Who ate Rockefeller's son. It was the largest company in the country

In the 102nd year, the symbol of global capitalism quietly died. In a dream. But this news became a loud world sensation.

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"CYBORG - MAN-EATER"

A number of Russian media, bloggers, and experts hastened to declare the deceased a world record holder for ... organ transplants. Say, as many as seven times he changed his heart, twice - the kidneys! Cyborg…

They say something like this: the first heart transplant was done back in 1976, after a car accident. The operation lasted a whole day. A week later, David was jogging. The sixth operation on a VIP patient was performed by a team of private surgeons shortly before Rockefeller's centenary at his family estate Pocantico Hills, New York. After 36 hours, the billionaire was already answering questions from reporters. He admitted that he wants to live 200 years. “Every time I get a new heart, it's like a breath of life. I feel a charge of energy and life!” - the American site quoted the titled patient. In passing, he reported on kidney replacements in 1998 and 2004.

This site sensation with a tricky name about six transplants in the spring of 2015 was instantly reprinted by many of our media and Internet resources. Some admired Western medicine, others threw thunder and lightning at the bloodthirsty shark of capitalism, globalism, which always finds a heart donor without a queue. Dooming others in need to death. Pure cannibal! This is what it means to be a billionaire! Such transplantology is inaccessible to a simple person!

And none of his colleagues asked the obvious question: if Rockefeller held a press conference after the operation, why did the stunning news appear only on a cheap overseas news site specializing in fakes, and serious Western publications, news agencies did not say a word about the triumph of medicine? The fact that this is a fake can be “split” in 5 seconds.

In September 2016, a “sensation” about the seventh replacement of the “motor” appeared on a completely anonymous site. They say that Rockefeller goes against nature and established rules, becoming at 101 the record holder for a heart transplant.

These fakes are now being procrastinated by commentators. Although in the large obituary article about the death of Rockefeller, which our media referred to, there is not a word about the transplant record of the deceased.

But why did he live so long, you ask?

Firstly, a hundred years is not such a world record now. Secondly, the rich generally live longer than the poor. They have access to a healthy diet, the achievements of modern medicine. In David's particular case, I think genes played an important role - heredity.

His great-grandfather William Rockefeller (1810-1906) died at 96. For the 19th century, you see, a very long time. Grandfather, the legendary founder of the financial and industrial dynasty John Davison Rockefeller (1839-1937), only a month and a half did not live to be 98. He always preached a healthy lifestyle, a complete rejection of alcohol, coffee, and tobacco. Father - John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (1874 -1960) - 86. David himself did not reach 102 years for two months and three weeks.

But his older brother, former US Vice President Nelson Rockefeller let us down. He died at 70. As the biography says, during a violent sexual intercourse with a certain pullet Megan Marshak. Well, excesses shorten the lives of both the poor and the rich ... However, there is no documentary evidence of fatal sex. Perhaps this is a “duck” that has flown to us from the last century.

GRANDFATHER'S LEGACY

Founded the famous dynasty, which has become a symbol of American wealth, John Davison Rockefeller. The first dollar billionaire in the history of mankind. John died in 1937 leaving $1.4 billion. According to experts, in 2010 this fortune would equal $336 billion.

Oil brought fabulous wealth to grandfather. By the end of the 19th century, his "Standard Oil" monopolized the extraction of "black gold" in the United States. After the adoption of the antitrust law, John broke Standard Oil into 34 companies, retaining a controlling stake in each. And continued to grow rich. ExxonMobil, the world's largest public oil company, is a fragment of that Rockefeller empire. Like Chevron, other reputable firms.

In addition to the oil industry, grandfather had several dozen railway, steamship, steel companies, real estate firms, and nine banks. He also very successfully married his only son, John Jr., to the daughter of influential Senator Nelson Aldrich. This marriage in the United States was called the greatest union of capital and politics. When later Rockefeller, Morgan and a number of other major financiers started to create the US Federal Reserve System (a group of private banks that act as the state Central Bank), it was Aldrich who cunningly "broke" the idea in the Senate. So the Family got access to the dollar printing press.

David was born on June 12, 1915. He was the youngest of six children of John Rockefeller and Abby Aldrich. He graduated from Harvard and studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science. After receiving a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago, in 1940 he began working as a secretary to the mayor of New York. To learn the basics of political cuisine from the inside. In 1942 he went to military service. Private. And rose to the rank of captain of intelligence. After the war, he joined the family's Chase Manhattan Bank. Just assistant manager of the foreign department. Although he could immediately become a big boss. But he honestly went through all the stages of a financial career. And only in 1961 he headed the board of the bank. Made it one of the largest in the world. And in 1981 he resigned. 66 years! The charter of the bank did not allow him to remain in a leadership position. However, David remained chairman of the Bank's International Advisory Committee. After another merger, the bank is now called "J. P. Morgan Chase. One of the leading in the world, in the top ten.

PUPPETER - "Rogue"

On the day of David's death, Forbes published another ranking of the richest people in the world. Rockefeller took only 581st place in it: $ 3.3 billion. Yes, he is a beggar compared to Gates, Buffett, other Russian oligarchs ...

