Manuscripts don't burn
On May 9, 1945, the Third Reich ceased to exist on our blue planet. He is a thing of the past - as it seemed to the majority of the population of this very planet, forever. But after him a very rich inheritance remained, including one that few people suspect.
After all, everything created in Germany during the Nazi era did not disappear into eternity. It went to new, very different owners. And they were able to properly dispose of their acquisitions.
Take, for example, the Americans. The first thing they were able to get was three atomic bombs. One was banged in the Nevada desert to see how it worked. We looked - it looked great. Now I had to figure out how to better use the remaining two.
In general, at the moment they were not particularly needed. Germany is defeated, Japan is on the verge of complete defeat. In a month or two, the Soviet Union, then a small but proud country of the Rising Sun, will enter the war. There is no sense in using a new superweapon against her.
At the same time, two bombs are not yet a nuclear arsenal. And the real arsenal will not be soon. To scare Stalin with them … Well, Churchill and Truman tried to do it in Potsdam. In a break between the sessions of the conference, they approached the Russian dictator and joyfully announced that they had tested weapons of gigantic destructive power. Stalin was not frightened, which made the British prime minister and the American president very upset. And they decided to scare him in another way.
It was necessary to demonstrate the power of the new Yankee weapon to the whole world. There was only one object for demonstration, but it was perfectly suitable - Japan. Now the question is - where to drop the bomb? To military bases? It makes no sense, they are well fortified, and there will be no desired effect. Well, a couple of hundred people will die, so what? More casualties from conventional bombing. But a large city … that's a completely different matter.
Unlike the stone jungles familiar to most European and American jungles, Japanese cities were literally paper cities. The main building material is bamboo sticks and mats. Such houses flared up instantly, the fire covered entire neighborhoods in a matter of minutes, and a lot of people died. During its existence, Japan has lost several times more people in fires than in wars. Therefore, there was simply no better target than a Japanese city for an atomic bomb in the world.
And the Americans on August 6 and 9 drop two bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hundreds of thousands of people die (losses are still being specified). Like, look, Russians, what will happen if something happens to your Leningrad and Moscow. And … no one is scared! The Japanese command remains calm - the army and navy have not suffered, and they do not care about the civilian population. Stalin remains calm - he knows through his own channels that the Americans do not have more atomic bombs now and they will not appear in the near future. In addition, he also got some of the atomic legacy of the Third Reich …
Not all the scientists involved in the atomic project sailed to Antarctica or ended up in the States. Of course, the key figures ended up there, but some also got to the Russians. A number of atomic physicists met the end of the war in Berlin surrounded by Soviet troops and, accordingly, after the end of the war, set off in a special echelon to the east. At this time, the Russians themselves were actively developing their own bomb, and any help from the outside was very, very useful to them. The German scientists were placed in a special laboratory, given enhanced nutrition and, in principle, treated very well. Freedom of movement, of course, was limited, but it turned out to be very useful, because a very unpleasant incident soon happened …
American intelligence was not at all going to give up scientists without a fight, since in the Yankee atomic project every person was also on the account. She made a daring attempt to kidnap the Germans. Dr. Diebner, the head of the laboratory, described it this way in his memoirs.
Once I went out for a walk in the city - in principle, we were allowed to. By this time, I had already at the very least mastered the Russian language and, on occasion, could explain myself. I walked slowly through the streets, enjoying the spring bloom after a harsh winter. Suddenly the man sitting on the park bench got up and walked over to me. He introduced himself as an employee of an interested company that wants to take us all - or at least me - home. We talked briefly and agreed on a new meeting; I explained to him that I wanted to consult with colleagues.
On the way to the laboratory, I was overcome by conflicting thoughts. On the one hand, I wanted to go home. On the other hand, all this could have turned out to be a provocation by the Russians. Although why would they provoke me? However, even if the person with whom I spoke spoke the truth, this did not eliminate the threat of our death. From the moment we become fugitives, we will be outside the law. I strongly doubted that we would have to get away from the Russians alive.
And if we leave, then where? In ruins and hunger? No, it’s better not to agree to such a dangerous offer. Naturally, upon returning to the laboratory, I told everything to the officer of the Russian state security. He thanked me, and since then on every walk we have been accompanied by a civilian guard at a respectful distance.
We grumbled about this for a while, but when a week later Klaus was nearly killed (a bullet shot through the sleeve of his coat, only scratching his arm; he was saved from certain death by the fact that he turned sharply right at the moment of the shot. The guard who ran up was very helpful. After that, I knew that I had made the right choice: they did not want to save us, but to destroy us.
