Original subtitles

This is a story about war, about those

who caused

about those who took part in it,

about those who committed crimes and

bore the burden of them. And no matter

how long they fled, they always remained

on their conscience and on ours.

This is the story of escape routes,

of cities that served as refuge,

of regimes that protected,

of pursuits that seemed to be the final

destination,

but were not destinations after all.

Of people who, for us, seemed like

anyone else, anonymous, gray.

But beyond their apparent transparency,

there was a veil concealing the impiiety

of fascism and war.

This is their story. And with it,

inseparable, indissoluble, also ours.

The Spanish Civil War was a real test

for the armed forces of both Italy and

Germany because it was in Spain where

they were able to work out if their

planes were any good, if their ships

were any good, and also it gave

thousands of German troops a lot of

training in the battlefield. So this is

really really important. It's like a

kind of preparation for a much bigger

war.

[Music]

In 1936,

Spaniards suffer the ravages of one of

the most intense, long, bloody, and

brutal wars in modern history.

[Music]

Completely destroyed cities, famine,

disease.

Following the coupetar, Francisco Franco

envvisaged a rapid end to the war.

The main war aim of the rebels was clear

to take the city of Madrid and thus gain

control of the rest of the peninsula.

The troops under the command of General

Varela began a rapid advance towards the

capital which they believed they could

easily take.

[Music]

Against all odds, the Republican army

thwarted Franco's advancing forces.

>> Madrid was the scene of several clashes.

One of the most important took place at

the new campus of the university where

they engaged in a fierce battle to take

the capital.

[Music]

[Music]

after the battle. There were no changes

on the front. The republic had withstood

the attack. The front in the university

city, whose apex was the university

hospital, survived until the end of the

civil war.

The battle in the university city became

a symbol for all Republicans and

Democrats around the world and a failure

for Franco's troops.

[Music]

>> There was only one objective,

the capture of the capital, a stronghold

of resistance punished by the bombing

which refused to give in.

[Music]

On March the 28th of 1939, Franco

ordered the start of the final offensive

on Madrid and the rest of the territory.

The troops defending the capital began

to abandon their positions.

The rebels occupied the French bridge

and several buildings in the university

city without resistance.

The surrender of the republic was

inevitable. Almost 3 years later, the

national side achieved its main war aim.

On March the 28th, Republican Colonel

Adula Prada with several members of the

Republican army appeared next to the

hospital clinico.

Near its ruins, they declared the

surrender of the republic to Franco's

Colonel Eduardo Losas.

The war is over. And with that triumph,

Franco is indebted to the Nazi regime

and fascist Italy.

[Music]

The key to understanding the

transformation from an anti-fascist

city, a symbol of they shall not pass to

a pro-fascist city, pro-Nazi, of we

passed is violence. The threat of

violence, repression, imprisonment. You

can't rebel against a new power that has

been established in the city. that

[Music]

Rammon Serrano Sun Franco's

brother-in-law and one of the most

important Francoist leaders closely

linked to Hitler's regime wrote the

following words in the Philangist

newspaper Aribba.

We must create a new Madrid. A Madrid

with the moral grandeur that befits the

capital of heroic Spain.

Since 1937, the rebellious official

gazette of the Spanish state had

approved the obligatory fascist salute.

So all the photos and official acts of

the time show many people with their

arms raised in the air.

Madrid began to change from a Madrid of

resistance to a Madrid symbol of

fascism.

[Music]

>> It is part of the synography of parades

and mass services.

any excuse to create the apparent

adherence and fer of the population to

make it very clear that this is the new

Spain.

>> In addition to these events to transform

Madrid's international image as a

fascist city, it was also necessary to

organize other events to attract the

eyes of the rest of the world.

[Music]

In this international context, one of

the options is to invite international

fascist leaders so that they can see in

situ what will be called the glorious

resurgence of Madrid.

Countiano, Italian foreign minister

and above all the husband

of Mussolini's daughter.

He is an extremely important man

because Jano is already considered to be

possibly air apparent.

The man who will replace Mussolini in 20

years.

Chano landed in Madrid on July the 15th,

1939.

The Franco regime welcomed him with open

arms in the presence of some of the

highest ranking authorities.

Tiano paraded in the streets of Madrid

as if he were a war hero amidst cheering

crowds.

Finally, he presided over a parade of

140,000 fangists belonging to the local

and provincial sections in the

Castellana Avenue.

