A Nazi doctor infamous for barbaric experiments on Auschwitz prisoners and handpicking victims for the gas chambers lived freely in Argentina after the war - despite authorities knowing his true identity, newly declassified documents reveal, according to the New York Post.
SS Commander Josef Mengele, known as the “Angel of Death,” oversaw horrific torture under the guise of medical research before fleeing Germany in 1949 to escape justice as the Nuremberg trials exposed his crimes.
Bombshell intelligence files, released by Argentinian President Javier Milei, show authorities tracked Mengele’s movements across South America but failed to apprehend him. At times, the press tipped him off, or decisions came too late.
Mengele entered Argentina in 1949 with an Italian passport under the name Helmut Gregor. By the mid-1950s, documents confirm authorities knew the “Angel of Death” was among them.
One chilling newspaper clipping in the files includes an interview with survivor José Furmanski: “He gathered twins of all ages in the camp and subjected them to experiments that always ended in death. Between the children, the elderly, and women… what horrors.”
In 1956, Mengele requested his original birth certificate from the West German Embassy in Buenos Aires and began using his real name, even requesting new identification cards. A memo a year later noted he “explained” why he entered Argentina under a false identity: “He (Mengele) demonstrated being nervous, having stated that during the war he acted as a physician in the German S.S., in Czechoslovakia, where the Red Cross labeled him a ‘war criminal.’”
The documents show that authorities knew Mengele lived in Carapachy near Buenos Aires, married his brother’s widow, and was visited by his father - possibly to invest in his medical business.
In 1959, West Germany issued an arrest warrant and requested extradition, but a local judge denied it, claiming “political persecution.” International pressure mounted, but Mengele fled to Paraguay, where he gained citizenship. When police raided his Buenos Aires laboratory, he was already gone.
Later, authorities relied on foreign news reports to track him. By 1960, Mengele found refuge in Brazil, protected by German-descended farmers. He died of a stroke while swimming near Bertioga, buried under a false name. His body was exhumed in 1985.