The Russian investigation revealed that American intelligence services were behind the whole story. In the future, the protection of the Germans was taken care of more carefully - however, German physicists did not play the first violin in the Soviet nuclear program. The Russians had built the bomb on their own by 1949. Let me remind you that the Americans, who only needed to copy the German samples, managed to do this only in the forty-seventh.
And that is unknown - maybe not without outside help?
Union with Antarctica
The evacuation of the Nazis to Antarctica was a complete mystery only for many uninitiated people. Few initiates, including in the United States, if they did not know for sure, then at least suspected something bad. Otherwise, they would not have sent to the shores of Antarctica at the end of 1946 a squadron of 14 warships under the command of Admiral Byrd, the famous polar explorer. I have already talked about this expedition in detail in my book "The Swastika in the Ice". Now I will only briefly dwell on the most important points for us.
In January 1947, Byrd's ships approached the shores of Mary Byrd's land. A thorough exploration of the coastal areas began. The planes flew out for reconnaissance and photographing the area every day - in just a month and a half of work, over fifty thousand photographs were taken, detailed geographical maps of the area were compiled.
It must be said that the Americans were not expected, and were not at all expected with open arms. The German reconnaissance worked perfectly. They had one very important advantage: Admiral Byrd had no idea what an impressive force he would have to face. A squadron of 14 ships against one and a half hundred submarines, an aircraft carrier and three hundred combat aircraft is like pellet against an elephant. And yet, the then head of the colony, Hess, did not really want the base to be found. Because he understood perfectly well: the United States does not cost anything to put up a fleet of thirty aircraft carriers against the new Swabia and concentrate five thousand aircraft. And in this case, the collapse of the Fourth Reich became inevitable.
Measures to conceal objects have been taken. White cloths were pulled over the ground bases, or thick snow was simply laid. And they began to wait. However, it did not take long to wait. Already in mid-January, the American compound was discovered on the approaches to Antarctica. Since then, it has been continuously monitored, at a respectful distance, by the latest submarines that the Americans could not detect.
Everything was calm until February 15th. On this day, an American pilot flying in the area of the New Germany base did find one of the German ground objects. Hess reacted harshly and decisively. The landed troops were destroyed or taken prisoner. Even before the Americans on the ships realized that something abnormal was happening, an unknown transmitter wedged into the squadron's communication frequencies. In pure English, an unfamiliar voice announced that Admiral Byrd was invited to negotiate. During the negotiations, both sides quickly came to an understanding. An agreement was concluded between them, the exact text of which I do not know. We can only try to reconstruct it in the main parts.
The main condition that the Nazis put forward was that the base should be left alone. What could they offer in return? Advanced technology, which the United States desperately needed due to the beginning of the confrontation with communist Russia. Your support in the development of Antarctica is also a rather valuable factor. In addition, the Nazis apparently demanded that the United States not interfere with the activities of Skorzeny and his organization ODESSA. This is indirectly confirmed by the fact that it was in 1947 that the Americans abruptly stopped looking for and punishing Nazi criminals; moreover, it was after Byrd's expedition that Bormann was able to leave his secret refuge and sail to the ice shores.
However, getting Byrd's consent was the easiest. Hess understood that it would be much more difficult to get the American authorities to accept this secret treaty. And in this case they had one more trump card. On February 25, 1947, the Westfalen submarine, leaving the Antarctic base, reached the latitude of New York and fired an A4 ballistic missile along the American coast. The Westfalen raid showed that US cities are practically defenseless against the attacks of the Germans. Of course, it was possible to block the entire ocean with anti-submarine patrols, to take all precautions … But even one erupted submarine cruiser with nuclear missiles on board could ruin several hundred thousand precious American lives at once. And President Truman and his team were reluctant to take such a risk.
Since then, there has begun - and perhaps continues to this day - extensive cooperation between the Antarctic Reich and the United States. The United States thus became the first and most important successor to the Third Reich.
Japanese footprint
Japan was the last, most loyal ally of the Third Reich. Moreover, it lasted several months longer. Therefore, the hopes and aspirations of many Nazis were associated with the land of the Rising Sun towards the end of the war.
In March-April, German technologies flowed to Japan in a continuous stream. In general, no one hides this. Another thing is curious - often these deliveries were carried out to the detriment of communications with Antarctica. After all, the Reich did not have extra submarines. This means that here again we are faced with a conflict of interest in the Hitlerite leadership - only with which one this time? Who lobbied to send the latest technology to the Far Eastern ally?