After the parade, Chano arrived at the

University City where the republic

resisted during the three years of the

war.

For the Franco regime, the university

city was a symbol of its victory in the

war.

Franco's authorities use Chano to send a

message to international fascism.

Spain's capital is ready to put aside

its republican past.

[Music]

Hinrich Himmler, one of the most

important members of the Nazi party,

leader of the SS and the architect of

the Holocaust, was on a diplomatic visit

to Madrid.

This visit had several objectives. To

strengthen Spanish German relations

since the meeting between Franco and

Hitler in Naya was just a few days away

and to initiate collaboration between

the Spanish police and the Gestapo which

later opened an office in the German

embassy.

Madrid was decked out for the occasion.

Streets decorated with Nazi flags, blue

shirts, red berets and raised arms.

Himmler was greeted by philangists and

members of the armed police corps. Later

he met Franco at the Pardo Palace.

Afterwards, Himmler attended a bull

fight offered in his honor at the Las

Ventas ring and was greeted with great

applause upon his arrival.

[Music]

[Applause]

The next day, Himmler also visited the

Praau Museum, a philangist aid

organization and the National

Archaeological Museum where he carefully

studied a map of the Germanic invasions.

[Music]

The visit was a success. Himmler found a

subservient city.

The message was clear. Madrid could be

considered a capital of national

socialism.

[Music]

It was a short visit with not many

details from a historical point of view.

But all historians agree that in the

meeting with Srano and Franco, Himmler

laid the foundations for political

collaboration and closer links were

established between the Spanish police

and Nazi agents. The collaboration of

the Spanish police and the Gestapo and

of the Nazi spies in Spain was

tremendously important.

[Music]

With the consolidation of relations

between Spain and the fascist powers,

Madrid became an ideal place for the

Axis information services.

From 1939 onwards, Italy and Germany

increased their diplomatic presence in

the city.

The Aby's military intelligence service

headed by Admiral Vilhelm Canaris began

to operate.

It conducted political, economic, and

military espionage in search of reports

on the aircraft industry and

anti-ubmarine warfare.

Abair espionage networks in Portugal,

Switzerland, and North Africa paid huge

sums of money for any information that

could be leaked about this.

In 1940, Madrid and by extension all of

Spain joined this network as German

agents could act with impunity in

Franco, Spain.

[Music]

Rather than drawing Spain into the

conflict, German intelligence services

focused on stabilizing the Franco regime

and securing its continued support for

the Third Reich's war effort.

To do this, the German ambassador in

Madrid, Ebahad Vonto, appointed Hans

Lazar, feared as a ruthless officer, as

head of all propaganda activities.

Lazar knew how to operate efficaciously,

expanding his agenda with several

contacts within the Spanish government,

the fang, and the main newspapers. He

regularly held meetings with the editors

of ABC, UP, and other newspapers as well

as with philangists linked to the press

department.

Hans Lasser is a key figure in Spain in

the 1940s.

He's a very elegant man, immaculately

dressed in a suit with his little

mustache, his hair sllicked back, his

monle, his shiny black shoes.

Lasser was the head of propaganda at the

press embassy in Madrid with a

significant team of people under him. He

did a very important job for Hitler at

the time because he mastered propaganda

in a brilliant way.

[Music]

Lazar ensured that the Spanish press

presented a favorable view of Germany,

which fostered distrust of Great

Britain.

[Music]

Lazar's department was Germany's most

effective propaganda agency outside its

borders.

[Music]

The Franco regime, which had very good

trade relations with Germany, supported

its war machine with raw materials.

The relationship was so strong that

Franco sent the Blue Division, a

military unit of volunteers and fangists

to join the German infantry in the

invasion of the Soviet Union.

The axis began to fall apart.

Despite the apparent superiority of the

Reich, the Allied armies started gaining

the upper hand once German General

Raml's troops in North Africa had been

defeated.

On the night of the 9th 10th of July

1943, Allied forces landed on Sicily.

It was the first time the Allies set

foot on European soil.

In a few days, Mussolini's dictatorship

collapsed.

On the 24th of July, faced with this

situation, the Italian Fascist Grand

Council met. Most of its members

rebelled against Mussolini.

They voted to break off with Germany and

return command to King Victor Emanuel

III, who ordered the arrest of the

dictator.

In the summer of 1943, Mussolini's

regime fell.

Some fascists began to say, "War is not

going as it should.

It's a matter of time before the Axis

loses the war.

