Maison Rouge meeting (Strasbourg, 10 Aug 1944)
Unproven What these labels mean →An Allied intelligence report (SHAEF EW-Pa 128, the 'Red House Report', 27 Nov 1944) says SS officials and German industrialists met at the Hôtel Maison Rouge to plan moving money abroad and financing an underground Nazi party after defeat. The report is authentic and in the National Archives. Whether the meeting happened as described rests on one French informant. NARA calls it routine Safehaven reporting, 'not a singular smoking gun.'
Ties
| To | Role | Years | Verdict | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Commerce Corporation | proposed link: Nazi capital moved abroad (Samosa claim 6) | Smoke, no fire | no documented connection | |
| Operation Safehaven | reported under the Allied program tracking German assets | 1944 | Documented · occurred | text-message.blogs.archives.gov |
| Krupp | represented (Dr. Kaspar) | 1944 | Unproven | EW-Pa 128 |
| Röchling | represented (Dr. Tolle) | 1944 | Unproven | EW-Pa 128 |
| Messerschmitt | represented (Dr. Sinderen) | 1944 | Unproven | EW-Pa 128 |
| Rheinmetall | represented (Drs. Kopp, Vier, Beerwanger) | 1944 | Unproven | EW-Pa 128 |
| Volkswagen | represented (Drs. Ellenmayer, Kardos) | 1944 | Unproven | EW-Pa 128 |
Tied from
| From | Role | Years | Verdict | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WCC is the Mayflower Consortium (Samosa) | his starting point | 1944 | Unproven |
Mentioned in
Links
- NARA blog: Real plan or red herring? (2025)
- Transcription of EW-Pa 128
- Adam LeBor, Daily Mail 2009 (archive.org)
- Wikipedia: Nazi secret meeting in Strasbourg 1944
- Wikipedia: The Red House Report
Notes
Document authentic Meeting as described Blueprint for the EU / Fourth Reich
The document
- SHAEF intelligence report EW-Pa 128, dated 27 Nov 1944 and declassified 1996. Copies are in State Department files 800.515/11-2744 (Safehaven series) and 740.00112 (Intelligence)/12-144, plus War Department intelligence records.
- Source: an agent of the French Deuxième Bureau, a "French governmental employee with close connections with German industry," rated "believed reliable and experienced."
Who was there (as named in the report)
| Name | Represented |
|---|---|
| Dr. Scheid | Presided. SS Obergruppenführer; director of the "Heche (Hermandorff & Schonburg)" company |
| Dr. Kaspar | Krupp |
| Dr. Tolle | Röchling |
| Dr. Sinderen | Messerschmitt |
| Drs. Kopp, Vier, Beerwanger | Rheinmetall |
| Capt. Haberkorn, Dr. Ruhe | Büssing |
| Drs. Ellenmayer, Kardos | Volkswagenwerk |
| Engineers Drose, Yanchew, Koppshem | Factories in Posen: Drose, Yanchew & Co., Brown-Boveri, Herkuleswerke, Buschwerke, Stadtwerke |
| Capt. Dornbuach | Head of the Industrial Inspection Section at Posen |
| Dr. Meyer | German Naval Ministry, Paris |
| Dr. Strossner | Ministry of Armament, Paris |
| Dr. Bosse | Ministry of Armament; ran the second, smaller meeting |
The list was checked 2026-09-26 against the report's attendee paragraph (transcription). Spellings are the report's, and some are probably garbled (e.g. "Heche"). Several names don't match known senior executives, which is a known weak point.
Names added later, not in the report: - Schacht, Kaltenbrunner, Canaris: named by East German writer Julius Mader. Generally considered implausible. - Kirdorf, Thyssen, Gustav Krupp: named in an earlier account. Impossible: Kirdorf died in 1938, and Thyssen was imprisoned in 1944. - Himmler and Max Faust (I.G. Farben) as the organizers: later attribution, not in the report text. - Bormann: not in the report. Added later, mainly via Paul Manning (1981).
What they discussed
Main meeting (Scheid): 1. "German industry must realise that the war cannot be won." Industry should prepare for a postwar commercial campaign. 2. Make contacts and alliances with foreign firms "individually and without attracting any suspicion." 3. Borrow large sums abroad after the war, using existing foreign ties as models (Krupp's US partners, Zeiss, Leica, Hamburg-America Line).
Smaller meeting (Bosse), three stages: 1. Industrialists prepare to finance the Nazi Party, which would go underground. 2. The government allocates large sums to set up secure postwar bases abroad, "so that a strong German empire can be created after the defeat." 3. Place technicians and researchers abroad through front companies for secret research and intelligence ("sleepers"). - Money routes: two Zurich banks, and Swiss agencies buying property for Germans at a 5% commission.
Where it stands
- Verified: the report exists, and Safehaven tracked real German capital flight through Switzerland, Spain, Argentina and elsewhere.
- Unproven: that this meeting happened as described. One informant, no German-side record found.
- Smoke: the popular claim that it's the blueprint for the EU or a "Fourth Reich." It comes from Paul Manning's 1981 Bormann book and Adam LeBor's 2009 Daily Mail piece. Continuity of German industry after the war is real, but that's not the same as a coordinated plan.