Interesting Nazi/"Grindlewald" parallels

[heathernmoore]

I took this off a website about the history of alpinism:

"To stand at the small village of Kleine Scheidegg near Grindelwald 
in Switzerland is a rare experience. The North Face of the Eiger 
smirks thousands of metres above, rarely without cloud. The most 
imperious of Europe's north faces, it became the theatre of pre-World 
War II nationalism. 

Europe watched as teams from Germany, Austria and France suffered and 
died on the face, which is raked by rockfalls and avalanches. 

Finally, in 1938, a team of four German climbers succeeded where so 
many others had failed. The Nazis proclaimed it as a great victory, 
but the climbers themselves were bewildered by the nationalism. The 
mountains would feel the force of nationalism for many more years, as 
the race for the Himalayan giants consumed the wealthier nations in 
the 1950s. Almost all the huge Asian mountains were climbed using 
siege tactics, where vast teams of climbers and porters establish and 
stock camps for a final push to the summit."



  So Grindlewald, Switzerland was the site of a major "cultural 
victory" which the Nazis opportunistically took credit for during the 
run up to WWII.  During the 40s, it was also a prominent resort town 
which very likely was enjoyed by high-ups in the Third Reich and as 
such was involved in Switzerland's money-laundering of Nazi funds. 
Nazi-sympathiser Heinreich Harrar (of SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET fame) was 
an enthusiast of the Eiger Peak and the associated villages of 
Grindlewald and Interlachen. 

  We might speculate that the Dark Wizard Grindlewald was a supporter 
of the Nazi Regime, but not directly involved and instead did most of 
his work behind the scenes. This would make Dumbledore's defeat of 
him even more interesting if it involved a lot of intitial detective 
work to even sniff out his involvement.


   More importantly, though, and less prosaically, the village of 
Grindlewald is a stop on most of the same touristy jaunts through 
Germany/Austria/and Switzerland  which also feature Dachau and 
Auschwitz -- Jo may have taken a fancy to the name having run across 
it doing background research.