El Escape de Hitler (2011) watch online HD

As conspiracy theory programs go, this one is OK. (Originally shown on The History Channel--a.k.a., The Hitler Channel, this program is now streaming on Netflix.) Host Carlos De Napoli, apparently an Argentinian, is fascinated with the connection between Germany and his country in general and with the Nazis in particular. He has also written about gold smuggled into Argentina by Nazis. there is no doubt that figures from the Third Reich went to live in South America after World War II, and particularly favored Argentina as a destination. Here De Napoli champions the theory that Hitler escaped from Germany and went to Argentina.

In favor of this theory, De Napoli casts doubt on the official story that Hitler committed suicide in Berlin in April 1945. The Soviet Union initially claimed that Hitler escaped, but then claimed they had his remains. (Including teeth to compare to Hitler's dental records, though De Napoli does not mention this.) He says that the skull has been DNA-tested and proved wanting. Not Hitler. He then casts aspersions on loyal followers of Hitler (aspersions, of course, go without saying) who cannot be believed just because they say they saw Hitler's body. He also has intriguing evidence that Hitler had an equally secure underground lair in Berchtesgaden that he could have (and, perhaps, should have) used instead of the bunker at his chancellery in Berlin.

German submarines did sail to Argentina after the war with Nazi leaders aboard. According to De Napoli, one suspiciously was short some of its passengers when it surrendered to Argentine authorities. Had they been dropped off beforehand? A Polish-born witness, who lived in Argentina and apparently spoke German, says she saw and heard a man who looked and sounded like Hitler in 1945. The man was traveling with other Germans and heading inland. (In other words, coming from the coast.) A ranch in Argentina (near the end of the road on which the witness said she saw Hitler) seems suspiciously similar to Hitler's house at Berchtesgaden even to the detail that it faced the nearest pole so that the sun hit the back of the house instead of the front. (That means the house would face north in Germany and south in Argentina.)

Against his theory is the fact that De Napoli has more speculation than solid evidence. Despite the unreliability of the people who followed Hitler, the fact is that they all agreed that they saw him in the bunker in Berlin. The last footage of Hitler shows him in Berlin encouraging boys who have been put in uniforms and given guns and told to defend Berlin to the death. Did he have time to get out of Berlin? Berlin was the nerve center of the German Reich and of the war effort. While it is true that Hitler liked to unwind at his mountain retreat, it is also true that his claim that he preferred Bavaria (the location of Berchtesgaden) to Berlin is not entirely true. He loved the culture and power centered in Berlin, and his protestations to the contrary were likely designed to make him look more like a man of the people.

Admiral Canaris, who De Napoli says scouted the Argentine location, would only have done so with misgivings since he hated Hitler. De Napoli says that Canaris "disappeared" but it is more likely that he committed suicide after Hitler found out Canaris was involved in the July 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler.

The chief interest for me was the visiting of historic places and museum artifacts. The description of Hitler's Berchtesgaden lair, Eagle's Nest, with its underground complexes was especially intriguing.

I was hoping that De Napoli would say that the submarine captain's manifest said that one of his passengers was named "Herr Wolf" because this was one of Hitler's favorite pseudonyms, but, alas, no. Not that this would have been evidence enough.

Speculation is fun, but it isn't evidence.

One wonders why this topic never got more than sci-fi treatment in the English language. If half of what it purports is true, it bear some serious inquiry into whether the US and Britain did some seriously bad things in their race to win more power from the victory that was virtually ensured after the Nazi defeat at Stalingrad. And it raises some serious questions about now much the allied goals in WW2 were driven by maneuvering against the perceived "next enemy", Russia, versus defeating Hitler and saving as many doomed souls as possible in Nazi and Stalinist occupied Europe.

If you don't mind reading subtitles for a documentary that is mostly in Spanish or German, this one is highly recommended as food for further thought and investigation.