Don't jump to conclusions, he says. Andrey FURSOV, Director of the Institute for System-Strategic Analysis. - Rockefellers first of all should be considered as a clan. Experts believe that their combined fortune, according to the most conservative estimates, is more than 2 trillion. The Rothschild family has a trillion more. But no one knows for sure. Not for this, these Families have been making fortunes for centuries to shine. And the ratings of billionaires - so, to the public.

The hero of the novel All the King's Men, politician Willie Stark, not without reason said: “Dollars are good up to a certain limit. Further, only power makes sense!

In this regard, David Rockefeller is not an ordinary billionaire, a banker. He led one of the few family clans that have the opportunity, if not to control the world process, then to direct it. One of the owners of History. What can not be said about Gates, Zuckerberg, Abramovich ...

David was considered an influential ideologist of globalism, neo-conservatism. He stood at the origins of the famous Bilderberg club of the Western elite, which is credited with the functions of a secret world government. He was a member of the "committee of managers" of the Club, for decades, as long as his health allowed, he participated in meetings. He headed the influential "Council on Foreign Relations" in the United States, created the "Trilateral Commission" of representatives of North America, Western Europe, Japan on peace and prosperity, became its first president.

The family has a special place in the world's ruling elite for another reason. Even John Rockefeller Sr. did a lot of charity work, founded the Chicago and Rockefeller universities, the Rockefeller Foundation, donated large sums to science and medicine. Evil tongues said that this was how he avoided taxes, at the same time creating a positive image of a philanthropist against the backdrop of high-profile business scandals. The son and grandchildren continued the tradition. David alone has donated over a billion dollars to charity. But it happened so, the Family, through nominal funds, increasingly began to control important research in medicine and genetics. Especially - related to human behavior, fertility, vaccinations. This is no coincidence. The philanthropist David, the father of six, was a proponent of worldwide birth control. They say that there are not enough resources for all. With the money of the Rockefellers, the Club of Rome was founded, which promoted the policy of reducing the population of the Earth.

TO RUSSIA WITH LOVE?

So the New York Times, in an extensive obituary, focuses not on the personal billions of the deceased, but on his role in the world, which cannot be defined by any corporate title. Rockefeller's influence was felt in Washington and other capitals, in the corridors of government, in art museums, in great universities and public schools. Everywhere he was received with honors worthy of the head of state.

The Rockefellers came to Russia under Stalin: they credited the first Soviet five-year plans and industrialization with great profit. There is even a version of conspiracy theorists why Stalin staged his high-profile repressions precisely in the 37th. Immediately after the death of John Rockefeller Sr. that year. Say, this death untied the hands of the leader. Prior to that, he was forced to comply with certain agreements with the billionaire about the humanity of the Kremlin, and restrained his bloodthirstiness. Indeed, John died on May 23, and in the summer the Great Terror began. On June 11, Tukhachevsky and seven other top military leaders of the USSR were sentenced to death. A start was given to mass purges in the Red Army. On June 28, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a decision on capital punishment for kulaks. Execution "troikas" are being set up all over the country. July 31 - Order of the NKVD No. 00447 "On the operation to repress former kulaks, criminals and other anti-Soviet elements", approved by the Politburo. The system of Gulag camps is expanding...

David Rockefeller personally paved the way to Moscow. He met with Khrushchev, Prime Minister Kosygin, perestroika leader Gorbachev ... In the spring of 1992, Mikhail Sergeevich paid the billionaire a return visit, negotiated with David in New York for financial assistance of 75 million dollars to organize a global fund and "an American-style presidential library." Although Gorbachev was no longer president. The USSR collapsed. And why such a kush?

In 2003, David presented his memoirs in the Russian capital. And I talked to Luzhkov. But I haven't seen Putin. However, the patriarch of American foreign policy, Henry Kissinger, the former US Secretary of State, met with the Russian President more than a dozen times. Faithful man of David. He began his career in the 50s just at the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation (where he is now a member of the board). And since then, closely associated with the clan. He was an adviser to Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York, when he went to the White House. Already after Trump's victory, Henry said that he was ready to go to the new president and give advice on how to improve relations with Russia. Kissinger also owns the catchphrase: “To understand Putin, one must read Dostoevsky, and not “Mein Kampf!”

By the way, last year Kissinger was elected a Russian academician!

Curious fact. Rex Tillerson became Secretary of State under Trump. Former CEO of Exxon Mobil, where Rockefeller shares still remain.

WHO WILL LEAD THE CLAN?

David was going to hand over the business to his youngest son, Richard, who managed the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. But Friday, June 13, 2014 was truly fatal for the Family. The day before, Richard celebrated his father's 99th birthday at the family estate. In the morning, he sat at the helm of a single-engine Piper Meridian to return home. The plane took off into the air, caught on trees and crashed, crumbling into many pieces. Did the fateful number for the West act, coupled with the mystical new moon, the intrigues of Rothschild rivals, or dense fog? The death of his son crippled the health of David Rockefeller.

The patriarch left a son and four daughters.

David Rockefeller Jr. 75 years old. Vice President of Rockefeller Family And Associates, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rockefeller Financial Services, Trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation Trust.

Abby Rockefeller, 74. In her youth she was a rebel, a Marxist, a feminist.

Neva Rockefeller Goodwin 7 3. Economist, philanthropist, director of the Global Development And Environment Institute.

Peggy Dyulaney, 70. Founder of the Synergos Institute, member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Eileen Rockefeller Groweld, 65. Founder of the Rockefeller Philanthropic Advisors Foundation.

