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Ratlines (World War II)

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High-ranking fascists and Nazis who escaped from Europe via the ratlines after World War II: Ante Pavelić, Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele

The ratlines (German: Rattenlinien) were systems of escape routes used by German Nazis and other fascists to flee Europe from 1945 onwards in the aftermath of World War II. These escape routes mainly led toward havens in South America, particularly Argentina, as well as Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Bolivia. Additional destinations included Spain, Switzerland, Canada, and the United States.

Two primary routes from Germany to South America developed independently with their operators eventually collaborating. The first transferred through Spain and the second through Rome and Genoa. The ratlines were supported by some clergy of the Catholic Church, such as Austrian bishop Alois Hudal and Croatian priest Krunoslav Draganović. Starting in 1947, U.S. Intelligence used existing ratlines to move certain Nazi strategists and scientists, known as Operation Paperclip.

Ratlines

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Two primary routes developed independently but their operators eventually collaborated.[1] The first went from Germany to Spain, then Argentina; the second led from Germany to Rome, then Genoa, and finally South America. As many as 9,000 Nazi war criminals and their collaborators reportedly escaped to Argentina (up to 5,000), Brazil (up to 2,000), and Chile (up to 1,000).[2] Some immersed themselves in Latin America by pretending to be farmers and/or Catholic.[3]

Franco's Spain

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The origins of the first ratlines are connected to various developments in Vatican-Argentine relations before and during World War II.[4] As early as 1942, the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Luigi Maglione – evidently at the behest of Pope Pius XII – contacted an ambassador of Argentina regarding that country's willingness to accept European Catholic immigrants in a timely manner, allowing them to live and work.[5] Anton Weber, a German priest who headed the Roman branch of Saint Raphael's Society [de], travelled to Portugal with intentions to continue to Argentina, seemingly to lay the groundwork for Catholic immigration.[5]

Some Catholic leaders accepted working with the Nazis to fight the common enemy of Bolshevism. By 1944, ratline activity centered in Francoist Spain was conducted to facilitate the escape of Nazis.[6] Among the primary organizers were Charles Lescat, a French member of Action Française – an organization suppressed by Pope Pius XI and rehabilitated by Pius XII – and Pierre Daye, a Belgian with contacts in the Spanish government.[7] Lescat and Daye were the first to flee Europe with the help of Argentine cardinal Antonio Caggiano.[7]

By 1946, there were hundreds of war criminals in Spain, as well as thousands of former Nazis and fascists.[8] According to U.S. Secretary of State James F. Byrnes, Vatican cooperation in turning over these "asylum-seekers" was "negligible".[8] Unlike the Vatican emigration operation in Italy which centered on Vatican City, the Spanish ratlines – though fostered by the Vatican – were relatively independent of the Vatican Emigration Bureau's hierarchy.[9]

Bishop Hudal's network

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See also: Pontificia Commissione di Assistenza

Austrian Catholic bishop Alois Hudal, a Nazi sympathiser, was rector of the Pontificio Istituto Teutonico Santa Maria dell'Anima in Rome, a seminary for Austrian and German priests, and "Spiritual Director of the German People resident in Italy".[10] After the end of the war in Italy, Hudal became active in ministering to German-speaking prisoners of war and internees then held in camps throughout Italy. In December 1944, the Allies allowed the Vatican to appoint a representative to visit the German-speaking civil internees in Italy, a job assigned to Hudal.[11]

Hudal used this position to aid the escape of wanted Nazi war criminals, including Franz Stangl (commanding officer of the Treblinka extermination camp), Gustav Wagner (commanding officer of the Sobibor extermination camp), Alois Brunner (responsible for the Drancy internment camp near Paris and in charge of deportations in Slovakia to Nazi concentration camps), Erich Priebke (who was responsible for the Ardeatine massacre), and SS officer Adolf Eichmann; Hudal was later unashamedly open about his role.[12][13] Some of these wanted men were being held in internment camps; generally lacking identity papers, they would be enrolled in camp registers under false names. Other Nazis hid in Italy and sought Hudal out after learning about his role in assisting escapes.[14] In his memoirs, Hudal said of his actions, "I thank God that He [allowed me] to visit and comfort many victims in their prisons and concentration camps and to help them escape with false identity papers."[15] He explained that in his eyes:

