As the Allied armies advanced through France, Italy and Eastern Europe, high ranking officials and officers in the German National Socialist Party, the SS and the Wehrmacht seem to have finally realised that taking on most of the largest industrialised countries in the World all at the same time had not been the wisest idea, and at this point there was a slight chance that their supposedly Aryan behinds could get a little spanking for being such naughty little nazis. And while by virtue of being human, no doubt a percentage of them might have enjoyed the odd flogging session, let’s just say not all of them were keen to assume the position and answer for their crimes. Especially if the position in question included getting choked out by a rope… Ok, listen, maybe this isn’t the best analogy. The point is, while for some people that’s all just a fun Saturday night, for these individuals, their crimes were such that they’d not get to continue breathing afterwards, which is key so as to be able to wonder what’s wrong with you as you look in the mirror the next morning.
Silliness aside, even the most rabid extremist was fully aware that their Axis enemies knew of their rather extreme crimes against humanity, see our video What Did the German Public Know About the Holocaust During WWII? As such, as the war was winding down and with the writing on the wall, many of the leaders among the Nazis – especially within the SS – started to draft plans for their escape to neutral and friendly nations in order to secure their livelihoods and lives after the war.
One of the top destinations recommended by ‘Nazi Holiday Deals, Inc.’ was Argentina. But this all brings up the question of, of all the places in the world they could potentially go, “Why Argentina?”
The massively over simplified answer is because they found a friendly political regime, helmed by Colonel turned President Juan Perón. A regime that, much like pretty much every other nation in the world including the U.S. and Britain, was extremely eager to take in former Nazis in exchange for exploiting their military and technological expertise.
That said, while that answer is not necessarily wrong, as ever, the universe resists such simplicity, and the process which led Argentina to becoming a top destination for retired institutional mass murderers was long and complex, involving decades of German-Argentinian relationships and secret deals, most of which were uncovered only relatively recently by a relentless investigative journalist, Uki Goñi. So let’s dive into it, shall we?
This is an abridged version of a video on our channel TodayIFoundOut which you can check out and subscribe to here: https://www.youtube.com/@TodayIFoundOut?sub_confirmation=1
