Murphy Ranch: Hitler's Bunker House

Will Rogers State Park
1501 Will Rogers State Park Road

In the 1930s, Nazi sympathizers in the United States built a refuge in Southern California for Adolf Hitler. Winona and Norman Stephens, along with their followers, firmly believed that the Fuhrer would emerge victorious from World War II. They had plenty of money and fell under the influence of a fascist sympathizer known only as Herr Schmidt. They viewed Adolf Hitler sympathetically and prepared this living paradise for him to come and promote his beliefs throughout the United States. Plans were drawn by architect Welton Becket for a mansion to be constructed with a barn, silo and cottages. However, these were apparently deemed insufficient. Paul Williams drew a new set of blueprints in 1941. They prepared a deluxe residency for the Fuhrer. It was equipped with a power plant, a 395,000 gallon water tank, a giant meat locker, a 20,000 gallon diesel fuel tank, and a bomb shelter so that Hitler would have all the living accommodations possible.

Today, in 2013, hidden away from the city of Los Angeles, behind the hills of Pacific Palisades, lay the remains of these bunkers. Tagging marks and graffiti print cover the bunkers. It is a relic that few individuals value because not many people know about it.

The remains of this site represent the pro-Nazis sentiments that existed in some residents of Southern California in the 1930s. In addition to providing a home for Hitler, the site was a symbolic landscape where fans of The Third Reich waited for that moment when the US would fall under complete Nazis power. Schmidt’s plan was to create a command center in which the National Socialist community would wait out the war. Gloria Ricci Lothrop, a Cal State Northridge emeritus professor of California history familiar with the theory that the canyon was a onetime Nazi colony stated, “Given the degree of activity among Nazi sympathizers in Southern California, such an enterprise would not be so surprising." She said that there were many Nazis sympathizers throughout California. For example, one group called Friends of the New Germany was known for its outstanding Nazis support. Another was a local chapter of the Silver Shirts. The group operated in 22 states, numbering between 15,000 and 50,000 members, with Southland chapters in Huntington Park, Inglewood, Long Beach and Los Angeles.

The Murphy Ranch plan came to a screeching halt on December 8, 1941, the morning after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Federal agents stormed into the compound and arrested Schmidt, whom was identified as a Nazi spy. The agents also found a powerful shortwave radio, reportedly for sending messages to Germany. These groups targeted Southern California because of the many Jewish people residing in the area. Propaganda was distributed nationwide from L.A. In 1934, a congressional subcommittee investigation examined the pro-Nazi movement that existed in the region. What lies now hidden throughout the hills of Pacific Palisades contains history. It serves to remind us that racial hatred exists in the world and that as human beings we are capable of many horrible things. If the results would have been different in WWII, then that would have been the home to one of the most feared and hated men in the universe, Adolf Hitler. If the plans would have gone accordingly, this was to be the seat of American fascism, where Hitler would plan his agenda to one day run the United States of America. Today, the bunkers are in poor condition and the area is to be made into a historic rest stop and picnic area for hikers.

For More Information

Jones, Robert A. "The Stairway to our Nazi Ruins." Los Angeles Times: 1.Sep 21 1997. ProQuest. Web. 14 May 2013. 

Butler, Katrina. "Murphy Ranch: L.A.'s Nazi Ruins." Examiner.com. N/A, 8 Mar. 2013. Web. 04 May 2013.