However, is it only technology? In April 1945, a very valuable relic, the Taira Sword, was sent to Japan on the U-861 submarine. The history of this sword is quite remarkable: according to legend, it was forged in the 10th century and for many years was a family heirloom of the Taira samurai family. In the 12th century, Taira and another aristocratic family, the Minamoto, fought for control of Japan. The Minamoto won, almost all the Tairas were destroyed, and the sword was gone. It reappeared on the surface in the 16th century, when there was a struggle for the unification of Japan. At the same time, rumors began to circulate about the magical properties of the sword. Like the fact that its owner is endowed with divine power and authority over people.
The Taira sword was passed down from generation to generation in the dynasty of shogun rulers until the middle of the 19th century. But in 1868, the so-called "Meiji revolution" takes place - the overthrow of the shoguns and the return of all power to the emperor. During stormy events, the sword disappears - they say that one of the distant relatives of the ousted shogun grabbed it and fled to Europe. But the sword, obviously, did not give him either power or strength, because in 1901 it “pops up” in the private collection of the famous Viennese philanthropist Herbert Linz. Apparently, the sword is real - because a couple of months later, a night attack with a clearly Japanese handwriting is made on the gallery of Linz - the guard was found with a hacked samurai sword. However, the valuable relic was kept in a safe, which was too tough for the robbers. Nevertheless, Linz hastened to sell the sword in order to avoid further excesses. The name of the new owner was kept in strict confidence.
The Taira Sword appears again on the surface in 1936, when the great art lover Reichsmarschall Goering actively confiscates Jewish property in his favor. He discovers the sword he is looking for in a wealthy businessman. However, the “fat Herman” does not have to own the relic for long: Hitler, who knew about the magical power of the weapon, takes it for himself. Himmler, no less eager for such "curiosities", actively begs for a sword from the Fuhrer, but receives a harsh refusal. In 1940, the Japanese Emperor Hirohito personally requested the return of the sword, but received only vague promises in return. They say that this behavior of Hitler played an important role in the fact that Japan did not join his attack on Russia a year later.
Be that as it may, but in the forty-fifth, the Taira Sword is again in Japan. And along with it - a bunch of precious German technologies, on the basis of which, for example, a Japanese jet fighter was created - a deteriorated copy of the famous Messerschmit-262. Who in the leadership of the Third Reich lobbied for Japanese interests? But this was supposed to be a high-ranking person, able to dispose of relics and submarines …
It turned out to be very difficult to find this person, they had to act by the method of exclusion. Hess and Bormann were completely occupied by Antarctica and simply could not be distracted by Japan. Goering mainly thought about himself and did not make any far-reaching plans. Himmler planned to negotiate with the Western allies and become the ruler of Germany. Goebbels was exclusively devoted to his Fuhrer and did not think about salvation, otherwise he would not have committed suicide in Berlin in April 1945 …
All "vacancies" were filled. It was necessary to try to go from the other end - to find out who gave the orders to send the submarines. And here a very curious thing was revealed - it turns out that the former commander of the German naval forces, Gross Admiral Raeder, was in charge of contacts with Japan! It was he who equipped and dispatched submarines, it was he who tore pieces from the Antarctic convoys and threw them to the Far East.
Having rummaged in the biography of the admiral, I realized that I was right. Raeder was very actively interested in Japan, he was in this country twice - before the First World War and in the 1920s, he was personally acquainted with many officers of the Japanese fleet. He liked Japanese culture, Japanese traditions, and at one time after the global economic crisis he thought about emigrating to Japan altogether. After all, there is a powerful, actively developing fleet, here - a pitiful stump … But Hitler came to power, and Raeder's talents were again needed in Germany. However, the admiral did not lose his sympathy for Japan and contributed a lot to the conclusion of the German-Japanese alliance in 1936-1937. In a memo near the end of the war, Raeder wrote:
But Raeder alone would not have been able to mine technology and relics. This means that he must have an assistant among the high-ranking officials of the SS. And I was able to quickly find such an official. It was none other than the chief of the Gestapo, Heinrich Müller.
Müller, as well as Bormann, could not be found after the defeat of the Third Reich. With Bormann, however, everything is clear - he sailed to Antarctica. Müller did not have such an opportunity - he had a disgusting relationship with the leaders of New Swabia. Unlike Himmler, he did not count on the condescension of the allies - he had too many crimes on his conscience. After the war, it was often speculated that Müller was hiding in German settlements in Latin America. But I, who grew up in one of these settlements, can declare with full responsibility: he was not there.
