ATLAS

VariantOMEGA-11-2-2Sheet 2 of 6 of the dossier Nazi Antarctic base

Escaped Nazi leaders and the two U-boats

The 1945 story of Hitler and Nazi leaders ferried to the polar base by U-530 and U-977, from Szabo's newspaper account to FBI files.

Black-and-white photograph of a submarine moored in calm water, with two men standing on its deck near the conning tower.
An Argentine Navy boarding party inspects the German U-boat U-530, July 1945. Unknown authorUnknown author · public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Summary

This sheet follows the escape narrative, the version that gave the thesis its first public life. When the German submarine U-530 surrendered at Mar del Plata in July 1945 and U-977 followed in August, rumours spread that the boats had carried Nazi leaders, and perhaps Adolf Hitler himself, to a stronghold in Antarctica. A Hungarian writer exiled in Argentina, Ladislas Szabo, published such an account in a Buenos Aires newspaper about a week after U-530 arrived, then expanded it into a book titled Hitler Est Vivant. Variants differ: in one, U-530 landed Hitler, Eva Braun and senior SS officers at the polar base; in another, U-977 carried Hitler's ashes together with Nazi treasure.

The documentary traces that exist are unofficial leads, not findings. A reporter claimed to have seen an Argentine police report about a landing on the coast, and the FBI recorded a lead from a self-proclaimed refugee who said he had met Hitler after a landing from U-boats. Encyclopedic sources note that both submarines became the subject of legends, apocryphal stories and conspiracy theories. The sheet presents these stories as they circulated, and the divergence sheet and the official one give what the interrogators and historians concluded.

What the thesis says

The sources show where these claims circulate, not that they are true.

  1. Thesis

    Szabo, a Hungarian writer exiled in Argentina, wrote the story up for the Argentine newspaper La Critica about a week after U-530 arrived.

  2. Thesis

    In his account, Hitler survived the end of the war and, in an elaborate plan, escaped to the Nazi stronghold established by the Schwabenland.

  3. Thesis

    Szabo quickly followed his article with a full-length book, Hitler Est Vivant (Hitler Is Alive).

  4. Thesis

    In one version, U-530 entered Mar del Plata after leaving Hitler, Eva Braun and high-ranking Nazi and SS officials at the German Antarctic base.

    • Hitler on Ice: Did the Nazis Have a Secret Antarctic Fortress?, Mental Floss (Matt Soniak), 19 March 2012
      a German U-boat, U-530, entered the Argentine naval base at Mar del Plata after escaping from Germany with Hitler, Eva Braun and high-ranking Nazi and SS officials on board and dropping them off at the German Antarctic base.
  5. Thesis

    An alternative version says U-977 ferried Hitler's ashes, placed with other Nazi treasures in the Antarctic city-base.

  6. Thesis

    The two boats have inspired stories about transporting escaping Nazi leaders and Nazi gold to South America, or making a secret voyage to Antarctica.

    • German submarine U-977, Wikipedia
      Both U-boats have led to legends, apocryphal stories and conspiracy theories about transporting escaping Nazi leaders (such as Adolf Hitler) and/or Nazi gold to South America, or making a secret voyage to Antarctica.
Black-and-white photograph of a submarine moored at a quay, with men watching from the pier.
The German submarine U-977 moored at the Mar del Plata naval base, 1945. Daniel Mesa · public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Unconfirmed accounts

  1. Unofficial, unconfirmed

    An Argentine reporter claimed in July 1945 to have seen a police report implying U-530 had landed a high-ranking officer and a civilian who might have been the disguised Hitler and Eva Braun.

    • German submarine U-530, Wikipedia
      an Argentine reporter claimed that he had seen a Buenos Aires provincial police report implying the submarine had surfaced off the Argentine coast and landed a high-ranking officer and a civilian who might have been the disguised Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun
  2. Unofficial, unconfirmed

    The FBI documented a lead from a self-proclaimed Argentine refugee who said he had met Hitler after two U-boats supposedly surfaced at the tip of the Valdés Peninsula in May 1945.

    • German submarine U-530, Wikipedia
      The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation similarly documented a lead claiming that a self-proclaimed Argentine refugee said he had met Hitler upon his arrival in one of two U-boats that supposedly surfaced at the tip of Valdés Peninsula in May 1945.