THE NAZI SUMMER CAMP ONCE HIDDEN IN THE SIMI HILLS

Did you know the hills of Simi Valley were once a training ground for American Nazis? If you’ve ever looked up at the rugged rock formations while stuck in traffic on the 118 Freeway through the Santa Susana Pass, you are looking at the literal site of Camp Sutter.

In the late 1930s, a pro-Hitler organization known as the German American Bund established this secluded retreat right on the border of Simi Valley and Chatsworth. While they publicly described their activities as "hiking trips" and "youth retreats," they were actually conducting paramilitary drills. Uniformed men with swastika armbands and Nazi flags were a common sight on the very same boulders that define our commute today.

The geography of this dark history is chillingly precise. Camp Sutter was located just a stone's throw from what would later become the infamous Spahn Ranch.

This means that within the same five-mile stretch of hills, the 1930s hosted Nazi rallies and the 1960s hosted the Manson Family.

There is a persistent local legend about "Swastika Rocks", boulders deep in the brush of the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park that bear carved symbols. While some of these are ancient Native American designs or modern graffiti, the legend stems from the verified history of the Bund using these landmarks as a backdrop for their drills.

This isn't just an urban legend. In 1939, the Ventura County Star-Free Press (now the Ventura County Star) reported on "suspicious activity" in the hills, documenting the presence of these radical groups just as World War II was beginning to loom over Europe.

It is a heavy chapter of our local history that has been largely reclaimed by nature, yet remains etched into the landscape.

How does it feel knowing the hills in our own backyard once echoed with the sounds of these rallies?