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
.
NEWSLETTER
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|