Otto? Ambrose: the most cunning chemist in Nazi Germany history

The allies have been looking for chemists who work for Hitler, but they have never made progress. At the beginning of May 1945, the Seventh Army occupied the picturesque ancient city of Heidelberg on the Neckar River. Twenty-five agents of the U.S. Military Cartel Department, including the staff of the Office of Strategic Services and the Bureau of Foreign Economic Relations, came to this town to look for the board members of this French company. The board members of this French company are not only wanted by the military for war crimes, but also will be investigated for international money laundering conspiracy. It is reported that a large number of senior staff of this French company own houses in Heidelberg, but so far, Herman, the secret president of this French company, has the greatest decision? Schmitz's trail is unknown. In addition, Schmitz is also a director of the National Bank of Germany, the Central Bank of Germany and the Geneva Bank for International Settlements, so it is rumored that he is the richest banker in Germany. Schmitz did not hide or flee Germany. The reason why the Allies never found him was because agents in Heidelberg got a list that read "Schmitz? Castle ". Although Herman? Schmitz accumulated a lot of wealth during the war, but he was very stingy. Schmitz lives in an ordinary, even small and ugly house. "No one will associate the legendary Schmitz with the place where he lives." Nuremberg prosecutor Josiah? Dubois's postwar memory theory.

The multinational forces began to search for war crime suspects from house to house. After receiving the tip-off, a group of soldiers came to a "mortar bunker-like house", from which they could overlook the whole city. They knocked on the door and out came a short man with a ruddy face and a short neck. There is a sign nailed to the wall behind him, which reads: "God is the owner of this house". Schmitz has black eyes and a goatee on his chin. His wife also stood by, and some soldiers called her "a stout lady in a clean plaid cotton skirt". When Mrs. Schmitz called the soldiers for coffee, she was stopped by Schmitz and told her "no need". Schmitz said that he was not interested in answering these soldiers' questions because they were below him.

Schmitz said that if officials came to discuss it, he might answer their questions. The soldiers searched the house in a hurry. Office decoration in Schmitz is very simple, and there are no luxuries or things that look very valuable. But when they searched his desk, they found a stack of birthday congratulatory messages from Hitler and Goering. In the telegram, they called Schmitz "Doctor of Law". The soldiers are sure that Schmitz must have made many friends at the top. "Schmitz's doctor of law," the soldiers teased him and said, "How much money does your family have and where is it hidden? 」

Schmitz refused to answer, and the soldiers only found 1.5 million mark in cash. Before leaving, the soldiers told Schmitz that they would come again the next day. The next day, they returned to Schmitz's home. This time, the soldiers found a bomb shelter behind the house. Schmitz hid a suitcase in the bomb shelter, which was full of documents from French companies. But these documents failed to provide enough evidence to arrest Schmitz. A few days later, the US military made another amazing discovery.

When Captain CIOS and Major Tilly learned that American troops had found Herman? After Schmitz, he immediately rushed to Heidelberg. Prior to this, Tilly and Tal led the chemical weapons team of CIOS to carry out tasks in Germany. Since the collapse of the nerve agent tower was found in the forest of the "robber's lair", they have been looking for the managers of the French company, and now the US military has taken control of its president.

What if someone can handle Herman skillfully? Schmitz for trial, then this important task must belong to Tilly. This is not only because he can speak fluent German, but also because he is quite familiar with chemical warfare. After arriving in Heidelberg, Tilly went directly to Schmitz's home. He suggested that the two men talk privately in Schmitz's study. Schmitz nodded. Facing the president of Franco-German company, Tilly kept banging on the wall of the study and asked some old-fashioned questions. He walked up and down slowly, trying to hear if there were any discordant sounds in the wall. Schmitz became restless and finally began to cry. On the wall of Schmitz's office, Tilly finally found what he wanted: a secret safe.

Herman. Schmitz is the richest banker in Germany and one of the important figures who control the economy of the Third Reich. What the hell is hidden in his safe? Tilly asked Schmitz to open it, only to find an album spread evenly inside. "The wooden mosaic cover of the album reads: Herman? Schmitz's 25th anniversary. Yes, probably when he was a director of a French company. Tilly wrote in a CIOS intelligence report. Tilly took out the photo album from the safe, opened the cover and began to browse the photos inside. The first page of the album reads "Auschwitz". Tilly saw a photo taken on the street of a village in Poland with a cartoon sketch next to it. " The picture shows Jews who once lived there, but the way of painting will obviously arouse their disgust. There is also a small line below the picture: "The original appearance of Auschwitz. Auschwitz concentration camp 1940. 」

Just then, Tilly wrote in the report that he was surprised to find that Schmitz's mood became "extremely excited". Tilly didn't know at that time that Schmitz's secret photo album recorded the construction history of the French company concentration camp, and it all started in Auschwitz. 1945 in may, almost no one, including major tilly, could imagine what a terrible thing happened in Auschwitz. There, * * * 6 million people were devastated, but the truth of this concentration camp was still unknown at that time. 1945 65438+1On October 27th, the Soviet army liberated Auschwitz. Photographers of the Red Army took a series of photos and videos about local atrocities, but they didn't disclose them to the outside world. The next day, Stalin's banner contained only a brief report on the Nazi extermination camp. Stalin intends to wait until Germany surrenders before releasing all the information. Tilly decided that this album was very important to Schmitz, so he didn't want to be found. As for the reason, Tilly is still unknown.