We have to start thinking about what

will happen if we lose the war.

Where are we going to flee to?"

And since Franco's Spain had not entered

the war, Spain was considered as a

destination, albeit an intermediate one

in the planning of the flight.

>> With the fall of the fascist regime in

Italy, rumors began to circulate that

the duche and members of his regime were

seeking refuge in neutral territory. So

the Allied government sent a memorandum

to all neutral countries warning against

granting asylum to war criminals.

The US expects that no neutral

government will allow its territory to

be used as a refuge.

Sweden, Ireland, and Turkey were

unwilling to give asylum to fascists

trying to flee.

Europe awaited Spain's response.

Franco's authorities were still

undecided regarding the possible arrival

of the refugees.

As a result, support and escape

structures emerged for fascists from

countries such as Italy and France and

for Nazis in Germany who were being

persecuted.

Rat lines were created.

Rat lines is a name given by the Allied

secret services.

When they realize that many of these war

criminals are on the run,

when the ship of the Third Reich is

sinking,

these are the rats who jump ship,

searching for escape routes to save

their lives, to save their skins.

[Music]

Reaching safe territory was not easy. It

required the collaboration of many

people and considerable logistical

structures, places to hide, money to pay

for accommodation, food or tickets

or contacts to obtain the relevant

documentation, passports, safe conducts,

photographs, identity documents that

were usually forged.

All this required a considerable level

of organization.

This is why not every city could be part

of the rat lines.

It was necessary to have a network of

contacts, a government in tune with it,

and a pre-established structure.

[Music]

When you hear the word rat line, you

think of a very organized and formal

process in which Nazis are escaping. But

rat lines are anything but. They are

very informal, very loose. And

essentially what they are is they are a

connection of people living in towns and

villages who know the person in the next

town and village. So if you're a Nazi

wanting to escape and you turn up to a

town, you're given shelter perhaps in a

in a pub or or a hotel and then what

happens is maybe a telephone call or a

message is sent to the next town to say,

"Can you look after this man? He's going

to come tomorrow." So that's how

initially a Nazi will travel down a rat

line. But what Nazis also need is false

documentation.

Thanks to the rat lines, many Nazis,

fascists, and other war criminals found

a safe haven within the Franco regime.

However, the Spanish authorities reacted

differently depending on the person

arriving.

Many less important soldiers or

collaborationists crossed the border

into Spain through the Pyrenees.

They were often arrested as soon as they

arrived in Spain. Afterwards, they were

sent to concentration camps like Miranda

debro, Nanclares de la or even to

Carabanchel prison.

The situation was more complex if the

person fleeing was a fascist of great

political relevance.

Allied pressure put Franco's government

in a bind, but these people had contacts

within the regime.

Powerful people who operating via

diplomatic channels were able to secure

the freedom of war criminals in Spain.

[Music]

Three rat lines created in Madrid

started to operate. The first rat line

was that of Johannes Bernhard and

Clarita Stala.

Johannes Burnernhard is this really

fascinating figure. He's essentially

German and he had fought in the first

world war for Germany. He had won a

medal and after the war he became a very

successful businessman in Hamburg but

then that business collapsed and he ends

up in Spanish Morocco. Now it's from

there that he starts to ingratiate

himself uh with the fascists and he even

meets Franco.

In 1938, Bernhard created Sophindas, a

company set up to promote trade

relations between Spain and Germany,

whose offices were located at

Generalisimo Avenue number one, very

close to Columbus Square, almost facing

the German embassy in Madrid.

Sindus would serve to channel all the

aid that Franco's government sent to the

Third Reich through the Pyreneian

railway station at Canf Frankfrank.

[Music]

Sindus's objective as a company was to

make money.

How important is Sindis for the rat

lines? Well, the rat lines need money.

That's why Burnernhard is such an

important figure. He has political

contacts, but he also has the economic

strength to enable the creation of these

structures.

>> One of Bernhard's objectives was to

guarantee the supply of raw materials

for the Nazi war machine, mainly

tungsten, a key element at the time to

reinforce the armor of tanks, which was

easily found in Galithia.

Between 1941 and 1943,

Spain sold 3,300 tons of tungsten to

Germany.

[Music]

>> Tungsten was extremely important. The

main suppliers of tungsten to Nazi

Germany were Spain and Portugal. They

were the leading producers of tungsten

in Europe at the time. Johannes

Burnernhard, a short man with a hat and

a long overcoat, used to go in his

official car to the mines in Salamanca

or Galithia, buying tungsten from

whoever would sell it to him and then

look for shortcuts to transport the

tungsten by whatever means possible.