The Allies' War against Germany was not a crusade, but the rivalry of economic complexes for whose victory they had been fighting. This so-called business ... used catchwords like democracy, race, religious liberty and Christianity as a bait for the masses. All these experiences were the reason why I felt duty bound after 1945 to devote my whole charitable work mainly to former National Socialists and Fascists, especially to so-called 'war criminals'.

According to Mark Aarons and John Loftus, Hudal was the first Catholic priest to dedicate himself to establishing escape routes.[16] The Rome office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) issued refugees Laissez-passer documents allowing passage from Italy. These were accepted as de facto passports in South America.[17] Although typically required to be signed for in person, blank forms were accessible to Hudal and the signature of the ICRC official was confirmed to be forged in a number of cases.[17]

Croatian Franciscans

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A travel ID issued to a Croatian national by the International Committee of the Red Cross

A small but influential network of Croatian priests, members of the Franciscan order, led by Father Krunoslav Draganović, organised a highly sophisticated ratline with headquarters at the San Girolamo degli Illirici Seminary College in Rome, with links from Austria and an embarkation point in Genoa. The ratline initially focused on aiding members of the Croatian Ustaše including its leader, Ante Pavelić.[18]

Priests active in the chain included: Fr. Vilim Cecelja, former Deputy Military Vicar to the Ustaše, based in Austria where many Ustashe and Nazi refugees remained in hiding; Fr. Dragutin Kamber, based at San Girolamo; Fr. Dominik Mandić, an official Vatican representative at San Girolamo and treasurer of the Franciscans, who put the Franciscan press at the ratline's disposal; and Monsignor Karlo Petranović, based in Genoa.[citation needed] Vilim would make contact with those hiding in Austria and help them cross the border to Italy; Kamber, Mandić and Draganović would find them lodgings, often in the monastery itself, while they arranged documentation; finally, Draganović would phone Petranović in Genoa with the number of required berths on ships leaving for South America.[citation needed]

The Draganović ratline was an open secret among the intelligence and diplomatic communities in Rome. As early as August 1945, Allied commanders in Rome were asking questions about the use of San Girolamo as a "haven" for Ustaše.[19] A US State Department report of 12 July 1946 listed nine war criminals, including Albanians and Montenegrins as well as Croats, plus others "not actually sheltered" at San Girolamo Seminary who "enjoy Church support and protection".[20]

In February 1947, CIC Special Agent Robert Clayton Mudd reported ten members of Pavelić's Ustaše cabinet living either in San Girolamo or in the Vatican itself. Mudd had infiltrated an agent into the seminary and confirmed that it was "honeycombed with cells of Ustashe operatives" guarded by "armed youths". Mudd reported a car protected under diplomatic immunity transported unidentified people between the Vatican and the Seminary.[21] He concluded that:

DRAGANOVIC's sponsorship of these Croat Ustashes definitely links him up with the plan of the Vatican to shield these ex-Ustasha nationalists until such time as they are able to procure for them the proper documents to enable them to go to South America. The Vatican, undoubtedly banking on the strong anti-Communist feelings of these men, is endeavoring to infiltrate them into South America in any way possible to counteract the spread of Red doctrine. It has been reliably reported, for example that Dr. VRANCIC has already gone to South America and that Ante PAVELIC and General KREN are scheduled for an early departure to South America through Spain. All these operations are said to have been negotiated by DRAGANOVIC because of his influence in the Vatican.