Perhaps the leadership of the clan will pass to one of the ten grandchildren and granddaughters, historian Andrei Fursov believes. However, reports that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is the grandson of David Rockefeller are also fake, as are the “seven transplanted hearts” of the patriarch. Utka was launched back in 2012 from an Australian anonymous site. And since then, it periodically pops up on the Web.

BY THE WAY

Initially, the clan was led by David's older brother Nelson Rockefeller, former governor of New York, US vice president under Ford.

Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller patronized the young politician Bill Clinton. There were persistent rumors that Bill was his illegitimate son. Later, Clinton himself became the governor of this state. From there he went to the presidency of the United States.

Hillary Clinton started her career with the help of the Rockefeller Foundation. Thanks to him, the young lawyer got into a solid commission on the Watergate scandal, she was noticed ...

FULL OF HEART

DAVID ROCKEFELLER: "I PLEASE GUILTY AND I AM PROUD!"

“For more than a century, ideological extremists at all ends of the political spectrum have been enthusiastically (…) trying to blame the Rockefeller family for the all-encompassing menacing influence they claim we have on American political and economic institutions. Some even believe that we are part of a secret political group working against the interests of the United States and characterize my family and me as "internationalists" colluding with other groups around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure - one world. , if you like. If that's the charge, then I plead guilty and I'm proud of it."

From Memoirs, 2002

TO THE POINT

Five principles of David Rockefeller: How to become rich and live to 100 years

The oldest representative of the oldest financial dynasty has died

David Rockefeller died at the age of 101 and with a fortune of $3.3 billion. He was considered the oldest member of the Forbes list, but inherited his capital from his grandfather, John. It was he who laid the foundation for the famous dynasty, because he became known as the first dollar billionaire.

Michael Rockefeller was an American ethnographer and anthropologist. In addition, he was directly related to the Rockefeller family, his father was a famous politician and banker.

The fate of the ethnographer is shrouded in mystery, since he disappeared in 1961 during an expedition to New Guinea. The most popular in the press is the version that he was eaten by cannibals of one of the tribes. This statement is based on the fact that the researcher was heading to an aboriginal tribe, which was distinguished by its bloodthirstiness. Who this man was and what he did in Oceania can be found in the article.

Rockefellers

Michael was the representative of the richest family in America at the time. The Rockefeller family symbolizes wealth. Its representatives are a kind of icon of economic and political culture.

Members of this family belong to the largest law firms, military structures, the media, and lobbying organizations. They became a legendary dynasty thanks to the activities of someone who lived in the nineteenth century and was engaged in the oil industry and finance. No less famous representative of this family was Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, who should also be told a little about. It was he who sponsored his son and searched for him after his disappearance.

Famous politician

Michael Rockefeller was the son of an influential man in America. Nelson Aldrich was not just a banker, he was involved in political activities and succeeded quite well in this. From 1974-1977 he was Vice President of the United States.

He began by working in banks in New York, London and Paris. His name is associated with the creation of the well-known Rockefeller Center in New York, the construction and decoration of which he supervised.

The banker has been involved in politics since the forties of the last century. He was a member of the Republican Party. During the reign, he was a deputy minister, and later - a special assistant to the head of state on foreign policy issues.

Nelson was governor of New York from 1959-1973. All this time he tried to put forward his candidacy for the presidency, but to no avail. All four attempts did not find sufficient support among representatives of his party.

The politician died on January 26, 1979 from a heart attack that arose during sexual intercourse with his mistress. At the time of his death he was seventy years old.

Nelson Aldrich was married twice and had seven children:

• Rodman;
• Stephen;
• Mary;
• Michael;
• Nelson;
• Mark.

It is noteworthy that Mary and Michael were twins. Further, all the details will concern only the life of Michael.

Biography

Michael Rockefeller was born on May 18, 1938. His father, as we have already said, is the banker Nelson Aldrich, and his grandfather is the first dollar billionaire John. All of them bore the surname Rockefeller.

From childhood, the boy was interested in antiquity. These hobbies were fully supported by the father. From a young age, he spent time at the Institute of Anthropology, which existed at the expense of contributions from his family. Deciding to become a scientist, Michael entered and graduated in 1960.

After that, the young man served several months in the army. He aspired to become a member of a scientific expedition to Oceania in order to collect his own collection of objects that would tell about the life of the natives. The father supported his son in this and financed the expedition.

Michael, who is considered in the article, was able to hit the road in the fall of 1961.

Expedition to Oceania

Having agreed with the Dutch ethnographer, whose name was Rene Wassing, Michael Rockefeller departed for Oceania. At the place of arrival, they hired two residents to be their guides. Their names were Leo and Simon.

Together they moved from village to village, exchanging art objects, including applied art, from the natives. Instead, they offered metal products, among which axes and hooks were very popular.

The researchers were not enough seen and received. They were attracted by the idea of ​​meeting with which was distinguished by its bloodthirstiness.

Skull Buyers

Some Papuans offered kusha to white scientists. So they called dried and painted human skulls. They managed to collect an impressive collection, which they transferred to the New York Museum.

If the researchers had stopped there, perhaps their fate would have been different. The missing scientists decided to take a chance and go to the Asmats.

