Evening star., 1950-06-09

Fifth OF six articles on what wos per-
hops the greatest single instonce Of
treochey in the last war.
mans freely suggested that he be
allowed to organize his rescue
so that the Germans would be able
to kill more patriots in the in
evitable gunhght. That is how
King Kong stepped to liberty over
the bodies Of 47 Of his comrades.
He organized several such be-
trayals during subsequent months.
He betrayed a group of British
agents-men and women-working
in German-held parts of Belgium
before the Allied Spearheads could
reach them. They had died in
describably, in Scheveningen Pris-
on. under such torments as Linde-
mans could not endure even to
think of his brother and girl friend
suffering.
read the list of names of
Lindemans' victims, his comrades
Of the underground that he had
betrayed and my own comrades of
the British Intelligence. My hands
sweated. knew some of them.
And I knew Scheveningen Prison,
too!
Summoned to H. @.
Then I was summoned tn
SHAEF headquarters, by a very
important person. "Congratula-
tions on your catch, Colonel" he
said in a soft. American voice.
Where is this Lindemans. now?"
I explained that he had been
in England only a fortnight, and
that he was now in my private
wing of Breda Prison, awaiting
trial.
But meanwhile the British
newspapers had scented some
story of a secret prisoner. The
rumor was that he was a Dutch
officer brought from the battle
front to be held in the Tower of
London.
There arose storm Of questions
in the British press about January,
1945. Who is the mysterious
Dutch officer in the Tower?"
That was King Kong-Christian
Lindemans although he had
never been in the Tower. So many
searching uncomfortable questions
were asked that the Dutch prime
minister in London sent for me:
How can we silence this pub
1icity?" he demanded.
On my advice the British censor
was approached, and it was ex-
planned that Lindemans had not
yet appeared before any court
therefore discussion rs to his ar
rest was subjudice. Illegal.
Subject Allowed to Drop.
The subject was allowed to drop
by the British newspapers, on a
request from the chief censor.
l had been seriously i'll that
Christmas. On June of 1945, I
reported back for duty, saw King
Kong again.
He was still in Breda Prison,
waiting. He had gone slightly
thinner. His hair was noticeably
greying. He looked at me quietly.
"Sir, when I met you in Ant
werp for the first time and looked
into your eyes. knew it was the
beginning of the end for me-" he
said.
80 did I, Lindemans, I re-
piled. On my orders he was moved
to the great prison in Schevenin-
gen, near The Hague, into the
grim, dreadful block of dungeons
called 1.-THE Hotel of Orange"
Some of the Gestapo apparatus
was still there-steel helmets to
be screwed upon skull and eye
balls, then electrified. Devices
weird, satanically vicious. beyond
the invention Of sane men.
Left to His Thoughts.
We did not use these mocha
nisms. Lindemans was put in q
cell and left to his thoughts. I
knew he must be aware that inside
those same bleak walls, many
patriots had waited for honorable
death after being betrayed by him.
In a few months he melted pitt
fully. All his hulking bravado
went. He had sustained himself
throughout his life by the adora-
ton of women, the worship of
comrades who thought him fine,
brave fellow.
Now, surrounded by Dutch
saolers who knew him for what
he was, Lindemans broke down.
He hardly ate. His bones pro-
truded where once great wads of
muscle. had stirred. Knees and
elbows became jagged probes that
stuck out of his clothing. He
looked like a large, gray, discarded
garment, Tapping on a barbed-
wire fence.
When walked into his cell, he
lay huddled under a coarse gray
blanket, his eyes shut. Then I
spoke to him. He started up, eyes
protruding, flung himself upon the
iron floor at my feet. He wept.
Froth spilled from his lips and
nostrils.
"Is there no mercy?" he whis-
pered.
GrOvels in Cell.
I stood silently at the steel door
of his cell. watching the scrawny
betrayer, once SO huge and arro-
CANT, grovel on the bare floor. He
had cost us 1000 men at Arnhem.
He had cost the world eight
months of avoidable war.
IF there is mercy" 7 said
quietly. ''it would not come from
me, Lindemans. 1t would be from
q court of justice"
I went back to my Office, now
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