Argentina’s bungled hunt for Hitler’s right-hand man Martin Bormann revealed in declassified files

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Multipledocuments released by Argentine PresidentJavier Milei last year reveal how Argentina’s search for Nazi war criminals, who found refuge in the country during and after the Second World War, were able to avoid arrest and, for the most part, live ordinary lives.

While Argentina’s Peronist government sympathized and often knew of Nazi criminals hiding in their territory – often under their auspices – once the populist regime fell, the South American nation half-heartedly tried to keep tabs on the war criminals hiding there.

Though many high-profile cases went nowhere, the case of Hitler’s henchman Martin Bormann is exemplary in showing how inefficient Argentina was in its investigations.

ARGENTINA REVEALS SECRET WWII FILES ON HITLER’S HENCHMEN WHO FLED BEFORE, AFTER THE WAR

Hitler with Martin Bormann, right, and Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in August 1943.(Ullstein Bild/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)

Bormann was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi regime, despite his relatively low profile to the public.He used his position as private secretary to Hitler and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery to control the flow of documents personally received by Hitler and who had access to him.

Through enormous administrative influence, he shaped policy and controlled what Hitler saw, who he met, and advised on major decisions.Bormann supported extremeantisemitic measuresand was one of the masterminds of the Aryanization project.Bormann disappeared in May 1945 during the fall of Berlin.For decades, it was speculated he had fled to Argentina along the ratlines — escape routes facilitated by Nazi sympathizers.Bormann was sentenced to death in absentiaduring the Nuremberg Trials.

The files show that Bormann was one of the very few Nazis the Argentinians actively tried to pursue and bring to justice.However, most of the leads came from sensationalist press articles often devoid of factual and actionable intelligence beyond the mere mention that he was hiding in Argentina.

The files meticulously depict intelligence agencies trying to corroborate such reports and assert whether the floated false aliases matched the actual man in Argentina.Agencies followed information coming from reports in the Argentine, U.S., British and Brazilian press, along with some translations from German-language media published in Argentina by the émigré community who were suspected of harboring Nazi sympathizers.

The articles triggered extensive paper trails between the ministry of justice, intelligence bodies, border and customs agencies, the federal police, and local authorities, but were often disconnected from one another, or took a long time to be referred to the various sub-offices for action.

ARGENTINA REVEALS SECRET WWII FILES ON HITLER’S HENCHMEN WHO FLED BEFORE, AFTER THE WAR

Image on left shows Berlin devastated at the end of the Second World War.Image on right shows German Nazi Party leader Martin Bormann, one of Hitler’s closest advisors.He disappeared at the end of the war.(Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images;

As a result, multiple similar searches were carried out at various points haphazardly and a tangle of bureaucracy made authorities play catch up to press reports rather than conduct independent and rational investigations.The files are a testament that thehunt for Nazis in South Americawas shaped by rumor, miscommunication, mistaken identities, Cold War politics and intense media speculation.

A case of an elderly German man detained in Colombia in 1972 as Bormann (later cleared and released) despite voiced skepticism by Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal is also part of the files.

Partial Memo from the ministry of interior about Walter Flegel’s criminal record as requested by authorities who were looking into the whereabouts of Martin Bormann.(General Archives of the Government of Argentina)

The diplomatic shockwaves that followedIsrael’s Mossadseizing Adolf Eichmann in Argentina left local officials acutely sensitive to international scrutiny, recasting the search for Bormann as a bid to ensure the country would not be embarrassed on the world stage a second time.

A pivotal—and ultimately flawed—lead in the Bormann files emerged in 1955, when police, relying on fading testimonies about an illegal German laborer, along with rumors, seized correspondence and aging witnesses, began pursuing a man named Walter Wilhelm Flegel.

Mug shot of Walter Wilhelm Flegel.(General Archives of the Government of Argentina)

Flegel had arrived through Chile, was missing an arm due to an accident, and had been previously arrested and brought to court twice on assault and robbery charges.Suspicions led to his arrest in Mendoza in 1960 despite his complete dissemblance, lack of education, long presence in the country, age gaps and missing factual connections that could tie him to Bormann.Notwithstanding such mismatching profiles — and fingerprints — it still took a week for Argentinians to be convinced Flegel was not Bormann and free him.

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Ultimately, despite continued rumors, and Argentina’s singular resolve in finally arresting one of the manyNazi fugitivesthought to be in the country, human remains found in Berlin in 1972 were a match and confirmed Bormann’s death during the city’s fall through dental and cranial records.Later, in the 1990s, further DNA testing confirmed the remains found in Berlin indeed belonged to Bormann, bringing the misdirected Argentinian search finally to a close.

He has previously covered international affairs, war, finance and travel for several U.S.and international outlets.He is currently based in Brazil.