Argentina's top court finds 80 boxes of Nazi materials in its basement
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) — Dozens of boxes of Nazi material confiscated by Argentinean authorities during World War II were recently rediscovered in the Supreme Court's basement, the court said on Sunday.
The 83 boxes were sent by the Germany embassy in Tokyo to Argentina in June 1941 aboard the Japanese steamship "Nan-a-Maru," according to the history that the court was able to piece together, it said in a statement.
At the time, the large shipment drew the attention of authorities, who feared its contents could affect Argentina's neutrality in the war.
Despite claims at the time from German diplomatic representatives that the boxes held personal items, Argentine customs authorities searched five boxes at random.
They found postcards, photographs and propaganda material from the Nazi regime, as well as thousands of notebooks belonging to the Nazi party. A federal judge confiscated the materials, and referred the matter to the Supreme Court.
It was not immediately clear why the items were sent to Argentina or what, if any, action the Supreme Court took at the time.
Eighty-four years later, court staffers came across the boxes as they prepared for a Supreme Court museum.
"Upon opening one of the boxes, we identified material intended to consolidate and propagate Adolf Hitler's ideology in Argentina during World War II," the court said.
The court has now transferred the boxes to a room equipped with extra security measures, and invited the Holocaust Museum in Buenos Aires to participate in their preservation and inventory.
Experts will also examine them for any clues about still-unknown aspects of the Holocaust, such as international financing networks used by the Nazis.
Argentina remained neutral in World War II until 1944, when it broke relations with Axis powers. The South American country declared war on Germany and Japan the following year.
From 1933 to 1954, according to the Holocaust Museum, 40,000 Jews entered Argentina as they fled Nazi persecution in Europe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
4 days ago
- Korea Herald
US, Japan congratulate Lee Jae-myung as South Korean president-elect, pledge strong trilateral partnership
The United States and Japan on Wednesday congratulated South Korea's President-elect Lee Jae-myung and stressed the continuity of the trilateral partnership between South Korea, the US and Japan. US President Donald Trump's administration voiced its expectations for strong cooperation in various areas, especially security and the economy. 'The alliance between the United States and South Korea, which is rooted in our mutual defense treaty, shared values and deep economic ties, is ironclad. We are also modernizing our alliance to meet the demands of today's strategic environment and respond to emerging economic challenges,' US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an official statement. The secretary reaffirmed the commitment to strengthen the trilateral cooperation with Japan to reinforce regional security, enhance economic resilience, and uphold democratic principles. Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba also welcomed the election of Lee as South Korea's next president and said he hoped to work closely with him to promote active exchanges between the two countries. Emphasizing the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties between Seoul and Tokyo, Ishiba expressed his hopes to work with Lee to overcome many common challenges, including a rapidly declining birth rate, aging populations, concentration of populations in metropolitan areas, foreign and security policies with their respective alliances with the US. 'On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Korea-Japan diplomatic relations, I would like to promote bilateral and trilateral cooperation with President Lee Jae-myung,' said Ishiba. 'Japan sincerely wishes to build stronger ties with South Korea, including those in the private sector. The government will be committed to supporting such efforts,' he added. The prime minister also showed his willingness for an early meeting with Lee, saying, 'It would be best to hold a bilateral summit between South Korea and Japan as soon as possible.' Lee was elected president in Tuesday's presidential election in South Korea, with conservative party candidate Kim Moon-soo and Rep. Lee Jun-seok, the presidential candidate of the minor conservative New Reform Party, conceding defeat and congratulating his opponent.
