- The Swiss federal intelligence service on Thursday released a 200-page dossier on the infamous Nazi war criminal and German doctor dubbed the "Angel of Death" for conducting horrific medical experiments on Auschwitz prisoners.
- The documents suggest that Josef Mengele may have returned to Switzerland after escaping Germany or planned to enter the country using an alias.
- Historian Gérard Wettstein successfully challenged the restriction on the dossier, which Swiss officials had insisted remain sealed until 2071 on security and privacy grounds.
- During World War II, Mengele served at the Auschwitz extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland, where about 1.1 million people were killed, approximately 1 million of them Jews.
- After the war, Mengele fled Europe using a Red Cross travel document under a false identity, allowing him to escape capture.
- He spent decades in hiding across Latin America while pursued internationally, until drowning off the coast of Brazil in 1979.
Switzerland's Federal Intelligence Service has unveiled a 200-page dossier on Josef Mengele, the notorious Nazi doctor known as the "Angel of Death" for his inhumane experiments at Auschwitz. The release follows a legal challenge by historian Gérard Wettstein, who argued for access to the files, previously sealed until 2071.1234
The documents suggest that Mengele may have returned to Switzerland after fleeing Europe or planned to enter under an alias. Swiss media reported that the dossier includes police reports and newspaper articles indicating suspicions of his presence in Switzerland, even while an international arrest warrant was active against him.
Mengele, who conducted brutal medical experiments on inmates, including children, fled Europe using a Red Cross travel document under a false identity after World War II. He spent decades in hiding across Latin America before drowning in Brazil in 1979. The released files contain redacted police reports, entry bans, and arrest warrants against him, as well as investigations into those who may have aided his concealment.567
The Swiss Federal Intelligence Service stated it made minimal redactions to protect sources and personal data. Wettstein described the release as an important step in dispelling myths about Mengele's time in Switzerland, highlighting the ongoing quest for historical truth regarding Nazi war criminals.
“The 200-page dossier, compiled by a predecessor of the Swiss intelligence service, includes police reports and entry bans, with redactions kept to a minimum. Historian Gerard Wettstein, who won a court challenge to unseal the files, called the release 'an important step' to dispel myths about Mengele's stays in Switzerland.”
The Independent
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