enos Aires, Menem immediately expressed his outrage to the Jewish community and, within a week, apprehended those responsible. President Menem also ordered the release of files relating to Argentina’s role in serving as a haven for Nazi war criminals. A law against racism and anti-Semitism passed in the Argentine parliament in 1988.iNazis in ArgentinaAt least 180 Nazi war criminals settled in Argentina during and after World War II, according to a state panel probing Nazi activities in the country. But even as the panel issued its final report in December 1999, some of its members said the number is probably a lot higher and called for more research on the subject. The report focuses on such diverse issues as Argentina's immigration policies, Nazi investments in Argentina and the influence of Nazism on Argentine jurisprudence. Among the panel's findings: *The Nazis who found refuge in Argentina included 30 Germans, 50 Croats and 100 officials from France and Belgium. *Argentina's political and intellectual climates in the 1930s and 1940s were receptive to Nazi and fascist ideas. *Argentina's air force and military industries attracted Nazi technicians. *Undetermined quantities of looted gold and art entered Argentina during and after the war from Nazi and fascist countries. But the question is, is Argentina still a haven for Nazi war criminals? According to Shimon Samuels, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Europe and Latin America, it is. He claims that there may be up to 17 wanted war criminals that may be alive an at large in the South American nation. Samuels said he has submitted "again and again" a list of Nazi officials allegedly living here to "three interior ministers of the Carlos Menem administration." Argentine authorities never tried to find, or extradite, those on the list. Samuels' list includes two Dutch nationals, Abraham Kipp and Jan Olij Hottentot, wanted by Holland on charges of genocide for th...
