How Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele evaded capture in Latin America, revealed in declassified files

Multiple documents featuring immoderate of the worst Nazi warfare criminals were released and declassified earlier this twelvemonth by Argentine President Javier Milei. The documents amusement however 1 starring Nazi, dubbed the "Angel of Death," Josef Mengele, led an unfastened beingness successful Argentina and escaped apprehension owed to a deficiency of coordinated action.

Mengele was a Nazi doc notorious for his relation arsenic a commandant successful Auschwitz, wherever helium conducted brutal aesculapian experiments connected prisoners, particularly twins, nether the guise of technological research. Eyewitnesses — including immoderate contained successful the declassified Argentine files — picture his highly cold-blooded and macabre, sadistic nature, including torturing and investigating connected twins successful beforehand of 1 different aft sending their parents to the state chambers.

An full binder is dedicated exclusively to pursuing the footsteps of infamous Auschwitz doc and SS commandant Mengele.

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The declassified archives amusement Argentina intelligibly understood by the mid- to precocious 1950s who Mengele was and that helium was really contiguous successful the country. Authorities knew helium had entered the state successful 1949 utilizing an Italian passport issued nether the sanction Helmut Gregor, which helium utilized arsenic the ground for obtaining an authoritative migrant ID paper successful 1950.

Argentina’s archival worldly sheds airy connected the networks that sheltered Mengele. Though heavy fragmented and multilingual — featuring Spanish, German, Portuguese, and English documents — the archive provides a snapshot of however authorities tracked, archived, mishandled and often took nary enactment regarding the accusation they had astir 1 of the world’s astir wanted warfare criminals.

The postulation contains photographs, quality notes, migration records, surveillance reports and correspondence, reflecting decades of probe and efforts to recognize the web that helped him determination crossed Argentina, Paraguay and yet Brazil. The beingness of German-language documents indicates the incorporation of overseas quality oregon materials seized from émigré communities; Portuguese elements suggest cross-border coordination with Brazilian sources; English notes constituent to connection with U.S. oregon British agencies.

The files incorporate an undated property clipping of an Argentine national calved successful Poland, José Furmanski, who was a unfortunate of Mengele, showing Argentinian quality were alert of the accusations against the Nazi criminal.

"I met Mengele. I knew him well. I saw him galore times successful the Auschwitz camp, with his SS colonel’s azygous and, connected apical of it, the achromatic doctor’s coat," says Furmanski successful the interview.

An Argentine record connected Josef Mengele (left) and a photograph taken by a constabulary lensman successful 1956 successful Buenos Aires for Mengele's Argentine recognition document. (General Archives of the Government of Argentina/Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The interrogation goes connected to explicate that Furmanski, who had a twin, gave his vivid grounds of the experiences performed connected them. The study labeled Mengele arsenic a pathological sadist.

"He gathered twins of each ages successful the campy and subjected them to experiments that ever ended successful death. Between the children, the elderly, and women… what horrors. I saw him abstracted a parent from her girl and nonstop 1 to definite death. We volition ne'er forget," Furmanski said.

Dozens of scanned images without embedded substance and interior labeling of hundreds of pages awesome a systematic effort by Argentine quality to compile a implicit idiosyncratic record of Mengele, including copies of overseas passports nether aliases, photographs of suspected associates, handwritten operational notes, migration ledgers oregon border-crossing logs, investigative summaries prepared for governmental superiors and correspondence betwixt Argentine officers and planetary investigators.

The files corroborate Argentina’s ambiguous postwar presumption of cooperating with Western democracies, highly disjointed bureaucracy, deficiency of volition oregon knowing regarding the superior quality of crimes committed by erstwhile Nazis successful its territory and a reluctance by higher-hierarchy authorities to face however profoundly Nazi fugitives were embedded wrong the country’s societal and governmental landscape.

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In 1956, trying to grow his concern partnership, helium obtained a legalized transcript of his archetypal commencement certificate from the West German Embassy successful Buenos Aires, requested his ID beryllium judicially amended to bespeak his existent biographical information and — surreally — began utilizing his archetypal ineligible name, a motion of however harmless helium felt successful Argentina.

Argentine agencies by this constituent not lone knew who helium was, wherever helium lived, and the information that helium joined his brother’s widow and was raising their son, but besides had afloat details regarding his concern interests successful the country. Reports successful the files mention a imaginable sojourn by Mengele’s begetter to Argentina to assistance him financially, investing successful a aesculapian laboratory concern successful Buenos Aires.

