Hitler escapes to Japan in 1945?

Unlikely but possible

I could see a U-boat geting him to Japan. He ends up secure in a nice relatively un-bombed city called Hiroshima.
 
In theory, I suppose it would be possible, but it would entail a long and dangerous sea voyage, probably by submarine down around the tip of Africa and across the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, which are crawling with British and American warships, which means that if word gets out that he's skipped the country and is headed for Japan, any submarine that carries him may as well have a target painted on its hull.
 
I've never actually thought of this before. An interesting idea...

I would think though that the only way for Hitler to escape...

Sometime between August 1944 and January 1945, he escapes to Switzerland incognito (Shaving perhaps, gaining a little weight and going bald, wearing glasses). He takes a flight to Spain, and takes a Spanish ship across the Indian Ocean into the Pacific, and eventually into Japan.
 
Spain or Argentina would seem to be more logical choices for an exile. Nevermind fleeing one's country would be seen as an act of cowardice by the Japanese.
 
Hitler escape to Japan in early April 1945.
The Japanese government welcomed him,and put the old mad eyes in.... Hiroshima.
 
Why does everyone say Hiroshima? While it would have been nice to see Hitler nuked, what would have happened upon his arrival in Japan? What would he have done once he starts living under the rising sun?
 
He could have flown to Japan from Northern Norway.

I would expect his welcome in Japan would not be all that enthusiastic.

My question is, what would he gain by going there? He believes the Japanese are Untermensch (at heart, despite what he may have publicly stated). Its obvious that once Germany is defeated, the full might of the Allies would be turned on Japan. It would merely be jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

Spain is more likely but Franco was a bit of a fair-weather friend.

South America very likely.

How about something out of left-field? Antarctica! :D
 

mowque

Banned
How about in a hypothetical situation?

What about it? When does he leave? When does he gain a sudden grasp of sanity? It is a LONG way from Germany to Japan? (The U-234 only got into the Atlantic).

Also, what difference does it make? He gets there just in time to hear Germany fell apart and his one ally is being fire bombed relentlessly. He'll be turned over to the Allies when Japan surrenders. He probably kills himself before getting arrested.
 
The problem is that if he is going to do this, he will have to take a very circuitous route to avoid Allied troops and ships. Best idea is through Spain, as others have suggested. The problem is that by 1945, US subs were doing a pretty good job of blockading the Japanese islands. So it is quite likely that the ship carrying Hitler gets captured/destroyed by the US Navy before it is able to dock in Japan. That would make for an interesting scenario: Berlin falls to the Soviets. The Allies assume Hitler was killed in the bombings, even though the Soviets never find the body. Then a few months later he turns up thousands of miles away on a Spanish ship bound for Japan. I'm guessing that would be a serious WTF moment for some US sailors.
 
The nice thing about this scenario is that if Hitler makes to Japan before Japan surrenders, he falls into American hands and they don't have to share him with anybody.
 

Cook

Banned
In the 1960s Albert Speer claimed that a Ju-390 flown by II/KG200 flew over the polar ice cap from Norway to Japan in 1944 but apart from Speer’s claim there has never been any other reference to such a flight or evidence to verify that it was made.

There had been plans for an air link from Bulgaria to Japanese occupied China using Ju-290s but they were scrapped in 1944 when the Red Army’s advance overran Bulgaria.

Frankly Hitler was too much of a Prima Dona and fan of Wagner to pass up being centre stage for the climactic glorious death scene of the Gotterdammerung.
 
Japan would use him as a bargaining chip to try to secure a better settlement or Soviet non-intervention. I don't know if they would succeed, but that's what they would do.
 
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Japan would use him as a bargaining chip to try to secure a better settlement or Soviet non-intervention. I don't know if they would succeed, but that's what they would do.

This. The Japanese knew by the summer of '45 that they had no realistic prospect of winning the war. Operation Ketsugo was put in place to ensure that the cost of conquering Japan would be too high for the allies to accept.
A large worry was a possible invasion of Soviet forces in Hokkaido via Manchuria and Korea. It was deemed impossible to commit to a "last stand" sort of situation against the Americans while the Russian threat still hung heavy. If a peaceful transfer of territory to the Soviets along with the handover of Hitler was possible, the Japanese wouldn't balk at it.

Which would make for something interesting in itself? Perhaps we'd get a live execution in Red Square of Hitler, with Stalin himself personally taking the honours?
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
I think it more likely that it would have fled to Latin America, as did so many other escaped Nazis, then attempt to get to Japan. In any event, this scenario is basically a non-starter. Hitler would never consent to leave Germany, and he much preferred to die in Berlin than be seen to flee. IOTL, after all, he even refused to leave Berlin for the temporary safety of southern Germany.
 
This a logistically difficult thing to do, but in a way, it could have minor political consequence. Namely, depending on when it happens, the Germans may entirely give up in the West sooner, potentially slowing the Soviet advance. Though, that is unlike to matter given what happened in our timeline and the political dynamics in play. Perhaps the only real consequences here are with the Japanese offering up Hitler to the Allies in exchange for a conditional surrender, or to the USSR in exchange for its continued non-aggression toward Japan.
 
Hitler escape to Japan in early April 1945.
The Japanese government welcomed him,and put the old mad eyes in.... Hiroshima.

Why does everyone assume he's going to Hiroshima. Everyone knows that the expatriate centre of Japan is Nagasaki. :p

Well, yeah, there's Yokohama and Kobe, but those were bombed to hell.

Which would make for something interesting in itself? Perhaps we'd get a live execution in Red Square of Hitler, with Stalin himself personally taking the honours?

I believe I posted a scenario similar to that a few years back. :D

But seriously, if Hitler were to defeat all the odds stacked against him and did end up in Japan, I'm guessing that Japan will just arrest him upon landing and either try him themselves for crimes against humanity, or be handed over to the Allies as some sort of bargaining chip.

Yeah, yeah, you may say that the Japanese trying Hitler may be hypocritical of them, but that didn't stop the Soviets from claiming to be the good guys OTL. Besides, aside from a piece of paper that was their alliance (and their mutual animosity against the Soviets), Japan and Germany practically shared nothing else in common ideologically, economically, militarily, etc.
 
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