Germany was the initiator of World War II, and on September 1, 1939, Germany blitzed Poland, and World War II broke out. The war swept through most of the world, and basically only South American countries stayed out of it.
The countries directly harmed by Germany were mainly countries in the European region, such as Britain, France, Poland, and the Soviet Union. Then there are the Jews, who were massacre a large number of Jews during World War II when Germany built concentration camps. Therefore, after World War II, these countries that directly fought with Germany, as well as the Jews, advocated severe punishment for German war criminals.
Germany announced its surrender on May 8, 1945, and on November 21, 1945, the Nuremberg trials officially began. A total of 22 German war criminals were tried in this trial, and in the end 12 were sentenced to death by hanging, 7 to prison terms, and 3 to be acquitted.
The Nuremberg trials were a relatively comprehensive trial, and the main war criminals of Nazi Germany were basically punished as they deserved. However, there were also those who fled Europe before the trial began, and were not tried. The main destination of this part of the German war criminals was the South American country of Argentina. After Germany announced its surrender, many German war criminals searched for shelter around the world, and Argentina at that time issued passes for German war criminals to help them escape Europe.
Argentina, as a South American country, was not affected by World War II until 1945, when it joined the anti-fascist alliance and declared war on Germany. Britain has always accused Argentina of harboring war criminals, and Israel has also been accusing Argentina of handing over war criminals after the establishment of the State in the Palestinian areas, demanding that Argentina hand over the war criminals. All were ignored and rejected by Argentina. So why did Argentina, as an anti-fascist allied country, take in a large number of German war criminals?
First, there is the issue of demographics. Argentina is located in the southeast of South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, with an area of about 2.78 million square kilometers and a population of about 46.6 million. Argentina has a superior geographical environment, occupying the fertile pampas grassland, and has a strong population carrying capacity.
However, Argentina was originally very sparsely populated, with only a small number of Indians distributed. After the beginning of the Age of Discovery, regions such as Argentina became Spanish colonies and were part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of La Plata.
In addition to Argentina, the Viceroyalty of La Plata included what is now Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. By the beginning of the 19th century, the population of the Viceroyalty of La Plata was only about 600,000, mainly of Spanish descent, with a small number of Indians and Indo-European races.
In 1808, Napoleon occupied Spain, and his control over South America weakened due to the occupation of the mainland. In 1810, a major uprising against Spanish rule broke out in Buenos Aires, and the Spanish governor of La Plata was deposed. After years of war, Argentina declared its independence in 1816.
After independence, Argentina was sparsely populated, and a large amount of fertile land was barren and uncultivated. So Argentina went to Europe to solicit immigrants. At that time, Britain and France had their own colonies, and the population could emigrate to their own colonies, and other small European countries did not have the problem of overpopulation.
Only Germany and Italy, which had not yet achieved reunification at that time, could not afford to expand their colonies abroad, had no colonies, and had relatively large populations. As a result, a large number of Germans and Italians were recruited by Argentina to cross the ocean. By the time of World War II, about five million European immigrants had settled in Argentina. Now Argentines are mainly of Spanish and Italian descent, as well as Germans.
During World War II, Germany and Italy were both fascist countries, and Franco of Spain, although he did not participate in World War II, was also a supporter of fascism. And the Argentine population, mainly descendants of these countries, was therefore generally sympathetic to Germany.
Second, Germany has a strong influence on Argentina. After the establishment of the state of Argentina, the military mainly learned from Germany, and a large number of Prussian instructors were invited to teach in Argentina. This tradition remained until after the end of World War I. At that time, Argentina's military uniform was also modeled after Germany, and Argentina's neighbor Chile also learned from Germany at that time.
Due to the long-term influence of Germany in Argentina's military, during World War II, many military and political figures in Argentina preferred Germany to Britain and France. In particular, Argentina and Britain also have a dispute over the Falklands, which also brings Argentina closer to Germany. Throughout World War II, Argentina hoped for a German victory, and it was not until 1945, when Germany's defeat was a foregone conclusion, that Argentina joined the anti-fascist alliance and declared war on Germany. It can be seen from this that at that time, both the civilian and military and political personnel in Argentina generally liked Germany, so Argentina took in many German war criminals, which caused the dissatisfaction of Britain, Israel and other countries.