Faced with the imminent defeat of the

Third Reich, Bernhard organized a

meeting in April at his home in Madrid

at Valley Avenue number three. The

objective was to create the Burnhard Rat

Line to try to help his compatriots who

wanted to escape from Germany.

32 of the most important members of the

Nazi community in Madrid attended the

meeting. Among them probably Paul

Vincer, Hans Lazar, Hinrich Hoffman,

Ebahart Vonura, Vilhelm vonfal,

Reinhardt Spitzy, and Clarita Stala.

Perhaps the most important figure

alongside Bernard.

Clarita Stala, a woman of great

importance in the escape network, single

sportswoman, swimmer, skier, close

friend of Pilar Primo Dea, a firm and

determined woman in her national

socialist ideas.

[Music]

Her father ran the Mao Brewery in Spain,

so you know, he had money and she was

very well connected. She realizes that

helping hundreds, if not thousands of

Nazis escape is going to cost a lot of

money. Clothes have got to be bought.

Shoes have to be bought. Uh, this

network isn't just going to run on air.

Um, and the person who's providing all

the money for this particular rat line

is an industrialist called Johannes

Burnernhard. And it's thanks to

Burnernhard that Stala is able to run

her kind of empire if you like. and she

works incredibly hard at doing so.

>> Clarita Stala, according to what one of

her nephews told me, had in her house

dozens and dozens of shirts, socks,

shoes, boots, pants, cantens,

all kinds of items to help the fleeing

Nazis at the end of the war.

[Music]

Despite the fall of Germany, Burnernhard

was able to maintain his business. The

good relationship he had with the allies

meant that at the end of the war, he was

in an ideal position to continue his

activities, living in Madrid and Denia.

Bernhard was a clever man who looked

after his own interests regardless of

his ideology.

We must understand that as the war comes

to an end,

The allies initiate a plan to seize all

possessions of Nazi Germany

or link to Nazi Germany in neutral

countries.

This is what they called operation safe

haven. Nazi Germany has been defeated on

the battlefield and must also be

defeated economically.

[Music]

While collaborating with Nazi Germany

and Franco's authorities, Johannes

Burnernhard informed the allies of

everything that was going on.

He was part of Operation Safe Haven, a

program of the Allied powers aimed at

ensuring that the Third Reich did not

hide money in neutral countries as Spain

was supposed to be.

When Burnernhard saw that this might

actually affect the network of companies

that Sindus had created,

he managed to convince them that these

companies no longer served the Nazis,

but they were nevertheless very useful

to Franco's regime.

that they are very useful even for

international trade which means that

allowing sindas to continue to exist was

something that benefited everyone but no

longer benefited Nazi Germany.

[Music]

Many Nazi war criminals arrived in

Madrid via Burnernhard's escape route.

The most relevant case was that of Otto

Scozeni.

Scorosini was one of the major figures

in Burnernhard's extensive network of

contacts. He was a remarkable man, a

legendary SS general who working

directly for Hitler led the liberation

of Mussolini who had been arrested by

the new pro-allied government in Italy.

[Music]

His exploits and scars gave him a

reputation that preceded him wherever he

went. After World War II, he was

arrested, fled, and after hiding in

Germany and France, arrived in Madrid,

where he settled permanently.

Scorzeni was a well-connected man. He

had loyal friends, people with money who

were willing to help him.

Using the networks created there by

Johannes Bernhard, Scorzeni was able to

create a front company on the Grand Via

in Madrid which allowed him to earn a

lot of money protected by the Franco

regime. He is the man who is creating

from his house in Madrid,

an international network of spies,

superheroes,

super soldiers,

people who are somehow also organizing

spectacular actions in the global fight

against communism.

[Music]

The second escape route to be set up was

the Italian one.

Arturo Dei Augustini was an Italian

businessman who lived in Madrid in IA

Street number 22 near Riro Park. He was

a littleknown man, very discreet

regarding his actions, but highly

efficient in the Italian escape line. He

had been running a very popular ice

cream parlor in the center of Madrid in

Alcala Street number 72 where

pro-fascist Italians who were in the

capital used to go. It was a kind of

meeting point.

The Augustini knew that the situation of

his comrades in Italy was not easy. So

he wanted to set up a structure to help

them find refuge in Spain.

