A recently surfaced Argentine police file has provided new insights into the prolonged escape of Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele and his attempts to return to West Germany in 1959. The documents, uncovered by reporters from German MDR Investigativ, expand existing knowledge about Mengele's evasion of justice following World War II, according to Tagesschau.
The file, which mysteriously disappeared from the Argentine police archive in 2002, includes an application submitted by Mengele to the Argentine authorities under his real name, requesting permission to travel to West Germany in February 1959. This evidence suggests that Mengele intended to visit his ill father in Germany, indicating his confidence in evading capture at the time.
"That shows he felt safe. He said, 'My identity is real, I feel safe, and I even go to Germany to visit my father,'" said historian Bogdan Musial, according to Tagesschau. He added, "To know these details, how it went on with him after '45, that's very interesting. And that hasn't been examined so precisely yet."
The uncovered file also contains an official request for Mengele's extradition, submitted to Argentina by the Federal Republic of Germany at the end of 1959. However, the German Foreign Office stated it had no information confirming whether Mengele actually traveled to West Germany during that period.
"But when the Argentine security forces arrived, Mengele had already fled," noted Professor Daniel Feierstein from the Center for Genocide Studies in Buenos Aires.
"We know that there were these rumors; we also know that in 1959 his father was ill. That fits. And here it is confirmed that he had the intention to go as Josef Mengele. That shows he felt safe," Musial commented, according to Tagesschau.
Josef Mengele, known as the "Angel of Death," was a doctor at Auschwitz responsible for the cruel selection process—deciding which prisoners would work, die, or serve as subjects for his heinous medical experiments. He conducted notoriously cruel experiments on twins, pregnant women, and individuals with physical abnormalities, often without anesthesia and with lethal results.
After the fall of Nazi rule and the end of World War II, Mengele managed to escape to South America via the so-called "rat line." Like many other Nazi criminals, he exploited the chaos and confusion that prevailed after the war, going into hiding shortly after Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army in early 1945.
In Argentina, Mengele lived under his real name and led a relatively comfortable life. "He lived comfortably in a villa in one of the best neighborhoods of Buenos Aires," reported Tagesschau. "All governments of that time took in German scientists," remarked Ariel Gelblung from the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Buenos Aires, highlighting how former Nazis were able to integrate into Argentine society during that period.
The newly discovered documents suggest that several countries likely had more accurate information on Mengele's whereabouts than previously assumed. "That's interesting that Argentina knew where he was. I didn't know that," noted Musial, as reported by Tagesschau. This raises questions about the extent of knowledge and possible complicity among international authorities.
Efforts to apprehend Mengele were hindered by a lack of cooperation and possible complicity between Argentina, Brazil, and Germany. The Brazilian police had been requesting all data about Mengele, such as fingerprints and photos, from the Argentine police since 1963. Despite the international manhunt and the efforts of Nazi hunters like Simon Wiesenthal, Mengele managed to evade arrest.
Critics accuse the German state of a lack of will to prosecute Mengele. "The state did not fail. On the contrary: They succeeded in it. Because the goal was indeed not to prosecute," stated Musial, according to Tagesschau.
Mengele eventually fled to Paraguay in 1959, obtaining citizenship and living under a false name, which provided him with security and allowed him to avoid appearing in public. At that time, Paraguay was under the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner, a regime that was not hostile to former Nazis, which facilitated Mengele's continued freedom.
In 1960, after the capture of Adolf Eichmann by the Israeli secret service Mossad, Mengele fled to Brazil. He continued to live under a pseudonym until his death in 1979 from a stroke while swimming. Only in 1985 was his grave discovered.
MDR Investigativ was able to view and photograph the documents at a collector's place. "These documents come from the holdings of the Argentine Federal Police," said the collector, who wishes to remain anonymous, as reported by Tagesschau. According to their research, there are no copies of the uncovered police file in various archives in Buenos Aires.
"There have already been file insights by scientists and media professionals regarding files on war criminals or NS-involved persons in South America," stated the German Federal Intelligence Service, according to Tagesschau. However, they added, "It cannot be answered in general when which files will be released."
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.
