{"id":119478,"date":"2025-02-26T17:05:12","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T15:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=119478"},"modified":"2025-02-26T11:14:35","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T09:14:35","slug":"26-05-105","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=119478","title":{"rendered":"Argentine president opening files on Nazi \u2018ratlines\u2019 that trafficked Eichmann, Mengele"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Argentine president opening files on Nazi \u2018ratlines\u2019 that trafficked Eichmann, Mengele<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Matt Lebovic<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Up to 10,000 Nazi war criminals fled Europe using these escape routes. Javier Milei pledges to declassify files related to how his country settled 5,000 of them<\/strong>.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

From the trials of Adolf Eichmann, which will be examined in ‘Eichmann — The Devil Speaks,’ the first series produced by Tadmor Entertainment and MGM (Courtesy GPO)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Argentinian President Javier Milei promised officials of the Simon Wiesenthal Center his full cooperation in granting access to documents related to the financing of so-called \u201cratlines\u201d that helped Nazis escape Europe after the Holocaust. The promise was made in Buenos Aires at the presidential palace, Casa Rosada, during a meeting with Milei and activists on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

For decades, organizations including the Simon Wiesenthal Center, named after the famed Nazi hunter, have sought records related to unofficial escape routes taken by thousands of Nazis during the years after World War II. Up to 10,000 Nazis and other fascist war criminals escaped justice by fleeing to Argentina and other countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile some previous leaders promised full cooperation to get to the hard truths that involved Argentina\u2019s past, Milei is the first to act with lightning speed to enable the SWC to uncover important pieces of the historic puzzle, especially as it related to involvement with Nazis before, during and after the Holocaust,\u201d Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told The Times of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

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From the trials of Adolf Eichmann, which will be examined in ‘Eichmann — The Devil Speaks,’ the first series produced by Tadmor Entertainment and MGM (Courtesy GPO)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Argentinian President Javier Milei promised officials of the Simon Wiesenthal Center his full cooperation in granting access to documents related to the financing of so-called \u201cratlines\u201d that helped Nazis escape Europe after the Holocaust. The promise was made in Buenos Aires at the presidential palace, Casa Rosada, during a meeting with Milei and activists on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

For decades, organizations including the Simon Wiesenthal Center, named after the famed Nazi hunter, have sought records related to unofficial escape routes taken by thousands of Nazis during the years after World War II. Up to 10,000 Nazis and other fascist war criminals escaped justice by fleeing to Argentina and other countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile some previous leaders promised full cooperation to get to the hard truths that involved Argentina\u2019s past, Milei is the first to act with lightning speed to enable the SWC to uncover important pieces of the historic puzzle, especially as it related to involvement with Nazis before, during and after the Holocaust,\u201d Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told The Times of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Milei also made headlines last week for declaring two days of national\u00a0mourning for the slain Bibas hostages \u2014 Shira Bibas and her children, Ariel and Kfir. An image of the trio was projected onto a central obelisk in Buenos Aires on Thursday night.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the SWC meeting on Tuesday, Jonathan Missner, managing partner at Stein, Mitchell, Beato & Missner, brought a letter from US Senator Charles Grassley, chairman of the US Senate Judiciary Committee. The letter \u2014 which was handed to Milei \u2014 requested the Argentinian leader\u2019s assistance in uncovering how the ratlines were organized and funded. A copy of the letter was sent to US President Donald Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n

For many years, Missner and his firm have sought justice for victims of Iran and its terror proxies,\u00a0including Hezbollah<\/a>. The firm represents SWC in the Argentinian ratline matter and other concerns<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Argentine president Javier Milei meets with Simon Wiesenthal Center officials and others in Buenos Aires, Tuesday, February 18, 2025. Jonathan Missner is second from left. Abraham Cooper is third from left. (Courtesy: SWC)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Nazis\u2019 escape routes<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Several countries in the Americas received Nazis, including Canada, the US, and Mexico. Nazis also fled to Australia, Spain, and Switzerland. In some cases, US intelligence officials used ratlines to pluck top Nazi scientists away from Soviet orbits.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of two primary escape routes went through Germany and Spain, then across the Atlantic to Argentina. The second route went from Germany to Rome, then Genoa, and then across the Atlantic. The elaborate routes developed with unofficial support from several\u00a0Vatican officials<\/a>\u00a0in 1942, initially as an\u00a0escape path<\/a>\u00a0for Catholics fleeing Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople should understand that for many decades after the Holocaust, governments and multinational corporations helped Nazis hide their stolen money, avoid prosecution, and live the free lives that their victims deserved,\u201d Missner told The Times of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

A federal police agent holds two photos and the identity card found in the house in which the man believed to be Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele lived, June 7, 1985. Photo on left shows Mengele eating. Photo on right shows Mengele during a picnic with friends and in the middle is the identity card. (AP Photo)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Up to 5,000 Nazis are said to have settled in Argentina, including Holocaust \u201carchitect\u201d Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele, one of the most recognizable \u2014 and wanted \u2014 Nazis. Traveling along a ratline in 1948, the notorious Auschwitz physician used the new identity of Helmut Gregor when fleeing Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese files will be instrumental in obtaining justice, which is instrumental to honoring the memory of those who suffered and died in the Holocaust,\u201d said Cooper. \u201cEspecially in a post-October 7 world, those who financed, facilitated, or otherwise assisted these ratlines must be held accountable,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Will only help historians, if at all\u2019<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Not all advocates for Holocaust justice agree that Argentina\u2019s decision was particularly monumental.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy impression is that the decision to open all the archives regarding the<\/span>
\nentry to Argentina of Nazi criminals will only help historians, if at all.<\/span>
\nTo the best of my knowledge, all the perpetrators are already dead, as well<\/span>
\nas the individuals who assisted their escape,\u201d Efraim Zuroff told The Times of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of late Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal, Zuroff directed the SWC office in Jerusalem until last year. From Israel, he specialized in bringing eastern European Holocaust perpetrators to justice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nNazi hunter Efraim Zuroff in his Jerusalem office, January 2018. (Raphael Ahren\/Times of Israel)<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

According to Zuroff, author Uki Goni\u2019s \u201cThe Real Odessa\u201d book previously \u201crevealed the identity\u00a0of the criminals<\/a>, and those who assisted their escape and entry into Argentina,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

But from Missner\u2019s point of view, factors other than securing convictions and revealing names are involved in the matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWords are one thing \u2014 actions are another. President Milei\u2019s historic decision signals his unequivocal allyship with the Jewish community while reinforcing his commitment to accountability and transparency at home,\u201d Missner told The Times of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Support for harboring Nazi war criminals went right to the top in Argentina, according to historians. President Juan Peron was angered by the Nuremberg Trials and authorized key facets of the escape routes, making them a\u00a0state affair<\/a>. In addition to German Nazis, the Peron regime and other South American governments aided war criminals from Hungary, Croatia and elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Milei is a staunch ally of the global Jewish community and was eager to open these archives. He knows that confronting Argentina\u2019s history of Nazi collaboration requires nothing less than full transparency, and the same principle undergirds his pursuit of justice for the\u00a0AMIA bombing<\/a>,\u201d said Missner.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Argentine president opening files on Nazi \u2018ratlines\u2019 that trafficked Eichmann, Mengele Matt Lebovic Up to 10,000 Nazi war criminals fled Europe using these escape routes. Javier Milei pledges to declassify files related to how his country settled 5,000 of them. From the trials of Adolf Eichmann, which will be examined in ‘Eichmann — The Devil […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119478"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=119478"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119492,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119478\/revisions\/119492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=119478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=119478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=119478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}