10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About World War II

3. Hitler Really Did Search For The Holy Grail

Hess' astrological inspiration for ending the war and Hitler's obsession with the Spear of Destiny are thin introductions to Nazism ties with the Occult (no seriously, it gets weirder). Rumors of the SS searching for the Holy Grail have long since been made; recently it was uncovered Heinrich Himmler (Hitler's odd doppelganger of death) might have made a trip to an abbey in Spain to look for it. Possibly, but the real truth behind their search for the Grail is much more Raiders of the Lost Ark than anyone would care to admit. In the early 1930s Hitler instructed Himmler to create an elite division within the SS to further the study of the Aryan race. These scientists, called the Ahnenerbe, were complete wackos who got their kicks out of comparing differences between the skulls of two races to determine which one was more "Aryan." Into this paranormal society Himmler enlisted a young archeologist, Otto Wilhelm Rahn, who had already spent many years in pursuit of the Grail. It was Rahn's belief the long lost treasure referred to being in possession of the Cathars had to be the Grail. For years he searched for the holy cup in vain, visiting several times the Cathar fortress of Montsegur where the sect had been massacred for being Christian heretics. Angered by his failure and embarrassed in Hitler's eyes Himmler had Otto Rahn assigned to Dachau Concentration Camp as a guard. A few years later on the eve of the war Rahn resigned the SS. He was found a few months afterward dead in the snowy mountains of Austria. It is believed he committed suicide, but that is far too convenient. With his knowledge of the secret workings of the SS it seems more likely Himmler had him assassinated.