The name of Martin Bormann suddenly popped into the news from Germany last week. It was reported, discussed and then denied, that the man Hitler chose to witness his political will had finally been found in the British zone. He was wanted in the prisoners' dock at Nürnberg. In this glaring end of Naziism, as in its dark beginnings, Martin Bormann was still a shadowy figure.
Purchasing Agent. Few knew this sly-eyed World War I gunner well. One wretched little man who did was Walter Kadow, who stole the funds of a gang of political assassins in the '205. Bormann served a year in jail for his part in Kadow's murder.
The Nazis liked his talent for obscurity. They put him in charge of their "special fund," and he moved quietly about, buying up opposition leaders and organizing traitor units in other political parties.
He was rewarded by command of the party's Brown House headquarters at Munich. His brother, Albert, became Hitler's personal aide. Now, with the threads of Nazi command in his hands, he worked over the lists—1,800 names long—of those to be killed in the 1934 purge. In 1938 he checked off the generals to be ousted.
Tunnel of Fear. Little by little, top Nazi leaders learned to fear Martin Bormann. He had been made chief of the inner Gestapo that policed top Nazis. Reich Marshal Goring blocked up the tunnel that led from Bormann's Berchtesgaden house to his.
Only with the war did the average German begin to hear of this wraith. He replaced Hess as Deputy Führer; his signature was required on all laws. He slithered about, watching generals and party leaders at work, and a disapproving word from him could mean death. Next to Hitler and Himmler, he was the most powerful man in all Germany.
Bunker Voice. As the end drew near, Bormann's voice came over . the radio from Hitler's bunker in Berlin, broadcasting orders and proclamations. When the Russians reached the bunker, Bormann was gone. Some Nazis claimed that he had died leading a last effort to break free.
U.S. soldiers searched his Berchtesgaden house. They found the machine guns and dynamite they expected to find in the home of a murderer. They also found some surprises: albums of the world's best music, rare French wines, children's toys.
The Russians, British and Americans have been hunting for him ever since.