The Dutch national airline is facing calls for an inquiry into its role in helping Nazis to flee to South America, after the discovery of documents suggesting it played an active role in smuggling suspected war criminals out of Germany.
KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines, has always denied it had a policy of assisting the Nazis to escape justice at the hands of the Allies after World War II, when hundreds escaped to Argentina.
But papers revealing the activities of a mysterious Herr Frick in trying to help Germans to cross into Switzerland and then fly to Buenos Aires have raised fresh questions about the behaviour of one of Europe’s best-known airlines in the mid-1940s.
“The documents give the distinct impression KLM was intensively involved in transporting Nazis,” said Marc Dierikx, an aviation historian at the Institute for Netherlands History in The Hague. Argentina provided sanctuary for many Germans fleeing Europe after the war.
It was the refuge of leading Nazis such as Joseph Mengele, the doctor at the Auschwitz concentration camp nicknamed the “Angel of Death”, and Adolf Eichmann, who oversaw the death camps where millions died.
The existence of a shadowy network of Nazi sympathisers helping to organise the escape route was depicted in Frederick Forsyth’s novel The Odessa File.
Suspected war criminals could not obtain official papers to leave Germany. But some adopted false identities, and KLM acknowledges some of its passengers were probably fleeing Nazis.
However, the airline says its role was not to police its passengers but to carry those who turned up with valid papers showing they had completed security checks by the Allies.
In papers unearthed in Swiss archives by Dutch documentary-makers, Herr Frick, said to be a KLM representative, is documented in October 1948 asking the Swiss authorities to allow potential passengers from Germany to cross the border without the proper papers.
Sander Rietveld, a journalist on the Netwerk program, said: “It is a memo from the Swiss border police about a visit of the local KLM representative, Herr Frick. He asked the Swiss police to allow Germans without an Ersatzpasse – permission of the Allies – to enter Switzerland so they could board planes to Argentina. On this occasion the Swiss police refused, although we know that in reality they did allow Germans to pass without permission. The point is that it shows KLM actively approached the Swiss police.”
KLM said it did not know of a former employee called Frick but passenger lists unearthed in the Argentine capital show long lists of German names, including at least two former Nazis.
Opposition MPs are demanding an independent inquiry, and Bart Koster, a spokesman for KLM, said he would advise the company’s board to commission one. He told Radio Netherlands: “If we really want to be sure what happened, we have to have a thorough investigation.”
An inquiry could reopen controversy about the role of the Dutch royal family, as the late Prince Bernhard, father of Queen Beatrix, was on KLM’s board in the post-war years.
But Mr Koster said there was nothing in the board minutes or in KLM’s archives to indicate the airline had been involved in the transportation of Nazi war criminals from Germany.
By: Mark James - 16th May 2007 at 10:48
The Dutch national airline is facing calls for an inquiry into its role in helping Nazis to flee to South America, after the discovery of documents suggesting it played an active role in smuggling suspected war criminals out of Germany.
KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines, has always denied it had a policy of assisting the Nazis to escape justice at the hands of the Allies after World War II, when hundreds escaped to Argentina.But papers revealing the activities of a mysterious Herr Frick in trying to help Germans to cross into Switzerland and then fly to Buenos Aires have raised fresh questions about the behaviour of one of Europe’s best-known airlines in the mid-1940s.
“The documents give the distinct impression KLM was intensively involved in transporting Nazis,” said Marc Dierikx, an aviation historian at the Institute for Netherlands History in The Hague. Argentina provided sanctuary for many Germans fleeing Europe after the war.
It was the refuge of leading Nazis such as Joseph Mengele, the doctor at the Auschwitz concentration camp nicknamed the “Angel of Death”, and Adolf Eichmann, who oversaw the death camps where millions died.
The existence of a shadowy network of Nazi sympathisers helping to organise the escape route was depicted in Frederick Forsyth’s novel The Odessa File.
Suspected war criminals could not obtain official papers to leave Germany. But some adopted false identities, and KLM acknowledges some of its passengers were probably fleeing Nazis.
However, the airline says its role was not to police its passengers but to carry those who turned up with valid papers showing they had completed security checks by the Allies.
In papers unearthed in Swiss archives by Dutch documentary-makers, Herr Frick, said to be a KLM representative, is documented in October 1948 asking the Swiss authorities to allow potential passengers from Germany to cross the border without the proper papers.
Sander Rietveld, a journalist on the Netwerk program, said: “It is a memo from the Swiss border police about a visit of the local KLM representative, Herr Frick. He asked the Swiss police to allow Germans without an Ersatzpasse – permission of the Allies – to enter Switzerland so they could board planes to Argentina. On this occasion the Swiss police refused, although we know that in reality they did allow Germans to pass without permission. The point is that it shows KLM actively approached the Swiss police.”
KLM said it did not know of a former employee called Frick but passenger lists unearthed in the Argentine capital show long lists of German names, including at least two former Nazis.
Opposition MPs are demanding an independent inquiry, and Bart Koster, a spokesman for KLM, said he would advise the company’s board to commission one. He told Radio Netherlands: “If we really want to be sure what happened, we have to have a thorough investigation.”
An inquiry could reopen controversy about the role of the Dutch royal family, as the late Prince Bernhard, father of Queen Beatrix, was on KLM’s board in the post-war years.
But Mr Koster said there was nothing in the board minutes or in KLM’s archives to indicate the airline had been involved in the transportation of Nazi war criminals from Germany.
The name Herr Frick rang a bell and I thought Ello Ello Ello……..
It was posted in April and I wonder if it was the 1st.
Mark 😀
By: ATFS_Crash - 9th May 2007 at 05:51
Undoubtedly a lot of companies helped transport Nazis out of Germany. However your implication by using the word “smuggle” is that they knowingly knew that they were wanted Nazis that they were transporting, and the post doesn’t seem to support that. So I would say your title is a bit hyped. Why single out the one airline? Could it be the links to the royal family? I don’t know what the answer is, however I can’t help but be skeptical. It is an interesting conspiracy theory. I really don’t see much point of investigating it unless it is for the sake of history or if they can track down some wanted Nazis, I suspect most if not all are dead now.
I don’t blame you for the title that you used, as you asked it in the form of a question, and it is an interesting question. However I really don’t see anything that supports your theory.
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May 9, 2007 at 5:14 am