It turned out that Argentine authorities had a detailed dossier on the criminal.
Documents about fugitive Nazi criminals, declassified at the direction of Argentine President Javier Milei, contain a complete dossier on Josef Mengele, the doctor who conducted inhumane experiments on prisoners at the Auschwitz extermination camp and was known as "Doctor Death."
As reported by Fox News, Argentine authorities were aware of who the "refugee" really was, having arrived in the country with an Italian passport under the name Helmut Gregor in 1949 and obtaining residency a year later. They had information about his economic activities and knew that he was receiving financial support from his father.
In 1956, Mengele felt so secure that he changed his name back to his real one, requesting a copy of his birth certificate from the West German embassy in Buenos Aires. However, when Germany made an official request for his extradition in 1959, it was rejected as politically motivated.
At the same time, Argentine authorities had a detailed dossier on Mengele, including copies of foreign passports under fictitious names, photographs of suspected accomplices, investigation reports, correspondence between Argentine and foreign investigators, and data on border crossings.
"The dossier demonstrates the problematic interaction of Argentina with Western democracies, bureaucratic chaos, a lack of understanding of the seriousness of Nazi crimes, and the leadership's unwillingness to combat the deep penetration of Nazis into the social and political fabric of the country," the publication notes.
The agencies gathering information on Mengele did not share information, even when decisions were made regarding certain actions; they were delayed. When Mengele was eventually interrogated, he admitted to being a doctor and a member of the SS, but claimed he was engaged in anthropological research in Czechoslovakia.
Nevertheless, under the threat of exposure, the Nazi criminal moved to Paraguay, where Alfredo Stroessner, his countryman, was in power, and later to Brazil. He died in 1979 and was buried under the name Wolfgang Gerhard. In 1985, his body was exhumed and identified as belonging to Mengele. A DNA analysis confirmed this in 1992.
He was also able to visit Europe again, specifically Switzerland, as a tourist, using his real name during the trip.
French writer and journalist Olivier Guez recounts in his book how Josef Mengele managed to escape from Europe after his abhorrent role as a "doctor" in the Holocaust, for which he was nicknamed the Angel of Death. The historical bestseller "The Disappearance of Josef Mengele" is also interesting in that it discusses Switzerland.
For a long time, there was no clarity regarding any connection between Mengele and Switzerland. Many rumors and speculations circulated about this. One can only hope that the new publication on this topic will shed light on the events. In the past, several Swiss deputies have already made parliamentary proposals to learn more about the era when Nazi criminals could have been present in Switzerland.