Finnish ratlines

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Main article: Pro-German resistance movement in Finland

From 1944, a network of extreme right-wing Finns and Nazis in Finland, founded by Sturmbannführer (Major) Alarich Bross operated in Finland. Organized to engage in armed struggle against the Soviet occupation which never occurred, it smuggled out those who wanted to leave the country for Germany or Sweden. It created a system of safehouses in Finland under the cover of a company called "Great fishing cooperative" with routes provided by a 50–70-man maritime transport organization. Its targets in Sweden were secret loading bays in the small town of Härnösand in western Norrland. Others were smuggled to Sweden from the north over the Tornio river. Access to Europe was opened through the Swedish safehouse network.[22]

Through the safehouse routes, the resistance movement transported Finnish Nazis and fascists, officers and intelligence personnel, Estonian and East Karelian refugees and German citizens out of the country. Hundreds of people were assisted in Sweden, including more than a hundred German prisoners of war who had fled the Finns. Transport to Germany took place after the September 1944 break in German submarines, smuggling hundreds of people.[23][22]

Perón's Argentina

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See also: Juan Perón § Jewish and German communities of Argentina

During the war, Germany sent Nazi propaganda from its embassy in Tokyo, Japan, to Buenos Aires, Argentina.[24] After Germany's surrender on 8 May 1945, the captain of the U-530, which had been operating in the northern Atlantic Ocean, decided to surrender to the Argentine Navy in Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires Province, which occurred on 10 July.[25] He was unable to explain why the voyage had taken two months nor the absence of the ship's log and the crew's identities. The Navy reported that no officers were aboard, although the police purportedly reported that Adolf Hitler and perhaps Eva Braun had been seen disembarking from a submarine in southern Argentina.[25] The captured sub and its crew were sent to North America, which did not discourage the U-977, which also made for Argentina as the war ended in Europe, from surrendering in Buenos Aires on 17 August in hopes of being given shelter; the ship's log and the crew's identities were intact.[26]

Argentine president Juan Perón spoke out against the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals (1945–1946).[27] The final period of German immigration to Argentina occurred between 1946 and 1950 when Perón ordered the creation of a ratline for prominent Nazis, collaborators and other fascists from Europe.[citation needed] According to Argentine researcher Uki Goñi, Argentine diplomats and intelligence officers had, on Perón's instructions, vigorously encouraged Nazi and fascist war criminals to make their home in Argentina.[citation needed] According to Goñi, the Argentines not only collaborated with Draganović's ratline, but set up additional ratlines running through Scandinavia, Switzerland, and Belgium.[citation needed] As many as 5,000 Nazi war criminals escaped to Argentina overall.[2]

On 18 January 1946, Bishop Antonio Caggiano, leader of the Argentine chapter of Catholic Action, flew to Rome to be consecrated as cardinal by Pius XII. Both Caggiano and French cardinal Eugène Tisserant heavily interceded in helping Lescat and Daye and their associates emigrate from Spain to Argentina.[28][7] Over the spring of 1946, a number of French war criminals, fascists and Vichy officials made it from Italy to Argentina in the same way; they were issued passports by the Rome ICRC office, which were then stamped with Argentine tourist visas. (The need for health certificates and return tickets was waived on Caggiano's recommendation.) The first documented case of a French war criminal arriving in Buenos Aires was Émile Dewoitine, who was later sentenced in absentia to 20 years of hard labour. He sailed first class on the same ship back with Cardinal Caggiano.[29]

Shortly after this, Argentinian Nazi smuggling became institutionalised, according to Goñi when Perón's new government of February 1946 appointed anthropologist Santiago Peralta as Immigration Commissioner and former Ribbentrop agent Ludwig Freude as his intelligence chief. Goñi argues that these two then set up a "rescue team" of secret service agents and immigration "advisors", many of whom were themselves European war criminals, with Argentine citizenship and employment.[30]

