Many German Officers Flee to Argentina after WW2

 

France Croatia

and other parts of Europe were looking

for a new home with many of them knew

that they might be trialed and judged

for their crimes and actions their goal

was to flee preferably as far away from

the Nuremberg trials as possible

well the question is not about the

reason of their running which is obvious

but why did so many of them choose

Argentina as their new home

when the Allies raised their Flags in

Berlin and when the German instrument of

surrender was signed on the eve of May 8

1945 one thing was clear for these

criminals and collaborators Germany and

even the whole European continent wasn't

a safe place for them to stay or hide

even if the entire regime collapsed and

the war was over in Europe that didn't

mean the entire network that they had

garnered had collapsed former admirers

were still there it's not like World War

two ended in one day in 1945 and

suddenly everyone realized how horrible

the regime had been even after their

defeat

there were many powerful men in Europe

who had favored the cause and continued

to do so just as an example Spain was a

neutral country but was a friendly state

and supporter of Germany Spain was ruled

by Francisco Franco and had been a tired

and neutral country because of its civil

war for some time many fugitives would

find themselves in a safe spot here but

we'll use Spain as a bridgehead to other

destinations also some swiss important

leaders had been outspoken in their

support of germany these men were in a

position to help out even the catholic

church was helpful for some of these

fugitives several high-ranking church

officials actively aided in their escape

there was a window of time to escape

justice and possible trials those who

wanted to flee had to consider their

options in a short period of time in

order to hide elsewhere and a

topped new identities across the ocean

in Argentina President Juan Domingo

perón was more than ready to welcome

those former access members with open

arms President Peron was an admirer of

the German ideology of that time he

helped numerous war criminals to flee

with the support of his own diplomats

and intelligence agents deployed in

Europe Argentine supported ways for

their transit through passages from

Italy in Spain to Buenos Aires during

World War two Argentina clearly favored

the access because of his president and

probably because of close cultural ties

with Germany Italy and Spain Argentina

was a former Spanish colony and they

achieved independence at the beginning

of the 19th century through decades long

migrations of Italians and Germans

created strong ties to these European

countries Argentina was a pro Italian

and Probe Germany country and this was

due to the fact that most Argentines

were of Spanish Italian or German

descent the German government saw their

sympathy and the two countries created

special links between each other in

Argentina were many German spies and

also Argentine officers and diplomats

held important positions in Europe

perón's government admire some

totalitarian behaviors and tried to lead

his country more in the direction of

large military parades and

militarization many important and

influential Argentines as wealthy

businessman or members of the government

were openly supportive of the axis cause

even the president juan domingo perón

himself had served as an adjunct officer

in the italian army in the late 1930s

thus there were special bonds between

Germany Italy and Argentina but even in

this situation Argentina would

eventually declare war on the Axis

powers within just a month before the

war ended but some Argentine agents

worked to help defeated German officers

to escape after the war

there was a financial reason for

Argentina to accept these men some

wealthy Germans and Argentine

businessmen of German descent were

willing to pay the way for escaping

runners in 1945 as the Allies were

cleaning the last remnants of the axis

for many its became clear that the next

great conflict was come between the

capitalist USA and the Communist USSR

some people including Peron and some of

his advisers predicted that a new world

conflicts would break out soon between

the Allies and the Communists this

thought was seen so realistically by

many and in this upcoming inevitable

conflict third parties such as Argentina

could tip the balance one way or the

other

Peron envisioned Argentina taking its

place as a crucially important

diplomatic third party in the war and

emerging as an important actor on the

world map knowing that these fugitive

criminals were also anti-communist the

Argentinian President thought that these

men would come in useful in the possible

upcoming conflicts between the USA and

the USSR the Argentine president also

sought to recruit more of these

fugitives in particular those with

military and technological expertise

that he believed could help his armies

and technological advances this thought

was pretty much the same as in other

cases an example could be the United

States and the Soviet Union who both

poached scientists to assist them in

military and technological matters even

if for so many Argentina represented a

new home a new way to live untouched and

hidden but the situation slightly

changed time had passed and the Cold War

dragged on in time these men would

eventually be seen as they initially

were the support for them fled away with

time but Argentina was not the only

place in South America that accepted

them many others eventually found their

way to other countries in the region

hundreds migrated to places like Brazil

Chile Paraguay and other parts of the

continent for those who are Janina

became an option after nine

45 the situation changed just ten years

later after perón's government fell in

1955 there was a fear that the new

administration might not see with good

eyes that our existence on Argentine

soil and could send them back to Europe

mainly due to the new government's

hostility towards Peron and all his

former policies over time the presence

of so many became something of an

embarrassment to the country by the

1990s most of these aged men were living

openly under their own names a handful

of them were eventually tracked down and

sent back for trials many others have

lost their mark and were assimilated

into Argentina's sizable German

community and probably never talked

about their past again runners escapes

to Argentina and South America through a

system of escape routes called rats

lines these escape routes mainly leads

towards Latin America particularly

countries like Argentina Chile Paraguay

Colombia Brazil Uruguay and others there

were two primary routes the first went

from Germany to Spain then Argentina the

second one was from Germany to Rome to

Genoa then South America this happened

because of the willingness of some

countries to accept these people and

because some important figures who had a

form of sympathy to them but there is

also another big reason for their escape

to Argentina

geography

looking at the map of 1945 we can see

that Europe was obviously not a good

place to hide even if some of these

people found themselves in countries

like Portugal Spain or Switzerland

looking in the east there was the Soviet

Union the conflict in China and Japan

and some allied colonies looking South

Africa was mainly a huge colony of

France and Great Britain in the West

there was the US and Canada but from the

us-mexican border to the south the

option to run seemed plausible

considering all options Latin America

was the only part of the world where

true chances for a new life existed even

if after some time residing there some

of them were caught and from all these

states Argentina seems the best option

considering the openness of the

Argentinian government at the end of the