Alpha Threat
Alpha
Threat
By Ron Smoak
For my wife, Lee
And my Granddaughter Elise
This is a work of fiction.
Certain real locations are included but the names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Ron Smoak
Canton, Georgia
www.ron-smoak-books.com
Copyright ©2012 by Ronald A. Smoak
All rights reserved.
Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, transmitted or distributed in any printed or electronic form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
Purchase only authorized editions.
ISBN-10:
0985888202 (ebook)
ISBN-13:
978-0-9858882-0-6 (ebook)
ISBN-10:
0985888210 (Paperback)
ISBN-13:
978-0-9858882-1-3 (Paperback)
Cover Design by AMDesign Studios
Ebook Design by AMDesign Studios – 15 Aug 2012
The author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication.
Neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for the author or third-party websites or their content.
Acknowledgements
When one writes their first book, the number of acknowledgments may span many years.
In my case it goes back to Northwood Junior High School in Greenville, SC.
Thanks to Mrs. Miriam O’Dell, my 7
th
grade American History teacher who required us to write term papers in class without notes; she taught me so much about retaining knowledge and writing even though she was not an English teacher.
I will never forget her.
Thanks to all of the people throughout my life that told me I should write a book; it only took forty or more years to follow their suggestions.
Thanks to my family and neighbors; who were sick and tired of hearing about my characters and plots.
Thanks to Sherry Ruschell; she kept me writing by always providing the needed editing and support.
Thanks to Guido Broder; he helped me with the German phrases.
And last but not least, a huge thank you to my wonderful wife, Lee.
She pushed me when I needed pushing and added immeasurable support for my crazy idea of becoming an author.
A single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong.
- Tecumseh
When World War I ended on November 11, 1918, Germany was in shambles.
The economy was wrecked and inflation soared.
The German people suffered immensely during the years between 1919 and the early 1920’s.
The common German yearned for relief.
This feeling of despair led to the rise of a nationalistic spirit nurtured by the far-right racist nationalist movement led by Anton Drexler and later by Adolph Hitler.
NDAP – Nazi Party
The movement was first devised to move workers away from communist groups to a nationalist workers party.
It later became the major political party in Germany.
Thus the NDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, commonly known as the German Nazi Party came into existence.
When President Paul Von Hindenburg appointed Adolph Hitler Chancellor of Germany in 1933, the Nazi party enabled Hitler to form the Third Reich.
This totalitarian regime became known simply as the Nazis.
They believed in a pure Aryan race, superior to all others.
A sub group to the Nazis, the Sturmabteilung (SA) carried out attacks on all those opposing the Nazis, wreaking havoc across Germany with physical attacks on Jews, communists and inferior races.
Nazis became the ugly face of Germany during their move to conquer Europe during World War II.
The SS
As the Nazi Party took control in Germany, a security organization was created to keep order both within the party and at meetings.
The Schutzstaffel or the SS was formed as a quasi-military organization reporting directly to Adolph Hitler.
Originally a volunteer group made up of NDAP/Nazi Party members, this group served the party throughout Germany in late 1929 under Heinrich Himmler, the leader or Reichsführer of the SS.
The SS implemented the extermination of the Jews; the “Final Solution” becoming one of the most feared groups in World War II.
Their ruthlessness and cruelty became infamous as they tortured and killed approximately twelve million people throughout Europe.
As the Second World War worsened, the SS was also pressed into regular military service and became the German Army’s most elite fighting force.
The Gestapo
When Nazi Germany was formed, Hitler felt the need for a police-like organization to ferret out anyone or group that opposed the Nazis.
In late 1934, Hitler appointed SS Leader Heinrich Himmler the Chief of German Police.
Himmler created the Geheime Staatspolizei, the Gestapo - the Secret State Police.
The Gestapo became the shadowy, ruthless secret police group that at its pinnacle had over 100,000 spies and informants throughout Europe and the world.
Their actions were unquestioned for the most part as they assassinated anti-Nazi supporters and political opponents.
Their authority spanned nearly all agencies with particular actions against espionage, sabotage and treason against Germany.
They operated above and beyond the judicial system.
Famous for literally kidnapping citizens for mere rumor of discontent, the Gestapo became the most feared secret organization in the world.