Unholy Trinity: The Vatican, The Nazis, and The Swiss Banks

There are already several excellent reviews of Unholy Trinity on Amazon, so I will try to bring up some additional points about the book and its authors.The original title of this book is "Ratlines". Ratlines, a nautical term, is used in this context to describe the method by which Nazi war criminals escaped from Germany and Austria to a first point of safety (usually Italy) and thence to points beyond in Europe, North America, Australasia, and especially to South America. These escapes were facilitated by the Allied powers, but would not have been possible without the help of the Vatican.This newer edition is titled "Unholy Trinity", and features the portraits of Pope Pius XII, Hitler and Stalin on the cover. The subtitle is "The Vatican, the Nazis, and the Swiss banks". Then why is Stalin on the cover? Also, when describing the ratlines, one cannot omit the USA and Britain. Unholy Pentagon? I think the newer title was invented by the publishers who thought that it was catchier than the original, but "Ratlines" remains a much better way to encapsulate the book. That said, the most intriguing character of the book is a Russian spy, Prince Anton Vasilevich Turkul, described by the authors as "arguably the greatest professional spy of the twentieth century".I found the central chapters of this book heavy going due to the complicated nature of the narrative, the great number of Central European characters with similar looking names, and the alphabet soup of acronyms for what must be dozens of organizations. The book could have benefited from a cast of characters and an acronym guide. I recommend that readers make their own list of acronyms as they read, because most of them are not indexed.Co-author John Loftus is a self-proclaimed Irish Catholic. I have heard him describe himself as such several times on Dave Emory's 'For the Record' radio programs. I mention this because one of the detractors of Unholy Trinity labelled the book anti-Catholic propaganda. The authors are not anti-Catholic, rather they are anti-Vatican. By the same token, I might criticize the government of the USA, but that doesn't mean that I am anti-American. I sensed that the authors were very disappointed and perhaps surprised by the unethical actions on the part of the Vatican elite. I suspect that as a Catholic himself, Mr. Loftus expected more from the Catholic church hierarchy than non-Catholics might expect.My next comment may not mean much to readers who are unfamiliar with the concept of the Nazi capital flight network, as detailed in Paul Manning's "Martin Bormann: Nazi in Exile". Please refer to that landmark book, reviewed on Amazon, and available as a free download if you look for it. Paul Manning's thesis was that Martin Bormann survived WWII, moved to South America via the ratlines, and exercised control over the Nazi flight capital, i.e., Nazi war loot, that was later used to create the "great economic miracle" that was the West German economy of 1948-51. My biggest disappointment with "Unholy Trinity" was the short shrift given to Paul Manning's thesis. They mention it briefly, but in such a way that I'm not convinced they fully appreciated it, even though it coincides with and complements their arguments.Despite those few misgivings and difficulties with the book, I recommend it highly and rate it five stars.

This is not a quick read. It’s more like an encyclopedia, so take your time and digest each page slowly. An incredible, objective, and eye-opening work of art.

This is a very detailed account of the ins and outs of money laundering, espionage and the multitude of personalities who shaped the post war period in Europe. Few people look good and all governments look bad. A very good book.

This is an important book that should be included in any historical study of WWII. Extremely well documented. It will give the reader a very good understanding of why Nazism is so alive and well in Germany...as well as other parts of the world. If you follow current events, you'll definitely want to read this book so you can identify similarities going on in Germany today with what's happened before. We have clear warning signs. We had them before WWII, but they were ignored. Let's not make that same mistake again!

A very difficult book to read and follow. Nothing about Swiss banks, mostly about individual persons who aided the Nazis to escape but nothing about how they did it. Or not much about those who did escape

What a book!! I was blown away by some of these revelations in this book. This book puts a lot of people in the spotlight and we the general public should ask one question...Why have these people escaped justice????. How did these people from all sides get away with such crimes ????.... this book makes the reader ask themselves "How do you trust such a corrupt organization as the church or your government" .

Mark Aaron's did an incredible amount of research and investigation to write this intriguing expose of the Catholic Church's involvement and collusion with high profile Nazi war criminals. The book also exposes the hypocrisy and greed of some of the high-ranking Clergy in the Vatican, who sacrificed their so-called Christian principles to gain favour with the ruling Nazis. The clergy also turned a blind eye to the mass killings being performed by their consorts in the Nazi regime and even arranged fake passports and new identities to smuggle them to Argentina with the blessing of Juan Peron. Very interesting reading and certainly an eye-opener. This book certainly highlights many of the Catholic Clergy as 'Wolves in Sheep's clothing'. This is something we are still seeing 70 years later, with the Catholic Clergy's involvement in pedophile rings in Europe and America that have been exposed..

I've been wanting to get this book for quite some time. A recent documentary on Histories Greatest Mysteries highlighted the book. The condition is in very good condition!

Great book - don’t read it without an open mind. Excellent condition

Will open your eyes about what went on before firing and after WW2 no conspiracy theories just facts... Excellent read.

If you have the patience to read through it, it reveals some previously unknown exciting facts about WW II.

This book really demonstrates Vatican double-standards. On the one hand, the Vatican claims that it did all it could to save Jews from Nazism, but on the other it smuggled 1,000's of Nazi fugitives to South America, Australia and North America after the war (through Bishop Alois Hudal and Father Krunoslav Draganovic).However, the British and the Americans are also to blame, since they supported the so-called "anti-Communist" guerilla groups in Eastern Europe (in actuality, fascist murderers who's hands were drenched in blood). As for Pope Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli) he was a moral coward who never spoke out against Nazi atrocities and even blessed the genocidal maniac, Ante Pavelic of the so-called "Independent State of Croatia" in 1941 and again in 1943, when he knew full well that Pavelic was butchering innocent civilians, Serbs, Jews, Romas, and Communists. Simply put, "undesirable" elements, or "untermenschen" as the Nazis would say.Well worth the read!

Highly informative!