Journey to the Asmats

The expedition to the bloodthirsty tribes began on November 18, 1961. The missing researchers decided to get to the desired village along the river. To do this, they bartered a makeshift boat from the Papuans, hung a motor on it and set off. The boat was overloaded, but the young people did not pay attention to this.

They had to swim three kilometers, and they hoped that there would be no problems. Michael decided to send guides ashore to swim to bring help. Leo and Simon made it to land but got lost in the jungle. Rescuers found them a couple of days later.

The scientists stayed to wait for help, but a large wave washed over the boat and turned it over. Rene decided to stay afloat with the help of a wreck of a floating craft, and his friend swam to the shore and disappeared there.

A few hours later, Rene was discovered by a Dutch Navy seaplane, and the schooner Tasman took him on board. Rene was in a semi-conscious state and was able to tell about what had happened when he came to his senses.

Huge forces were thrown in search of a rich heir. During them, they combed the forest, the bottom of the river, and interviewed the natives. No traces were found. The father, who flew in from New York, spent a huge sum to continue the search, but they were unsuccessful. The mystery remains that even the body of a scientist was not found, so the inconsolable Nelson Rockefeller had no choice but to return home with nothing.

The tragedy in the family did not affect the career of the politician, who, upon returning home, took over as vice president of the United States. In memory of his son, he completed a wing to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It bears the name of a missing scientist. It exhibits displays of primitive art.

Eaten version

Where did Michael Rockefeller go? The cause of the ethnographer's death will probably remain one of the mysteries of the last century. Many media outlets feed the version that Michael was eaten by bloodthirsty natives with might and main. It is assumed that he managed to swim to the shore and get to the Asmats.

From the words of one of the missionaries, it became known that representatives of this tribe carried the clothes of the missing American. They even displayed human bones that allegedly belonged to Rockefeller. But it was not possible to find out all the details, since the Christian Ian Smith died.

There was another witness, also a missionary, who said that he had heard from the natives about the murdered young man. It is noteworthy that on the skull, which was kept by the shaman of this tribe, there were “iron eyes”. Most likely, these were the explorer's glasses, which he never took off. But no one managed to find this skull.

Why could the Asmats eat the explorer? The first reason could be the belief that cannibals ate their enemies in order to master their strength and skill. The second reason could be that the natives believed in a sea monster that comes out of the water in human form with fair skin. And when the billionaire's son came out of the river, they got scared and killed him.

Other versions of the disappearance

The American ethnographer could not have died at all from the hands and teeth of the natives. They put forward versions that he drowned in the river, was eaten by crocodiles. However, they combed the river quite carefully and did not find anything that would confirm this. And the version with crocodiles seems unlikely, since the guides and Rene were also in the water for a long time, but not a single crocodile touched them.

To this day, there is no definitive answer to the question of the disappearance of a young man.

Documentary film

Where can you find out more about the tragic expedition in which Michael Rockefeller disappeared? "Secrets of the Century" created and released a documentary called "Rockefeller's Missing Expedition".

The film was released in 2003, its duration is thirty-nine minutes. The director of the picture was He was also the executive producer of this and other documentaries from the cycle. Under his leadership, 30 films of this series were released.

"Secrets of the Age" is devoted to mysteries and facts that have not received an unambiguous interpretation among the historical community. By the end of each issue, the viewer can independently choose one of the proposed points of view.

Even in the 20th century, New Guinea still remained a kind of cannibal reserve. Real information about the life and customs of the tribes of this huge island in the 50-60s, at the risk of his life, was obtained by the famous Danish writer and traveler Arne Falk-Renne. His excellent book “Journey to the Stone Age. Among the tribes of New Guinea” is still a kind of encyclopedia illustrating the life of the Papuans.

In his book, Falk-Rönne summarized all the facts regarding the death of Michael Rockefeller. Before moving on to this tragic story, let's remember a little about the adventures of the Danish traveler himself. This will help us to more realistically imagine all the danger that a young American exposed his life to, the heir to a huge fortune, the details of whose death are still unknown.

Once Arne Falk-Rönne went on a campaign with the warriors of one of the local tribes and witnessed a terrible scene that stuck in his memory for life. During the ascent along the slippery path to the crest of the mountain, one elderly man became ill, he fell and was breathing heavily, unable to get up. Arne was about to help him, but the warrior Siu-Kun, known for his courage, was ahead of him. He ran up to the old man, swung his stone ax and pierced his skull...

The European was even more shocked when he found out that Siu-Kun had killed his father... The translator explained this nightmarish act to him this way: “The son must help his father die. A real man is destined to die a violent death, best of all in battle. If the spirits are so unhappy, the son must come to his aid and kill him. It's an act of love."

The manifestation of filial love did not end with the murder of the old man, it turned out that Siu-Kun still had to eat the brain of his father... should not see how the son helps his father go to the realm of the dead and eats the brain of the deceased.

Ten minutes later, Siu-Kun returned, and the detachment continued on its way.

In response to a perplexed question from a Danish traveler about the need to bury the deceased, the translator spoke about the local custom: “If someone dies on a hike, his body is left in the grass or the jungle, provided that there is no housing nearby. Here they fear only one thing: that the corpse does not fall into the wrong hands, while the meat is still edible. If the places are uninhabited, this can not be afraid.