[Music]

is a fascinating character, but we do

not know much about him. The British

intelligence services in 1945 and 1946

wondered who Deostini was as he appeared

more and more in the reports of British

operatives in Madrid.

People said that the Italian pro-fascist

community was increasingly rallying

around the figure of a certain Aruro de

Agostini and they asked who is this

person? The answer was we have nothing.

We don't have information about him. He

doesn't hold any position in the Italian

diplomatic network. He has never worked

for the government.

He is a member of the fascist party and

he is beginning to gain prestige because

he must have been a very affable person,

a very expansive person, charismatic and

committed to the cause.

[Music]

However, Diagostini was a civilian

without the necessary contacts to set up

such a complex structure as a rat line,

which required considerable resources

and a strong network.

At that time, he contacted Eugenio

Morali, a Mussolini government diplomat

in Malaga, who had been the

representative in Madrid of fascist

Italy known as the Italian Social

Republic, the RSI.

[Music]

He also had several contacts within the

Spanish government and other members of

the Italian embassy.

Diagustini and Moriali were responsible

for reorganizing and unifying the

Italian community in Madrid.

>> Madrid.

>> In Madrid, ambassador Paluchi de Calboli

is pro-alied

and that shocked the consul in Malaga.

a man called Morali who went to Madrid,

met with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

and negotiated a sort of unofficial

title of ambassador of the Italian

Social Republic in Madrid.

From that moment on, Eleneior Morali

became the key person for the Italian

pro-fascist community in Spain.

Thanks to the influence of Deagustinini

and the contacts of Morali, financially

backed by Princess Pinatelli, the

Italian rat line was operational in

1945.

Both helped their persecuted compatriots

who were trying to flee.

As the allies took control of Italian

territory, many fascists loyal to the

duche fled to Spain with the objective

of fleeing to South America.

>> Dustini is one of the people who brings

money.

from Italy to Spain. He is one of the

men who organizes not only the escape

but a real political network.

Deagini has an important influence

thanks to Princess Maria Pinetelli of

Corbara

Rufo of Calabria

who helped war criminals not only to

escape

but also to rebuild a life.

We know that the possibility to flee was

there.

>> But after they had escaped,

what then?

[Music]

>> One of the most important people to

arrive via the Italian escape route was

Mario Roata. Roata was one of the most

important generals in fascist Italy. A

man in whom Mussolini had total

confidence and was appointed head of the

Italian secret services. He had a lot of

military experience.

He was commander-in-chief of the Italian

troops that supported Franco in the

Spanish Civil War.

[Music]

He also took part in the Second World

War in Serbia, where his cruelty became

wellknown.

At the end of the war, he was arrested

and imprisoned in Rome, awaiting trial

by French or Italian courts.

But Roata managed to escape and took

refuge in the Vatican where Bishop Alois

Udal was helping Nazis and fascists to

escape. Mario Roata is not just anybody.

He's not just another fascist. This guy

has played a leading role. A man with a

very dark past and with many crimes

behind him. Moreover, Rouata's case is

important because it shows us how two

apparently independent rat lines can

even overlap

and help each other because Roata's

escape has two phases.

Roata is in a prison in Rome. He uses

his contacts to escape from that prison

in Rome, but he does not travel

immediately to Madrid. Instead, he takes

refuge in the Vatican.

So he negotiates through the Spanish

embassy in the Vatican

if I leave the Vatican for Spain.

Would you offer me protection?

And this is when Deostini takes part. He

starts negotiating with the Spanish

government. He says to them, "Do you

remember Rouata so important in the

civil war?

how through his influence he helped to

channel Italian war aid and helped you

win the war for Franco's side.

Well, now he's in trouble in a prison in

the Vatican. He needs your support. He

needs to escape because he is being

persecuted by the French and by the

Italian authorities.

[Music]

Rouata, after settling in Madrid, became

the director of an import export firm

that represented several Italian

companies in Spain.

Roata was sentenced to life for crimes

committed in Serbia. However, as he was

protected by Franco's authorities, he

was never extradited.

[Music]

The third and last rat was created in

early 1945.

Carlos Fulner was an Argentinian of

German descent, a member of the Nazi

party and the SS. He fought with the

blue division alongside the Spanish

troops where he worked as a translator

as his Argentinian origin enabled him to

master both Spanish and German which was

very useful in the relationship between

the members of the blue division and the

Nazi army. His commitment in carrying

out his mission was recognized by the

commanders of the Spanish division among

them General Munos Grandes who would

later be very important when the help of

Franco's authorities was necessary for

the operation of this rat line.

the true value of the work you have done

during your tenure in the division.

