Martin Heusmann

Martin Heusmann is a high ranking Germanic official, who wields the rank of Reichsminister and eventually Stellvertretender Kanzler until his arrest. Heusmann is the leading architect of Atlantropa. Martin Heusmann is the ringleader of the Heusmann Conspiracy, which is the greater successor of Operation Valkyrie. These two plots are often seen as the same plot, as they both have the same members and the same leader, being Heusmann.

The Conspiracy

Martin Heusmann is the leader of the Atlantropa project, which aims to dry up the Mediterranean sea to grow crops. He would do this by building a large dam in Gibraltar. Through this, Martin Heusmann came into contact with Heinz Hobar and Lutz Werner, who were stationed in Casablanca, a city in Morocco (controlled by Spain). Martin Heusmann was already friends with Claus von Stauffenberg, Hugo Reiss, Reinhard Heydrich and Karl Müller. He approached all those people and asked them to participate in his conspiracy. They all agreed. Heinz Hobar devised a plan. Reinhard Heydrich would be responsible for killing John Smith. If that failed, Hugo Reiss would have to approach Smith and take Heydrich under his control instead of Smith's control (Only if Reinhard Heydrich doesn't die attempting to kill Smith). Heinz Hobar and Lutz Werner would be responsible for keeping the Atlantropa project going whilst Heusmann would attempt to become the new Stellvertretender Kanzler. Rudolph Wegener would be responsible for killing Adolf Hitler if Claus von Stauffenberg failed to do so. Claus von Stauffenberg was tasked attempting to kill Hitler, as well as Hermann Göring, Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels. He would be aided by Helmfried Wehner in doing so. Olivier Diels, Alex Mueller, Jozef Müller, Karl Müller, Otto Schütz, Dante Salamanca, Kurt Richter and Dennis Dittrich would not be tasked with anything but to just be ready if anything disastrous happens. Later on, Alex Mueller would be tasked with assassinating the Crown Prince of Japan. Though the plan was he would do this himself, using a sniper rifle, he instead hired assassins to do the work for him. This way, Martin Heusmann formed the Heusmann Conspiracy.

Operation Valkyrie

In the following days, Claus von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler. This plot was named Operation Valkyrie. Claus von Stauffenberg was present at a military meeting where many high ranking Germanic officials were present, including generals such as Rudolf Riefenstein, but also politicians such as Hitler, Himmler and Goebbels. Göring could not come. Claus von Stauffenberg was unsure if he should carry out the operation but still did. Claus von Stauffenberg put a bomb in a suitcase at a table. Hitler was standing next to it until he eventually moved away from the bomb. Claus von Stauffenberg and Helmfried Wehner attempted to leave the area early. They succeeded in that. The bomb then detonated, killing Joseph Goebbels. Adolf Hitler was severely and Heinrich Himmler was mildly injured. Immediately Hitler, Himmler and Riefenstein noticed Claus von Stauffenberg and Helmfried Wehner left early, which brought suspicion to the 2 officers. Himmler then ordered their arrests. Riefenstein attempted to arrest the two officers. He eventually captured Claus von Stauffenberg. Claus von Stauffenberg was brought to a prison and for the time being was sentenced with life imprisonment. On his way to the prison, the armored car transporting Claus von Stauffenberg was ambushed by terrorists, likely members of La Hermandad del Desierto. Claus von Stauffenberg attempted to escape, but he was shot in the head by a sniper. Helmfried Wehner was also arrested a bit later. He was interrogated but could not give any information about anything since he only knew about Claus von Stauffenberg. He was then sentenced to life in prison. He likely died in there due to bad conditions.