Photo by Michael Clarke Rockefeller

Failed wedding or kisses with a mummy

Arne Falk-Rönne's stay in the tribe ended in a rather tragicomic way: his leader decided to marry the Danish traveler to his daughter ... The traveler's shock and horror from this proposal are clearly felt in the questions addressed to the reader of his book: , following the laws of the tribe, does not wash himself in order to smell like a woman as much as possible? In a girl who daily smears herself with rancid lard, and on especially solemn occasions with the fat of dead relatives; a girl who rubs her thighs and buttocks with urine, which is stored in a special room, the so-called month hut, where women go during menstruation?

The whole horror of this proposal lay in the fact that it was almost impossible to refuse it: Arne could simply be killed ... Gritting his teeth and trembling with disgust, the Dane took part in a kind of “engagement”: he had to crawl into the “monthly” hut and kiss him on the navel the mummy of a woman who distinguished herself in the tribe by the greatest fertility ...

How did this whole story end? When the wedding was already inevitable, Arne made the leader and four of his close associates drink cocoa with sleeping pills. Under cover of night, the Dane and his companions fled the village. By the end of the day that followed, the chase nevertheless overtook the fugitives, under a hail of arrows they managed to cross the suspension bridge over the river; having cut the vines, they brought down the bridge into the river and thus escaped the terrible revenge of the angry Papuans.

One of the exhibits collected by Rockefeller

Don't give your name!

I think that after these creepy stories, it is quite clear to you how unsafe the expedition was undertaken in the fall of 1961 by Michael Clark Rockefeller, son of Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of the State of New York. What did the young American lose in the wilds of New Guinea?

Michael Rockefeller was the brightest representative, one might even say, one of the symbols of the twentieth century. The son of a famous billionaire, Michael pursued his ambitions on long and dangerous journeys. However, he did not just observe and explore. He invaded the wild, primeval places of the planet, like a conqueror, like a "white beast".

In 1961, Michael devoted himself to expeditions to New Guinea, carrying out a seemingly noble mission to study the tribes living a primitive culture. These expeditions were commissioned by the Harvard Peabody Museum and the New York Museum of Prehistoric Art.

The main task was to collect unique Asmatian wood products, namely bis, that is, carved totems that served to attract the souls of the dead. However, Michael was more interested in kushi - human skulls, decorated with magical symbols.

The fact is that among the local aborigines there was a terrible thousand-year tradition of headhunting. Even in order to get the right to marry, each young man was obliged to provide his fellow tribesmen with the head of a killed enemy. The presence of kushi was considered an indispensable honor for every male house.

In the late 50s of the twentieth century, this tradition was so rapidly implemented by the Asmats that the birth rate increased significantly among them. The baby boom was explained simply - young men successfully confirmed their right to marry. The Dutch police, who kept order in New Guinea, were forced to send special raids to the most militant villages, using machine guns to increase the suggestion.

Michael Rockefeller, the pampered child of Western civilization, was delighted with the described tradition. So at the very beginning of 1961, he went to the primitive tribes of the Baliem valley, where he organized a blatant bargain. Declared a reward of 10 steel axes for a fresh human head.

Asmats were inspired. The offered price was for them the ultimate dream. To say at least that the payment to the bride's family was equal to one ax, and stone axes were used in everyday life, and it was required to be a prosperous hunter in order to acquire at least a blank stone.

Little of! Michael began to provoke the Asmats to hunt for heads not only with market incentives. He began openly inciting hunters to clash with neighboring tribes. He handed over an ax in exchange for any valuable piece of wood and hinted that the new weapon should pass the test, partake of fresh blood. Why did he need it? He filmed deadly skirmishes. Michael can be considered one of the first true priests of the modern deity - television.

A parliamentary commission arrived at the place of "research" from The Hague. It was she who reasoned with Rockefeller Jr., forbidding him to stay in New Guinea. During the investigation, the parliamentarians found out that thanks to the efforts of Michael, seven people were killed in the Kurulu district, and more than ten were seriously injured.

The proud twenty-three-year-old American did not calm down. Soon, in November of the same 1961, he organized his own expedition, which aroused the concern of the Dutch authorities and the impatience of the natives, who were waiting for him not only to acquire axes.

Slender, fair-haired, wearing inexpensive glasses, Michael did not at all look like the son of a millionaire. He was considered a fairly experienced traveler, in the spring of 1961 he had already participated in the ethnographic expedition of the Harvard Peabody Museum to New Guinea, and the local flavor was quite familiar to him.

Michael made another mistake - he told the Asmat his name, and among the wild tribes of New Guinea at that time it was almost tantamount to a suicide attempt ... The head is worth twice as much if the name of the murdered is known. The Papuans might have formed the opinion that the village that manages to get into its men's house, a kind of repository of tribal relics, the head of such a powerful white man, whose name they know, will gain unprecedented strength and overcome all its enemies.

The catamaran takes you to the sea

On November 18, 1961, a small expedition of Michael Rockefeller, in which, in addition to him, his Dutch colleague Rene Wassing and two guides, Leo and Simon, took part, set off on a catamaran along the coast to the village of Ats. The catamaran was very antediluvian. It consisted of two pies fastened together at a distance of two meters. On the floor between the pirogues there was a bamboo hut, in which people took shelter from rain and wind, there were also film equipment, supplies, as well as goods for exchange with the Papuans. The catamaran was powered by an 18 horsepower outboard motor.