After entering Argentina under a false name, in the mid-1950s Josef Mengele (known as the "Angel of Death" due to his role in the Holocaust) reclaimed his surname to marry his brother's widow in Uruguay, then brought her to Argentina.[31] In 1959, he used his real name to apply for a passport at the German embassy in Buenos Aires. By 1960, he had fled to Paraguay (drawing the attention of the Argentine police), and c. 1963 authorities of Brazil suspected his presence. He died in Brazil in 1979, with his remains identified via DNA analysis in 1992.[32] The same year, Argentina's government declassified a voluminous file regarding Nazi escapees.[33] In early 2025, President of Argentina Javier Milei met with representatives from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who requested in conjunction with the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee for cooperation in the latter's investigation of Credit Suisse's Nazi patronage.[34][35][36] Late in April 2025, Argentina published 1,850 such documents online, many of which were declassified in 1992.[33] The next month, United Press International reported that these files indicate the Nazis bribed Perón's government with $200 million in gold, some of which was allegedly delivered via U-boat to Perón's wife, Eva.[37]

Additionally, in May 2025, the Supreme Court of Argentina discovered 83 boxes of archived material evidently sent by the Germans to spread wartime propaganda.[24]

Role of U.S. intelligence

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Starting in 1947, U.S. Intelligence used existing ratlines to move certain Nazi strategists and scientists.

According to a declassified U.S. Army intelligence report from 1950, by mid-1947 U.S. forces had begun to use Draganović's established network to evacuate "visitors who had been in the custody of the 430th CIC and completely processed in accordance with current directives and requirements, and whose continued residence in Austria constituted a security threat as well as a source of possible embarrassment to the Commanding General of USFA, since the Soviet Command had become aware that their presence in U.S. Zone of Austria and in some instances had requested the return of these persons to Soviet custody".[38][better source needed] The deal with Draganović involved getting the visitors to Rome: "Dragonovich [sic] handled all phases of the operation after the defectees arrived in Rome, such as the procurement of IRO Italian and South American documents, visas, stamps, arrangements for disposition, land or sea, and notification of resettlement committees in foreign lands."[39]

Purported escape of Adolf Hitler

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Main article: Conspiracy theories about Adolf Hitler's death
See also: Nazism in Chile
The U.S. Secret Service imagines a disguise Hitler might use to try to evade capture (1944)

In 2014, over 700 FBI documents were declassified as part of the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act. These revealed that from the late 1940s to the 1950s, the US government investigated reports that Adolf Hitler had not died in 1945, but escaped Germany as alleged by the Soviet Union after capturing Berlin.[40] One report to the FBI claims that Hitler was aboard one of two U-boats that allegedly arrived at the southern tip of Argentina in May 1945. Some officials and others were reputedly paid to escort the entourage to hideouts, with Hitler headed for the southern Andes.[41]

In 1955, a CIA agent copied a purported 1954 photograph of Hitler in Colombia with an alleged eyewitness – identified as a former SS trooper, but evidently actually a multilingual Dutch submariner assigned to work for Allied Intelligence in Berlin in May 1945.[42][43][44]

Claims of Hitler's escape (as well as an alleged Soviet autopsy of his corpse) have been dismissed by Western scholars, who cite eyewitnesses and the dictator's dental remains (the only portion of his body identified) as proving that Hitler died in 1945,[40][45] excluding the possibility of mandibulectomy and supporting deception.[46]

Ratline escapees

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Some of the Nazis and war criminals who escaped using ratlines include:

