CIA and Milei opening archives on the Rat Route of German Officers to South America has renewed global interest. The Argentine initiatives are stirring fresh investigation into the possibility the Nazi leader evaded justice and lived out his years in exile.
Was Adolf Hitler still alive a decade after the fall of Berlin? Did the most wanted man in the world elude Soviet forces and live under an assumed name in the idyllic foothills of Argentina, surrounded by former SS officers who revered him as their “Führer”? These are the questions once consigned to pulp thrillers and conspiracy circles—now resurfacing with renewed legitimacy following a series of disclosures from the CIA and a bold announcement by Argentina’s President Javier Milei to open the nation’s immigration and intelligence archives.
The “rat route,” long suspected of funneling thousands of Nazi officers and collaborators to safety in South America, is now under renewed scrutiny—not just as a historical curiosity, but as a possible final chapter in the story of Hitler himself.
The CIA Memo That Refused to Die
The story begins, at least in postwar officialdom, with a declassified CIA memo dated October 3, 1955. It recounts a claim from former SS trooper Phillip Citroen, who insisted he had seen and conversed with Hitler in Colombia before the man relocated to Argentina. Citroen said Hitler used the alias “Adolf Schüttelmayor,” and shared a blurry photograph of himself beside the man in question.
The CIA memo summarized the report with characteristic Cold War caution: “It is felt that enormous efforts could be expanded on this matter with remote possibilities of establishing anything concrete.” Yet, instead of fading into the archives, the memo sparked an enduring undercurrent of suspicion. Why did the CIA document it at all? Why file away a wild tale if there wasn’t some concern it might be more than fantasy?
The answer, it seems, lay in the sheer volume of chatter coming from Argentina and surrounding nations in the 1940s and ’50s, all pointing to an exodus of Nazis—and the apparent welcome they received.
Milei’s Gambit: Opening the Argentine Vault
President Javier Milei’s recent announcement to declassify thousands of files held by Argentina’s National Directorate of Migration and related agencies may offer long-sought answers. The move is unprecedented in both scope and intent. Rather than shielding Argentina’s postwar record, Milei seems intent on confronting it.
According to a Jerusalem Post report from April 2025, Milei’s initiative will uncover details about how Argentine officials—some complicit, others blind—allowed Nazi war criminals to slip in under forged Red Cross passports, often aided by Catholic clergy and a network of sympathetic European diplomats.
“This was not a case of isolated incidents,” an Argentine historian told the paper. “It was a state-sanctioned ratline—efficient, global, and almost entirely successful.”
Among the known beneficiaries were Adolf Eichmann, architect of the Final Solution, and Josef Mengele, Auschwitz’s sadistic “Angel of Death.” Why not Hitler?
Bob Baer: The Fourth Reich Narrative
Former CIA operative Bob Baer, now retired and publicly outspoken, believes the story of Nazi resettlement is far more sinister than we’re willing to admit. In interviews and on the History Channel series Hunting Hitler, Baer laid out a disturbing thesis: the Nazis not only had a plan for defeat—they had a plan for rebirth.
“There was a strategy, even before Berlin fell, to scatter and seed the ideology globally,” Baer said. “Argentina was just the most fertile soil.”
According to Baer, Argentine files might confirm the existence of coordinated German intelligence operations, safe houses, bank accounts, and entire communities meant to shelter the Nazi elite. Many of these networks, he claims, operated with at least tacit knowledge—if not assistance—from elements in the U.S. and Vatican.
He calls it the foundation of a would-be “Fourth Reich,” where ideology could survive even as the battlefield was lost.
Skeletons in the Archives
If Milei follows through, the newly opened files could reveal specific names, addresses, and even photos tied to postwar arrivals. Some analysts believe we may finally see immigration logs confirming the arrival of individuals matching Hitler’s description under aliases like “Schüttelmayor” or “Wohlgemuth”—names referenced in old intelligence files and Nazi-hunting dossiers.
Others suspect we’ll see references to foreign intelligence officials turning a blind eye to these arrivals. The Cold War, after all, had already begun by the time Eichmann settled in Buenos Aires. For Western powers, ex-Nazis with knowledge of the Soviet Union’s military and scientific capacity were sometimes seen as assets, not fugitives.
As for Argentina, the record is already damning. Juan Perón’s regime openly sympathized with fascist ideology and saw the war’s aftermath as an opportunity to assert independence from the U.S.-led postwar order. Offering refuge to skilled Europeans—regardless of their past—was part of that calculus.
The Bunker Narrative vs. the “Retirement” Theory
The official history remains clear: Hitler died by suicide on April 30, 1945, with Eva Braun beside him. The Soviets discovered charred remains and dental evidence consistent with the dictator’s identity. That evidence, largely kept secret during the Cold War, was later partially verified by Western experts after the fall of the Soviet Union.
A 2018 French-led forensic analysis confirmed that jawbone fragments held by Russian authorities matched Hitler’s known dental records. The conclusion: Hitler died in the bunker.
And yet, doubts persist. Stalin himself reportedly told American officials in July 1945 that Hitler “could have escaped.” Soviet secrecy, coupled with Cold War disinformation campaigns, allowed the rumor to metastasize. In the absence of a public body—or a trial—the myth proved harder to kill than the man.
“The death of Hitler is one of those moments where absence of evidence is exploited endlessly,” said German historian Hannes Lothar. “But from the Soviet perspective, confirming it would have robbed them of psychological advantage.”
Israel’s Perspective: The Unfinished Hunt
For Israelis and Jews worldwide, the idea that Hitler may have escaped has always represented a kind of unfinished justice. The capture and trial of Eichmann was not just retribution; it was the symbolic closing of a chapter. The idea that Hitler himself escaped that fate—that he grew old in peace—remains deeply disturbing.
Israeli officials have welcomed Milei’s initiative. The Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem issued a statement praising the move and urging other Latin American nations to follow suit. “There are still questions unanswered,” it said, “and victims who deserve the truth.”
Milei, a self-described Zionist, has made overtures to Israel from the outset of his presidency. His decision to bring Argentina’s secrets into the light is being seen in Jerusalem as a sign of genuine reckoning—not just with history, but with the modern implications of antisemitism, extremism, and the responsibility of states.
Why It Still Matters
In a world where history is increasingly contested, the renewed focus on Hitler’s fate touches something deeper than curiosity. It is about the fragility of truth, the manipulation of memory, and the ways authoritarian legacies seep into our institutions.
Whether or not Hitler died in Berlin or in a villa in Patagonia may ultimately be less important than the systems that allowed thousands of war criminals to vanish. Those systems—rooted in bureaucracy, geopolitics, and moral compromise—are the real legacy of the rat route.
As Argentine archives prepare to open, and as investigators both official and independent scour them, the question is not just what we will find—but whether we are ready to believe it.
Mr. Milei become a zionist, because he studied The Bible and has genuine faith in Elohim.
Israel’s best genuine friends are the born again Christians, who know and do the Word of God.
Regarding the fate of nazis ; the actual reality threat is the jihad with hudna lies…
Islam captured Western Europe, and is expanding worldwide; that is the real issue and danger for Israel.
May The Lord ( still rejected by too many even today) have mercy in continuation on Israel…