
The Ratline
Love, Lies and Justice on the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive
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Narrated by:
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Philippe Sands
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Katja Riemann
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Stephen Fry
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By:
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Philippe Sands
About this listen
As governor of Galicia, SS Brigadesführer Otto Freiherr von Wächter presided over an authority on whose territory hundreds of thousands of Jews and Poles were killed. By the time the war ended in May 1945, he was indicted for 'mass murder'. Hunted by the Soviets, the Americans and the British, as well as groups of Poles and Jews, Wächter went on the run. He spent three years hiding in the Austrian Alps before making his way to Rome and being taken in by the Vatican where he remained for three months. While preparing to travel to Argentina on the 'ratline' he died unexpectedly, in July 1949, a few days after having lunch with an 'old comrade' whom he suspected of having been recruited by the Americans.
In The Ratline Philippe Sands offers a unique account of the daily life of a Nazi fugitive, the love between Wächter and his wife Charlotte, who continued to write regularly to each other while he was on the run, and a fascinating insight into life in the Vatican and among American and Soviet spies active in Rome at the start of the Cold War. Using modern medical expertise, the door is unlocked to a mystery that continues to haunt Wächter's youngest child - what was Wächter doing while in hiding, and what exactly caused his death?
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2019 Philippe Sands (P)2019 Orion Publishing GroupCritic reviews
"A gripping adventure, an astounding journey of discovery and a terrifying and timely portrait of evil in all its complexity, banality, self-justification and madness. A stunning achievement." (Stephen Fry)
"Hypnotic, shocking and unputdownable." (John Le Carré)
"Breathtaking, gripping, and ultimately, shattering. Philippe Sands has done the unimaginable: look a butcher in the eye and tell his story without flinching." (Elif Shafak)
Great book but audio issue
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This book tells the story of an Austrian womaniser/family man who believed in Hitler even before the Anschluss and who oversaw a huge territory during the war where many Jews were massacred.
After the war he fled, spent years hidden in the mountains before he eventually ended up in Rome where he died soon afterwards.
The ever more interesting be it sad story goes on telling the denial of one of his sons, who keeps believing and telling that his father was a good person who did not mean I’ll to the Jews.
There is a documentary on YouTube regarding the same story.
Sad history
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The audio version narrated by Stephen Fry and the author was an absolute delight.
Exception piece of research on WWII
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Nazi hunting brilliance
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Too many irrelevant details
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