Where was Mueller to run to? Of course, to Japan - to the last belligerent ally of the Third Reich. The power and authority of the SS chief in the last years of the existence of Nazi Germany were so great that he could freely take many advanced technologies for himself without asking for special permission. In addition, apparently, Mueller had his own people at Ahnenerbe, but honestly, I don’t know who they are. Perhaps among them was Schaeffer, who, after the completion of the mysterious Lapland project in 1944, returned to the Reich and headed the Tibetan department of the Ahnenerbe Institute. At the same time, the "Tibetans", supported by Himmler himself, openly disliked their rivals from among the Antarctic explorers. Therefore, it is not surprising that after the defeat of Germany, this group did not follow the majority to the ice continent, but preferred to retire to Tibet. Of course, it was beneficial for them to support those who were betting on Japan - in the end, the fallback option has never bothered anyone. Schaeffer's last expedition was small - only about 30 people. Perhaps that is why she managed to penetrate the seething Asia and reach Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Nobody knows what happened to the SS group next. Perhaps they all died under a mountain avalanche; or maybe they got to the cherished Shambhala. Who knows?
In any case, German technology has served the Japanese well. After all, economists are still arguing about the reasons for the "Japanese miracle" - the unprecedented rise of the Japanese economy in the 50-60s. Then Japan made a real industrial breakthrough, filling the whole world with its goods and seriously competing with the United States. How did she do it? After all, Japanese scientists at that time were not particularly strong and did not develop their own technologies.
By the way, no matter how paradoxical it sounds, many explain the "Japanese miracle" by this very circumstance. Like, the Japanese did not spend money on expensive research, but bought ready-made know-how and put them into production. Sorry, but this is outright nonsense - if it were profitable to do this, no one in the world would be involved in development at all. In fact, no one will sell their know-how cheaply - most companies keep new technologies with seven seals, because this is the key to their success. And even if they sell their invention, then for money that is many times higher than the cost of development. No, you can't make big money on a simple purchase of other people's technologies. Moreover, the solutions used by the Japanese were often ahead of everything that was available in Western Europe and the United States.
So where did the Japanese get their technology from then? The answer is obvious - from the legacy of the Third Reich. In fact, the entire Japanese "economic miracle" is based on German developments of the pre-war and war years. Thus, Japan also benefited greatly from an alliance with the Germans.
Russians and the Shuttle
After the death of the Third Reich, the Russians did not get so much, although not so little. Major scientists mostly fled to the West or to Antarctica, and mainly a rather small fry fell into the hands of the Soviet troops. But many secret facilities and industries that were built in the eastern regions of Germany in order to protect themselves from American bombs ended up in the Soviet zone of influence after the war. The Russians thus got a lot of German technology.
However, with the personnel, everything was not so bad. A number of prominent German scientists worked for the Russians after the war. We are talking, in particular, about Dr. Wolfgang Senger, an Austrian engineer, the creator of the most unusual aircraft of the first half of the twentieth century - the so-called antipode bomber, the idea of which he outlined back in 1933 in his work "Rocket Flight Technique". One of the few books that mentions this unique project literally says the following:
The essence of the idea was that during a rapid descent of an aircraft from a very high altitude (about 250 kilometers) into the dense layers of the atmosphere, it should ricochet from the upper layers of the atmosphere, again rising into airless space; repeating this movement many times, the plane should describe a wavy trajectory, similar to the trajectory of a flat stone, repeatedly ricocheting from the surface of the water. Each immersion of the aircraft into the dense layers of the atmosphere will be accompanied by some loss of kinetic energy, as a result of which the subsequent jumps of the aircraft will gradually decrease, and, in the end, it will switch to gliding flight.
The aircraft design embodies a number of unique features. Although it retains the outlines of a conventional aircraft, its special aerodynamic properties, caused by its extremely high speed and special flight technique, necessitate giving the aircraft fuselage a sharp ogival shape in the nose. The fuselage is cut horizontally along its entire length so that its lower part is a flat surface. The fuselage is wider than its height and allows two rows of cylindrical fuel tanks to be accommodated. The relatively small trapezoidal wings are primarily intended for stabilizing the aircraft in flight and for use during landing. The wing has a regular profile with a maximum thickness of 1/20 of a chord. This aircraft does not need the wing angle of attack; when the wing is low, the bearing surfaces of the fuselage and the wing form a single plane. The vertical tail is located at the ends of the horizontal stabilizer of the aircraft. The aircraft was supposed to be equipped with a rocket engine operating on liquid oxygen and oil, with a thrust of 100,000 kilograms.
