Hitler Is Alive!

  Regarding Finland I do not see any problem at all, since we consider Finland as basically not belonging to our sphere of interest and only do not wish to have a new war break out there.

  Regarding Constantinople and the Straits it cannot be to our interest to deliver up Bulgaria or the Straits themselves to Bolshevism. Here, too, however, it will be possible with a little goodwill to find a solution that avoids the intolerable and helps what is just and desirable to win out.

  The solution will be all the more certain of success, however, the more it is realized in Moscow, too, that we are by no means under compulsion to take any step that does not suit us.

  Although he doesn’t mention it to Mussolini, it is a fact that some months before he wrote this letter Hitler had already made up his mind to launch his attack on Russia—whether or not he had first brought Britain to terms. In fact, Hitler’s conception of the war at this point seems to have been that it was already won in the west, and that only the east menaced his grandiloquent plans for world domination.

  In this same letter of December 31 to Mussolini, Hitler says:

  The war in the west has actually been decided. A tremendous final thrust will be necessary to force England under, in so far as England does not break down under the increased effect of our air and submarine warfare. Therefore strong German forces are none the less necessary in order, when the conditions are right for success, to proceed directly against England for the last decisive attack.

  The massing of these formations, and particularly of the tremendous stocks of material, requires antiair-craft protection that goes beyond what could be estimated hitherto.

  The British, in fact, could wait until Hitler was ready to deliver his final crushing blow—just as Hitler and Mussolini had thought that Franco would wait until they whistled for him.

  These revealing letters show how one of the greatest gambles in history failed. If the depraved dictator and his paunchy comrade had wooed Franco months earlier, they might have struck at Gibraltar through Spain and brought Britain to her knees.

  The man who played the Slickest hand in this historic game was Franco, who smiled and blandly bluffed his fellow dictators—but never sided with them.

  When Franco sat on the fence he had the destiny of the world sitting right beside him.

  HITLER–MUSSOLINI LETTERS REVEAL THE SECRET FEAR THAT HAUNTED HITLER

  The time was December 1940. Hitler stood at the peak of power, with all of Europe crushed or trembling beneath his heel … but he was haunted by a secret fear.

  It was not a fear that he might lose the war. He considered that as good as won.

  Hitler feared his enemies within the German Reich.

  This fact is revealed in a wartime letter written by Hitler to Mussolini.

  The letter, which was among secret Nazi documents captured by the US Army, has been obtained exclusively by the Police Gazette. It throws a new light on the two dictators who tried to dominate the world.

  It shows that Mussolini, too, was haunted by the fear of being overthrown or assassinated—that he was afraid even to leave Rome.

  The letter is written by one frightened, lonely man to another.

  Hitler admits that he knows the loneliness that goes with supreme power.

  He tries to reassure the Duce that the “watchful waiters” who are out to destroy him can be out-smarted and silenced. Then, in a rare disclosure of his inner fears, the Fuhrer admits: “I have these people, too.”

  As well as disclosing the internal conflicts that seethed around the two dictators, this letter gives Hitler’s evaluation of the first year and three months of World War II.

  Adolf Hitler to Benito Mussolini

  December 31, 1940

  Duce!

  At the end of this year I feel impelled from the depths of my heart to express to you my good wishes for the coming year. I do so with feelings of friendship that are all the warmer since I can imagine that the recent events will have made you more lonesome, in relation to many people who are in themselves insignificant, but in return also more receptive to the sincere comradeship of a man who feels that he has thrown in his lot with you for better or for worse.

  Let me make a statement at the start of this letter: namely that there are innumerable examples in the history of wars and nations of the events that are affecting all of us today. In the majority of these cases great powers have almost always reached too low an estimate of strength in the attack on smaller countries at the beginning, and have then very often suffered reverses in the initial stages of these fights.

  German history possesses quite a number of examples of this. I therefore consider it necessary in every case of this sort to attack with superior forces if in any way possible, even when there is danger of losing the sympathies of those who consider a balance of forces to be necessary for a fair victory.

  Since the occurrences in Greece and Albania and in North Africa I have been pondering without letup the really effective countermeasures which could be undertaken, on my part particularly.

  As regards the direct help to Italy, your wishes are known to me, Duce. They shall be fulfilled—in so far as this lies in our power. In some areas it will not be possible. However, it will be possible to find expedients that will lead to the desired result after all.

  Now let me consider the general situation, Duce:

  Distrusts the French

  The French Government has dismissed Laval. The reasons communicated to me officially are untrue. I no longer doubt for a second that the reason is that General Weygand is sending extortionist demands from North Africa to the Vichy Government and the latter does not feel able to proceed against General Weygand without incurring the danger of losing North Africa. I consider it possible that in Vichy itself quite a number of persons are covering the Weygand policy, at least secretly. I do not believe that General Petain personally commits disloyalty. However, one cannot be sure of that, either. This forces us to maintain a sharp scrutiny of what is going on.

  Discusses Rumania

  General Antonescu has recognized that the future of his regime and also his person depends on our victory. He has drawn clear and unequivocal conclusions from this which, in my eyes, has greatly increased his stature as a soldier. My personal impression of him in general was that of a fanatical Rumanian protagonist and resolute officer.

