The Greatest Unsolved Mysteries Of The Second World War

In 1923, Hitler made a failed attempt to overthrow the German government and install his own in its place. Spurred on by political actions that implied Germany was taking the fall for starting World War I, the 35,000 members of the Nazi party were aiming high, but their failure set the groundwork—and the mythology—for the rise of their party years later. Hitler and 600 of his men attempted to take over a beer hall at which the Bavarian Prime Minister was speaking . . . and Hitler managed to gain the support of the audience. Now with 3,000 men, the Nazis attempted to take key government buildings. It was a failure, though. Hitler was arrested two days later and tried for treason.

During the shootout, 16 Nazi party members died. After Hitler was released from prison, he was given a flag that had been stained with the blood of his fallen comrades—they became the first martyrs of the Nazi party. The flag became known as “Die Blutfahne,” or “the Blood Flag,” and it was one of the earliest symbols of the mythos and ritual that would grow around the Nazi party. It was used in all the major ceremonies, its touch was thought to sanctify other flags with its power, and SS officers swore their oath to it. It even had its own keeper: an SS member named Jakob Grimminger.

The last time Die Blutfahne was seen in public was in October 1944. No one knows whether it was destroyed in the bombings at the end of the war, rescued and shuttled away, or whether an unwitting Allied soldier took it, unaware of its significance. The keeper of the Blood Flag not only survived the war, but later took a minor position as a city official in Munich. All his property had already been confiscated, and he died a poor man.

9The Death Of Subhas Chandra Bose

Subhas Chandra Bose was the leader of the Indian National Army during the years surrounding World War II. From the Allied point of view, he was a dangerous traitor; Bose had visited both German and Japanese leaders and had been in the friendly company of Stalin. His actions have long been up for debate, with supporters saying that he was less interested in following along with Axis ideals than he was in finding an enemy of the British he could ally himself with. The stories of Bose’s life are worthy of a Bond movie—escaping British surveillance, fleeing to Italy, covert meetings, and taking different identities . . . there’s a lot that’s still unknown about the Indian revolutionary. One of the things that’s always been questioned is how he died.

According to the official story, Bose died in a plane crash in 1945. His body was cremated, and his ashes were taken to a place of honor at the Renkoji Temple near Tokyo. There are a lot of people that don’t believe the story, though; some even have gone so far as to name the man whose ashes really sit in Bose’s place: They say the ashes belonged to Ichiro Okura, a Japanese officer from a Taiwanese army. It’s claimed that the plane crash story was fabricated in order to throw people off the trail of the real Bose.

The entire country is still hoping that they might one day find out what happened to their patriotic leader, but it’s not going to be happening anytime soon. On December 1, 2014, the National Democratic Alliance refused another request to make public the classified files that are being held on Bose. There are 39 files that have been withheld from the public in varying degrees; in some cases, their contents—but not the actual files—have been divulged. The government also refused to publish documents that have already been marked as “Unclassified.” According to the public information officers responsible for denying the request, it was done because the information contained in the documents could in some way harm India’s relationships with other countries.

7The Ness Gun Battery’s Mystery Artist

The Ness Gun Battery in Orkney was one of many sites that made up an invaluable defensive perimeter around the British Isles. During the war, it was manned by soldiers who protected a naval anchorage called Scapa Flow. While they were there, someone created something stunning: a mural that decorates one of the walls in the mess hall. It shows a rural English village, a cottage, and several caravans; images of home, presumably, and of a life much more idyllic than the one the men were living. There’s a signature—“A.R. Woods”—but no one’s sure who he really was.

The site is also notable for being the only surviving gun battery with the original, World War II–era wooden buildings. Conservation and restoration efforts uncovered the beautiful mural. Since then, a request was put out for any information on the identity of “A.R. Woods.” Suggestions have come in from all over the world, but nothing’s panned out yet. One man named A.R. Woods is thought to be a likely candidate, but there’s no conclusive evidence in the surviving documents about the staff at Orkney. The Orkney Islands Council are hoping to find the man—or his descendants—someday. For now, they’re just preserving the mural.

6Hitler’s Missing Globe

Charlie Chaplin made it famous in his film The Great Dictator, where he portrayed a megalomaniac dictator dancing with a massive globe. It was inspired by a globe that really did sit in Hitler’s office and is now missing. There’s one on display at the Markisches Museum, but it didn’t belong to Hitler. There existed a handful of these giant, small-car-sized globes. They were called the “Columbus Globes” and were made in two limited-edition runs (the second run made minor corrections to the maps). Some of the globes were presented to Hitler and other leaders of the Nazi party, and they were supported by specially designed custom stands. The stand from the photographs of Hitler’s office doesn’t match the one that’s long been claimed to be his.

It’s not known what happened to this giant artifact. A lot of these globes have survived, many in museums or in private collections. Hitler’s is not among them, despite being one of the most iconic artifacts in pop culture. It’s almost as famous because of Charlie Chaplin as it is for belonging to Hitler—having been turned from a symbol of power to a mocking jab at egomania. One retired cartographer has been documenting other globes and where they’ve come from. He’s managed to identify globes that belonged to other Nazi officers, but Hitler’s globe remains elusive.