Cult of beauty - Minerva

The Nazis
and the search for
Atlantis
In December 1938 a small expedition
struggled slowly northwards
along the steep and treacherous
mountain paths that led them
ever higher into the bitingly cold winds
howling down from the snow covered
peaks of the Himalayas (Fig 1). The
party consisted of five young German
scientists and more than a dozen
Indian porters. They had already suffered
considerable hardships in the
summer while travelling through the
northern Indian state of Sikkim when
heavy monsoon rains had caused
flooding and landslides, while large
tropical leeches had made travel a misery,
and diseases such as black plague
and anthrax were rife among the local
communities through which they journeyed.
The party had, however, had
chance to recuperate in Sikkim and,
despite the difficulties in journeying
through Himalayan mountain passes
in winter, their mood was good and
they travelled with a purpose, knowing
that at the head of the Natu La
Pass they would finally enter Tibet, the
remote and little-known country that
was their destination. Better yet, the
expedition had come this far without
damage to the scientific instruments,
film-making equipment, diplomatic
gifts and weapons that were packed on
the backs of almost 50 mules. Even the
expedition’s flag bearing the Nazi swastika
was still flying proudly in the icy
air. The twin lightening flashes of the
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Fig 1. Mount Everest
as seen from Tibet. It
was the lands to the
north of the Himalayas
that many 19 th and
early 20 th century
philosophers believed
held the key to human
evolution and the
origins of the Aryan
race. Photo: courtesy
of Gary Larson.
Fig 2. The Nazi
expedition to
Tibet, 1938–39. The
five Ahnenerbe
scientists are seated
around the fire, their
Indian and Tibetan
guides and porters
standing behind.
Photo: courtesy of
the German Federal
Archive, Bild 135-KA-
03-100.
Fig 3. Ernst Schäfer
during the Tibetan
expedition of
1938-39. Picture taken
by team photographer
Ernst Krause. Photo:
courtesy of the
German Federal
Archive, Bild 135-KB-
14-082.
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James Beresford takes a look at the pseudoarchaeological
theories that led Heinrich
Himmler to dispatch SS scientists around the
globe prior to the outbreak of World War II
SS were also visible on the pith helmet
of the expedition leader, clearly marking
him and the rest of the Germans as
members of the Schutzstaffel.
The leader of the small expedition
was Ernst Schäfer (Fig 3). Only
28 years of age, short but powerfully
built, Schäfer was already famous as
an explorer who had twice travelled
to remote and dangerous parts of
China and Tibet. In addition to being
a respected scientist who had studied
zoology and geology at Gottingen
University, Schäfer was an expert
hunter, taking pride in being only
the second European to shoot a giant
panda, and, only a few weeks earlier,
had become the first Westerner to
track and kill a shapi – highly elusive
antelope-like creatures worshipped
by some Himalayan tribes as gods.
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