Secrets of the Third Reich II

The battlefields of the Second World War have been analysed countless times. But it wasn’t just fought in large-scale offensives. There‘s a face of the Second World War that took place in secret, behind enemy lines, and with very high stakes – even today much of it still leaves mysterious aftertastes. Daredevil missions, dangerous assignments and secret operations – it’s the stuff of Hollywood Blockbusters. But for some individuals, it was reality – yet theirs are little known undertakings, the exact circumstances of which continue to throw up new questions. Using expert analyses and eyewitness accounts, we take a fresh look at some of the most notable secret missions of the Second World War. Perhaps the most incredible secret assignment took place on September 12th, 1943: German military gliders are on their way to the Gran Sasso Massif in Italy to free Benito Mussolini, held by his own people following his deposition from power. On board are paratroopers and a unit of SS-men, led by Captain Otto Skorzeny. This mission is risky, perhaps even impossible. Mussolini’s makeshift prison is deemed impregnable. Their plan is reckless and ingenious: the notoriously delicate military gliders will land at the top.

There is a tremor in Hitler’s left hand, one he is finding increasingly difficult to control. It must be hidden from the German people at all cost: the tell-tale shots are cut from the Wochenschau – but the out-takes accidentally survive, leaving no doubts for posterity. For Hitler’s inner circle, his continued decline is no secret: he’s suffering from symptoms of an illness like Parkinsons. Documents long thought lost have recently re-surfaced in the United States. They include x-rays, detailed medical assessments by his doctors, as well as the report of an ears-nose-throat specialist, who describes Hitler’s apparent use of cocaine. We try to find out: was Hitler really well enough to lead Germany in the midst of war? The American psychologist Nassir Ghaemi has his doubts: he believes Hitler had bipolar disorder and tried to keep his problems at bay with the excessive use of medications. Exclusive access gives a surprising insight into a previously unknown side of the dictator.

The battles of Hitler’s Germany are rarely associated with the coast of Brazil, but that’s exactly where some of the Third Reich’s best U-Boats went to do battle. Amongst them the relatively new vessel U-513. After her commission on the 10th of January 1942, she went on 4 patrols, but never returned from her last outing. Until recently, all we knew was that she was sunk by a US Navy Mariner, taking 46 of her crew with her. Only 7 men survived. What happened to her and where did she sink? Several years ago, the Brazilian adventurer Vilfredo Schürmann heard rumours: a U-Boat was said to have sunk just off the Brazilian coastline near his hometown. Solving this riddle became a passion, and in the spring of 2012, almost 70 years after that fateful day when U-513 took her crew to their deaths, Vilfredo and his team finally struck gold off the coast of Brazil. They had followed clues given by fishermen, whose nets had repeatedly become snagged on something inexplicable in the depths. So-called Side Scan Sonars identified a 75-metre iron object 80 metres below the surface – a submarine: U-513. Finally, the mystery of what happened to U-513 can be unravelled – including how she sank and what must have happened to its crew.

At the beginning of April 1945, 2 heavily armed trains leave Berlin, carrying virtually all of the remaining Reichsbank assets. It amounts to billions of Reichsmark. Hard on their heels is a convoy of trucks carrying more than 9 tons of gold. Their destination: the ‘Alpine Fortress’. Towards the end of the Second World War, the Nazis busy themselves with moving their immense riches to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria and the Salzburg area in Austria. There, they hide what they can. In Hitler’s vision, the Alps are the last holdout of the Third Reich – its final bastion. But where exactly some of the Nazi treasure went is still unclear: parts of it have never been found and continue to lure treasure-hunters to the area. So what happened to the Nazi gold and what exactly was the ‘alpine fortress’? We follow the trail of these old mysteries and try to work out what happened in these turbulent last days of the Third Reich. The Allies are aware something is awry: they’ve been forewarned with claims that the Germans are busy turning the alpine region between the Comer Lake and Wiener Neustadt into a virtually impregnable réduit, complete with underground factories and central command posts.

On the 17th of August, 1987, news of the suicide of Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s former deputy, spreads across the world. It seems the 93-year-old hanged himself in the notorious prison for Nazi War-Criminals: Spandau near Berlin. He was the only remaining prisoner there. But his death is as mysterious as his life had been. When it comes to Rudolf Hess, nothing quite adds up. During the Third Reich Hess has a meteoric rise, culminating in his 1933 appointment as Hitler’s deputy and ‘minister without portfolio’. He’s the 3rd most powerful man in the German Reich. That’s why Hess’ actions of the 10th of May 1941 are very puzzling: he secretly pilots a Messerschmitt Bf 100D on a flight to Scotland. It crash-lands south of Glasgow. But why has he flown to the British Isles? Has he come on a secret mission to secure a peace-deal? If so, does Hitler know anything about it? And is there a connection between Hess’ precarious flight into British territory and his mysterious prison-death 42 years after the end of the war?