Declassified CIA files reveal agents hunted for Adolf Hitler in South America for a decade after his presumed suicide, leaving us to wonder what evidence drove this extraordinary search.
Key Takeaways
- The CIA actively searched for Adolf Hitler in South America for 10 years after his reported death, despite the widely accepted narrative of his suicide in Berlin.
- A 1955 CIA document detailed claims from a former SS soldier that Hitler was living in Colombia under the alias “Adolf Schrittelmayor.”
- Nazi “ratlines” helped an estimated 10,000 Nazi and fascist war criminals escape to Latin America after World War II.
- Argentina plans to declassify files on Nazi fugitives that may reveal extensive details about financial support and escape routes provided to fleeing Nazis.
The CIA’s Decade-Long Hunt for Hitler
Despite the conventional historical account that Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide in a Berlin bunker on April 30, 1945, declassified CIA documents reveal American intelligence continued searching for the Nazi dictator in South America for a decade afterward. Their bodies were reportedly partially burned and later discovered by Soviet soldiers, with autopsy reports confirming Hitler’s death. Nevertheless, CIA agents pursued leads suggesting Hitler might have escaped justice through clandestine Nazi evacuation networks known as “ratlines” that funneled high-ranking Nazi officials to safety in Latin American countries.
A particularly compelling 1945 file mentioned a potential hideout for Hitler at a spa hotel in La Falda, Argentina, owned by known Nazi sympathizers. The property belonged to German expatriates Walter and Ida Eichhorn, who had been supporters of Hitler since the 1920s. The CIA report noted that the family’s hotel had been a known gathering spot for Nazi party members before and during the war, suggesting it could serve as a natural safe haven for high-ranking officials fleeing Europe.
CIA files reveal search for Hitler in South America 10 years after his suicide as Argentina prepares to release classified docs on Nazi fugitives https://t.co/MFWqpGfIqC pic.twitter.com/Ek2vNBCMxC
— New York Post (@nypost) April 9, 2025
The Colombia Connection and “Adolf Schrittelmayor”
One of the most intriguing leads emerged in a 1955 CIA document detailing a claim by former Nazi SS soldier Phillip Citroen that Hitler was alive and well in Colombia. According to Citroen, Hitler was living under the alias “Adolf Schrittelmayor” in a community with numerous former Nazis. The report included a photograph allegedly showing Citroen sitting next to an older man with a striking resemblance to Hitler. This sighting came a full decade after Hitler’s supposed death, raising questions about whether the most notorious war criminal in history had indeed escaped the ruins of Berlin.
Despite the tantalizing lead, the CIA eventually concluded that further investigation would likely prove fruitless. Agency officials determined that “enormous efforts could be expended on this matter with remote possibilities of establishing anything concrete. Therefore, we suggest that this matter be dropped.” No documents indicate the agency pursued Hitler after 1955, effectively closing this chapter of post-war intelligence operations. Yet the decade-long hunt demonstrates how seriously U.S. intelligence took the possibility of Hitler’s escape.
The Ratlines: Nazi Escape Networks to South America
The Nazi escape routes known as “ratlines” facilitated the movement of thousands of war criminals to South America after World War II. These sophisticated networks involved various facilitators, including certain elements within the Catholic Church, international Red Cross officials who provided travel documents, and sympathetic government officials in receiving countries. Argentina under Juan Perón’s leadership became a primary destination, along with Paraguay, Brazil, and Chile. These nations offered safe harbor to fugitives who should have faced justice at Nuremberg.
Notable Nazi fugitives who successfully used these escape routes included Adolf Eichmann, one of the major organizers of the Holocaust, and Josef Mengele, the infamous “Angel of Death” who performed cruel experiments at Auschwitz. While Eichmann was eventually captured by Israeli agents in Argentina in 1960 and brought to justice, Mengele evaded capture until his death in Brazil in 1979. These high-profile cases demonstrate how effectively the ratlines operated, allowing war criminals to live in relative freedom for decades.
Argentina’s Upcoming Document Release
In a potentially groundbreaking development, Argentina has announced plans to declassify files related to Nazi fugitives who found shelter within its borders. These documents are expected to detail financial transactions, property acquisitions, and the extensive support network that helped an estimated 10,000 Nazis and fascist war criminals relocate to Argentina and other Latin American countries. The files may reveal not only government complicity but also identify businesses, institutions, and individuals who facilitated this mass escape from justice.
The declassification initiative represents an important step in confronting this controversial chapter of history and could provide closure to Holocaust survivors and their descendants. Historians anticipate these documents will fill significant gaps in our understanding of post-war Nazi movements and potentially reveal previously unknown fugitives who escaped prosecution. While the hunt for Hitler himself may have ended decades ago, the full story of Nazi escape networks and South American safe havens continues to unfold through such historical revelations.
