
Nazis on the Run
How Hitler's Henchmen Fled Justice
Gerald Steinacher(Author)
Oxford University Press
1st Edition
Published on 23. August 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
428 pages
978-0-19-964245-8 (ISBN)
Description
This is the story of how Nazi war criminals escaped from justice at the end of the Second World War by fleeing through the Tyrolean Alps to Italian seaports, and the role played by the Red Cross, the Vatican, and the Secret Services of the major powers in smuggling them away from prosecution in Europe to a new life in South America.
The Nazi sympathies held by groups and individuals within these organizations evolved into a successful assistance network for fugitive criminals, providing them not only with secret escape routes but hiding places for their loot. Gerald Steinacher skillfully traces the complex escape stories of some of the most prominent Nazi war criminals, including Adolf Eichmann, showing how they mingled and blended with thousands of technically stateless or displaced persons, all flooding across the Alps
to Italy and from there, to destinations abroad.
The story of their escape shows clearly just how difficult the apprehending of war criminals can be. As Steinacher shows, all the major countries in the post-war world had 'mixed motives' for their actions, ranging from the shortage of trained intelligence personnel in the immediate aftermath of the war to the emerging East-West confrontation after 1947, which led to many former Nazis being recruited as agents turned in the Cold War.
The Nazi sympathies held by groups and individuals within these organizations evolved into a successful assistance network for fugitive criminals, providing them not only with secret escape routes but hiding places for their loot. Gerald Steinacher skillfully traces the complex escape stories of some of the most prominent Nazi war criminals, including Adolf Eichmann, showing how they mingled and blended with thousands of technically stateless or displaced persons, all flooding across the Alps
to Italy and from there, to destinations abroad.
The story of their escape shows clearly just how difficult the apprehending of war criminals can be. As Steinacher shows, all the major countries in the post-war world had 'mixed motives' for their actions, ranging from the shortage of trained intelligence personnel in the immediate aftermath of the war to the emerging East-West confrontation after 1947, which led to many former Nazis being recruited as agents turned in the Cold War.
Reviews / Votes
In sum, Nazis on the Run is a most necessary publication. Steinachers work serves as an interlocutor for only a handful of other publications focused on singular aspects of Nazi escape. Steinachers work proves a host of potential studies remains for those interested in all aspects of the post-war era. * David Grantham, Journal of Transatlantic Studies * For anyone interested in what happened to Hitler's henchmen after the war, look no further. * Sunday Business Post * A valuable and informative study that successfully brings all the threads together and provides a detailed account of the results of current historiography, adding details that shed light on previously unknown aspects ... a knowledgeable, detailed and accessible book. * German History vol. 30 no. 3 * The most comprehensive study to date ... Nazis on the Run is a most necessary publication. * David Grantham, Journal of Transatlantic Studies. *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
All those interested in the history of Nazi Germany and the issue of war criminals and the hunt for them
Illustrations
16pp black and white plates
16pp black and white plates
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 136 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
530 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-964245-8 (9780199642458)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Gerald Steinacher is currently a Joseph A. Schumpeter Research Fellow at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University and Lecturer on Contemporary History at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. He is the author of numerous publications on German and Italian twentieth century history and is currently working on a study of the general attitudes and specific policies of the International Committee of the Red Cross in response to the Holocaust, the post-Second
World War refugee crisis, and the early days of the Cold War.
World War refugee crisis, and the early days of the Cold War.
Author
Joseph A. Schumpeter Research Fellow at Harvard University and Lecturer on Contemporary History at the University of Innsbruck, Austria
Content
Introduction ; 1. The Nazi Escape Route Through Italy ; 2. The Co-Responsibility of the International Red Cross ; 3. The Vatican Network ; 4. The Intelligence Service Ratline ; 5. Destination Argentina ; Conclusion ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index