a perfect demonstration of an eternal truth.
Capital did not die.
It merely changed hands.
With impeachment hanging over his head, Hoover had no choice but to compromise. He promoted Roosevelt to Vice President and sent a special representative to Britain to negotiate the question of Jewish statehood.
Again and again, he promised the public that the Jewish question would be properly resolved. All Jewish people who regarded themselves as a revived nation parasitic upon America rather than as American citizens would be expelled from the United States.
And thus, the so-called solution for all Jews who considered themselves Jews first and citizens of no particular country officially began as an Imperial Eagle drove into Buckingham Palace.
In the back seat, Jörg was flipping through a newspaper.
To be honest, the development of public opinion had exceeded even his expectations. What surprised him was not the League of Nations' proposed method of handling the matter, but the speed and ferocity with which the public mood had deteriorated.
Some measures, even in his eyes, were too extreme.
There had been a saying in his previous life.
As long as the moral line was low enough, even murder could be praised as civilization.
In truth, he did not dislike those Jewish citizens who placed the state above ethnicity.
For example, the Jewish scientists of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society had manufactured poison gas for the Wehrmacht during the Great War. Now, many of those same men had taken on the heavy responsibility of agricultural development. When a Jewish organization invited them to participate in its activities, they immediately declared themselves German citizens and sent the invitation directly to the Internal and External Intelligence Department.
Compared to the Germanic men who had escorted Lohan for money, those people were far more German in spirit.
"Sir," Ethan said softly from the front seat, "news from the Middle East. The Internal and External Intelligence Department has established contact with colonial resistance organizations in Syria and Jordan. The Saudi and Iraqi governments have also expressed strong interest in a secret meeting."
He lightly pressed the brake.
The Imperial Eagle, transported all the way from Hamburg and specially fitted with soundproofing, allowed him to report without worrying about leaks.
"They said they can come to Berlin for talks at any time."
"I understand," Jörg said. "Have our demands been explained to them?"
Ethan nodded.
"They understand Germany's public compromise. The colonial resistance organizations in Syria and Jordan repeatedly stated that as long as we help them overthrow colonial rule, they will gladly assist us in the operation."
As the car approached, a guard in royal ceremonial dress stepped aside and opened the iron gate.
A square building with a solemn religious aesthetic came into view.
Britain remained the only major country that had not taken substantive measures. It was not that the British public was indifferent to the wave sweeping Europe and America. Rather, Jewish communities had deep roots in Britain, a country where they had accumulated influence over many years.
Of course, there were opponents.
Churchill was one of them, and he was also the principal advocate behind the Middle Eastern statehood proposal.
The car stopped smoothly at the entrance.
Neville Chamberlain walked slowly to the door, opened it himself, and greeted him.
"Premier Roman. No, perhaps President would be more appropriate. I hear your Progress Party has secured the ruling position with an overwhelming advantage, and that this year you also ranked near the top in Germany's presidential voting."
Jörg smiled and shook his hand from inside the car.
"You flatter me, Mr. Neville. You are Prime Minister Baldwin's successor. Such courtesy toward me hardly resembles the style of Britain's next Prime Minister."
Chamberlain smiled without answering and merely extended his hand in invitation.
As Jörg stepped out of the car, reporters on both sides raised their cameras. Flashbulbs crackled, and applause sounded in welcome.
Germany had been the first nation to take substantive action, and compared to the naked violence spreading elsewhere, its methods appeared relatively restrained. The irony was so profound that even Jörg himself had not fully realized that he had become a welcome figure in other countries.
They passed through the King's Corridor, where a red carpet stretched beneath oil paintings of successive British monarchs, then ascended a spiral staircase until they reached the doors of a conference room.
The doors opened.
Members of the League of Nations were already present. Representatives from various countries sat around the round table, their expressions solemn beneath the pale London light.
In the observer seats sat two familiar figures.
Jack Morgan and Rockefeller.
The two Jewish representatives had rushed to Britain to attend the meeting, looking far more worn and disheartened than Jörg remembered.
.....
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