Gigantic Stash of Nazi Memorabilia Found in Argentina
Roughly 75 Nazi artifacts have been discovered in Argentina, believed to once be the possession of high-ranking Nazi officials who had fled after the collapse of their government. It's the largest stash of Nazi memorabilia found in the country's history.
After Hitler's suicide and the collapse of the German Nazi government, officials who could escape often looked towards South America as a refuge. The country had remained neutral in World War 2, and like the United States, they salivated at the chance to harness the intelligence of Nazi scientists. Over 5,000 Nazis fled to the country, including now-infamous names like Josef Mengele and Adolf Eichmann.
Among the finds, taken from a collector's home by Argentine officials and Interpol, are a large statue of the Nazi Eagle above a swastika, a Nazi hourglass, and a box of harmonicas, thought to be aimed towards Nazi youth.
"Our first investigations indicate that these are original pieces," Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich told The Associated Press, saying that some pieces also had old photographs demonstrating that they had been close to historical figures. "This is a way to commercialize them, showing that they were used by the horror, by the Fuhrer. There are photos of him with the objects."
Of particular interest is a magnifying glass that comes with a picture of Adolf Hitler. "We have turned to historians and they've told us it is the original magnifying glass" that Hitler was using, says Nestor Roncaglia, head of Argentina's federal police, to the AP.
Major auction houses and sites like eBay often forbid the sale of Nazi-affiliated items, making it difficult for collectors to acquire such a trove without getting it firsthand. Ariel Cohen Sabban, president of the DAIA, a political umbrella for Argentina's Jewish institutes, told the AP that the find "unheard of" was in the country, but that it "could offer irrefutable proof of the presence of top leaders who escaped from Nazi Germany."
Source: AP via Paleofuture
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