Argentina

Argentina: Declassified Nazi-Related Files Released Online

APR 29 2025·Updated APR 30 2025

Story

Above: Javier Milei speaks at an event in honor of the Holocaust victims held in Buenos Aires on May 8, 2024. Image credit: Erica Canepa/Contributor/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Facts

Argentina's General Archives on Monday made available on its website a trove of about 1,850 declassified Spanish-language documents detailing the arrival and activities of prominent Nazi war criminals.
Archivo General de la Nación
Buenos Aires Herald
Newsweek
The papers, organized into seven case files, include decades-old investigations declassified in 1992 but only accessible through in-person consultations at the General Archives headquarters in Buenos Aires.
Archivo General de la Nación
Buenos Aires Times
La Derecha Diario
The files have information about figures such as Dr. Josef Mengele, known as "the Angel of Death" for his actions in Auschwitz, and Adolf Eichmann, known as "the architect of the Holocaust."
Breitbart
Buenos Aires Times
Izvestia
Other Nazi fugitives mentioned in the documents include Erich Priebke, who was responsible for the 1944 Ardeatine Caves massacre in Italy, and Walter Kutschmann, who was responsible for the killing of thousands of Jews in Poland.
Breitbart
Buenos Aires Times
Izvestia
Argentine President Javier Milei pledged in February to release these documents following a formal request from the Simon Wiesenthal Center and U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), as they scrutinize the financing of unofficial escape routes for Nazis.
Buenos Aires Times
The Times (UK)
The Times of Israel
Declassified U.S. intelligence files revealed earlier this month that U.S. agents carried out a secret search for Adolf Hitler in Argentina between 1945 and 1955 amid rumors that he could have survived the war and escaped to South America under an alias.
New York Post
Newsweek

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

Javier Milei has made good on his promise to reveal details about how thousands of fugitive Nazi war criminals ended up in Argentina after World War II as well as on his broader commitment to government transparency and historical accountability. Remarkably, he is the Argentine leader who did the most to help bring justice to the Holocaust victims.

The Jewish Chronicle

Narrative B

Milei may have been called a "great friend" of Israel, especially compared to his predecessors, but it's hard to see how these files could be helpful in bringing justice at a time when most, if not all, of those involved are long dead. This release is much more about domestic politics, as he hopes to further discredit the founder of Peronism, the political movement he has long despised.