Tonight on Hunting Hitler, the teams explore suspected Nazi tunnels in both southern Spain and northern Argentina which they believe Adolf Hitler may have used after the end of WWII.
Last week the show’s team members in South America including Special Forces Sergeant First Class Tim Kennedy followed leads which suggested the dictator and his right-hand man Martin Bormann may have fled Europe for South America together.
And tonight they look at the vast network of tunnels the Nazis may have used to aid their movement out of Europe, and to help them keep underground — literally — and evade capture once in South America.
In Europe, 21-year CIA veteran Bob Baer points to the fact that Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann was able to flee to Austria after the war before moving to Argentina using false papers.
He says: “Eichmann, one of the most wanted men in the world, actually got out. I think we just have to consider that the network was also intended for Hitler to use in his escape. Eichmann intended to make an escape route for Hitler.”
Meanwhile, in Argentina Kennedy and historian Alasdair Brooks investigate more tunnel systems, and also uncover a potential safehouse.
Kennedy says: “Eichmann was here digging tunnels into the sides of the mountains in secluded north-west Argentina. If Hitler used this as a safehouse he would need multiple routes for evasion.”
The Hunting Hitler team are probing evidence that suggests Hitler may have fled Berlin after the end of the Second World War, instead of committing suicide in his bunker like is commonly believed.
It’s thought he may have fled first to Denmark and then to San Sebastian, before making a passage to South America.
Hunting Hitler airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on History.