The sea was rough, but the motor coped, and the travelers managed to keep the catamaran in the right direction. However, soon the ebb from the mouth of the Eilanden River began to catch up with the wave, the weak motor stopped coping, and the catamaran began to be carried farther and farther into the open sea. The pitching became stronger, the pontoon pirogues began to fill with water. Suddenly, a large wave completely overwhelmed the catamaran, the engine stalled, and the ship began to sink.

Dangerous attempt

It was about 2.5 km to the coast, but neither Michael nor Rene wanted to leave the catamaran, where equipment and supplies were stored. They sent Leo and Simon for help. The guides each took an empty canister as life belts and jumped into the water. There was no certainty that the daredevils would reach the shore, everyone was perfectly aware of this. There were many sharks in the coastal waters, and very large crocodiles were found at the mouth of the river. In addition, everyone knew that along the coast there was a wide strip of swamp silt, too thick to swim through, and too thin to support the weight of a person. It should be taken into account that even having overcome all the obstacles, Leo and Simon could stumble upon Asmats, and this threatened them with death.

There were long hours of waiting. In the evening, a huge wave rolled onto the catamaran. He could not stand it: the catamaran capsized, the deck fell apart, all provisions and equipment were washed overboard. There was one pirogue left, and Michael and Rene held on to it. They spent the whole night in cold water, in the morning Michael decided to swim to the shore, considering this the only chance for salvation. In his opinion, Simon and Leo either did not sail, or were captured by some tribe.

Rene strongly objected to Michael's plan, he called it recklessness: the current near the coast is so powerful that even a strong swimmer will be carried back to the sea until he is exhausted. Michael was an excellent crawl swimmer, he believed in himself, so, grabbing an empty red barrel from an outboard motor, he headed for the distant shore. Michael's last words that Rene heard were: "I think I can do it."

The disappearance of Michael Rockefeller

After 8 hours, when René had already given up hope, he was discovered by a Dutch Navy seaplane sent in search of the missing. He dropped a rescue rubber boat to him, Rene barely overcame the 25 meters that separated him from her, but it turned out that she was turned upside down. Rene spent another terrible night at sea, in the morning the plane appeared again, but it was not found. When the Dutchman was already saying goodbye to life, the plane appeared again, this time he shook his wings, which gave new hope for salvation. Three hours later, the exhausted Wassing was picked up by the Dutch schooner Tasman.

Have you found Michael? - immediately asked Rene.

However, Michael Rockefeller disappeared, although the most thorough searches were organized. Not even a day had passed since his disappearance, when Nelson Rockefeller and his daughter Mary set off for New Guinea in a jet plane. On a small plane, he flew as close as possible to the area of ​​his son's disappearance, where, together with the Dutch governor Platteel, he led a search expedition to the country of the Asmats.

In search of the missing, a mass of people was raised. Michael's father flew in from New York, Governor of the State of New York Nelson Rockefeller, and with him thirty, two American correspondents, and the same number from other countries. About two hundred Asmats voluntarily and on their own initiative ransacked the coast.

Patrol boats, missionary motor boats, crocodile hunters pies and even Australian helicopters took part in the search for the young Rockefeller. A reward was announced for information about the fate of Michael. But all these efforts were in vain and did not give any results. A week later, the search was stopped, without finding traces of the missing person. Eight days later, Rockefeller lost hope of saving his son and returned to New York with his daughter.

What happened to Michael? Did he become prey to sharks or crocodiles, or drowned, unable to cope with the current? Or did he still make it to the shore, was killed and eaten by the Asmats? Rene Wassing was convinced that Michael had not made it to shore. But this belief of René was contradicted by the fact that Leo and Simon were still able to reach the shore and escape, and they also informed the missionaries about what had happened.

Most likely, Michael still managed to get to the shore, it is believed that he got ashore much south of the mouth of the Eilander River. In 1965, the Dutch newspaper De Telegraf published information gleaned from a letter from the Dutch missionary Jan Smith. His mission was closest to the Asmat village of Oschanep. Smith wrote to his brother that he had seen Rockefeller's clothes in a Papuan village, and that they even showed him the bones of an American. Unfortunately, by that time Smith was no longer alive, so it was impossible to verify this information.

Another missionary, Willem Heckman, claimed that Rockefeller was killed by soldiers from Oschanep as soon as he got ashore. The missionary said that the villagers told him what had happened, as well as the fact that Michael's skull was in the men's house of the village. In 1964, refugees from Asmat territory reached the administrative center of Daru, in Papua, Australia. About 35 of them claimed that Michael Rockefeller was killed by Oschanep's warriors, "boiled and eaten with sago."

It should also be taken into account that three years before the tragedy with Rockefeller, a punitive detachment was sent to Oschanep in order to stop intertribal clashes: bullets killed many soldiers, including three close relatives of the leader Ayam. The leader swore revenge on the whites, perhaps he took the opportunity to keep his oath.

Alas, three tribal leaders who could solve the mystery of Michael's disappearance died during an inter-tribal war in 1967. Surprisingly, during the search expedition of 1961, a number of unforgivable mistakes were made, which were pointed out by A. Falk-Renne. For example, the search expedition did not reach Oschanep at that time, and the report of the police inspector E. Heemskerks, in which the words of the Papuans were quoted that Michael was killed and eaten by warriors from Oschanep, for some reason was put aside. Maybe Michael's father, having made sure that his son was probably dead, decided not to get to the bottom of the nightmarish details of his death and consoled himself with the thought that his heir died among the waves?