Thank you on my own behalf and on behalf

of the division, even if my general has

already had the opportunity to express

it personally.

After returning from the front, Carl

Fulner was in Berlin as an SS agent. He

was responsible for creating an escape

route for German war criminals.

Several historians suggest that Fulner's

escape route was planned directly by the

Nazi high commands, especially Hinrich

Himmler.

Sometime later, Carlos Fulner flew to

Madrid to initiate this route line. When

he arrived, Fulner was joined by two

colleagues with whom he shared a common

purpose and ideology, Charlles and

Pierre De. Carlos Fulner arrives in

Madrid in May 1945, and he's this very

shadowy figure indeed. And he turns up

with uh an enormous pile of money, some

works of art, and it becomes very clear

that his job is essentially to organize

a new escape route for Nazis that are

going to go into Spain, into Madrid, and

then on to Argentina. There are these

two important figures that we see in

Madrid by the end of the war. Now these

are two literary figures if you like.

One is a Belgian journalist called

Pierre Day. He is basically a fascist

and he's fled to Madrid. And then you

also have a French writer called Charles

Lelesca. They are both sitting in Madrid

uh twiddling their thumbs, not much

money, and they're getting really very

desperate because they've got real no

means of supporting themselves. But it's

the arrival of Carlos Fulner and his big

bags of money that are going to be very

attractive to them because they then

start helping Fulner run his rat line.

Sha Liska was a French writer born in

Buenosarides, the heir of a Basque

citizen who immigrated to Argentina.

Politically he became radical declaring

himself openly fascist and an active

member of the legion of French

volunteers against bulcheism.

He defended the side of the

collaborationists in the Vichy regime

which supported Nazism.

He was a member of the farright Axion

Frances party and editor of the fascist

newspaper Jussi partu.

One of his most significant books was

When Israel takes its vengeance, in

which he describes his detention in a

concentration camp in 1940 for his

anti-Semitic views.

After the withdrawal of the German army

from France, Lea fled the country,

pursued by Allied justice, and after a

brief period in Germany, managed to

board a plane that took him to Madrid.

In the capital, he found a friendly and

familiar environment, and Leesker was

able to help Fulner in his rat line.

He joined a group of exiled French

collaborators in Madrid, who had arrived

via several rat lines.

Hitler's troops were defeated at

Stalingrad in February 1943,

the beginning of the fall of the Third

Reich.

Many fascists were thinking about how to

flee the Allied advance. Among them,

Pierre Day.

Pierre Day was a journalist, a member of

the Belgian Rexist Party, very close to

Nazism and the Spanish fang. In 1944,

his newspaper sent him to Madrid where

he joined Fulner and Lea in their rat

line. With the beginning of the Allied

liberation of Belgium in September 1944,

he knew that he would never be accepted

in his country because of his

collaborationist past as he knew was

happening to many of his compatriots who

like him had been on the side of the

Nazi regime.

So De looked for lodging in Madrid. He

contacted the owner of the luxurious

Palace Hotel, Gor McKay.

Marque was the owner of the Ritz Hotel

and the Palace Hotel, which had been a

refuge for European royalty and gentry

during the exodus caused by the First

World War. Marque was willing to help

his fleeing compatriate, so De got a

room at the Palace Hotel at a good price

with no checkout date.

Within the fascist universe, Day is an

anomaly as his personal diaries have

been preserved. So we know for sure what

his activities were in Madrid. Not only

that, but it gives us a clear picture of

the Nazis and fascists stay in Madrid.

Madrid has always been a city with a

vibrant nightife. Most of the exiles

wanted to socialize.

They went out for a walk in the center

where they would meet with each other

and plan to develop the structures of

the escape routes.

It was not unusual to end up these

casual meetings in a restaurant as the

Osteria de la or the Oser, a well-known

German restaurant and in the famous

cocktail bar Chicot.

Pierre Day received numerous letters

asking for help. So together with

Charlesca and Carlos Fulner, they

activated a transnational rat line

offering help and refuge in Madrid to

comrades in distress.

German, French, Croatian, and Romanian

fascists. Some of them were in Spanish

concentration camps and with the aid of

this escape structure, they ended up

living together in the capital and

preparing their travel to South America.

