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after World War two thousands of German
officers and wartime collaborators who
supported the regime from 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
war to accept these criminals
collaborators and others who fled
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