The Hidden Nazi by Dean Reuter, Colm Lowery, and Keith Chester delves into the story about America’s deal with the devil. It lays out the case that Hans Kammler was truly the worst of the worst, a general in the SS who perpetrated war crimes.
Who was this little-known Nazi? Kammler was an assistant to Heinrich Himmler, the leader of the Reichsfuhrer-SS, head of the Gestapo and the Waffen-SS, and Nazi Minister of the Interior. Kammler was in charge of building the concentration camps, perfecting the gas chambers/crematoria, deciding to use slave labor, and supervised underground factories where the V-2 rocket was built, which could have had the capability of reaching the US.
This war criminal appears to have escaped punishment, helped by the Americans, in exchange for the scientists that would assist in defeating the Russians in the Cold War. The book begins with the hypothesis that Kammler did not commit suicide as was reported and probably lived out his life in South America. The authors use past and present documents to prove their assumption, that Kammler cheated justice and death.
Even more interesting is the author’s side note that explains how Wherner von Braun was not the American hero he became. He was involved in the Nazi program to attack the US with rockets, had used slave laborers, and kept the US in the dark about some of his research.
The authors take readers on a spellbinding, thrilling, and suspenseful hunt in search of this mysterious war criminal. The Hidden Nazi reads like a crime thriller. People are once again reminded how many Nazis survived the war and escaped justice after they struck a deal with the Devil in exchange for their secrets.
Elise Cooper: How did you come across Kammler?
Dean Reuter: About twelve years ago someone I knew in college had written a book on WWII. Since I am a lawyer he asked me for a collaboration agreement between himself and someone who did a WWII forum on line. Because of my fascination with WWII, being born in Germany, and my German heritage, I was fascinated to learn about this Nazi-figure, Hans Kammler.
EC: How would you describe Kammler?
DR: He was Himmler’s most brutal henchman, the worst of the worst. He was described by other SS men as obstinate, ruthless, and the worst man they knew. These are from those that were involved in an organized genocide. There is nothing redeeming about his character.
EC: As a German did you reflect on the Nazis?
DR: I was born in Heidelberg Germany, because my dad was a US army officer. My family has been in America since the late 1800s. Yet, one of the things I struggled with is how such a highly advanced society could do such actions. I was appalled by what happened in WWII, particularly with the Holocaust. Part of the reason I wrote this book is to make sure what happened is studied so it does not repeat itself.
EC: You delve into the atrocities against the Jews in this book?
DR: It happened incrementally. First Jews were denied admission to college and jobs; they did not allow them to own businesses; they were forced to sell their homes at low prices; and then even at the end of the war the German leaders decided to kill as many Jews as possible, wanting that to be their legacy.
EC: There was actual a program where children were kidnapped?
DR: Yes. Himmler wanted to populate the Reich with German Aryan people. He took over Poland and the Baltic States and then paid German families to live in the occupied territories. Since there were not enough German families, the regime would kidnap children from their families and give them to their officers’ families to raise. After I talked to Kammler’s son, during the interview I thought “could I be looking at one of the kidnapped children.’ After all, he had lost two children and was an officer on the rise.
EC: What was Kammler’s involvement in the rocket program?
DR: He oversaw the V1 and V2 rockets and was in charge of the research and mass production. He was the person in command from cradle to grave, from the research to the firing on England.
EC: There is a powerful quote in the book about the Holocaust?
DR: You must be referring to, “If Adolf Eichmann was the architect of the Holocaust, then General Hans Kammler, was its engineer.” He identified Auschwitz as the source, drafted up plans to double and then redouble it, negotiated with the locals, put in irrigation and waterways, designed the concentration camp barracks, and the gas chambers/ovens. He actually went from one camp to another to study methods of the death camps.
EC: He also engineered the slave program?
DR: It was his idea to turn healthy prisoners into slaves. He took them and rented them to the government, army, and private companies. These people were worked to death and that created the work force.
EC: You make the case that the US aided and abetted Kammler’s escaping justice?
DR: We have multiple documents that Kammler surrendered to the US, was held in US custody, and at the same time was sought by the War Crimes Branch as a wanted war criminal. We have this book quote, “Everything American officials did from that point forward to help Kammler was aiding and abetting a wanted war criminal.”
EC: The US helped him for what reason?
DR: Kammler wanted to make sure the Americans had the entire technology for jet planes, as well as the V-2 rockets and the transcontinental rocket. He knew he could trade this technology and his rocket team for his freedom. On April 3, 1945 Kammler told Albert Speer about the deal with the Americans and that is the same date he ordered the rocket team to move down to the American zone. As I say in the book, if the deal with Kammler was not made, the US might not have gotten the rocket team and we might have lost the Cold War. Basically, it was a deal with the Devil to win the Cold War.
EC: One of the most famous scientists the US helped was Von Braun?
DR: We discuss at length in the book how he was Kammler’s underling who delivered him to the US and made sure he did not fall into the hands of the Russians. Records were ignored, scrubbed, and the hard questions about their involvement in the Nazi regime were not asked. Von Braun actually withheld documents from the US. Through our research we found that he hid documents on some technological advances of the rocket team. He never told anyone he withheld them. I think he kept them hidden as a trade, but became trapped, and if he revealed them, he would look devious. In essence, he betrayed his saviors by never turning over the documents.
EC: He also worked on making chemical weapons?
DR: He was working on rockets that could reach the US Eastern seaboard and turning them into chemical weapons. In his initial interrogation when asked why he did not tell anyone about this he said, ‘nobody asked.’
EC: What do you want readers to get out of the book?
DR: I hope it reads as a thriller. But I want them to learn these heart-wrenching stories and in a sense to have Kammler face justice and to be exposed.
THANK YOU!!
