Argentina unveils WWII Nazi propaganda documents in supreme court basement

Authorities in Argentina have confiscated 83 boxes of Nazi propaganda material from the Second World War, which were recently discovered by chance in the basement of the country’s supreme court building in the capital Buenos Aires. The Nazi documents were reportedly dispatched by the German embassy in Tokyo in June 1941 onboard the Japanese vessel Nan-A-Maru. 

“This material was intended to consolidate and spread Adolf Hitler’s ideology in Argentina during the war,” the Argentinean Supreme Court said in an official statement. The vast Nazi material reportedly includes many Nazi party notebooks, photographs and postcards. 

Argentina’s role in the Second World War and its aftermath is complex. The country officially remained neutral until 1944, when it decided to cut diplomatic ties with Nazi Germany and the other Axis powers. In 1945, Argentina formally declared war on both Nazi Germany and Japan.

However, in the postwar period, many Nazi officials – including high-ranking figures like Adolf Eichmann –fled to Argentina, where they received assistance from Argentine officials and members of the country’s well-established German-speaking community.

Eichmann, who played a central role in implementing the Holocaust that led to the murder of six million Jews, was captured by Mossad operatives in Argentina in May 1960 and brought to Israel for trial. He was eventually found guilty of crimes against the Jewish people and executed in 1962.

Argentinean governments have for many decades avoided to examine the country’s history as a haven for Nazi fugitives after the war. 

However, in March 2025, the pro-Jewish and pro-Israel Argentinean President Javier Milei ordered the country’s authorities to declassify documents connected to the 5,000 Nazi war criminals who fled to Argentina after Nazi Germany was defeated. 

"The president directed all state agencies to release official files connected to Nazis who found asylum in Argentina following the Holocaust," the Chief of Staff, Guillermo Francos stated. 

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), welcomed Argentina’s decision to examine its Nazi-linked past. 

“While some previous leaders promised full cooperation to get to the hard truths that involved Argentina’s past, Milei is the first to act, with lightning speed, to enable the SWC to uncover important pieces of the historic puzzle, especially as it related to involvement with Nazis before, during and after the Holocaust,” Cooper said. 

While Argentina’s post-war Nazi affiliation history is controversial, the country also received tens of thousands of Jewish refugees who settled in the country. The country is today home to the largest Jewish community in South America, numbering some 180,000 people. 

The Argentinean leader Milei has advocated strong relations with Israel and the Jewish people. Argentina has articulated strong support for Israel following the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

In July 2024, Argentina joined a growing list of countries that officially recognize Hamas as an illegal terrorist organization. 

"The Hamas group has been declared by the Argentinian state as an international terrorist organization," the presidential office in Argentina stated. 

In September 2024, Milei blasted the systematic anti-Israel hypocrisy at the United Nations. 

“Israel is unjustly targeted while regimes that oppress their people are given a platform,” Milei said during his address to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City. 

"In this same house, we, that purports to defend human rights, we have also included bloody dictatorships in the Human Rights Council, including Cuba and Venezuela without reproach," the Argentinian president continued.