Perhaps Michael's skull, turned into kushi, is still kept in some secluded place. Will he ever find peace in the homeland of his ancestors? Unknown...

And here is some more information:

With the passage of time, the name of the deceased ethnographer disappeared from the pages of newspapers and magazines. His diaries formed the basis of the book, the collections he collected adorned the New York Museum of Primitive Art. These things were of purely scientific interest, and the general public began to forget the mysterious story that happened in the swampy region of the Asmats.

But in a world where a sensation, no matter how ridiculous, means a sure opportunity to earn big money, the story with the son of a billionaire was not destined to end there ...

In late 1969, the Australian newspaper Reveil published an article by a certain Garth Alexander with a definitive and intriguing headline: "I tracked down the cannibals who killed Rockefeller."

“... It is widely believed that Michael Rockefeller drowned or became a victim of a crocodile off the southern coast of New Guinea when he tried to swim to the coast.

However, in March of this year, a Protestant missionary informed me that the Papuans living near his mission killed and ate a white man seven years ago. They still have his glasses and watches. Their village is called Oschanep.

... Without much thought, I went to the indicated place to find out the circumstances there. I managed to find a guide, Papuan Gabriel, and up the river flowing through the swamps, we sailed for three days before reaching the village. Two hundred painted warriors met us in Oschanep. Drums rumbled all night. In the morning, Gabriel told me that he could bring a man who, for a couple of packs of tobacco, was ready to tell me how it all happened.

... The story turned out to be extremely primitive and, I would even say, ordinary.

A white man, naked and alone, staggered out of the sea. He was probably ill, because he lay down on the shore and still could not get up. People from Oschanep saw him. There were three of them, and they thought it was a sea monster. And they killed him.

I asked about the names of the killers. Papuan was silent. I insisted. Then he muttered reluctantly:

One of the people was Chief Ove.

Where is he now?

What about others?

But the Papuan was stubbornly silent.

Did the dead man have mugs on his eyes? - I meant glasses.

Papuan nodded.

And the watch on your hand?

Yes. He was young and slim. He had fiery hair.

So, eight years later, I managed to find the man who saw (or maybe killed) Michael Rockefeller. Without letting the Papuan come to his senses, I quickly asked:

So who were those two people?

There was a noise from behind. Silent, painted people crowded behind me. Many clutched spears in their hands. They listened carefully to our conversation. They may not have understood everything, but the Rockefeller name was certainly familiar to them. It was useless to ask further - my interlocutor looked frightened.

I'm sure he was telling the truth.

Why did they kill Rockefeller? They probably mistook him for a sea spirit. After all, the Papuans are sure that evil spirits have white skin. And it is possible that a lonely and weak person seemed to them a tasty prey.

In any case, it is clear that the two killers are still alive; That's why my informant got scared. He had already told me too much and now he was ready to confirm only what I already knew - the people from Oschanep killed Rockefeller when they saw him getting out of the sea.

When, exhausted, he lay down on the sand, three, led by Uwe, raised the spears that ended the life of Michael Rockefeller ... "

Garth Alexander's story might seem true if...

... if almost simultaneously with the newspaper "Reveil" a similar story was not published by the magazine "Osheania" also published in Australia. Only this time, Michael Rockefeller's glasses were "discovered" in the village of Atch, twenty-five miles from Oschanep.

In addition, both stories contained picturesque details that made connoisseurs of the life and customs of New Guinea alert.

First of all, it seemed not very convincing explanation of the motives for the murder. If the people from Oschanep (according to another version, from Atch) really mistook the ethnographer coming out of the sea for an evil spirit, then they would not have raised a hand against him. Most likely, they would simply run away, for among the innumerable ways to fight evil spirits, there is no battle with them face to face.

The version "about the spirit" most likely fell away. Besides, people from the Asmat villages knew Rockefeller well enough to mistake him for someone else. And since they knew him, they would hardly have attacked him. The Papuans, according to people who know them well, are unusually loyal in friendship.

When, after some time, traces of the missing ethnographer began to be “found” in almost all coastal villages, it became clear that the matter was pure fiction. Indeed, the check showed that in two cases the story of Rockefeller's disappearance was told to the Papuans by missionaries, and in the rest, the Asmats, gifted with a couple or two packs of tobacco, in the form of a reciprocal courtesy, told the correspondents what they wanted to hear.

Real traces of Rockefeller could not be found this time either, and the mystery of his disappearance remained the same mystery.

Maybe it would not be worth remembering more about this story, if not for one circumstance - that glory of cannibals, which, with the light hand of gullible (and sometimes unscrupulous) travelers, firmly entrenched in the Papuans. It was she who ultimately made plausible any guesses and assumptions.

Among the geographical information of ancient times, people-eaters - anthropophagi occupied a strong place next to people with dog heads, one-eyed cyclops and dwarfs living underground. It should be recognized that, unlike the psoglavtsy and the cyclops, cannibals actually existed. Moreover, during the time of the ona, cannibalism was found everywhere on Earth, not excluding Europe. (By the way, what else but a relic of ancient times can explain communion in the Christian church, when believers “eat the body of Christ”?) But even in those days it was an exceptional phenomenon rather than an everyday one. Man tends to distinguish himself and his kind from the rest of nature.

