Where was Hanna Reitsch going to take Hitler?

[manta22]

Stalin Allee was renamed Karl Marx Allee in 1961 because the mustachioed dictator fell out of favour in the Soviet Union, owing to Khruschev's denouncing of him. The boulevard was named Stalin Allee in 1949 and there used to be a statue of Stalin on it, but this was removed...



Wall Number One in the background. Great photo. The wall went through four major refurbishments, it's first installation in August 1961 was hasty and the workers used whatever junk they could get their hands on in some places. Masonry from war damaged buildings was a common building material.

The "Wall number One" behind me was built a few meters inside he East Zone border. You could not walk up to the wall without being in East Germany.

Yes, the Wall was erected hastily and many things were used- Brick, concrete blocks, wood, barbed wire, etc.

 

[gruad]

"To the Moon, Alice!"

I once scoped out the idea that Reitsch would fly the Fuhrer, Eva and Blondi to the launching site of the successor of the A4, the Nazi moon rocket. (Even a 4 legged space suit had been prepared for Blondi)

There are the top ranking Nazis of Aryan purity already there to meet him... And the story centres the totally f'd up society that ensues.

Then I found out moon Nazis were already a cultural trope as in Iron Sky...

 

[gruad]

Here's my take on him escaping to Japan to help with the Japanese war effort.

Hitler escapes to Japan via U-Boat

20-iv-1945 The Fuhrers birthday party was a muted affair. No one seemed to be able to summon the Joie-de-vivre that had accompanied previous celebrations. "I'm popping back to the bedroom, there is a stain on my shirt", Hitler informed Eva who so wanted everything to be alright. In the...

www.alternatehistory.com

 

[nuuumannn]

I once scoped out the idea that Reitsch would fly the Fuhrer, Eva and Blondi to the launching site of the successor of the A4, the Nazi moon rocket. (Even a 4 legged space suit had been prepared for Blondi)

Explorers on the Moon — Tintin.com

Explorers on the Moon (1954) completes the prophetic scientific Tintin adventure that begins with Destination Moon.

www.tintin.com

 

[Wild_Bill_Kelso]

If Hitler was willing to hide in a concrete bunker, I don't see why he would be adverse to taking refuge in a sub.

Aside from several U-Boats available, I believe there was a Japanese sub on a Yanagi mission still in the area by late April.

However, Japan was not in a real good position to be of any help for refuge though, they only had three months left before their bill came due, so his only option would be to flee to South America or *maybe* a former German colony in Africa.

But U-Boat was the only way out - air, land or surface vessel was entirely out of the question.

IIRC very few of those subs which went from Japan to Germany in the later part of the war actually made it. I remember one being sunk with a bunch of gold and all kinds of other treasures in it that they never found.

They found one in 1995 but did not (allegedly) recover any of the $100 million in gold Japanese submarine I-52 (1942) - Wikipedia

 

[MIflyer]

On Hunting Hitler they found evidence that at the end of the war large German aircraft landed in Spain, near a large but remote monastery that was known to be frequented by Germans and was equipped for long range communications.

Hanna Reitsch committed suicide on the anniversary of Hitler's death.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Hanna Reitsch committed suicide on the anniversary of Hitler's death.

No she did not. She died of a heart attack on August 24, 1979. Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945.

The myth of Hannah Reitsch suicide comes from Eric Brown. He said he thinks she took a cyanide pill, but there was no evidence of this.

 

[nuuumannn]

On Hunting Hitler they found evidence that at the end of the war large German aircraft landed in Spain, near a large but remote monastery that was known to be frequented by Germans and was equipped for long range communications.

Who found evidence of this? That has the whiff of myth about it, to be frank. Apart from those senior ranked officials who appeared at Nuremburg, the rest of the senior Nazis either surrendered, in Doenitz's case, or committed suicide, in Hitler's, Goebbels', and Himmler's case, or were killed while escaping, in Bormann's case. There was no one else of importance, really, so no one would have cared if an alleged "large transport plane arrived at a monastery in Spain..." Hitler's body was identified by dental records in May 1945. Mind you, there was a rumour that Bormann had escaped to South America, and he was tried in absentia, but the reality was he was killed a day or so after leaving the bunker by Russian troops near the Lehrterbahnhof in Berlin. This was discovered quite by accident when human remains were found during excavation work around what is now Berlin's central station. The remains were identified through dental records as being Bormann's

 

[Greg Boeser]

Who found evidence of this? That has the whiff of myth about it, to be frank. Apart from those senior ranked officials who appeared at Nuremburg, the rest of the senior Nazis either surrendered, in Doenitz's case, or committed suicide, in Hitler's, Goebbels', and Himmler's case, or were killed while escaping, in Bormann's case. There was no one else of importance, really, so no one would have cared if an alleged "large transport plane arrived at a monastery in Spain..." Hitler's body was identified by dental records in May 1945. Mind you, there was a rumour that Bormann had escaped to South America, and he was tried in absentia, but the reality was he was killed a day or so after leaving the bunker by Russian troops near the Lehrterbahnhof in Berlin. This was discovered quite by accident when human remains were found during excavation work around what is now Berlin's central station. The remains were identified through dental records as being Bormann's

Joseph Mengele got away.

 

[nuuumannn]

Joseph Mengele got away.