The takeoff weight of the aircraft was projected to be 100 tons, the weight of the aircraft without fuel was 10 tons and the payload was 3 tons. The takeoff of the aircraft was to be carried out from a horizontal rail track 2, 9 kilometers long with the help of powerful launch accelerators capable of informing the aircraft of the takeoff speed of about 500 meters per second; the climb angle was supposed to be 30 degrees. It was assumed that when the fuel was completely burned out, the plane would develop a speed of 5900 meters per second and reach an altitude of 250 kilometers, from where it would dive to an altitude of about 40 kilometers, and then, pushing off from a dense layer of the atmosphere, would go up again.
The design of the aircraft was greatly influenced by the desire to reduce the drag and reduce to a minimum the effect of friction of the aircraft surface against the air in flight at high Mach numbers. The maximum flight range of the aircraft was projected up to 23,400 kilometers.
It was believed that a compound of one hundred missile bombers could, within a few days, completely destroy areas up to the size of the world's capitals with suburbs, located anywhere on the surface of the globe.
Wolfgang Senger himself, at the time of writing his book, was already a fairly respectable person, well known in scientific circles. He was born in 1889 in Vienna into the family of an official. The father dreamed that his son would follow in his footsteps, but in young Wolfgang a passion for technology awoke early. They say that as a child, he most of all liked to make toys himself, and the knowledge gained in the gymnasium in the field of exact sciences tried to immediately put into practice.
In 1914, Senger, who had graduated from the Technical University in Vienna by that time, volunteered for the front. Wounded three times, he endured the shame of defeat, and the bitterness of the revolution, and the disappointment of a failed attempt to annex Austria to Germany in 1918. It was in those years that the political views of Senger, a German nationalist, were formed, which later became the reason for his sympathy for the Nazis. In the 1920s, Zenger worked in various scientific centers, studied physics and mechanics, and was closely engaged in the theory of flying vehicles. It is boring for a young scientist to be in the ordinary and create primitive biplanes; the flight of his imagination is as high as that of any other of his contemporaries. In the late 1920s, Zenger seriously thought about flying in the upper atmosphere, and by the early 1930s he created his sensational theory.
Despite the authority that Zenger enjoyed among colleagues, no one takes his ideas seriously. Moreover, they begin to laugh at him. This, as well as the fact that Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, prompts the Austrian engineer to cross the border. In Germany, he tries to get a job in some research institute, which will provide him with all the necessary conditions for work, and instantly falls into the field of vision of the famous "".
The SS men are seriously interested in a bold project that promises them air supremacy - complete and unconditional. After all, the Zenger bomber was practically invulnerable, and with its help it was possible to strike terror into the most remote corners of the planet. Alas, at this stage it was not taken into account that such a bomber, due to its low payload, could only be terrifying. And the work began to boil.
At first, work on the creation of this unique aircraft was carried out by Dr. Senger at the specially created Scientific Research Institute for Rocket Flight Technology in the German city of Grauen.
As a result of three years of hard work, by 1939 the construction of laboratories, workshops, test stands and an office building was completed. Senger, meanwhile, continued his theoretical calculations. In 1939, he, together with Senger, with a small but experienced staff, embarked on a complex ten-year program of research and experiments, the main goal of which was to create an aircraft rocket engine with a thrust of 100 tons. The program also included the creation of pumps and other equipment for a rocket engine, the study of aircraft aerodynamics at flight speeds ranging from 3 to 30 thousand kilometers per hour, the development of a supersonic launch catapult and much more. The work demanded huge costs, and, probably, that is why, with the outbreak of the war, everyone began to look askance at it with great displeasure. Even Senger's patrons from among the leaders of Ahnenerbe began to show noticeable impatience. When the doctor explained to them that many years would pass before the successful completion of the work, the SS men lost all interest in the project. It began to be frankly bypassed by funding, and by 1942 it was completely closed in favor of the rocket project.
Senger was saved only by the fact that the head of the rocket project, von Braun, stood up for his recent rival and included his team in the staff of his research center. Why? An indirect answer to this question was provided by information about the post-war fate of an unusual project. In one Russian source, lost in the vastness of the Internet, I read the following about this:
Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to say that the Russians missed the chance to create their own Shuttle. Such a reusable ship was created independently of the Americans and at about the same time. And, again, it is on the basis of the Zenger project. The Russian ship was called "Buran" and was used several times before "perestroika" buried it along with other ambitious and promising projects.
