The Ratline: The Exalted Life and Mysterious Death of a Nazi Fugitive

A middle-aged man gasps his last breath in a hospital in Rome in July 1949. The name given was Alfredo Reinhardt, his death attributed to acute liver atrophy. The name was an alias for a man, long sought by Allied forces, named Otto Von Wachter. Otto served in the upper echelons of the Nazi command, serving as Deputy to Hans Frank in Poland. Otto oversaw the commission of Crimes Against Humanity while commanding SS forces in Poland and Austria. The mystery of his four years on the run and his premature death at forty-eight years old form the crux of The Ratline.

The lack of real memories of his father has plagued Horst von Wachter for most of his life. His viewpoint of Otto was skewed by his late Mother Charlotte. Her devotion to Otto and his cause never wavered, despite evidence of Otto’s perpetuation of the Holocaust.

The Ratline verges between Historical Mystery and Biography that is endlessly intriguing, yet ultimately sad. Author Philippe Sands (“East-West Street) has scripted a powerful book about the evasion of justice that the Ratlines enabled, along with a Son’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge his Father’s guilt in his crimes. A book destined to be a top read for 2021.