Nazis In Antarctica

I've always found what happened in Germany towards the end of the Second World War and shortly afterwards to be absolutely fascinating. One minute the Nazi party has full control over the country and next everyone is jumping ship and changing allegiances as quickly as they can as they see the writing on the wall and feel the breath of the Red Army on the back of their necks are they fled. Last Christmas was spent in the company of several friends including a wonderful old German lady who in her youth had been a member of the Luftwaffe near the end of the war. Talking to her is like looking through a looking glass into a different world.

But could perhaps those fiendishly inventive and resourceful Nazi's have survived the destruction of their empire and fled to a place that is still relatively untouched; Antarctica?

German exploration of the continent had begun properly in 1901 with an expedition that broke new ground in Antarctic exploration (they were the first to see Antarctica from the air in a fancy hot air balloon). By the Nazi regime's pre war years the exploration of Antarctica was pursued further through the third German Antarctic Expedition (1938–1939) was led by Alfred Ritscher. It's purpose was to help establish a base for a whaling station to service the recently launched German whaling fleet and help increase production of whale oil into useful commodities. In so doing they marked out territory (some already claimed by Norway) and brought into being Neuschwabenland (New Swabia), the Nazi German Antarctic claim.



Further exploration was considered but cut short by the outbreak of war in Europe. This, so far, is all well established history and as far as most are concerned New Swabia died with the collapse of the Nazi German empire.

Some however claim something quite different occurred. They like to quote Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz (who has the "distinction" of being Hitler's successor as Fuhrer of the Nazi Reich) who they say said in 1943:

"The German submarine fleet is proud of having built for the Fuhrer in another part of the world a Shangri-La on land, an impregnable fortress."

Sadly I can find no source for this quote and thus we must treat it with extreme caution however if we were to suppose this was true. what did he mean?

Let me quote from The OMEGA File (the mistakes are their own and I won't correct them)

The historical facts are evident. Beginning in 1838, long before the end of the Second World War, the Nazi's commenced to send out numerous exploratory missions to the Queen Maud region of Antarctica. A steady stream of expeditions were reportedly sent out from [at the time] white supremacist South Africa. Over 230,000 square miles of the frozen continent were mapped from the air, and the Germans discovered vast regions that were surprisingly free of ice, as well as warm water lakes and cave inlets. One vast ice cave within the glacier was reportedly found to extend 30 miles to a large hot-water geothermal lake deep below. Various scientific teams were moved in to the area, including hunters, trappers, collectors and
zoologists, botanists, agriculturists, plant specialists, mycologists, parasitologists, marine biologists, ornithologists, and many others. Numerous divisions of the German government were involved in the top secret project.

This is where the mainstream historians leave off, as only revisionist historians will dare consider the implications of the rest of the story

Woo there... that is where mainstream historians leave off?? Parts of the continent free of ice with warm water lakes?? Riiiiight. Anyway most believers suggest that the shipments grew in size and soon construction began in Antarctica on a hidden underground base.

Now many also believe that when the war ended the base's obvious isolation allowed it to survive and some think that Nazi higher ups, including Martin Bormann, escaped via South America in U Boats to this new stronghold. But their time there was not without opposition. Supposedly the British found them out and launched an expedition to eradicate them. The details are rather long but interesting if you keep one hand firmly gripped on reality as you plunge head first into insanity. Check out Britain's Secret War In Antarctica. It has also been suggested that Operation Highjump, America's postwar Antarctic expedition, was in fact another attempt to weed out those frosty Nazis.

The idea of an Antarctic landbase for the Nazis is usually linked to another fun theory; Nazi UFOs. Could UFOs really be Nazi recon missions from their Antarctic base rather than interplanetary craft? Could they simply be preparing themselves for a new beginning here on Earth striking out from the South Pole to conquer what was once theirs and begin the Fourth Reich? Have a read of those links, do a little search round and tell me what you think...

P.S. for anyone interested in the accepted story of the end of the Third Reich I recommend Berlin: The Downfall 1945, the best non fiction book I've ever read. Or check out the much Youtubed movie "Downfall [2004]"