Ratlines (World War II)

The ratlines (German: Rattenlinien) were systems of escape routes used by German Nazis and their collaborators to flee Europe from 1945 onwards in the aftermath of World War II. These routes mainly led toward havens in South America – particularly Argentina – in addition to Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay. Some escapees also settled at the various transfer points or used them to flee elsewhere.

Two primary routes from Germany to South America developed independently with their operators eventually collaborating; the first transferred through Spain and the second through Rome and Genoa. The ratlines were supported by some clergy of the Catholic Church, such as Austrian bishop Alois Hudal and Croatian priest Krunoslav Draganović, as well as some outlets of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Nazis paid Argentine officials (starting c. 1943) to shield their agents, bolstering the rise of Juan Perón, whose regime set up additional ratlines through Scandinavia and Switzerland.

Significant Nazis and their collaborators escaped, including Ustaše leader Ante Pavelić, as well as SS officers Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele, both perpetrators of the Holocaust. Starting in 1947, the United States utilized Draganović's network and an official at the International Refugee Organization to aid the escape of some Soviet defectors and informants, as well as Gestapo leader Klaus Barbie (who had traded intel with the U.S. Army while being held in Austria). Decades later, the ratlines remain a subject of investigation and cultural interest.