This is a highly engaging 'information study and document analysis' right from the first page, even though you wouldn't expect it to be. Notice I didn't call it a story. This book is as detailed as the best books on the subject out there. From Shirer's Rise and Fall, Breitman's Architect of Genocide, about that chicken farmer turned fiend, Himmler to Edsel's Monuments Men and Saving Italy. You need to read this at face value and not concern yourself about what happened to Hitler … just yet, because that's only one small detail of the information. A sliver.
Many people think it's a myth that even one member of the Nazi Party made it to South America, despite their being numerous arrests of Nazi's including Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires and Kurt Scnellenkamp in Chile. Schnellenkamp was Hitlers day-to-day bodyguard. Schnellenkamp wasn't in the bunker on April 28th, or 30th, 1945. So there's that piece of uncomfortable factoid to have to answer. This subject for many is just too much to consider as it shatters decades of what the norm and narrative has been for almost 70 years. Also consider, that over 300,000 German Citizens immigrated to Argentina and Chile after 1945 in a giant mass exodus after the war. The data higlights omething very dark, and very undeniable. You keep asking why interested parties didn't take this more seriously at the time. Some did, but most were ready to move on.
Note: If you have a hard time with what I just presented in the above paragraph, you're likely going to have a hard time with this book and not give it fair consideration. The book is written like most deep-dive investigative journalism pieces you might read in one of the major newspapers. When the authors move over to speculate any scenario, they tell you as much and then Italicise the paragraph. The is done solely for the benefit of the reader. At any time you can flip to the back of the book and read the near 100 pages of footnotes, sources or other historical pinpoints.
The bulk of the first 75 pages cover the Nazi Finances like never before, and as a whole, while the first 130 pages of the book cover the War in detail. As a reader one might worry going through it that you're about to have the entire story of the war retold from beginning to end. But you're not. If you pay attention to the way the information is unfolded, and you have even an inkling of understanding of the money, the gold and the art, this book literally kicks the chair out from under you. The scary part of it is that everything is sourced, cited and double-checked. Every time I put this book down at night I just stared at the wall in the dark having to re-catagorize everything I thought I knew about the rise of the Reich and what happened to their assets post-war. We've always been told that history is written by the winners, but the truth is that it's written by those with the most money, regardless of who wins.
One of the first real truths that are challenged in this book is 'Why' America was reluctant to enter the War to begin with. Even though the question is never asked, the answer is detailed for you to realize on your own in the first 75 pages. And I think that's the point the writer's Williams and Dunstan intend for the reader. It becomes crystal clear that before December of 1941, the US economy was benefiting throughout the 1930's from Germany's economic growth. US Banks also benefited as well and was a factor in pulling the US out of the great depression. Several German companies were investing heavily in US companies on top of that. Ford, Ford-Werke, General Motors, IG Farben, Standard Oil ... as well as Dunlap and Royal Dutch Shield (BP) ... all were heavily invested in Germany's soaring growth. Historians and economists know this, common people ... yeah, not so much.
I suspect this wasn't highlighted as clearly for the reader because I don't believe the authors were ever targeting solely American readers, and the reception it would've received highlighting that the US's real reluctance in entering WWII was that Wall Street was banking on Germany being victorious and making them an Ally. While that's really a bit shocking for some to accept, the money trail is hard to dismiss. That said, to the US Banks at the time, this was just “ticker tape” in the moment. The Almighty Dollar as the saying goes. Also no one wanted to go through another market crash.
The last hundred, or 98 pages, deal with the subject matter of “if” Hitler escaped the bunker in Berlin. The information is taken directly from worldwide Intelligence sources, now declassified as well as interviews with existing govt agencies in various countries. In 1945, the Soviets thought he escaped and then began a propaganda campaign to throw off the allies with numerous endings of Hitler's Death and then reported his whereabouts in places where he was nowhere near. There was still a massive treasure unaccounted for. In May of 1945, after the world had learned that Hitler had apparently shot himself, Eisenhower, Truman, Churchill and Stalin all firmly believed that Hitler definitely escaped and thought he would make a run for it to Berchtesgaden. The belief that Hitler escaped the bunker was the prevalent thought at the time. Those are the standing historical facts to consider as you read this.
This book picks up where conventional thought shifted around 1948, after everyone was safely home and no longer wanted to think about what had happened, and so challenging the notion that there was an ending in Berlin. The book details what the Allied Intelligence Agencies compiled for just over two decades after the war. So you can honestly take it or leave it. But if you read it, you're likely not going to be giving this book one star. Just saying.
Coming away I have some very burning questions.
1. What happened to SS Lt. Col Helmut von Hummel?
He apparently lived to be 102 and died in 2012. That's long enough to laugh at every half-truth ever laid out to the public about the war and I really don't know which is worse. He also was the one person who was aware of every single piece of art that the Nazi's laid hands on. He also knew every piece of art Hitler kept near him, whether that was in Berlin, Berchtesgaden or even in South America. While Goring had a certain fetish for art, Hummel was likely the one person with a log book. I was a little surprised that there was only a slight mention of any of this. Part of trying to track some one down also includes searching for things you know they've owned or might have in there possession. I've would've done an exhaustive search of everything the documents had on this person.
2. To note, Hitler had a collection of Arnold Bocklin paintings in his possession (and a few others like the Anton Graff portrait) which most were never recovered. If they find these paintings in Chile, Paraguay or even Argentina, you will get closer to his last known whereabouts than before. Hummel and this art just feel like a few stones that were left unturned.
3. After May of 1945 there was approximately $5 Billion in Nazi Gold and treasure. All unaccounted for. This is mentioned in several places throughout this book and many others, but it just seems like the most obvious thing would be to investigate. The money and the art and the gold is where you'll find all the answers. Accounting audits often bear out the same kind of results.
On a final note, as someone who always scans the reviews of books I read, I noticed quite a few one star reviews with very little sustenance backing their suggested claim. Having read this book carefully, I'm convinced many of the 1 star reviews are from people who actually never read the book or who were hoping for some type of murder-mystery narrative and who put the book down in the first 30 pages. It's dense, and there's no way around it. Reading this book is like reading an actual textbook and while I think some people could come away with a negative opinion, not many have elucidated even slightly 'why' and thus I find their claims of 1 star more dubious than these authors claims of Hitler's possible post-War whereabouts. This book will age better than most I suspect and I've read numerous historical books of this nature that haven't. Time out's information and even in 2018, they still have a cache of documents still not released.
About my actual copy of Grey Wolf:
Interestingly enough, my copy was heavily underlined and had copious footnotes. Names were circled and it struck me that I likely had an advance review copy or a copy someone had created a project from using their notes. On the last page there was a signature “JO” (?) and the date 11.20.11 I'm unsure what it all means, but it was interesting to see these notes from the previous reader.
Also, the book is listed online as 352 pages, which is a bit misleading as you'll finish reading at page 293. I only mention this because if you use a reader progress tracker as you read it, like Goodreads, it won't reflect accurately.
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