THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Hypnotic shocking and unputdownable' JOHN LE CARRÉ 'Remarkable'
THE SUNDAY TIMES 'Breathtaking gripping shattering' ELIF SHAFAK 'A taut and finely crafted
factual thriller' OBSERVER 'A triumph of research and brilliant storytelling' ANTONY BEEVOR
'Extraordinary' EVENING STANDARD As Governor of Galicia SS Brigadeführer Otto Freiherr von
Wächter presided over an authority on whose territory hundreds of thousands of Jews and Poles
were killed including the family of the author's grandfather By the time the war ended in May
1945 he was indicted for 'mass murder' Hunted by the Soviets the Americans the Poles and
the British as well as groups of Jews Wächter went on the run He spent three years hiding in
the Austrian Alps assisted by his wife Charlotte before making his way to Rome where he was
helped by a Vatican bishop He remained there for three months While preparing to travel to
Argentina on the 'ratline' he died unexpectedly in July 1949 a few days after spending a
weekend with an 'old comrade' In The Ratline Philippe Sands offers a unique account of the
daily life of a senior Nazi and fugitive and of his wife Drawing on a remarkable archive of
family letters and diaries he unveils a fascinating insight into life before and during the
war on the run in Rome and into the Cold War Eventually the door is unlocked to a mystery
that haunts Wächter's youngest son who continues to believe his father was a good man - what
happened to Otto Wächter and how did he die?
