Alex Markman's Blog, page 5
March 8, 2012
The Hunt for the Nazi Treasure
The hunt for Nazi fortunes had begun before the WWII was over. The coalition intelligence services had information about the Germans plunder in the conqueredEurope, and had made, far in advance, preparations for recovering it. After collapse of the Third Reich, the investigation was extensive but, as facts indicates, far from being adequate for this monumental task. The theft was enormous; thousands, if not hundreds of thousands individuals had opportunities to stole whatever valuables they could put their hands on; at the end of the WWII there were about 600,000 SS troops, each of which was a potential suspect. It comes as no surprise therefore that in spite of all efforts, only a fraction of the fortune was recovered.
In most contemporary literature on the subject the emphasis is on the property of Jews, confiscated in the period of German occupation. This, however, was just a part, and not the biggest one, of all plunder, that took place in the occupied Europe. Government reserves of the conquered countries went to the German coffers as well to foot the giant bill of military expenses. No surprise therefore, that a part of it landed into the private hands, particularly after the war was over and some money and gold remained in possession of those who was responsible for their safekeeping and distribution. Impressive evidence of it the reader can find in the fascinating book Nazi Millionaires by Kenneth Alford. As he states in one of examples, "A reasonable estimate of the loot hidden by Josef Spacil (a high-ranking SS officer under investigation) is $25,000,000." "…single jeep and trailer load was valued at approximately $600,000 – only a silver of the whole all of it buried in the scenic region of Zell am See."
Numerous others, of lesser stature than Spacil, took part in stealing outside the framework of the government sponsored robbery. SS officers, as well as some regular soldiers, grabbed whatever was accessible, Jewish or not, and stashed it in safe places, hoping to use it when the war was over. For instance, according Money Week (by Simon Wilson, "The Return of Nazi Gold") the Nazis seized about 600,000 important works (paintings and artifacts), of which about 100,000 are still missing. These are items valued thousands, or hundreds thousands, or millions dollars.
Some American investigators were heavily involved in the 'extracurricular activity' during investigations: many valuables and artifacts, confiscated by intelligence personnel, later disappeared and never been accounted for. Another words, they were stolen by the US Army personnel. We can still lament "O tempore, o mores!" How better American soldiers are than the SS looters?"
According to the Swiss Bank estimates, the total value of what they received of Nazi treasure in today's evaluation is about $6-7 billion dollars. All sources though point out that the total value of it remains unknown. And rightly so. Looting by so many individuals is hard, if not impossible, to calculate.
Not only Western powers were after the Nazi treasure. Soviets did the same, but apparently on a much larger scale. As their Western counterparts, they put hands on anything they could fish from the ruins of the Third Reich: scientists and engineers, who worked on nuclear projects, engineers, who worked in the fields of optics and rocket development, even military officers and any other personnel, whose talent and experience was of use in the Soviet military build-up.
Soviets took away almost all equipment and machinery from the factories in their occupied German territory; brought the whole technology to theSoviet Unionand re-assembled it for production. Little is know though, about their marauding of Eastern Europe: the black market of the formerSoviet Unionin the post-war era was flooded by goods, brought by soldiers and officers from the 'liberated' countries. However, due to secretive nature of the communist regime, almost nothing has been published so far about the Soviet hunt for the Nazi's hidden treasure. No doubt that this hunt was massive, thorough and brutal, as everything they did in politics and finance. For the Soviets money was of crucial importance: foreign currency was in short supply and badly needed for the army of spies, employed all over the world, and for support of communist movements.
We do not know how much stolen treasures the Soviets recovered. What known is, that they used the former SS members turned informants, to trace those who kept their fortunes in the Swiss banks secret accounts. Withdrawal from these accounts was easy: whoever knew the account number and associated password could do it, no question asked.
In the middle of 1960s, when support for the Cuban style revolutions inLatin Americabecame the first priority of the Soviet government, the KGB sent a few groups of agents to the region to find these account holders and obtain their account numbers. It is still a secret how many of them the KGB agents tortured and killed, and how much money they extorted. What known is that one of the groups took the money and disappeared, and has never been found. These agents may still be alive, in their late 60's or early 70's.
Then novel Contra-ODESSA is about this group. Although a work of fiction, it nonetheless is based on a true story. Greed, love, adventure and geopolitics are the themes, around which the plot of the novel develops.
Filed under: Blogs Tagged: Argentina, CIA, Cold War, Communism, KGB, Latin America, Nazis, Plunder of Europe, Spy Story, Swiss Accounts
February 16, 2012
About Peter Miller’s book Author! Screenwriter!
Want to get published? Want to get produced? The best guide I know on the subject is Peter Miller’s book Author! Screenwriter! A short while ago he sent me an updated electronic version of his original book Get Published! Get Produced!, which I purchased at his presentation inToronto in 2005. My second read was as rewarding as the first one. Being a literary representative in publishing and movie business since 1973, Miller knows the industry inside out; his success with the placement of written word is another proof of his qualification to write such a book; however, it still needs talent to write so convincingly as Miller did.