This record representation of 1956 shows the WWII warfare transgression Josef Mengele. Archaeologists successful Berlin person unearthed a ample fig of quality bones from a tract adjacent to wherever Nazi scientists carried retired probe connected assemblage parts of decease campy victims sent to them by sadistic SS doc Mengele.  (AP Photo, file)

The overt quality of his beingness successful the state prompted West Germany to contented an apprehension warrant and petition his extradition successful 1959, which was denied without further enactment by a section judge, citing that the petition was unofficially based connected "political persecution" of Mengele, which didn't let for the lawsuit to beryllium taken up.

Despite each the hard grounds accumulated, it is wide that the accusation was fragmented among assorted antithetic agencies that did not afloat pass with 1 another. There was besides a deficiency of nonstop connection with the country’s presidency and enforcement branches. This led to enactment connected the lawsuit being decided successful a disconnected manner, and often excessively precocious — oregon aft property leaks had already alerted Mengele of imaginable interest by authorities — to output fruitful results. Arrest warrants, searches, and surveillance requests were often carried retired oregon decided aft the fact, starring to dormant ends.

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Josef Mengele seen with 2 different SS officers socializing connected the grounds of the SS retreat extracurricular of Auschwitz, astatine ÒSolahutteÓ, 1944. From near to close they are: Richard Baer (Commandant of Auschwitz), Dr. Josef Mengele and Rudolf Hoess (the erstwhile Auschwitz Commandant) (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

After the 1959 extradition petition and with accrued planetary unit connected Argentina, Mengele escaped the state to Paraguay, portion his woman and stepson moved to Switzerland.

This is evident from a memo from the Federal Coordinate Directorate marked arsenic strictly concealed and confidential detailing a hunt for Mengele and his concern interests dated July 12, 1960 — a constituent erstwhile Mengele had already near Argentina for Paraguay.

"I bring to the cognition of the Chief that from the investigations carried retired successful bid to fulfill the referenced O.B., it follows that JOSÉ MENGELE, served arsenic a spouse of the aesculapian laboratories "FADRO-FARM" located astatine Drysdale 3573 Street, successful Carapachay, District of Vicente López, and with offices, since July of this year, astatine Cramer 860 Street, Capital. The subject, listed arsenic a aesculapian doctor, was entered into the steadfast connected July 10, 1958, arsenic a contributing spouse of $10,000 pesos successful capital, and withdrew from the concern successful April of 1959," the study stated.

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"Since entering Argentina, the taxable resided connected the spot of the Mengeles, utilizing the sanction of Dr. GREGOR […], the taxable manifested that helium had arrived successful Argentina utilizing a antithetic sanction and chiseled from his assemblage […]. Thus, it appears that, portion maintaining his existent name, the taxable belonged to the SS Society […] during which clip helium demonstrated being nervous, having stated that during the warfare helium acted arsenic a doc successful the German S.S., successful Czechoslovakia, wherever the Red Cross labeled him a "war criminal". He had studied Anthropology and was known to the Justice successful the courts of Nuremberg, particularly regarding the survey of skulls and bones, but that national was considered a transgression successful National Socialist Germany," the study states astir Mengele when, successful the people of changing his sanction from his fake alias to his existent identity, the Nazi "explained" his motives for primitively not utilizing his existent identity," it said.

Argentina’s quality assemblage kept pursuing Mengele mostly done property reports and contacts with overseas agencies. Mengele acquired Paraguayan citizenship and was protected by the authorities of Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner, whose household originated successful the aforesaid Bavarian municipality arsenic him.

The archives uncover Mengele entered Brazil clandestinely astatine immoderate constituent successful 1960 done the tri-border country adjacent Paraná state. He was helped by German Brazilian farmers who were Nazi sympathizers and provided aggregate agrarian safehouses for respective years. 

Though the Argentine files are bladed connected details and trust heavy connected media clippings astatine this point, Argentina was alert that Mengele had adopted the alias Peter Hochbichler, though sometimes helium besides utilized a Portuguese mentation of his existent sanction — José Mengele. For the second portion of the 1960s and passim the 1970s, helium began surviving successful properties belonging to the German Bossert and Stammer families successful São Paulo state, Brazil.

A constabulary serviceman stands successful beforehand of a cache of Nazi artifacts discovered successful 2017, during a property league successful Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019. Argentine authorities recovered the cache successful a concealed country down a bookcase and had uncovered the postulation successful the people of a wider probe into artwork of suspicious root recovered astatine a assemblage successful Buenos Aires. (Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

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Mengele died successful 1979 erstwhile helium suffered a changeable portion swimming astatine oversea successful the coastal municipality of Bertioga. He was buried nether the mendacious sanction of Wolfgang Gerhardt, but aggregate leads led to his assemblage being exhumed and his remains being positively identified by Brazilian authorities successful 1985. DNA investigating further confirmed the findings successful 1992.