The True Stories Of Nazis Who Escaped To South America

By | March 7, 2019

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ISRAEL - CIRCA 1961: Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann smoking in his cell at Djalameh Jail; Haifa. Source: (Photo by Gjon Mili/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Some Nazis escaped justice during and after World War II. Many, of course, were killed during the war, and many others were caught and tried for war crimes -- but thousands of them fled Europe. A lot of these fugitive Nazis ended up in South America, especially Argentina.

Decades went by -- some of our favorite decades. Rock 'n roll was invented, as was the birth control pill. Beatlemania struck. Man landed on the Moon and a big concert took place near Woodstock, New York. There were two great Godfather movies. And then there was disco.

And through it all, there were still World War II Nazis in South America. And all the world knew it. In a general sense, we knew they were down there -- we didn't know where, or in some cases, we knew where but had no means to extract them and bring them to justice. These remnants of the most hateful regime in modern times were living out their days in peace and obscurity, looking forward to dying of natural causes.

It's a quiet background story to the entire groovy era, an open secret: The existence of fugitive Nazis in South America. The vast majority were never caught, but some of the more famous ones were pursued and even captured.

What Kind Of Country Welcomes Nazis?

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This photo shows Argentine president Juan Peron (second from right) with Rodolfo Freude (second from left). Freude is said to have coordinated the mass movement of Nazi exiles to Argentina. Source: (en.wikipedia.org)

Argentina had been neutral during World War II but had shown sympathy for the Axis powers, partly because the country had welcomed a steady flow of immigrants from Italy and Germany since the 1800s. Argentina was also worried about war with rival Brazil, which had joined up with the Allies. After World War II ended, Argentina got a new president: Juan Peron, who was an avowed fan of Mussolini's leadership style. It's also been reported that Peron and his wife Eva ("Evita") had been receiving money from the Third Reich.

So for a German fleeing Europe, Argentina was the country most likely to welcome. And in fact, there were established routes and mechanisms for escape, called "ratlines" -- a Nazi on the lam or in a POW camp might take a side door out by picking up some forged identity papers through the Catholic church, which could then be traded in for a Red Cross passport. The Red Cross passport wasn't a ticket to anywhere in the world -- just the countries that didn't ask many questions. Next stop, Buenos Aires.

It beggars belief today, but it's a well-documented fact: Peron, who'd criticized the Nuremberg Trials as excessive, welcomed Nazis with open arms. He did this, incidentally, while establishing diplomatic relations with Israel and granting Jews the right to hold governmental office for the first time. Peron does not seem to have been a closeted Nazi or actively anti-Semitic in his personal behavior. But his friends -- that's a different story.

Argentina was the most notorious Nazi safe haven, but it wasn't the only place these fugitives wound up -- Chile, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil, and Uruguay were also destinations at the end of the ratlines. Here are the cases of just seven of the vilest perpetrators who managed to escape to South America and what became of them afterward.