There's always one. :eyeroll: Mengele wasn't a senior at the same level as Bormann or Himmler. He held no senior government post. Adolf Eichmann escaped to Argentina but was sentenced to death after a trial in 1961. He was probably the most high-profile Nazi to survive post-war, but again, he did not hold a senior government post.

 

[Greg Boeser]

That's what They would have you believe.

 

[nuuumannn]

That's what They would have you believe.

The intriguing thing about Mengele was that he was never captured, despite a world-wide manhunt by Mossad and others. He suffered a heart attack having a swim and drowned in Brazil in 1979.

 

[GrauGeist]

You don't have to be a senior Nazi official to fly (or have one flown) to a neutral country or to a safe haven.

Countless Luftwaffe pilots flew planes that were available (fighter, trainer, transport, etc.) to British, Canadian and American lines in order to avoid the Soviets.

 

[nuuumannn]

You don't have to be a senior Nazi official to fly (or have one flown) to a neutral country or to a safe haven.

Yup, it happened right across Nazi Germany throughout the age of the regime. When I was in South America I went to the British Cemetery in Uruguay and there was a gathering of headstones with German sirnames, and I assumed they were former Nazis who evacuated after the war, but they weren't. It turns out the guy whose plot it was, was a crewmember of the Admiral Graf Spee and had remained in Uruguay after the ship was scuttled and as he had no love for the regime, chose to be interned in the British cemetery (after a long and fruitful life in Uruguay) rather than the German cemetery, where his fallen comrades who died in the River Plate battle of 1939 were buried...

 

[RAMROD1944]

Hanna Reitsch - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

26 April 1945, Hanna Reitsch and Field Marshall von Greim flew into Berlin, where Reitsch begged Hitler to escape in her Fieseler Fi 156 Storch. If Hitler and presumably Eva Braun agreed and left with Reitch, where would they go? Historically Reitsch flew to Plön so that von Greim could arrest Himmler.

With a range of 390 km and assuming they could refuel in Berlin, what's the likely plan? Von Greim might be best left behind in Berlin to make space for Blondi. Here's a 300 km circle around the Reichstag, to give an idea where Reitsch could go.

View attachment 720160

Map Radius Calculator

Draw a Radius around a map location. Draw a radius circle around a location in Google Maps to show a distance from that point in all directions.

www.calcmaps.com

Here's the front line as of May 1, 1945.

View attachment 720162

I'm not proposing a What If, but more of a what was possible or likely. But if the Mods want to move this to What'If that's fine too.

I'm impressed.

 

[manta22]

Yup, it happened right across Nazi Germany throughout the age of the regime. When I was in South America I went to the British Cemetery in Uruguay and there was a gathering of headstones with German sirnames, and I assumed they were former Nazis who evacuated after the war, but they weren't. It turns out the guy whose plot it was, was a crewmember of the Admiral Graf Spee and had remained in Uruguay after the ship was scuttled and as he had no love for the regime, chose to be interned in the British cemetery (after a long and fruitful life in Uruguay) rather than the German cemetery, where his fallen comrades who died in the River Plate battle of 1939 were buried...

When I was working in Chile in 1995/6, I was surprised at the number of German surnames and I assumed it was an exodus of WW II. Not so, it seems that many of the first settlers in the country were from Germany. One of the early heroes was even Irish- Bernardo O'Higgins!

 

[nuuumannn]

When I was working in Chile in 1995/6, I was surprised at the number of German surnames and I assumed it was an exodus of WW II. Not so, it seems that many of the first settlers in the country were from Germany. One of the early heroes was even Irish- Bernardo O'Higgins!

Yup, O'Higgins founded the Chilean Navy. There are a lot of British and Irish connections to the Chilean Navy, just look at any list of Chilean naval vessels and distinctly non-Latino names are prevalent. You will also find Welsh descendants in Argentina. Patagonia was settled by Welsh farmers. The capital is
Trelew, after the Welsh.

 

[yulzari]

Yup, O'Higgins founded the Chilean Navy. There are a lot of British and Irish connections to the Chilean Navy, just look at any list of Chilean naval vessels and distinctly non-Latino names are prevalent. You will also find Welsh descendants in Argentina. Patagonia was settled by Welsh farmers. The capital is
Trelew, after the Welsh.

An alternative name for the revolutionary 'Che' Guevara was Ernie Lynch. His father was a Lynch from an Irish family so Ernesto Guevara could have been Ernie Lynch. The Lynch family originating from Norman French ancestors who followed William the Bastard to England and thence to Ireland.

The fascinating history of Ché Guevara’s Irish ancestry

Genealogist and member of Ancestor Network, Patricia Brennan, explores Ché Guevara's Irish roots and connection to County Galway.

www.irishcentral.com

 

[nuuumannn]

An alternative name for the revolutionary 'Che' Guevara was Ernie Lynch. His father was a Lynch from an Irish family so Ernesto Guevara could have been Ernie Lynch. The Lynch family originating from Norman French ancestors who followed William the Bastard to England and thence to Ireland.

The fascinating history of Ché Guevara’s Irish ancestry

Genealogist and member of Ancestor Network, Patricia Brennan, explores Ché Guevara's Irish roots and connection to County Galway.

www.irishcentral.com

This guy had a several warships named after him. The most recent being a Type 23 Class destroyer.

Patricio Lynch - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org