As the leader of CIOS, Major Tilly has been looking for French-born French chemists who make nerve agents. Herman. Schmitz is very important to French companies, but he is obviously not an expert in chemistry. Schmitz claimed that he knew nothing about the trace of the French chemist. His photo album was confiscated as evidence, and Tilly began to look for chemists from French companies. At the same time, in the small town of Gendorf near the Polish border in southern Germany, American soldiers found the person Tilly was really looking for: Otto? Dr. ambrose. Only Tilly had never heard of the name at that time.

When a group of American soldiers came to the town of Gendorf, 60 miles southeast of Munich, they noticed that one person seemed to be out of place with others. It was the first time they met Ambrose, which left a very deep impression on them. At the Nuremberg trial, some soldiers remembered Ambrose wearing an expensive suit to welcome the victorious division of the Allied forces. It is hard to tell from his appearance that he has just experienced a world war. The soldiers began to ask about his rank and number. "My name is Otto? Ambrose, "he told everyone with a smile, he is not a soldier, but an ordinary chemist." "Are you German?" The soldiers asked. "Yes, I'm German." Ambrose replied. He also joked that he had many French friends, so he was half French. In fact, his real hometown is ludwigshafen, near the French border. Ambrose told the soldiers that he lived in southern Bavaria because he was a director of a big company called Faben. Ambrose explained that the company has a detergent factory in Gendorf. As a member of the board of directors of the French company, he is responsible for supervising the production work here. He told the soldiers that German society is likely to fall apart, but people still can't do without washing and brushing their teeth. Gendorf's French company produces washing products.

The soldiers asked him to lead the way to the detergent factory. The factory does store a lot of soap and other washing products, and it seems completely unaffected by the war. Ambrose took everyone to the office, and someone put colorful chromatographic cards on the wall. In addition to washing products, the factory also produces varnish, Ambrose explained. The soldiers looked around and thanked Ambrose for leading them, but told him not to leave town.

"I have no reason to run away," Ambrose answered. But the soldiers felt that he seemed to laugh too much. In the next few days, more soldiers came to Gendorf. When the so-called ordinary chemists provided them with free soap, the American soldiers who were dusty and covered in dirt were very happy. Some soldiers haven't bathed for over a month. But, Otto? Ambrose's hospitality does not stop there. The chemist also provided a powerful cleaning agent for the US military to clean armored tanks covered with mud.

Another soldier against Otto? Ambrose asked questions. This time, Ambrose took the initiative to ask the workers to testify for himself. The workers in the Gendorf Faben factory are all shaved and skinny. Ambrose said that they are refugees displaced in the war, and all these people can testify to his character. They come from the eastern border between Germany and Poland. Ambrose told the soldiers that he had brought these poor workers to Gendorf. He personally selected these workers and trained them to work hard. In this way, after returning to China, these refugees will have the skills to make a living independently. These bony refugees were very quiet, and no one refuted Ambrose's words. Some people even offered to help American soldiers clean tanks.

Otto? Ambrose is very talkative. In order to please Americans, he began to talk about the fun of chemistry. For example, do soldiers know that people can make 100 things with only one compound called ethylene oxide? This is a miracle. In addition, rubber is also a magical substance. Ambrose told the soldiers that he had been to the rubber garden in Ceylon in the past. In fact, rubber is very similar to people, said Ambrose, who is an expert on rubber himself. Rubber is the product of civilized society. As long as it is kept clean, it will always be uniform and perfect. Ambrose told the soldiers that rubber factories, like people, must be kept clean at all times. Even if a little dust is mixed into the liquid plastic bucket, a tire puncture will happen on the expressway one day. Just like natural rubber, laboratories and factories in synthetic rubber factories of French companies must be absolutely clean. Ambrose Kan Kan, but said nothing about the address of the rubber factory, which he established and operated in Auschwitz. The soldiers thanked him for his generous gift of soap and detergent. Before leaving, they reminded Ambrose never to leave town again. In fact, he was under house arrest by the allied forces at this time.

A few days later, higher-ranking American officials came to Gendorf and asked Ambrose some more specific questions. For example, why should the detergent factory of a French company be built underground? It was several months before CIOS investigators discovered that Gendorf's factory had produced chemical weapons during the war. 1945 65438+1At the end of October, Ambrose fled Auschwitz and immediately spoke to his deputy You Ergen? Feng? Kroenke went to Gendorf to destroy evidence, hide documents and disguise the factory as a place to produce detergents and soaps.