Argentina’s Supreme Court has uncovered 83 boxes of Nazi-era documents and propaganda materials stored in its basement archives, dating back to World War II. The discovery was made during preparations to establish a Supreme Court museum, when staff relocating files came across the boxes. These contained postcards, photographs, notebooks, membership booklets, and propaganda aimed at spreading Adolf Hitler’s ideology in Argentina during the 1940s. Many of the items relate to Nazi organizations such as the German Union of Trade Guilds and the Argentine Nazi Party, featuring swastikas and other Nazi symbols.
The boxes are believed to have arrived in Buenos Aires on June 20, 1941, sent by the German embassy in Tokyo aboard the Japanese steamship *Nan-a-Maru*. At the time, the German diplomatic mission requested their release, claiming they contained personal belongings of embassy staff, but Argentine Customs retained them. The materials have remained unopened until now.
Supreme Court President Horacio Rosatti personally supervised the opening of the boxes alongside representatives from the Jewish community, including AMIA’s Chief Rabbi Eliahu Hamra, the director of the Buenos Aires Holocaust Museum Jonathan Karszenbaum, and other experts. Rosatti has ordered the preservation and thorough analysis of the materials to determine their historical significance and whether they can shed light on lesser-known aspects of the Holocaust, such as Nazi financing networks and the escape routes used by war criminals to Argentina.
Argentina, home to the largest Jewish population in Latin America, has a complex history involving Nazi fugitives who fled there after World War II, including Adolf Eichmann. The discovery adds to ongoing efforts to confront and understand the country’s historical ties to Nazi Germany. The Supreme Court’s initiative to create a museum and investigate these archives signals a commitment to transparency and historical accountability.
The boxes will now be carefully documented, classified, and preserved by a special expert group working with the Holocaust Museum and Jewish community leaders, ensuring that this unprecedented find contributes to Holocaust research and education.