Neuschwabenland

From TinWiki.org

German air crews on Schwabenland in 1938

Neuschwabenland, also called New Schwabenland or New Swabia, is the name given by Germany to a portion of Antarctica in present day Queen Maud Land, which Germany claimed in January of 1939.

Neuschwabenland is legally considered to have been abandoned as of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender.

1 Introduction
2 Nazi intentions
3 Related events
4 External links
5 Relevant discussion threads

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Introduction

The Nazis are known to have at least established a temporary base near Schirmacher Oasis, where there are hotsprings and vegetation, but some believe it was in fact a permanent base from which the Third Reich continued to operate after 1945.

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Nazi intentions

Germany was heavily dependent on Norwegian whale oil in the late 30s. With war on the horizon, Germany felt the need to establish whaling stations in the South Atlantic. Additional expeditions, which were supposedly cancelled when war broke out, were scheduled for 1940 and 1941, with the aim of establishing airbases to control the South Atlantic and Indian oceans, as well as the Drake Passage.

Some also believe that the Nazis, influenced by the Thule Society, may have been seeking a passage to the interior of the Hollow Earth.

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Related events

During WWII, Argentina attempted to claim portions of Antarctica previously claimed by Britain. Britain responded by sending mine sweepers and a troop transport (supposedly sans troops) to establish a weather station and reinforce their claim.

Several Nazis were captured fleeing to Argentina via the ODESSA program after the war. This is sometimes claimed to have been a waypoint enroute to Neuschwabenland. One theory tells of Adolf Hitler not committing suicide in 1945 but fled to an underground base in Neuschwabenland via Argentina. There he supposedly resumed his career as a painter.

Some have speculated that the Falkland Islands War may have been somehow related.

Shortly after the war, the United States sent an expedition, including an aircraft carrier, to Neuschwabenland in Operation Highjump. Some people claim those forces was sent to wipe out the remaining Nazi presence in the area.

Also, Germany's Type-21 submarines, the first submarine capable of remaining continuously submerged, were never recovered after the war. The effectiveness of aircraft, the primary weapon against submarines, was estimated by NATO after the war to have been reduced 95%. The official story is that only a few were ever produced, and were scuttled. The Serial numbers of those avowed to have existed however indicate that 30 or more could have been complete in 1944. Serial numbers 2501-2552, 3001-3044 and 3501-3530 were reserved, and boats bearing the numbers 2511, 2513, 2540, and 3008 were completed in 1994.

These submarines could have been used to ferry men and material to Neuschwabenland in the final days of the war.

Several Germans were also implicated in the disaster of the disasterous Polaris expedition in 1870, in which an American attempt to reach the North Pole fell apart due to a power struggle among the officers and the poisoning of the Captain. One writer, Richard Parry, claims that Bismark may have ordered this personally.

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