Argentina releases trove of documents detailing Nazi war criminals’ activities after World War II

According to the previously classified documents, it is estimated that more than 10,000 Nazis used so-called “ratlines” to flee Germany as the Axis powers collapsed.

By Ailin Vilches Arguello, The Algemeiner

The Argentine government has released nearly 2,000 previously classified secret service documents detailing the arrival of hundreds of Nazi war criminals who escaped to the country following the collapse of Nazi Germany during World War II.

“Starting today, anyone can access and download these documents,” Argentina’s Ministry of Interior said in a statement on X.

Previously declassified in 1992 under a decree by then-Argentine President Carlos Menem, the documents could only be accessed in a specially designated room at Argentina’s National Archives (AGN).

On Monday, government officials announced the completion of restoration and digitization work, making more than 1,850 reports and nearly 1,300 previously classified decrees accessible online.

These documents shed light on the activities of prominent Nazi war criminals who took refuge in Argentina after World War II, including Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann and the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp doctor Josef Mengele.

The published records show, for example, how Mengele — who was a physician and Nazi SS officer, nicknamed the “Angel of Death” for his inhumane medical experiments on prisoners at Auschwitz — entered Argentina in 1949 under the name Gregor Helmut and lived undisturbed in the country for decades.

Walter Kutschmann, a former Nazi official, also evaded justice for nearly 40 years.

Despite being denounced to authorities in 1975, the records released by AGN show that he was not arrested until 1985.

Instead, under his false identity, he worked in a hardware store, then as a taxi driver, and later as a purchasing director for the Argentine branch of the Osram lighting firm.

According to the previously classified documents, it is estimated that more than 10,000 Nazis used so-called “ratlines” to flee Germany as the Axis powers collapsed, with around half of them believed to have sought refuge in Argentina — known for its reluctance to grant extradition requests.

Titled “Documentation on Nazi Presence in Argentina,” these files include intelligence reports, photographs, and police records, compiling the results of investigations by federal authorities and the country’s leading intelligence agency from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Argentine President Javier Milei ordered the records to be released and digitized following a request by the Simon Wiesenthal Center — a California-based Jewish human rights organization — and a meeting with its representatives in Buenos Aires earlier this year.

The organization is currently investigating ties between Swiss bank Credit Suisse and Nazi Germany.

“We commend the release of declassified archives to the public,” the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Latin American office said in a statement on Tuesday.

Since taking office over a year ago, Milei has been one of Israel’s most vocal supporters, strengthening bilateral relations to unprecedented levels and in the process breaking with decades of Argentine foreign policy tradition to firmly align with Jerusalem and Washington.

Milei, who won Argentina’s November 2023 presidential election, has also been outspoken in his support and appreciation for Judaism. His presidency has come amid an economic crisis, soaring inflation, and longstanding corruption scandals that have burdened the country.

The Latin American leader will visit Israel in June, where he is expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Jewish State against terrorism and antisemitism. He is also scheduled to address the Israeli parliament and meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In February 2024, on his first international trip as president, Milei visited Israel in a show of wartime solidarity and reiterated his pledge to move Argentina’s embassy to Jerusalem.

During his visit, he also traveled to Kibbutz Nir Oz in the Negev, where Hamas-led terrorists kidnapped several Israelis from their homes, including the Bibas family, on Oct. 7, 2023.