65th Anniversary of Nazi Germany's Military Defeat

This May marks the 65th anniversary of Nazi Germany's military defeat in Europe, following its launching of a world war which claimed the lives of over 50 milliion people, 50 percent of whom were civilians. After Nazi Germany's military surrender, Hitler's successor as Nazi party fuehrer--Martin Bormann--apparently "made it to South America," according to Martin Bormann: Nazi In Exile by Paul Manning. In 1981, this same book noted the following about the state of the exiled Nazi Party organization in the early 1980s:

"As the Fuehrer in exile guards the party treasury, and keeps a close eye on the investments and corporations controlled through stock ownership by the organization, the leadership in position today remains relatively young and viable...

"The Bormann organization continues to wield enormous influence. Wealth continues to flow into the treasuries of its corporate entities in South America, the United States and Europe. Vastly diversified, it is said to be the largest landowner in South America and through stockholdings controls German heavy industry."

Some of the former Nazis and their collaborators who didn't quickly change into civilian clothes and sneak into Argentina apparently ended up being hired by the U.S. government, after Nazi Germany surrendered militarily. As Blowback: America's Recruitment Of Nazis And Its Effects On The Cold War by Christopher Simpson observed:

"The fact is, U.S. intelligence agencies did know--or had good reason to suspect--that many contract agents that they hired during the cold war had committed crimes against humanity on behalf of the Nazis. The CIA, the State Department, and U.S. Army Intelligence each created special programs for the specific purpose of bringing selected former Nazis and collaborators to the United States. Other projects protected such people by placing them on U.S. payrolls overseas."

(Downtown 4/19/95)