“As a writer’s representative, it is my responsibility to always keep the harsh reality of the publishing industry in sight and to make sure the writer gets published,” he says. Harsh reality is the key, and there are numerous aspects of it, unknown to majority of writers, or disregarded, which Miller brings to light.
There is no other profession, understanding of which is so wrong and distorted, as writing. You seldom, if ever, would find an engineer, who devotes all his or her spare time sitting alone at home and designing a new machine, or a device, hoping that some day some corporation would accept it for production and pay millions to the creator; a rarity is an actor, who performs at home alone, with no audience, years in and years out; in general, there is no other profession, that attracts uncountable millions of people with no specific talent for it. Consider this statistics: inNorth America, there are about 14 millions of writers-wannabe; in the last year alone, approximately 2.7 mln. titles (source: Publisher’s Weekly) have been published, most of them are self-published; a tremendous industry thrives on aspiring authors, producing printed and electronic version of their books in ever increasing quantities. Even for a very talented author it is a monumental task to stand out above the tide of submissions; even more so for publishers and literary agents to process these submissions. For all those who wish to break through all these obstacles and become a part of entertainment industry, Peter Miller’s book is definitely a must.
In Introduction, Miller gives an overview of the Five Steps to Success as a Writer. An experienced writer may know some, or all of them, but even then it would be an interesting read.
After introduction, Miller takes the bull by the horns; he writes about new and old media, their changing roles at the market, and, as a consequence, new media marketing. This is the issue of superior importance, and usually a stumbling block to success. The value of this part of the book stretches far beyond a usual shallow observation. It explains in details, what the author shall do and how, if he/she is willing to accept and understand the reality. Miller supports his views with vivid examples from his dealings with authors, publishers and film producers.
In chapter 2, Know the Realities of the Book Business, Miller gives wealth of information about working of the industry; who makes the decision about the manuscript, from the agent to the publisher to the film producer; how the decision is made, and what an author has to face and do during this process.
The reader will find many interesting examples in the book, emphasising Miller’s point of view. Some of them may cause you eyebrows to rise, such as Rule # 2: Yes, it has to appeal to idiots. But hold your breath and read on: “I never said that your book couldn’t appeal to thoughtful, hyper-intelligent people as well. I’m simply noting that literary success from King of Lear to The Da Vinci Code, whatever their measure of brilliance, have undeniable mass appeal – universal ideas that speak to everyone, even idiots.”
There are practical advices to authors, such as how to write a book proposal, details of professional norms and protocols, and others, missing which may make a difference between success and failure.
If you are the lucky one who broke through the initial barrier and your manuscript was accepted by an agent/publisher, you will find wealth of information in the Author! Screenwriter! about what to do and what not during the editorial and publishing stages, and beyond.
There are chapters in which Peter Miller examines fiction and non-fiction market, each having its peculiarities and requiring different approach to book writing and publishing.
Part Two of the book is mostly about the film industry. In it the reader will find out all about what to do and what not in the journey from a book to film. Movies are a different world; for sure this part of the book is of great interest to fiction writers.
There is a lot more in the Author! Screenwriter!. Entertaining as good fiction, it shares with readers the knowledge and expertise of one of the most successful contemporary experts in the industry.
Filed under: Books Tagged: books, films, publishing, reviews
January 17, 2012
Occupy Toronto: Fundamental Truth About Public Company Executives
January 5, 2012
Author's News
November 6, 2011
Slavery and Slave Prostitution in the Modern World
September 29, 2011
War and Peace in the Middle East
August 5, 2011
Author’s News
Contra-ODESSA is on Global News. Independent reviewers praise the book.
Contra-ODESSA in blogs around the globe: http://baltvilks.livejournal.com/44402.html
http://pagesandpatches.blogspot.com/2012/03/contra-odessa-alex-markman.html
Contra-ODESSA is now on Chapters/Indigo book shelves.
Inspired by actual events, Contra-ODESSA brings the reader back to 1960sLatin America. Needing money to fund their activities, Soviets send a team of KGB operatives to track down Swiss bank account numbers from Nazis who stashed fortunes obtained from prior looting. Under torture, the agents extorted from them their secret accounts numbers, money from which went to support the Communist movements inLatin America. The American spy network, eager to find the source of Communists funding, eventually traced the Soviets.
The clash of two spy networks and former SS organizationODESSA, love, moral dilemmas and tough choices in life and death situations make this novel a suspenseful and fast paced reading. It conveys the drama and tragedy of people drawn into the superpowers’ geopolitical struggle for the global domination.
Filed under: News Tagged: Argentina, CIA, Communism, espionage, Global Politics, KGB, Nazi gold, ODESSA, Soviet Union, World War II
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July 23, 2011
Heroes among us
November 21, 2010
China: Not a Sleeping Dragon Anymore
