Uncovering My Family’s Darkest Secret — And the Shadow of Hitler That Came With It

The southern trail of war criminals, a family mystery and the Patagonian Nazi refuge next door

Uncovering My Family’s Darkest Secret — And the Shadow of Hitler That Came With It (created by author)

Prologue: The Bell

The dare was simple:

• Make it to the end of the pier.
• Switch on the light.
• Come back alive and claim a 10-peso reward

A piece of cake for a ten-year-old trying to prove his courage to the elders — an initiation tradition (though I didn’t know it then) at the house my great-grandfather built in the 1930s on the shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake, deep in the heart of Patagonia.

Simple, sure. Except for the bell that echoed through the dark like a warning. A sound we were told meant only one thing: the Mad Monk was near.

The story was family gospel. My grandfather Pepe told it between bites of cheese and swigs of wine, usually while fishing at sunset. The Mad Monk was a cloaked figure who sailed the lake after dark, ringing a bell whenever he docked. He lived alone in a house called Inalco, a few bays from ours, hidden behind cypresses and rumors. Nobody knew if he was a ghost, a hermit, or something else. But we all knew his rules: don’t go near Inalco…