[Music] the Holy Grail in the 1930s an unlikely Trio an openly gay left-leaning historian a group of Nazis and an ancient medieval text came together in a bizarre Quest that sounds like the plot of a summer blockbuster or perhaps the setup to a Darkly comedic joke but this was no fiction their convergence was part of a serious albeit Twisted pursuit of one of the most revered and Elusive Christian artifacts the Holy Grail in 1924 at just 20 years old Otto Ron earned his degree in history a brilliant scholar Ron's intelligence was overshadowed only by his
obsession with locating the Holy Grail The Grail supposedly the cup Christ used at the Last Supper has long been debated among historians many questioning whether it ever existed but Ron was certain it had survived into the 20th century waiting to be found believing that lines from the medieval poem paral held Clues to the location of the Grail Ron embarked on his first expedition to the former strongholds of the cathars in southern France a now extinct branch of Christianity although he didn't find the Grail he published a book detailing his search this book caught the attention
of Hinrich himler himself himler the fanatical leader of the SS was as obsessed with the Grail as Ron upon reading Ron's account hindler decided that This brilliant historian despite his open opposition to Nazi ideology might be the man to finally unearth this sacred Relic driven by his desperation to find the Grail Ron overlooked the dangers of aligning with the Nazis and joined the party in the early 1930s the SS funded his next expedition to the cathar ruins but once again Ron's search ended in Failure he did however write another book detailing his journey while himler
appreciated the book he was furious at the failure and reassigned Ron to a grueling post as a guard at daau concentration camp in 1937 2 years later after resigning from the party Ron's frozen body was found in the Alps the tragic end likely [Music] self-inflicted but the story doesn't end with Ron himmler's obsession with the Holy Grail persisted driven by a bizarre belief that Jesus a Jewish man born to Jewish parents was actually Aran in 1940 himo traveled to MRA Abbey near Barcelona accompanied by SS guards he interrogated the monks about any knowledge they might
have of the grail's whereabouts convinced that the Lions of paral pointed to the grail's location at monsura himler pressed the monks who ultimately dismissed his theories after making a donation to repair a local well likely an attempt to influence Spain's fascist dictator Francisco Franco to join the war against England and France himler left empty-handed the Nazis never found the holy grail and its location remains a mystery to this day if it ever existed at all extend China in the middle of Germany's tberg Forest oring Sandstone pillars known as the Exon Shina pierce the sky casting
Long Shadows over the ancient landscape some say they served as a prehistoric Observatory While others believe they were sacred ground for ancient Germanic tribes it wasn't until the early 20th century however that the exens China captured the attention of a darker Force the Anan ABA founded in 1935 by Hinrich himler the Anan EBA was a branch of the SS dedicated to the study and promotion of what the Nazi regime considered to be the ancient history and cultural heritage of the Aryan race it aimed to validate the naz's ideological claims of Aryan Supremacy by conducting research
in archaeology anthropology and folklore but their work was far from objective the Ana systematically distorted history to fit the Nazi World View and in 1935 the extend China would become one of the most Infamous ancient SES manipulated by the Anan Abba seizing upon centuries old Legends himler and his team of Scholars claimed that the stones were once the site of ir minul a sacred pillar or world tree venerated by the ancient Saxons and destroyed by Charlemagne during his christianization campaigns around 772 ad they proposed that the carvings on the surface of the Rocks told the
story of the destruction of irin the Saxons a tramatic tribe known for their strength Independence and resistance to christianization were viewed by the Nazis as ancestors of the Aran race and exemplars of racial Purity in the Warrior's Spirit the an Abba's mission in Exon China was to reclaim the site as a symbol of Aryan spiritual Heritage reinforcing their Narrative of an unbroken and pure Germanic lineage this false narrative became so powerful that the Nazi youth would sing sex and hymns at the sight on his 's birthday but the true history of the exan China is
far more complex and mysterious these ancient rocks formed over 70 million years ago have seen Millennia of human activity archaeological evidence suggests that nomadic Hunters sought shelter here around 10,000 BC and Christian monks may have begun living in carved out hubs in the 8th or 9th century however much of the written evidence for the site's use during the Middle Ages was lost during World War II to what remains is a relief carving depicting Jesus's descent from the cross carved into the stone sometime in the 12th century the site would later be variously used as a
Hermitage and a hideout for Bandits before the rise of romantic nationalism in the 1800s reignited interest in the ancient history of the site today the supposed connection to the ancient Saxons and the legend of irin is largely dismissed yet the narrative crafted by the Anan Abba endures even now modern Nazi sympathizers and pagans are drawn to the extran China by the myth that continues to linger The Witches of corelia in the summer of 1936 deep within the Ancient Forest of corellia a Nazi backed Expedition set out on a mission shrouded in myth and Superstition this
remote wilderness straddling the border between Finland and Russia was a place where time Stood Still a land of sorcerers and ancient Traditions leading the expedition was IIA van grunhagen a young Finnish nobleman fascinated by the Region's legendary sorcery his interest had attracted the attention of Hinrich himler who believed corellia held lost Aran knowledge that could strengthen the Nazi regime grin Hogan's task was to record the chants and incantations of K I's Elders those who still practice the Pagan customs of their ancestors accompanied by Fritz Bose a Nazi musicologist and a finished illustrator the team embarked
on the journey armed with a new piece of technology the magnetophone a prototype tape recorder their Journey LED them to remote Villages where they encountered people who seemed to belong to another time in the woods near suo they met teimo liita an elderly man with snowy hair and a distant gaze Liza had never seen a train nor attended School living a life Untouched by modern civilization persuaded by grunhagen lipit sang ancient songs passed down through generations Conjuring a creation story that echoed the cavala finland's national epic o meticulously recorded these performances capturing every haunting note
