JIM RATHKE (882-1994) has some updates for this interesting addition to the story on the INTELLIGENCE PAGE of DON ANGEL ALCAZAR de VELASCO. He writes:

"By the end of 1944, the REICHSSICHERHEITSHAUPTAMT (RSHA) which is the Reich Central Security Office, was ordered by Himmler to prepare false ID documents and passports. These were given to selected leaders of the SS and the NSDAP. After the war ended, many of these men used their new names openly. Contacts were established between Nazis in prison and underground groups outside, using secret codes used by the SD before the war's end.

The organization which coordinated these activities was called 'SPINNER' or 'SPIDER'. This operated within Germany.

By 1946, many former SS men wanted to leave Germany and set up a world-wide escape network. As a result, the ODESSA (Organization der SS Angehörigen) was formed in 1947. ODESSA built up a network of couriers who smuggled wanted SS men and other Nazis out of the country. Some even secured jobs driving U.S Army trucks on the Münich - Salzburg autobahn, and hid men in backs of U.S. military vehicles.

About every 40 miles, an ODESSA ANLAUFSTELLE (Reception Area) was run by 3 to 5 people. These covered the entire German-Austrian border. Many crossed at Ostermiething, Zel-Am-See in the Salzburg District; and Igls near Innsbruck in the Tyrol. Many crossed over Lake Constance into Switzerland.

Here they took flights to South America or the Middle East. ODESSA also ran a 'MONASTERY ROUTE' between Austria and Italy, where Catholic Priests moved SS men between safe houses. Many stayed in the Spanish, Egyptian, Syrian and South American embassies.

Franz Roestel (Waffen SS) was one of the main organizers. He operated under the name of Haddad Said. He found places for many SS men as military advisors in the Middle East.

ODESSA had unlimited funds from the SS economic enterprises and donations. The SS had 750 companies, most in neutral countries. They also traded scrap metal to Syria and Tangier and sold stolen U.S. weapons to the Middle East. Between 1945 and 1948 the SS had hidden around 900,000,000 British pounds (value about five million U.S. dollars) worth of monies and assets.

Six lists existed of authorized men to dispose of these funds. These lists, two in the hands of ODESSA, two in banks, and one of the remaining two is at the bottom of Lake Töplitz (Austria). It was with some sunken Nazi loot in 1945. ODESSA funds help fund many businesses operated by SS children.

One other organization was established about the same time - the Hilfgemeinschaft auf Gegenseitigkeit der Soldaten der ehemal Waffen SS or HIAG. The Welfare Association of Former Soldiers of the Waffen SS. ODESSA financed HIAG in its early days. It was set up to pay ex-servicemen who did not qualify for regular disability pensions. As its membership died off, it turned its attention to its small publishing house, MuninVerlag GmbH.

JIM, many thanks for this update - and to our Members, I will tell you to SAVE this piece of research. You will understand why as you continue to read the letter from DON ANGEL ALCAZAR de VELASCO on our INTELLIGENCE PAGE. Do not be surprised when your text book explanation of the end of World War II goes right out the window - on a Vatican passport; flying under fictitious name on a neutral airliner over Europe and traveling on an old boat across the seldom-used stretches of the Atlantic.