In Melanesia - and New Guinea is a part of it (though very different from the rest of Melanesia) - cannibalism was associated with tribal feuds and frequent wars. Moreover, it must be said that it took on wide dimensions only in the 19th century, not without the influence of Europeans and the firearms they imported. It sounds paradoxical. Weren't the European missionaries laboring to wean the "wild" and "ignorant" natives from their bad habits, sparing neither their own efforts nor the natives? Did not every colonial power swore (and does not swear to this day) that all its activities are aimed only at bringing the light of civilization to godforsaken places?

But in reality, it was the Europeans who began to supply the leaders of the Melanesian tribes with guns and kindle their internecine wars. But it was precisely New Guinea that did not know such wars, just as it did not know hereditary chiefs, who stood out in a special caste (and on many islands, cannibalism was the exclusive privilege of leaders). Of course, the Papuan tribes were at enmity (and still are at enmity in many parts of the island) among themselves, but the war between the tribes happens no more than once a year and lasts until one warrior is killed. (If the Papuans were civilized people, would they be satisfied with one warrior? Isn't this convincing proof of their savagery?!)

But among the negative qualities that the Papuans attribute to their enemies, cannibalism always comes first. It turns out that they, the enemy neighbors, are dirty, wild, ignorant, deceitful, treacherous and cannibals. This is the heaviest accusation. There can be no doubt that the neighbors, in turn, are no less generous in unflattering epithets. And of course, they confirm, our enemies are undeniable cannibals. In general, cannibalism is no less disgusting for most tribes than for you and me. (True, some mountain tribes in the interior of the island are known to ethnographers who do not share this disgust. But - and all credible researchers agree on this - they never hunt people.) Since much information about unexplored areas was obtained precisely through questioning of the local population, then “tribes of white-skinned Papuans”, “New Guinea Amazons” and numerous notes appeared on the maps: “the area is inhabited by cannibals”.

... In 1945, many soldiers of the defeated Japanese army in New Guinea fled to the mountains. For a long time no one remembered them - it was not before that, sometimes expeditions that fell into the interior of the island stumbled upon these Japanese. If it was possible to convince them that the war was over and they had nothing to fear, they returned home, where their stories got into the newspapers. In 1960, a special expedition set off from Tokyo to New Guinea. It was possible to find about thirty former soldiers. All of them lived among the Papuans, many were even married, and the corporal of the medical service Kenzo Nobusuke even held the post of shaman of the Kuku-Kuku tribe. According to the unanimous opinion of these people, who went through "fire, water and copper pipes", the traveler in New Guinea (provided that he does not attack first) is not threatened by any danger from the Papuans. (The value of the testimony of the Japanese lies also in the fact that they visited various parts of the giant island, including Asmat.)

... In 1968, the boat of the Australian geological expedition capsized on the Sepik River. Only collector Kilpatrick managed to escape, a young guy who first came to New Guinea. After two days of wandering through the jungle, Kilpatrick came to the village of the Tangawata tribe, recorded by experts who had never been in those places as the most desperate cannibals. Fortunately, the collector did not know this, because, according to him, "if I knew this, I would have died of fear when they put me in a net attached to two poles and carried me to the village." The Papuans decided to carry him, because they saw that he was barely moving from fatigue. It took only three months for Kilpatrick to reach the Seventh-day Adventist mission. And all this time they were leading him, passing literally "from hand to hand", people of different tribes, about whom it was only known that they were cannibals!

"These people know nothing about Australia and its government," writes Kilpatrick. But do we know more about them? They are considered savages and cannibals, and yet I have not seen the slightest suspicion or hostility on their part. I have never seen them beat children. They are incapable of stealing. Sometimes it seemed to me that these people are much better than us.

In general, the majority of benevolent and honest researchers and travelers who made their way through the coastal swamps and impregnable mountains, visited the deep valleys of the Ranger Range, saw a variety of tribes, come to the conclusion that the Papuans are extremely benevolent and sharp-witted people.

“Once,” writes the English ethnographer Clifton, “in a club in Port Moresby, we started talking about the fate of Michael Rockefeller. My interlocutor snorted:

Why bother? Gobbled up, they have it for a short time.

We argued for a long time, I could not convince him, and he me. And even if we argued for at least a year, I would remain convinced that the Papuans - and I knew them well - are incapable of harming a person who came to them with a good heart.

... More and more I am surprised by the deep contempt that officials of the Australian administration have for these people. Even for the most educated patrol officer, the locals are "rock monkeys". The word that the Papuans are called here is "long". (The word is untranslatable, but it means an extreme degree of contempt for the person it designates.) For the local Europeans, "oli" is something that, unfortunately, exists. No one teaches their languages, no one will really tell you about their customs and habits. Savages, cannibals, monkeys - that's all ... "

Any expedition erases the “white spot” from the map, and often in places indicated by the brown color of the mountains, the green of the lowlands appears, and the bloodthirsty savages, who immediately devour any stranger, upon closer examination, do not turn out to be such. The purpose of any search is to destroy ignorance, including the ignorance that makes people savages.

But, besides ignorance, there is also an unwillingness to know the truth, an unwillingness to see changes, and this unwillingness gives rise to and tries to preserve the wildest, most cannibalistic ideas ...