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The Ratline: The Exalted Life and Mysterious Death of a Nazi Fugitive
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About This Book
As Governor of Galicia, SS Brigadeführer Otto Freiherr von Wächter presided over an authority on whose territory hundreds of thousands of Jews and Poles were killed, including the family of the author's grandfather. By the time the war ended in May 1945, he was indicted for 'mass murder'. Hunted by the Soviets, the Americans, the Poles and the British, as well as groups of Jews, Wächter went on the run. He spent three years hiding in the Austrian Alps, assisted by his wife Charlotte, before making his way to Rome where he was helped by a Vatican bishop. He remained there for three months. While preparing to travel to Argentina on the 'ratline' he died unexpectedly, in July 1949, a few days after spending a weekend with an 'old comrade'. In The Ratline Philippe Sands offers a unique account of the daily life of a senior Nazi and fugitive, and of his wife. Drawing on a remarkable archive of family letters and diaries, he unveils a fascinating insight into life before and during the war, on the run, in Rome, and into the Cold War. Eventually the door is unlocked to a mystery that haunts Wächter's youngest son, who continues to believe his father was a good man - what happened to Otto Wächter, and how did he die?
Reviews
"There is, in Horst, a fascinating psychology to explore: what has prompted this man, who claims to acknowledge the atrocities of Nazism, to spend his life denying his father's involvement?"
"a real-life thriller that is stranger than fiction ..."
"Throughout, Sands is a reliable narrator—gracious, wise, and intrepid."
"Adding Horst's archives to extensive interviews allows Sands to deliver a gripping account of Otto's experience ..."
"It's a testament to Sands — his fiercely inquiring mind, his excellent researchers, the wealth of documents and his ability to make them come to life — that the book is so suspenseful ..."
"Sands lays out a riveting, deeply researched case that builds chronologically to show who and what Otto was ..."
"This is a taut and finely crafted factual thriller, reminiscent in density and pace of John le Carré ..."
"With enough twists and turns to keep the reader grimly absorbed, Ratline is an electrifying true crime for the contagion lockdown."
"Is Horst a fool, a liar, or simply a dutiful son?"
"There's no question that Sands is a superlative historical researcher and excellent writer, but, ultimately, Wächter's career as a Nazi was unremarkable, and his postwar life and death of interest mostly to detail-obsessive academic historians specializing in Nazism."
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