Argentina declassifies more than 1,800 files on Nazi escape via ‘rat-lines’ to South America
Argentine President Javier Milei ordered the declassification of the documents after a meeting with leaders from the Simon Wiesenthal Center
A replica of the gloves that were used by an Israeli Mossad agent during the capturing of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina in 1960 is displayed at an exhibition at the Knesset in Jerusalem. Photo by GALI TIBBON/AFP via Getty Images
(JTA) — The Argentine government announced the release of nearly 1,850 classified documents that show how Nazi fugitives escaped to the country after World War II.
The trove of documents were declassified and made available to the public Monday at the urging of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish advocacy group named for the famed late Nazi hunter. The group praised the decision on Tuesday.
The collection will shed light on the financing of escape routes for Nazis, thousands of whom escaped to South America via so-called “rat lines” after the war.
Last month, Argentine President Javier Milei ordered the declassification of the documents after a meeting with leaders from the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, also requested the records in a letter delivered by representatives of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Argentina’s Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers Guillermo Francos said Milei gave the order “because there is no reason to continue withholding that information,” according to Argentinian outlet Perfil.
The documents are now publicly available through Argentina’s National Archive, the Argentinian government announced in a post on X. The released documents include banking and financial transactions that show how Nazis were able to resettle in Argentina as well as records held by Argentina’s Defense Ministry, according to The Times of Israel.
Notorious officials mentioned in Argentina’s extensive documentation include Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the Holocaust who was captured by the Mossad in 1960 and later tried and executed in Israel, and Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor dubbed the “angel of death.”
The public received a glimpse of Argentina’s collection of tens of thousands of documents relating to its support for Nazis fleeing prosecution in a documentary in 2018. The government’s collection had been fully concealed until 1992, when Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declassified 139,544 documents. The collection could only be seen in person prior to its online publication by AGN.