  North African Situation

  Duce. I do not believe that any largescale counter attacks can be made in North Africa now. The preparation of such operations requires a period of at least three to four months. Then, however, will be the beginning of the season in which German units, at any rate, cannot function successfully there at all. Moreover, the tanks, which are not equipped with special cooling devices, can hardly be of any service in such heat. At any rate, not far-reaching operations that require this commitment for days at a time.

  The decisive thing there seems to me to be to bring about a reinforcement of anti-tank defenses even at the risk of thereby divesting other Italian units of them for the time being.

  I know, Duce, that all commanders object to giving up the weapons and units allotted to them. However, I have intervened in this way in my own Wehrmacht numerous times. In the face of the opposition of individual corps or army leaders, I have taken out units, withdrawn weapons, and committed them at places where I considered they would be more useful.

  In particular I believe, as I recently emphasized, that we must try with all possible means to weaken the British naval position by using the air force. Aside from this, Duce, no decisive measures can be taken anywhere before the month of March.

  Transports that have not been in preparation for a long time require a very long time to get under way, even with the greatest utilization of all workers. Furthermore, many railroads are so overloaded at the present time that any new transports can be undertaken only at the price of present ones.

  In spite of all this I regard the future with calm assurance. Your people, Duce, will only em
erge hardened from the first reverses. The British attempt to separate the Italian people from you will lead to their being bound to you more strongly than ever before. The few persons who regards such an attempt with hopeful sympathy are not to be identified with your people in any case, and by no means represent any sort of valuable factor of national resistance.

  In the most favorable case they are always only watchful waiters and never hot-blooded fighters. If they are uncovered prematurely it can always be considered to the advantage of a leadership that can all too easily let itself be deceived about the fact of their existence by the temporary silencing of these persons. I have these people, too!

  I can understand, Duce, that you do not have much time now, and in particular that you do not like to leave Rome, As soon as you believe you can take it upon yourself, however, I cordially request that you have me notified. I will then be at your disposal at all times, Duce, and will be happy to see you again.

  Perhaps I can also give you more information then about the progress of operations that are now in the planning stage.

  Now please accept once again my most cordial wishes for success in the coming year.

  Everything that is in my power and in the power of my people will be done to make this the year of final victory, that is the best wish that I can express at the turning point of this historical time.

  In loyal comradeship,

  Yours,

  (Signed) Adolf Hitler

  Thus concludes a remarkable letter from the German dictator, Hitler’s references to internal enemies were almost prophetic, for nearly four years after the letter was written an attempt was made on the Fuhrer’s life when a time bomb exploded during a conference at his headquarters in East Prussia. Mussolini was shot by the Italian Partisans and his body strung up as a public spectacle.

  Odds & Ends

  In this section we wrap up some “Hitler Is Alive!” odds and ends.

  George McGrath gets back on the job in one big hurry when Hitler’s valet, Heinz Linge, is released from a Soviet prison after serving ten years and goes around telling the press he saw Hitler’s dead body in the bunker and saw him cremated.

  The tracking and capture of Final Solution showrunner Adolf Eichmann is given a straight and in-depth treatment, while in another story we’re told of the claim that Joseph Stalin’s favorite ashtray was made from the top of Hitler’s skull.

  The last original Police Gazette reporting on the Hitler subject appears in May 1972, prompted by the appearance of Dr. Erwin Giesing, one of Hitler’s physicians, on German television. The good doctor blasts Soviet claims of Der Fuehrer’s death, while also taking time to refute the vicious Soviet assertion that Hitler only had one testicle. Dr. Giesing admits it was possible Hitler had escaped Berlin alive.

  With renewed vigor, the Police Gazette concludes the article by saying it is “sending one of its top investigative reporters to find out” if Hitler is still at his “heavily guarded fortress … in a remote region of Patagonia” and to “be on the lookout for this important article.” The reporter was never heard from again.

  Then, on December 7, 1972, when the bodies of Martin Bormann and Dr. Ludwig Stumpfegger—of “silk-cord operation” fame—were discovered in Berlin, it took significant juice out of the Gazette’s main assertions. Bormann, too—the Gazette had always said—was still alive and causing trouble. It turned out Bormann and Stumpfegger had never made it past May 1945.

  The Police Gazette concluded its 132-year run with the January 1977 issue, an issue devoted entirely to “Hitler Is Alive!” reprints. If alive, Hitler would have been eighty-seven, which is a good age for any self-respecting Fuehrer to finally retire. Together, he and the Police Gazette’s “top investigative reporter”—now with him à la Lieutenant Colby in Apocalypse Now—rode off into the sunset of a Patagonian heart of darkness.

  If the reader hadn’t already figured it out by now, alive or dead, Hitler stood in as a metaphor for all surviving Nazis, as well as any group holding fascist ideologies around the world. As long as the threat of right-wing extremism exists, Adolph Hitler will always be alive. As for the National Police Gazette, scholar Guy Reel has likewise observed, “As a reflection of the modern American male, the Gazette still lives, and it may be a very long time before it ever really dies.”