Due to the particular circumstances of

Madrid as a city, which becomes a host

city for war criminals from everywhere,

the streets of the capital and

especially certain areas become a

transnational melting pot of fascists

from all over the world. There are

Croatians, Romanians, Italians, French,

Germans.

But Madrid is not a huge city and

especially the center of Madrid is not

particularly big.

So from what we know from the diaries of

some of the people involved, these

people met each other. The Germans met

the Italians, the Italians met the

Croatians, the Croatians met the

Romanians.

They used to exchange news about the war

to know how it was developing on one

part of the front or how the situation

in their country was. So there was

contact between Germans and Italians,

between Italians and Romanians and so

on.

At that time the Nuremberg trials began

in which war criminals were confronted

by the Allied justice system. At the

same time a court sentenced Pierre Day

to death.

>> Pierre Day guilty. Death sentence by

firing squad.

>> This is why his plans to stay in Madrid

changed.

His rat line had done its job and

allowed many fascists to flee. But for

day it's time to escape before it's too

late. As Charales and Carlos Fulner, his

two associates are already in

Buenesires. At that time, a prominent

Nazi arrived in Spain, whose arrival

precipitated day's escape.

On May the 9th, 1945, the Belgian

citizen, Leon Degrrell, founder of the

pro-Nazi Rexist Party and one of the

great Nazi war criminals, a member of

the Waffan SS, arrived in Spain by force

landing his plane on Lacona Beach in San

Sebastian.

Leon Degrrell is this really crucial

figure because he was probably Belgium's

biggest collaborator with the Nazis. Uh

he had won the Knights Cross. He was a

significant political figure within the

Rexist party. And it is said that Hitler

once said to him, uh, "You're the son

I've always wanted."

>> Relations between the government of

liberated Belgium and the Franco regime

were becoming more and more tense.

Belgium demanded the extradition of war

criminals, something Franco's government

refused to do in many cases. For

example, in the case of Degr and Day,

this convinced day that his departure

from Spain was inevitable. He after the

war is now in the safety of Spain, but

the Belgians are really annoyed by this

and they keep saying to Franco, "Look,

give us Degril. Give us Degril. We want

him back for trial and doubt this a

death sentence." Franco refuses. He

doesn't want to be pushed around by

little Belgium. But there is this

suggestion made by the Belgians. Look,

if you don't give us Degril, give us

some of these more minor Nazis. You

know, that that'll give us enough to

work on if you like. One of those under

the spotlight to be sent to Belgium is

Pierre Day. And he is visited by the

Spanish authorities and he's tipped off.

He's given the nod, look, you know, we

might extradite you. though it's

possible that you might think of living

somewhere else and that's going to save

us a lot of embarrassment. That

somewhere else will turn out to be

Argentina.

[Music]

This situation convinces Day that he has

to go to Argentina as soon as possible.

In order to flee to Bonadis, Day

requested papers from his Spanish

contacts. It was not an easy process,

let alone an immediate one. This kind of

operation took time, as he tells in his

diary.

After an interminable process, I

obtained a Spanish passport, a special

passport

in which my surname appeared, adding my

mother's surname,

which is Adan, with an accent on the

second day, which is curiously very

Spanish, and as it passed from document

to document, ended up occupying the

first place.

The plan was already decided to board an

Iberia plane from Madrid to Buenosiris

with a stopover in Monte Vido. De was

one of the passengers on Iberia's first

transcontinental flights between Madrid

and Argentina.

Meanwhile, the international scenario

was changing in their favor. The Cold

War began to consolidate.

At the expense of other issues, the

Allies decided to concentrate their

efforts on rebuilding Europe after the

terrible devastation of the conflict.

Consequently, the war criminals sought a

permanent refuge away from the European

powers.

This did not mean that they ceased to be

persecuted, but they did so more calmly

and with fewer means.

There were even organizations such as

Simon Vicentiles, which independently of

Allied activities pursued and brought to

justice the most prominent leaders of

the Third Reich,

such as one of the architects of the

Holocaust, Adolf Akman, and the angel of

death, Joseph Mangal.

Faced with this new scenario, hidden

fascists felt gradually more secure.

For most of them, the destination was

clear. South America, specifically

Argentina.

Argentina was a good destination for

escaped war criminals because during

World War II, there was a deal between

the SS and the Argentinian Navy Secret

Service.

The agreement stipulated that Argentina

would grant documents to SS offices so

that they could move freely in South

America.

