Ratline

On a research visit to Indonesia in 2008, famed author, Peter Levenda, heard a rumour concerning the alleged escape of Adolf Hitler. As someone who has written extensively on the Second World War, he was not impressed with the conspiracy theories that Hitler had survived the War and fled to Argentina, among other possible locales. He was prepared to dismiss the theory out of hand, until he saw information contained in a dead man's diary that mentioned the single name 'Draganovic.' At that point, the author became convinced there was a story worth investigating. Draganovic is not a name familiar to most people. A Roman Catholic monsignor during the War, Draganovic was a devoted Nazi who would create the 'monastery route': a so called 'rat line' that would enable SS officers and other wanted war criminals to escape justice using Catholic monasteries and churches as safe houses in Europe and Latin America. Why would this name turn up in a document written in a spidery German hand in a remote island in Indonesia? The mystery deepened and the author returned to his own roots hunting Nazis in North America, South America and Europe. He revisited old contacts, made some new ones, and gradually the explosive story was revealed: there is no forensic evidence to prove that Adolf Hitler died in the bunker in April 1945!As he began his research, more information came to light:In December of 2009, it was revealed that the skull the Russians claimed was Hitler's -- salvaged from the bunker in 1945 -- was not that of Hitler!In 2010, files from the Office of Special Investigations of the Justice Department were declassified, revealing a history of American intelligence providing cover for Nazi war criminals.