Hitler’s War on America
It sounds incredible but Adolph Hitler’s megalomania knew no limits: from the very outbreak of war, his strategists were forging plans to attack the U.S.A. The most daring of these plans involved squadrons of German fighter planes crashing into Manhattan’s skyscrapers as living bombs. A project which would be realized in all its destructive horror more than 50 years later by the 9/11 terrorists. Hitler was convinced that this would have a devastating psychological impact on the American superpower and with this plan, the National Socialist regime hoped to turn the tide of the war, which had been fraught with defeats and setbacks for them since the decisive year of 1943. Hitler understood the enormous symbolic power of Manhattan’s skyscrapers. He considered New York as the “centre of the capitalist Jewish world conspiracy” and wanted to destroy it. Eye witnesses, archive material and original construction plans show how the destructive fantasy, and its monstrous product the “America Bomber”, turned into a collective indiscriminate desire for destruction. Finally, the film shows how the United States learned about Hitler’s secret plans and reacted.
http://www.history.ca/ontv/titledetails.aspx?titleid=100063
This ceaselessly fascinating German documentary is an absolute must-see for all armchair war buffs.
Hitler’s War on America
Documentary
Channel: SBS [??] — Sydney Broadcasting System?
Date: Friday July 13 8:30 pm
It seems these days you can’t discuss anything to do with history or warfare or the history of warfare without framing it by the events of 9/11. In the case of Adolf Hitler’s deep hatred of the United States during the Second World War, however, there is an eerie parallel between his plans to strike New York City and the Twin Tower attacks in 2001.
In this ceaselessly fascinating German documentary - an absolute must-see for all armchair war buffs - Hitler’s desire to strike at the heart of America is vividly detailed by contemporary interviews and a remarkable array of rarely seen archival footage, much of it in colour. As far back as 1937 Hitler was shown a full-scale mock-up of an aircraft that could take the war to the US. Like many Messerschmitt designs, the ME 264 (or America Bomber) was way ahead of its time, its primary purpose being to inflict psychological damage on the American war effort.
The dream was big, the logistics a nightmare but Hitler’s determination was unbounded. So when the bomber became hobbled with problems, he brought in a host of extraordinary Plan Bs, including the use of seaplane bomber, a mid-air refuelling mission and the invasion of Iceland so the Germans could use it as an air base. On the ground, Hitler also had spies in New York sussing out potential targets. Many Nazi agents were already ensconced in the community and some literally walked in from the sea. Bizarre as it sounds, they would be taken as close to shore as possible by submarine, swim to the beach, change clothes, then catch the next train into Manhattan.
The Americans, however, were wary of Nazi infiltrators. Some extraordinary 70-year-old archival material shows hidden camera footage of spies handing over American military secrets, a precursor to the type of material TV current affairs shows would later thrive on.** Equally startling are snippets of the propaganda films made by both sides. The Nazis portrayed American society as run by Jews, while the Americans presented the Germans as manufacturing humans for world conquest. One bizarre scene shows a table crowded with newborn babies ready for processing into Hitler’s war machine, as though it were a scene from Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Apart from being an outstanding self-contained wartime documentary, Hitler’s War on America also highlights a key theme that runs through many accounts of the war.
The Allied victory owed much to brilliant strategy, courage and the sacrifice of several hundred thousand lives. But luck also played a big part. As the tide of the war turned against them, the Nazis were developing intercontinental ballistic missiles, jet fighters, big guns and nuclear weapons. The sobering point made in this film is how, had Hitler’s military plans not been hobbled by bad timing, the result could have been very different
http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv-reviews/as-it-happened-hitlers-war-on-america/2007/07/12/1183833671591.html
** FDR tried to use the early plans of Hitler in ‘41 as a means of scaring the U.S. into the war. This effort included airing propaganda films animated to show New York city building falling and collapsing in smoke and flame.
This threat of attack did not inflame the U.S. enough to get them to go join up.
The Pearl Harbor attack managed that.
MEANWHILE: Hitler also plotted to bomb New York
http://www.iht.com/articles/2003/10/24/edcooley_ed3_.php
Hitler’s Decision to Declare War on the United States Revisited
http://www.ohiou.edu/shafr/news/2000/sep/asher.htm
In particular, Hitler hoped to take the islands known as the Azores from Portugal and use them as a launching pad for the long-range bombers that were on the drawing boards at Messerschmitt - advanced aircraft that would be able to attack New York and the other great cities of the eastern seaboard.
Hitler was tantalized by the prospect of possessing such an offensive capability. By March 1941, when the Third Reich was being pounded by Britain’s Bomber Command, he was telling his staff that “I only regret we still have no aircraft able to bomb American cities. I would love to teach the Jews of America what it’s like.”
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/6712/hitler.htm
September 11
President Roosevelt announced shoot-on-sight order to United States Navy in America defense waters, following U.S.S. Greer incident of September 4. Department of State Bulletin, September 13, 1941, Vol. V, p 193.
http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/events/events.html
