Switzerland to open secret files on Nazi Josef Mengele, known as the "Angel of Death" – BBC
Kyiv • UNN
Swiss intelligence will open archives regarding the Nazi Josef Mengele. The documents may contain data about his stay in Switzerland after World War II.
The Swiss Federal Intelligence Service has agreed to declassify archival materials regarding the Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele, known as the "Angel of Death" of Auschwitz. This was reported by the BBC, according to UNN. At the same time, the authorities have not yet named the exact date for the release of the documents.
Details
Mengele was an SS physician at the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he selected prisoners for the gas chambers and conducted brutal medical experiments on children and twins. After World War II, he fled to South America using false Red Cross documents issued at the Swiss consulate in Genoa.
Why historians demanded the opening of the archives
Historians have spent years trying to gain access to the Swiss archives, suspecting that Mengele may have been in Switzerland even after an international warrant for his arrest was issued in 1959. In particular, researchers discovered that his wife rented an apartment in Zurich, and Swiss police placed her under surveillance in 1961.
The files were classified until 2071, citing "national security" and the protection of the Mengele family. However, following a lawsuit by historian Gérard Wettstein, Swiss intelligence changed its position and agreed to grant access to the documents "under conditions yet to be determined."
What the documents might hide
Some historians believe the documents may contain not only information about Mengele himself but also about contacts between Swiss services and foreign intelligence agencies, including the Israeli Mossad.
Mengele himself died in Brazil in 1979 under an assumed name, and his identity was only definitively confirmed via DNA testing in 1992.
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