to him these songs were more than folklore there were Echoes of a distant past hints at the origins of the Aryan race that the nais sought the most mysterious figure of their Journey awaited them near Sal me in a small Hut grin hogen encountered Miron Aku a 92-year-old soothsayer known as a witch villagers had warned him to stay away but grin hogen was undeterred when he found her she was picking mushrooms her frail figure at one with the forest she greeted him with a chilling Revelation she had dreamt of his AR Ral 3 days earlier
and she knew he had come to take her Secrets reluctantly Miron naku performed a ritual summoning the spirits of her ancestors but when boas played back the recording she was horrified she believed that capturing Her Sacred chance had committed an unforgivable sacrilege robbing her of her magical powers by Summer's end grin Hogan's team had collected over a 100 recordings these were more than relics of a Vanishing World they were pieces of a puzzle himler believed could unlock the secrets of the area in past back in Berlin the SS eagerly awaited the results convinced that Celia's
ancient wisdom could serve the Third Reich Tibet on a cold January morning in 1939 five unusual figures entered the ancient city of Lassa Tibet they stood out young white men in western clothing that present Stark against the backdrop of the vibrant Tibetan streets led by ER schaer they paid the respects to local leaders and mingled with the populace their demeanor friendly their smiles masking a darker truth these men were emissaries of Hinrich himler Ern schaer's connection to the Nazis began years earlier when his passion for exploration found an unlikely benefactor in himler while schaer had
little interest in Nazi ideology his desire for scientific discovery and the promise of funding led him to collaborate with the SS H's goals for the mission were far-reaching and Sinister officially the expedition was a scientific and anthropological exploration schaer's team was tasked with studying tibet's flora fauna and people meticulously documenting their findings but beneath this academic facade lay the naz's real interest some Nazi theorists believed that Tibet might hold Clues to the origins of the Aryan race and schaer's team was instructed to gather anthropological data including physical measurements and facial casts of the Tibetan people
in hopes of finding evidence to support these theories there was also a geopolitical dimension the Nazis recognized tibet's strategic location in Asia and saw potential in establishing ties with the region himler envisioned the possibility of aligning Tibet with the Axis powers were using it as a base for anti-british sentiment in the region initially the British authorities in India suspicious of the Nazi agenda barred the Expedition from crossing their territory however through political maneuvering schaer and his team managed to enter the semi-autonomous region of sikim in 1938 setting the stage for their journey into Tibet over
the next year schaer and his men traveled through sake and Tibet documenting everything they encountered they were particularly fascinated by the Tibetan use of the swastika a symbol of luck in Tibet but one that had been co-opted by the nazzis by the time the team returned to Germany in 1939 they had amassed a trove of samples measurements and drawings shaper presented these findings to himler who was so impressed that he envisioned a new mission to return to Tibet and organize a pro-german army to challenge British power in India this plan never materialized but Traer was
rewarded with his own Department within the Aran ABA in [Music] 1943 [Music] tanaku in 1928 a tall sunburnt German named Edmund kiss arrived at the ancient ruins of tiwanaku in Bolivia he was no ordinary traveler kiss was driven by a mission to prove a controversial theory that obsessed him tanaku with its towering monoliths and intricate carvings had intrigued explorers through centuries massive blocks some weighing over 400 tons lay scattered across the site remnants of a civilization that once ruled vast regions of South America for keiss these ruins were potential evidence to support the world ice
Theory Pudo scientific idea that claimed Earth had experienced catastrophic events caused by colliding moons a year before his journey giss had become a fervent supporter of Hans herbinger World ice Theory which proposed that such cataclysms had shaped human history desperate for proof GIS contacted Arthur pansi an Austrian expatriate living in bivia who had dedicated years to studying tiwanaku posnanski believed that the city's Origins were not indigenous but the work of mysterious immigrants from the Far West possibly dating back 177,000 years a timeline he based on his interpretations of astronomical alignments intrigued Kei traveled to tiwanaku
funded by a prize he had won in a writing contest for months he studied the ruins sketching floor plans and analyzing carvings one artifact particularly fascinated him a sculpture of a man's head which Kei claimed had distinctly Nordic features reinforcing his belief in a superior Aryan origin for the site he also observed what he inter Ed as European influences in the architecture further convincing him that tiwanaku was the creation of Nordic men who had migrated to South America he saw what he believed were Baroque style doorways and Greek cross symbols and dismissed any notion that
indigenous people could have designed such a complex City GE became particularly fascinated by the gateway to the sun which posnanski had suggested was an ancient calendar [Music] he believed the inscriptions represented a system with 12 months of 24 or 25 days each day containing 30 hours an idea he saw as proof of the world ice theory he concluded that tiwanaku must be millions of years old built under different Celestial conditions caused by a rapidly orbiting Moon kiss's findings were eagerly published in Nazi party newspapers aligning with the regime's racist ideologies supported by the SS he
planned a return expedition to TI in 1938 but World War II thwarted his Ambitions the eventual collapse of the Third Reich eventually relegated his theories to the fringes of [Music] History which of these missions was the most bizarre let me know in the comments as always thank you for watching Dark V like And subscribe to continue exploring the greatest mysteries of this world and Beyond