Treasures of the "Alpine Fortress"
But besides Japan and Antarctica, there was another place where the Third Reich sent its secrets. We are talking about the so-called "Alpine fortress", in which the Nazis hoped to provide their opponents with the last desperate resistance.
The idea of the "Alpine Fortress" was born in the autumn of 1944. Its author was none other than Reichsmarschall Goering. Realizing that the Russians and Americans were about to take Germany into an iron grip, he took care of saving his collections. But the question is - where to hide them? There was no better place for this than the snow-capped Alps. In October, Goering sends his officers on special assignments to the mountains to look for safe caves. But the Reichsmarshal at that time had a lot of ill-wishers, so his defeatist actions were immediately reported to Hitler. And after a couple of weeks, the angry Fuhrer summoned the "faithful Hermann" to the carpet.
Goering was not a fool and immediately thought out the line of defense.
My Fuhrer, am I saving my property ?! Yes, not in life! I am preparing a new indestructible fortified area that will be the last bastion in the path of the hordes of invaders!
Hitler's mood instantly changed, and he appointed Goering in charge of the construction of the "Alpine Fortress". Nothing to do - the Reichsmarschall had to take up work.
The fortified area was supposed to cover the south of Germany and the western part of Austria - rugged mountainous terrain, where it was completely impossible for tanks to operate and very difficult for aircraft. The conditions for defense in the mountains are ideal, small groups of defenders are able to delay the enemy offensive for a long time. There is only one "but" - it is extremely difficult to create infrastructure and production in the mountains, and besides, there is nowhere to take resources. Therefore, Goering first of all attended to the transfer of all kinds of technologies and industrial capacities to the Alps, literally tearing them out of the clutches of competitors, and only then began to create defensive lines. The worst situation was with the troops - there was absolutely no one to defend the "Alpine Fortress". The only thing Goering could do was to transfer to the Alps about 30 thousand infantrymen recruited from the auxiliary units of the Air Force.
There was also trouble with the fortifications. There was practically no one to build serious defensive lines - they had to get off with improvisation, use the terrain and mountain caves. In the same caves - and there are quite a few of them in the Alps, and, according to some reports, they form an extensive network - command centers, warehouses, even whole small factories were located … The work was carried out hastily, but they did not have time to complete it. By May 9 - the moment of Germany's surrender - the "Alpine Fortress" was more of an abstraction than some kind of real fortified area.
The Allies occupied the Alps on the twentieth of May. They sincerely hoped to capture a lot of interesting things, but … the "fortress" turned out to be empty, like a drunk bottle of champagne. Only thin chains of prisoners and a handful of weapons became the property of the victors. The last to surrender were Goering's personal security officers, whom he also dispatched to the area.
The situation turned out to be very strange. Documents were preserved in abundance that testified to the transfer of a large number of different cargoes to the Alps - and at the same time, absolutely nothing was found! Interrogations of the prisoners yielded nothing. Most of the soldiers only knew that some cargo was arriving, but where they went later - no one could say anything about this. Few initiates have successfully hidden themselves in the ranks of the uninitiated. After two years of searching, only one carefully camouflaged cave was discovered, where they found a real warehouse of works of art. Further attempts to find something of value ended in nothing.
Apparently, the Nazi treasures in the Alps have not yet been discovered. In principle, quite a lot is known about their whereabouts. So, according to rumors, the Nazis drowned part of the valuable cargo in Lake Constance. Here, in the eastern part of this large reservoir, there are rather great depths and springs gushing from the bottom in abundance. It was in this area that several large river ships inexplicably disappeared without a trace in mid-May. There are several people who have seen people in air force uniforms loading large iron boxes onto these ships. Then the ships seemed to be sunk. It is impossible to find their exact location - the difficult topography of the bottom does not allow the echo sounder to work properly, and the muddy water at the very bottom makes any descent vehicles useless. Over the years, several scuba divers tried to get to the sunken ships, but they all died under mysterious circumstances. Lake Constance holds sacred secrets entrusted by the Nazis.
Much, apparently, still lies in the Alpine caves. After all, their network is still unknown, and the entrances are often tightly sealed by avalanches and avalanches. In 1976, one climber, storming a slope almost untouched by his colleagues, discovered metal boxes sticking out from under the snow with imprints in the form of imperial eagles. Naturally, he could not take them with him, and when two months later he brought a special expedition to this place, he could not find anything. It seems that not only nature helps to keep the secrets of the Third Reich …
