5

Two Of The Worst Nazis Had Little Brothers Constantly Screwing Up Their Plans

Nobody has a perfect relationship with their siblings, but it's hard to imagine a fraternal beef as mighty as the one Albert Goering had with his brother Hermann. Hermann Goering was Hitler's second-in-command, a fact that Albert was apparently none too pleased about. Albert's disdain for his brother's beliefs began the second Hermann joined the Nazi party, and so distressed was he by this fact, and Germany's overall descent into madness, that he found himself fleeing to Austria in the 1930s. When the Nazis annexed Austria, he went to Prague. And when they took that, he went to Budapest.

German Federal Archives

Since "flight" didn't seem to be working out for Albert, he began employing his "fight" reflexes instead. Using his name and connections, he secured exit permits for Jews, protected their assets, and even physically removed people from stormtroopers' grips. For most people, that would have been a one-way ticket to murdertown, but despite their political differences, Hermann wouldn't allow Albert to be harmed. They weren't close during this period, and only ever interacted at a handful of what must have been spectacularly awkward family gatherings.

ugurv/iStock

4

Hans Munch Invented Fake Experiments To Save People In Auschwitz

Dr. Hans Munch was a young bacteriologist with a patriotic streak in him, and like many young Germans, wanted to join the armed forces during the war. A contact with an old friend got him into some little group called the SS, and he soon found himself sent to a camp in Poland called Auschwitz.

Ricardo_ha77/iStock

His work was less horrific than a lot of what was going on there, and mainly focused on typhus research and making the camp healthier. Which is nice, for a death camp. But even though it was immediately apparent to him what was really going on at Auschwitz, and how little a chance he had of escaping it, he did a lot more than just passively accept his fate. When tasked with selecting prisoners for death, he slung his gigantic balls over his shoulder and refused.

This success seemed to empower him, and he began doing more things to improve the lives of the patients he worked with. He provided them extra food and rest, and otherwise cared for them in a way SS officers normally didn't. More critically, he kept many of his patients alive longer by concocting fake experiments. When speaking about these later in life, Munch commented that, "We thought about it for a while and adopted a method, found a way that was sure to be harmless, was significant, what was sure to be approved by Himmler. He would approve almost anything." Lengthy experiments in a typhus ward don't necessarily sound like fun to us, but maybe they found some way to jazz it up.

vicm/iStock

3

The Vichy Navy Sank Its Own Ships Rather Than Let The Nazis Have Them

After Germany took control of northern France in 1940, there were basically two Frances -- the Nazi-occupied north and the "free" south, which would be called Vichy France after its new, makeshift capital. "Free" is probably an overstatement as well; the Vichy regime only ruled by the grace of the Germans, one particular condition of their freedom being that they had to do everything Germany said. So in essence, there was Nazi France, and an additional France, also Nazi. All clear?

Rostislav Botev

2

Kurt Gerstein Tried To Alert The World To The Holocaust

Kurt Gerstein is an interesting figure, as you'd suspect from someone who was both a Nazi and a dedicated Christian, which if you didn't know, are two hobbies that don't mix too good. During the 1930s, his constant protests about Nazi interference with the church ended up in more than a few dustups with other Nazis, and eventually got him kicked out of the party.

So he's a good guy then?

German Federal Archives

1

George Dasch Prevented a Nazi Attack In America By Selling Out His Fellow Saboteurs

Hey, remember that time Germany blew up significant chunks of Florida and Long Island? No? You have George Dasch to thank for that. He was part of a squad of German-Americans sent to America in 1942 to wreak havoc on American infrastructure. Dasch, who'd previously lived in America for a few years, was the leader of the group, and was secretly not too thrilled with blowing up parts of a country he still sort of liked. So he decided to sabotage the sabotage.

And he was almost executed for it.

Smithsonian

When his team of saboteurs reached New York City, Dasch slipped away and called the FBI, warning them of the plot and demanding to speak to J. Edgar Hoover. They, uh, didn't put that call through, but a few days later when he arrived in Washington and called again, they finally got around to looking into it. Dasch spent two days with FBI agents recounting every detail of the plot, and handed over $82,000 in blood money he had been given to carry it out. The FBI soon rounded up the rest of the members of his crew.

Dasch may have been somewhat surprised to discover the FBI wasn't entirely grateful to him; in the newspapers, they took almost all of the credit for the arrests themselves, with little mention of the snitch who handed them the case. Hoover himself was even pushing for a death sentence for Dasch -- which almost every other member of his crew received. The attorney general managed to talk Hoover down to 30 years, and Dasch was eventually pardoned in 1948 and sent back to West Germany. Where -- get this -- he wasn't too popular.

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Manna fights with Nazis on Twitter.

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