THE AXMANN
CONSPIRACY
THE NAZI PLAN FOR A FOURTH REICH
AND HOW THE U.S. ARMY DEFEATED IT
SCOTT ANDREW SELBY
BERKLEY CALIBER, NEW YORK
BERKLEY BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for
author or third-party websites or their content.
Copyright 2012 by Scott Andrew Selby
Jacket design by Pete Garceau
Jacket photograph Corbis
Book design by Tiffany Estreicher
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or
electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of
copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
BERKLEY CALIBER and its logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First Edition: September 2012
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Selby, Scott Andrew.
The Axmann conspiracy : the Nazi plan for a Fourth Reich and how
the U.S. Army defeated it / Scott Andrew Selby.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 978-1-101-61138-8
1. GermanyPolitics and government19451990. 2. GermanyHistory19451955
3. National socialism. 4. ConspiraciesGermanyHistory20th century. 5. Axmann, Artur,
1913 6. Axmann, Artur, 1913Political and social views. 7. NazisBiography. 8. Hunter, Jack.
9. United States. Army. Counter Intelligence CorpsBiography. 10. Espionage, American
GermanyHistory20th century. I. Title.
DD257.4.S38 2012
943.0874dc23
2012001998
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ALWAYS LEARNING
PEARSON
Dedicated to those who fought against the
Nazisbefore, during, and after the war.
The [Counter Intelligence Corp] has more adventure stories buried in its secret files than a months output of blood and thunder comic books. Unfortunately for the reading public, these bona fide cloak and dagger stories are not for publication.
WILLIAM ATTWOOD IN THE NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE (1947)
AXMANNS BREAKOUT
A Bunker Area
B Brandenburg Gate
C Reichstag Building
Exit and head left
Turn right (see Russians to the left)
Turn left
Stop at Weidendammer Bridge (Russians on other side)
Cross the bridge alongside a tank, the tank explodes
Retreat, then walk along Spree River
Take the train tracks
Bump into Russian soldiers
Turn left
Head back
Run into Bormanns body
Take Heidestrasse
Illustration by Johan Stenbeck
CHRONOLOGY OF BACKGROUND EVENTS APRIL 1945 TO APRIL 1946
1945:
APRIL 12 U.S. President FDR dies; Harry Truman becomes President
APRIL 16 Battle of Berlin beginsthe Soviets vs. the Germans
APRIL 20 Hitlers fifty-sixth birthdaythis includes an awards ceremony with Hitler Youth
APRIL 25 American and Soviet forces meet at the River Elbe in Germany
APRIL 28 Italian partisans kill Mussolini
APRIL 30 Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide
MAY 1 Joseph Goebbels and his wife commit suicide; Hitlers death is announced
MAY 1 2 Breakout from Hitlers bunker
MAY 2 Surrender of German forces in Berlin to the Soviets
MAY 7 The Flensburg government agrees to an unconditional surrender
MAY 8 Victory in Europe Day (V-E) Day
MAY 23 The Allies disband the Flensburg government and arrest its leaders
MAY 23Reichsfhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler commits suicide
JUNE 5 The Allies officially take over governmental control of Germany
JULY The Americans and British occupy their zones in Berlin (and the French Zone) and withdraw from territory they hold in the Soviet Zone in East Germany
JULY 16AUGUST 2 The Potsdam Conference
JULY 26 The Potsdam Declaration is issued (re: Japan)
AUGUST 2 U.K., U.S.S.R., and U.S. issue the Potsdam Agreement
AUGUST 6 U.S. drops an atom bomb on Hiroshima (Japan)
AUGUST 9 U.S. drops an atom bomb on Nagasaki (Japan)
AUGUST 12 The French occupy their zone in Berlin
AUGUST 14 Japan agrees to an unconditional surrender
SEPTEMBER 2 Victory over Japan (V-J) Day (Japan signs surrender document)
OCTOBER 19 Nuremberg Trials indictments served
OCTOBER 24 United Nations officially is formed
NOVEMBER 11 George Patton replaces Dwight Eisenhower as military governor of the American Zone
NOVEMBER 20 The Nuremberg Trials begin
NOVEMBER 26 Joseph McNarney becomes military governor of the American Zone
NOVEMBER 29 Images of concentration camps shown at the Nuremberg Trials
DECEMBER 24 Berlins curfew ends
1946:
JANUARY 5 Adolf Eichmann escapes U.S. custody
JANUARY 7 Using its old borders, Austria is recognized and divided into four zones
JANUARY 14 Agreement on Reparation from Germany is signed
JANUARY 27 Local elections are held in the American Zone of Germany
FEBRUARY 9 Stalin gives a major speech against capitalism
MARCH 5 Churchill gives his famous iron curtain speech about the U.S.S.R.
MARCH 11 Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Hss is caught
MARCH 1322:Reichsmarschall Hermann Gring testifies at Nuremberg
APRIL 15 Rudolf Hss testifies at Nuremberg
APRIL 18