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Phayer 2008, p. 173.
  2. ^ a b Klein, Christopher (12 November 2015). "How South America Became a Nazi Haven". History.com. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  3. ^ "The Perfect Hideout: Jewish and Nazi havens in Latin America". The Wiener Holocaust Library. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  4. ^ Phayer 2008, pp. 173–79.
  5. ^ a b Phayer 2008, p. 179.
  6. ^ Phayer 2008, p. 180.
  7. ^ a b c Phayer 2008, p. 182.
  8. ^ a b Phayer 2008, p. 183.
  9. ^ Phayer 2008, p. 188.
  10. ^ (Aarons & Loftus 1998, p. 36)
  11. ^ Dear, Ian (2010) [1997]. Escape and Evasion: POW Breakouts and Other Great Escapes in World War Two. Stroud: History. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-7524-5581-5.
  12. ^ Agnew, Paddy. "Nazi funeral that's forcing Italy to face its past". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  13. ^ Phayer 2000, p. 11.
  14. ^ Sereny 1983, p. 289.
  15. ^ Hudal, Römische Tagebücher (Aarons & Loftus 1998, p. 37)
  16. ^ Aarons & Loftus 1998, ch. 2.
  17. ^ a b Sereny 1983, pp. 315–317.
  18. ^ Aarons & Loftus 1998, ch. 5.
  19. ^ "Krunoslav Draganovic - From Pavelic-Papers.com". Domovod.info. 13 June 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  20. ^ "The Pavelic Papers: Documents" (PDF). Krajinaforce.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  21. ^ Avraham, Yerachmiel Ben (12 April 2016). All in the Name of Jesus: The Murder of Millions. WaveCloud Corporation. p. 207. ISBN 9781622176342.
  22. ^ a b Lappalainen, Niilo: Aselevon jälkeen. WSOY, 1997. ISBN 951-0-21813-8. p. 111, 113–114
  23. ^ Alava, Ali: Gestapo Suomessa. Hämeenlinna: Arvi A.Karisto Osakeyhtiö, 1974. ISBN 951-23-0844-4.
  24. ^ a b Vulcano, Andrea (11 May 2025). "Argentina's Supreme Court finds archives linked to the Nazi regime". AP News. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
  25. ^ a b "ARGENTINA: U-530". Time. 23 July 1945. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  26. ^ Office of Naval Intelligence (19 September 1945). "Report on the Interrogation of Prisoners from U-977 (File Op-16-2)". U.S. Navy. Archived from the original on 29 March 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  27. ^ From the 'Perón tapes' he recorded the year before his death, published in Yo, Juan Domingo Perón, Luca de Tena et al. (Goñi 2002, p. 100) "In Nuremberg at that time something was taking place that I personally considered a disgrace and an unfortunate lesson for the future of humanity. I became certain that the Argentine people also considered the Nuremberg process a disgrace, unworthy of the victors, who behaved as if they hadn't been victorious. Now we realize that they [the Allies] deserved to lose the war."
  28. ^ Goñi 2002, p. 93.
  29. ^ Goñi 2002, pp. 96–98.
  30. ^ Goñi 2002, ch. 8.
  31. ^ Centenera, Mar (30 April 2025). "The trail of Nazis Mengele and Eichmann in Argentina". El País. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  32. ^ "New Evidence Reveals How Mengele Evaded Capture". The Pinnacle Gazette. 6 May 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
  33. ^ a b Martin, Christopher (28 April 2025). "Argentina releases huge trove of declassified Nazi and dictatorship documents". Buenos Aires Herald. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  34. ^ Genoux, Flora (11 April 2025). "Argentina continues investigating its painful past as a refuge for Nazis". Le Monde. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
  35. ^ "Grassley Lauded for 'Leadership and Commitment' to Credit Suisse Investigation". United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. 5 March 2025. Retrieved 11 April 2025.
  36. ^ Stub, Zeb (26 March 2025). "Argentina to declassify documents about Nazi 'ratline' escape routes after WWII". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  37. ^ Hermosilla, Macarena (23 May 2025). "Nazi criminals allegedly paid $200M in bribes to Perón government". UPI. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  38. ^ "History of the Italian Rat Line" (10 April 1950), document signed by "IB Operating Officer" Paul E. Lyon, 430th Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC), Headquarters of the U.S. Forces in Austria. Archived 2007-10-08 at the Wayback Machine, from the original, jasenovac-info.com; accessed 7 February 2023.
  39. ^ "History of the Italian Rat Line" (10 April 1950), document signed by "IB Operating Officer" Paul E. Lyon, 430th Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC), Headquarters of the U.S. Forces in Austria. Archived 2007-10-08 at the Wayback Machine, from the original, jasenovac-info.com; accessed 4 August 2017.
  40. ^ a b Joachimsthaler, Anton (1999) [1995]. The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, The Evidence, The Truth. London: Brockhampton Press. pp. 22–23, 174, 252–53. ISBN 978-1-86019-902-8.
  41. ^ "Adolf Hitler Part 01". FBI.gov. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  42. ^ "#HVCA-2592" (PDF). CIA.gov. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  43. ^ ¿Hitler visitó Colombia? Esta sería la prueba reina ante documentos desclasificados de JFK (in Spanish). Noticias Caracol. 26 July 2023. Event occurs at 5:25. Retrieved 21 May 2025 – via YouTube.
  44. ^ Basti, Abel (2023). Las fotos de Hitler después de la guerra (in Spanish). Planeta Colombia.
  45. ^ Kershaw 2000, p. 1110.
  46. ^ Multiple sources:
  47. ^ Wolfe, Robert (15 August 2016). "Analysis of the IRR File of Klaus Barbie". National Archives – Nazi War Criminal Records Interagency Working Group. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  48. ^ André Swanström : Suomalaiset SS-miehet ja sotarikokset, Suomen kirkkohistoriallinen seura 11.10.2017
  49. ^ a b Silvennoinen, Oula: Salaiset aseveljet : Suomen ja Saksan turvallisuuspoliisiyhteistyö 1933–1944, s. 306, 319. Helsinki: Otava, 2008. ISBN 978-951-12150-1-1.
  50. ^ Uola, Mikko: Unelma kommunistisesta Suomesta 1944–1953. Helsinki: Minerva, 2013. ISBN 978-952-492-768-0.
  51. ^ Uola, Mikko (2001). "Talvela, Paavo (1897–1973)". Kansallisbiografia. Studia Biographica (in Finnish). Vol. 4. The Finnish Literature Society. ISSN 1799-4349. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
Sources