Reinhard Heydrich's Plot

Heusmann ordered all his members to remain quiet for the time being, hoping their political enemies would get eliminated on their own so Heusmann wouldn't have to lose more members of his group. After a long enough while, Reinhard Heydrich met up with Hugo Reiss to discuss the question of John Smith. They concluded Reinhard Heydrich would attempt to make John Smith participate in the Heusmann Conspiracy or to be killed. Reinhard Heydrich approached a Hauptsturmführer that was directly responding to John Smith, Neal Connolly. Heydrich convinced Connolly to give him the route John Smith was driving. Out of nowhere, hired workers started firing at John Smith's car. John Smith was in the car together with Erich Raeder, his right hand man. Erich Raeder was severely injured immediately. Smith fought back fiercely. Erich Raeder handed his gun to Smith, causing Smith to kill all the hired workers besides one, who he had arrested to interrogate. Erich Raeder was brought to the hospital. In the meantime, Reinhard Heydrich visited John Smith, and showed deep concern about Smith. He offered Smith to go out for "a little hunting". Smith agreed. He went home and told his wife, Helen Smith, to kill their children, Thomas Smith, Jennifer Smith and Amy Smith if John Smith were to die. Reinhard Heydrich confronted Smith, telling him that the Japanese should be defeated. Smith disagreed and remained loyal to Germania. Following this, Heydrich attempted to shoot Smith, but Smith shot Heydrich first. Smith phoned Göring, telling him Heydrich was a traitor and attempted to kill Smith. Smith then arrested Heydrich and put him in a secret prison. He made it seem to everybody that Heydrich had already died. Smith then pushed Neal Connolly off a roof of a tall skyscraper. John Smith stated it was a suicide.

Hugo Reiss's Interference

Following the news of Heydrich's treason, Hugo Reiss attempted to visit John Smith. Once he met up with John Smith, he ordered Smith to put Reinhard Heydrich under his custody instead. Smith denied this demand and told Hugo Reiss to leave. Hugo Reiss then came back later and arrested Smith and took custody of Reinhard Heydrich. However, Himmler protested and had John Smith put back free again and Reinhard Heydrich under Smith's custody. It is unclear how Hugo Reiss knew of Reinhard Heydrich's status, as everyone thought Heydrich was deceased.

Rudolf Wegener

Before having been arrested, Reinhard Heydrich ordered Rudolf Wegener to go to Hermann Göring and shoot him. After Heydrich's arrest and Reiss's failure, Wegener visited Göring. There, Göring revealed he already knew Wegener was there to kill him. Wegener was done with killing everyone and was disillusioned with the way Germania functioned. Göring then told Wegener that killing him would result in the deaths of millions, due to a possible war between the Empire of Japan and Germania. He then also threatened Wegener, saying that if he kills himself right now his family would be spared. Wegener then shot himself.

The Crown Prince Shooting

Alex Mueller hired some assassins to kill the Crown Prince of Japan. Though one of the bullets hit the crown prince, the crown prince survived.

The Poisoning

Martin Heusmann had ordered the poisoning of Hermann Göring. Hermann Göring was in a severely bad state, and demanded Amon Goeth would become the Stellvertretender Kanzler for the time being. However, Martin Heusmann took the rank upon himself instead. Martin Heusmann immediately ordered Rudolf Riefenstein to create plans to invade the Empire of Japan. Heusmann then declared on national television it was Japanese assassins who had attacked and tried to kill Hermann Göring.

In the meantime, Smith devised a plan to prevent war between Germania and the Empire of Japan. Smith found a fake film of an atomic bomb testing, by the Japanese. He also decided to misinform Reinhard Heydrich, saying that he had won, and that officials in Berlin ordered him to be released. Upon this Heydrich revealed it was Heusmann who was behind the whole conspiracy. Smith recorded the whole conversation and then had Heydrich shot, by Erich Raeder. He then went to Berlin. He misinformed the German high command with the fake film and asked Heinrich Himmler to come with him. He then showed Himmler some documents showing Heusmann was a member of a far reaching conspiracy. Himmler had Heusmann arrested immediately after. John Smith was then promoted to Oberstgruppenführer. Heusmann and numerous of his close conspirators were arrested after a thorough investigation. Many members and potential members were then brought to the Washington Trials, where most suspects would be sentenced to death or set free.

Personality

Martin Heusmann appears to be a cunning individual who will do anything to achieve his goals. In this case, it seems his goals are to make Germania the only nation on Earth. Heusmann appears to be relatively ambitious and idealistic, as he talks passionately about his ideals. Furthermore, he tends to like luxury. He owns a large villa and staff to help with things such as cleaning.

Appearance

Martin Heusmann appears as an old fragile man, though still being mentally strong. He wears a grey suit and he has grey hair.

Notes & Trivia

Martin Heusmann is a major character in the series "The Man in the High Castle", who is in a conspiracy together with Reinhard Heydrich, Rudolph Wegener, Olivier Diels and Alex Müller. They kill the crown prince of Japan and kill Adolf Hitler. Heusmann then comes to power and plots to invade the Empire of Japan to achieve a worldwide German Reich. Though there are some differences between the Heusmann from "the Man in the high Castle" and the Heusmann from "the Man in the High Brick", it is clear that they are extremely similar.