  EICHMANN’S CAPTURE SPOTLIGHTS HITLER’S HIDEOUT

  by GEORGE McGRATH

  Israeli commandos are convinced that somewhere in Argentina hides Adolf Hitler—very much alive!

  A fantastic cloak-and-dagger operation costing more than $100,000 led to the capture of Adolf Eichmann—killer of millions of Jews—by Israeli secret agents. It took them six months to find his hideout in Argentina.

  Five secret agents were sent on the mission to capture Eichmann—one time head of the Nazi Gestapo Bureau which ordered the killing of six million Jews.

  At the time this article is being written, Karl Adolf Eichmann sits in his lonely cell in Jerusalem awaiting trial.

  Among the personalities of the third Reich, Hitler, Himmler, Goring, Goebbels, the name of Eichmann will not be listed nor known to the average person. He led a secluded life, not sharing a love of pomp, pageantry, and public notoriety with Goring and the others. Yet this former Lieutenant Colonel of the SS was responsible for more deaths than any other Nazi save Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich. As head of the Jewish resettlement program it was his job to personally order the mass extermination of Jews throughout the territories controlled by Germany, a job which he did with ruthless efficiency.

  Eichmann was an Austrian like Hitler, and came from Linz, the same city where Hitler attended secondary school. He was born in 1906, 17 years after Hitler, but both men grew up in identical surroundings. As a boy, Eichmann saw the Austro-Hungarian Empire, crumbling from corruption within, suffer defeat after defeat on the battlefields of World War I.

  In a postwar Austria, its lands divided into many small nations, its government torn by conflicts between left, center, and right, and its economy ravaged by alternating inflation and depression, Eichmann found his first hatreds of the Jews. Seeing in the Jew the cause of all misery, all corruption as did Hitler before him, Eichmann went to Germany to study and to escape the “Jewish-ridden state” which he felt was Austria.

  Vents Wrath Against Jews

  Once in Germany, his studies were forgotten in the struggle for National Socialism, which he discovered shortly after his arrival. He became a party man, he joined the SA, and in his brown uniform fought for the Nazis in the streets. By the time Hitler was made Chancellor in 1933, Eichmann had become an officer in the SA; transferred to the nucleus SS elite corps under Himmler. When the Gestapo came under Himmler’s control in 1934, he saw in it a further chance to vent the wrath of his anti-Semitism and quickly joined it, retaining his SS rank and position.

  As the powers granted to Himmler grew, so did Eichmann with it. The culmination of his efforts was his appointment to head the newly created section 4A 4B of the RSHA, or the bureau in charge of Jewish resettlement of the Reich main security bureau. By the end of the war in 1945, this section was to be known as Dienststelle Eichmann, or Eichmann authority, in his honor. This post was created for him shortly after the anschluss with Austria in 1938, when the SS, having completed the elimination of other enemies to the new order, could turn its attention more completely on the Jewish question.

  Eichmann’s first assignment in Vienna, was the expulsion of Austrian Jews from the Reich.

  The word expulsion to Eichmann meant in reality the application of what Hitler called “the final solution to the Jewish problem,” in short: extermination. Eichmann had only two superiors in the SS; Heydrich and Himmler, both of whom also wanted the application of the final solution. Adolf set about his task with a vengeance, and before long his organization was herding Jews into concentration camps throughout Germany, Austria and the other annexed territories.

  Murdered Jews En Masse

  By the autumn of 1941, Dienstste
lle Eichmann was exterminating Jews in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and occupied Russia; in addition to importing more victims from France, Norway, and the rest of the conquered lands to the west of Germany. The Jews in Stettin and Schneidemumuehl were wiped out en masse, while 30,000 Jewish gypsies living throughout eastern Germany were rounded up within a week, never to be heard from again.

  Some attempts were actually made at resettlement, primarily in lands in eastern Poland. Through deft planning, trainloads of refugees would arrive east of the Vistula with over half of the Jews nothing but frozen corpses. The Warsaw ghetto was established by walling up a section of the city; and then filling it with Jews. They lived in filth; food provided was usually rotten, with a meal for one having to feed ten. They lived 5 to a room, with inadequate plumbing, no sanitation precautions taken, and no medical facilities. As a crowning touch, Eichmann authorized the use of the ghetto as a marksmanship training ground for the Hitler Youth; young Nazis would be turned loose in the ghetto streets with rifles and any Jew was fair game.

  There were other facets to Jewish resettlement which Eichmann employed. One was the establishment of Auschwitz, which was not a concentration camp in the usual sense of the word, but an extermination camp. It was designed not to hold prisoners, but to first gas them and then cremate them. One of the most efficient men in Eichmann’s organization, Roudolph Roess, commanded Auschwitz in the 4 years of its existence, and managed to murder over 3 million Jews in that period.

  After the invasion of Russia, Eichmann found transportation a problem which he solved by sending the exterminators to the Jews instead of bringing the Jews to established sites. Four Einsatzkommandos were formed, and were roving units designed to exterminate Jews town by town, burn the bodies in any convenient manner, usually in a large pit, and move on to the next slaughter as quickly as possible.