In return, Argentina received

information about neighboring countries

such as Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, and

Paraguay, as well as financial support

from Germany. As for Pierre Day, he had

finally reached his destination,

Buenosares.

The atmosphere in the Argentine capital

was not at all unfriendly to the war

criminals who had arrived from Europe.

This became obvious when Pier Day

arrived at the Buenosiris airport.

There was not even a single police

authority ready to extradite him. On the

contrary, he met up with his friends

he'd made in exile in Madrid, Kos Fulner

and Charlles. They were together again

in Buenosiris and safe from allied

justice.

As for Fulner, once the Third Reich had

been defeated and the German regime

could no longer provide any assistance

to its rat line, he was already in

Argentina and met with Peron to seek

help in organizing a way for war

criminals to leave for the South

American country.

Peron's regime had a positive view of

the arrival of German officers,

engineers, airmen, and sailors who could

be very useful to the government. Peron

>> Peron supported Carlos Fulner.

This support was shown at a meeting in

1946

in the Casar Rosada which led to the

creation of SAR

the Argentine society of European

refugees. It is the legal wrapping of

the rat line. It was a way of

structuring the rat lines which until

then had operated as improvised

entities.

It helps give them a clear physical

structure with a hierarchy,

statutes, a boss, a contact in the

immigration office and clear guidelines.

And all this is the result of the

relationship between Fner and Peron.

Moreover, at that time, Himmler is no

longer part of the equation because

Himmler has disappeared.

Fulner was following Himmler's orders,

but he no longer had anyone on that

side. Peron will fill that vacuum and

become the great sponsor of that third

rat line.

He gave it the legal cover and structure

represented

by the sare.

[Music]

>> Thousands of Nazis, Italian fascists,

and collaborationists fled to South

America at the end of the war via rat

lines.

Argentina was the main destination for

the vast majority as they were able to

arrive thanks to the SAR with the

support of a governmental official and

regulated body.

The Nazis arrived at the end of the

1940s and especially from 1950 onwards

when they arrived in their droves. The

highest figure I found is 50,000 Nazis.

But they were everywhere in the press

because they attended political events

with

they didn't hide at all.

While Jews were tolerated,

Nazis were appreciated.

[Music]

In Buonosis, Day and Lea soon get their

social and economic lives back on track.

De lived comfortably in the downtown

Lafayette Hotel. Both frequented

Argentinian high society circles where

they met exiles and fascists from

different countries.

They attended meetings, restaurants,

parties, and gatherings where they could

exchange ideas and set up projects and

businesses with no worries.

As for Johannes Bernhard, the creator of

the German rat line, he finally went to

Argentina in 1952 when the escape

structure in Madrid was no longer

needed.

He settled on a farm in Tandil, a rural

town 140 km from Buenazaris called Laena

after his wife, where he ran several

businesses and activities.

[Music]

Eugenio Morali, the mastermind of the

Italian escape route, decided to go to

Argentina where he played an important

role in the community of fascist exiles.

Hans Lazar went to Brazil in 1956 but

later returned to Austria where he died

in 1961.

[Music]

In Madrid, many collaborationists,

members of the SS, and other militants

of right-wing extremist groups protected

by the Franco regime stayed, such as

Clarit Stalfa, who never left Madrid,

where she died in 1984, aged 80.

Aruro Deagostini, Otto Scozini, Mario

Rouata, and Leon De had no problem

staying in Spain.

They published books, traveled, opened

businesses, created families, and were

even allowed to organize religious

events in memory of Mussolini or even

Hitler.

The main consequence

is that a whole generation of European

fascists

manages to survive thanks to the

solidarity initiated by the rat lines.

So without these rat lines, many of

these fascists would not have been able

to flee.

They would have had to have faced the

sentences imposed on them by the allies.

It's not just survival, but also many of

these people remained politically active

in Spain, in Madrid.

So Madrid became a kind of metropolis

for extreme right-wing people.

The domino effect of Madrid being such

an important city for the rat lines is

that it becomes an important space for

international right-wing extremists.

That melting pot of European neofascists

that concentrates in Madrid during that

time will end up fighting the last

battle which is the battle against the

transition to democracy.

This means helping the remnants of the

Franco regime, the people who had helped

them to stay in the country to stop

democratic change.

With the death of Francisco Franco,

the whole network which was hibernating

woke up.

I don't think they woke up because I

don't think they were sleeping.

Oh,

heat.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

[Music]