Further reading

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  • Birn, Ruth Bettina. Review of Goñi, Uki, Odessa: Die wahre Geschichte: Fluchthilfe für NS-Kriegsverbrecher and Schneppen, Heinz, Odessa und das Vierte Reich: Mythen der Zeitgeschichte. H-Soz-u-Kult, H-Net Reviews. October, 2007.
  • Breitman, Richard; Goda, Norman J. W.; Naftali, Timothy; and Wolfe, Robert (2005). U.S. Intelligence and the Nazis. Cambridge University Press; ISBN 9780521617949.
  • Graham, Robert and Alvarez, David. (1998). Nothing Sacred: Nazi Espionage against the Vatican, 1939–1945. London: Frank Cass.
  • Loftus, John. (2010). America's Nazi Secret: An Insider's History. Waterwille: (Trine Day); ISBN 978-1936296040.
  • Simpson, Christopher (1988). Blowback: The First Full Account of America's Recruitment of Nazis and Its Disastrous Effect on The cold war, Our Domestic and Foreign Policy. New York: (Grove/Atlantic); ISBN 978-0020449959.
  • Steinacher, Gerald (2006). The Cape of Last Hope: The Flight of Nazi War Criminals through Italy to South America, in Eisterer, Klaus and Günter Bischof (eds; 2006) Transatlantic Relations: Austria and Latin America in the 19th and 20th Century (Transatlantica 1), pp. 203–24. New Brunswick: Transatlantica.
  • Steinacher, Gerald (2012; P/B edition). Nazis on the Run: How Hitler's Henchmen Fled Justice. Oxford University Press; ISBN 978-0199642458.
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Media related to Nazis in South America at Wikimedia Commons

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