Indiana Jones was inspired by the mysterious life of one man, Otto Rahn. Like his onscreen legend, Rahn had an unstinting desire to find ancient sacred relics, spending much of his life trying to locate the Holy Grail. He also possessed a love of ancient maps to help solve the mystery of where treasures were located and a spirit for intrepid adventure. In one instance, he found himself crawling through caves looking for the Holy Grail when he was hit by a torrent of water and nearly drowned, a scene later depicted in Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom.
Indeed, Rahn even had a complicated relationship with the Nazis, who were always breathing down his neck. Desperate to find the Holy Grail because they believed it would help their quest for world domination, Otto Rahn helped the Nazis as a strategic means to continue his search. But he was never a Nazi supporter, not least because he was a practicing homosexual.
Explore the story of Rahn's remarkable life in this episode of The True Story. Using photographs, personal testimony, surviving records, recorded interviews, and reconstruction, we follow in the footsteps of the explorer in his quest for the Holy Grail. We also try to solve the mystery of how Rahn died; Was he murdered by the Nazis? Was it suicide? Or simply natural causes?
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