Military

DATE=10/5/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=ARGENTINA/NAZI COMMISSION - PART I
NUMBER=5-44418
BYLINE=BILL RODGERS
DATELINE=RIO DE JANEIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT=
INTRO:  An Argentine government commission investigating 
Nazi activities has found evidence of gold transfers and 
government collusion in helping war criminals settle in the 
South American nation in the immediate post-war period.  
V-O-A's Bill Rodgers, who has just returned from Buenos 
Aires, reports from our South American bureau (with a two-
part series) on the commission's findings.
TEXT:  It has long been known that Argentina was a haven for 
Nazi war criminals who managed to flee prosecution in Europe 
and disappear in the South American nation.  The most 
notorious was Adolf Eichmann, who was seized in Argentina in 
1960 by Israeli agents, and then tried and put to death in 
Israel.  But other, lesser known Nazi murderers and 
collaborators also sought refuge in Argentina in the 
immediate post-war period.    
All this has been the subject of investigation by a 
government commission created in 1997.  The panel, known as 
the Commission of Inquiry into Nazi Activities in Argentina 
[Comision Para la Esclaracion de las Actividades del Nazismo 
en Argentina - CEANA], is now ready to make its findings 
public after completing its mandated two years of work.
The commission, made up of some 30 researchers, examined 
thousands of documents -- in Argentina and abroad -- to 
learn more about Nazi activities.  Commission coordinator 
Ignacio Klich says the panel looked into three broad areas:
            /// 1st KLICH ACT ///
      The first one dealing with looted assets that may have 
      come to Argentina, whether by gold or by way of 
      artwork.  A second theme was to arrive at a more 
      trustworthy estimate of the number of war criminals 
      that settled in Argentina and the conditions that made 
      this possible.  And, thirdly trying to assess the 
      impact of Nazism and the influx of Nazis and other war 
      criminals had on Argentina's political culture, 
      society, and government.
            ///END ACT///
Argentina became a post-war haven for Nazis mainly because 
of one man, Juan Domingo Peron.  A key participant in a 1943 
coup that brought the military to power, Colonel Peron later 
was elected President in 1946 and governed the country until 
he was overthrown in 1955.  A pro-Nazi sympathizer during 
the war, Mr. Peron and his government later smoothed the way 
for Germans and pro-Nazi collaborators to settle in 
Argentina after 1945.
This is one of the main findings of the investigating 
commission, known as CEANA by its Spanish acronym.  CEANA 
coordinator Klich says war criminals were allowed into 
Argentina through the intervention of a group of people who 
had influence in the government.  This group, which later 
became formally known as the Argentine Society for the 
Reception of Europeans, advised Argentine immigration 
authorities about who should be allowed entry into 
Argentina.  
Mr. Klich says his researchers found evidence that President 
Peron was more than aware of the Society's activities. 
            /// 2nd KLICH ACT///
      This Argentine Society for the Reception of Europeans 
      was created following a two-day meeting in December 
      1947 with Peron at the Presidential Palace.  So if any 
      war criminal came to Argentina under the auspices of 
      the Argentine Society for the Reception of Europeans 
      the buck stops at President Peron's desk [it happened 
      under the authority of President Peron].
            ///END ACT///
In all, the commission says 180 war criminals, including men 
like Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele, came to Argentina at 
one time or another.  These 180 people, Mr. Klich says, are 
individuals who had specific war-crime charges leveled 
against them in other countries.  Among them, he says, were 
a large number of Nazi collaborators from Eastern Europe.
            /// 3rd KLICH ACT///
      I would say that in terms of hierarchical terms the 
      foremost war criminals that came to Argentina were the 
      heads of the former pro-Nazi governments of 
      Byelorussia [Belarus] and Croatia:  Radislaw Ostrowski 
      and Ante Pavelic, respectively.  Obviously, these are 
      names that are less well-known -- either in Argentina 
      or elsewhere -- but in terms of hierarchy they were 
      the respective heads of state, the equivalent of Adolf 
      Hitler in their own countries.
            ///END ACT///   
// OPT //  While the figure of 180 may seem low, Mr. Klich 
considers it a minimum.  He says still unexamined documents 
in other countries may reveal more names.
            /// 4th KLICH ACT///
      This is to say that Argentina received not less than 
      180 war criminals.  But we do know that the number 
      grows bigger.  If we look at the archival material of 
      other ... East bloc countries then obviously other 
      names will crop up.  We didn't work with the materials 
      in the former Czechoslovakia, nor in Hungary, nor in 
      Poland, nor in the Ukraine.  So obviously there are 
      areas that would, in and of themselves, add legitimate 
      names.
            ///END ACT///
In addition to war criminals, others came to Argentina who 
had ties in one way or another with Germany's Third Reich.  
For example, the Peron government allowed scientists and 
engineers from Germany and other countries into Argentina -- 
despite their past work for the Nazis.  But in this respect, 
Mr. Klich notes, Argentina was no different from other 
countries at the time -- including the United States.  // 
END OPT //
Another key finding by the commission involves the transfer 
of looted Nazi gold.  While much less gold came to Argentina 
than to Switzerland, CEANA did find evidence of a 200-
kilogram shipment into the South American nation by members 
of Croatia's pro-Nazi Ustashe government.  Some of this 
looted gold consisted of jewelry -- presumably seized from 
Jews and other victims of Nazi persecution in the former 
Yugoslavia.
// OPT //  CEANA coordinator Ignacio Klich says some of the 
gold was used to resettle Ustashe Croatians in Argentina.
            /// 5th KLICH ACT /// 
      Obviously, this is a substantial amount of money and 
      we don't know as yet where it ended up in Argentina 
      and whether it went into any of the Argentine 
      government official institutions for keeping, whether 
      it ended up under a mattress or whether they kept it 
      in a safe.  What we do know, from a 1952 document, is 
      that Ante Pavelic, the former head of the pro-Nazi 
      government in Croatia, wanted to sell some of the gold 
      because those funds were  not  only used to re-settle 
      Pavelic and his entourage and other Croatians that 
      came in during that period, which Peron himself 
      estimated at five-thousand, but also for their 
      political activities, their anti-Tito political 
      activities.
            /// END ACT ///
As for looted art, the Commission did not find any Nazi-
seized paintings in Argentina.  But Mr. Klich says there are 
indications that Argentina was used as a center for re-
selling or laundering looted Nazi art work.
CEANA's mandate runs out in December, when the 
administration of President Carlos Menem leaves office.  
However, many more documents remain to be examined by the 
Commission -- including some Argentine government documents 
which researchers did  not  have access to.
            /// REST OPT ///
In our next report, we'll hear about some of the 
difficulties faced by the Commission, and the impact of its 
work in Argentina.   (Signed)
NEB/WFR/KL/WTW
05-Oct-1999 18:27 PM EDT (05-Oct-1999 2227 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.