Korea Herald
4 days ago
- Korea Herald
US to scale down its military bases in Syria
ANKARA, Turkey (Reuters) -- The US will scale down its military presence in Syria to one base from eight and US policies will shift in the country "because none of them worked" over the last century, the new US special envoy has said. Thomas Barrack, who President Donald Trump named special envoy last month shortly after he unexpectedly lifted US sanctions on Syria, made the comments in an interview with Turkish broadcaster NTV late on Monday. The US military has about 2,000 US troops in Syria, mostly in the northeast. They are working with local forces to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swaths of Iraq and Syria but was later pushed back. Since rebels ousted Syria's former President Bashar Assad in December, the US and other countries are re-engaging with Damascus under new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa. Barrack, also US ambassador to Turkey, raised the American flag over the ambassador's residence in Damascus last week for the first time since 2012. When asked how the Trump administration will shape its Syria policy and whether the US is considering troop withdrawal from Syria, Barrack said, "What I can assure you is that our current Syria policy will not be close to the Syria policy of the last 100 years, because none of these have worked." Reducing the number of bases to one from eight was an important part of that shift, he said, according to an interview transcript. Two security sources in bases where US troops are deployed told Reuters in April that military equipment and vehicles had already moved out of eastern Deir el-Zor and were being consolidated in the province of Hasakah. One of the sources said the consolidation plan involved pulling all US troops out of Deir el-Zor province. A US State Department official said separately that the military presence would be reduced "if and when appropriate" based on conditions, adding troops are routinely calibrated based on operational needs and contingencies. Barrack said that the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces were a US ally and a "very important factor" for the US Congress, and that directing them to integrate into a new Syrian government was also very important. "Everyone needs to be reasonable in their expectations," he said. The SDF is the main ally in a US coalition against Islamic State militants in Syria. It is spearheaded by the YPG militia, which Ankara sees as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party. The PKK decided to disband last month after a 40-year conflict with the Turkish state. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said last week that the SDF was using "stalling tactics," despite a deal with the Syrian government to integrate into Syria's armed forces.
Korea Herald
4 days ago
- Korea Herald
Musk calls Trump's tax-cut and spending bill ' disgusting abomination'
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Billionaire Elon Musk plunged on Tuesday into the congressional debate over President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill, calling it a "disgusting abomination" that will increase the federal deficit. Several fiscally conservative Republicans in the US Senate supported the views Musk expressed in social media posts, which could complicate the bill's path to passage in that chamber. "I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore," Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform X. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination." He added, "Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it." Musk's comments hit a nerve. Republican deficit hawks have expressed concerns about the cost of the bill, which would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump's main legislative accomplishment, while boosting spending on the military and border security. The House of Representatives passed it by one vote last month, after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the measure would add $3.8 trillion to the federal government's $36.2 trillion in debt. The Senate, also controlled by Trump's Republicans, aims to pass the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" in the next month, though senators are expected to revise the House version. Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees tax policy, are due to meet with Trump at the White House on Wednesday afternoon to discuss making the bill's business-related tax breaks permanent, according to Senator Steve Daines, a panel member. Analysts have warned that such a move would greatly increase the measure's cost. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he disagreed with Musk's assessment about the cost of the bill and stood by the goal of passage by July 4. "We have a job to do -- the American people elected us to do. We have an agenda that everybody campaigned on, most notably the president of the United States, and we're going to deliver on that agenda," the South Dakota lawmaker told reporters. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson also dismissed Musk's complaints, telling reporters, "my friend Elon is terribly wrong." Musk's loud opposition to a bill that Trump has urged Republicans to pass presents a test of his political influence a week after leaving his formal role in the administration as a special government employee with the Department of Government Efficiency came to an end. As DOGE chief, he upended several federal agencies but ultimately failed to deliver the massive savings he had sought. The richest person in the world, Musk had spent nearly $300 million to back Trump's presidential campaign and other Republicans in last year's elections. But he has said he would cut his political spending substantially while returning to his role as Tesla CEO. The White House dismissed Tuesday's attack, just as Trump dismissed earlier Musk complaints about the legislation. "Look, the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill," spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said at a White House briefing. "It doesn't change the president's opinion. This is one big, beautiful bill, and he's sticking to it." Senate Republicans were divided about the bill even before Musk's missives. Deficit hawks are pushing for deeper spending cuts than the $1.6 trillion over a decade in the House version, while another coalition of rural-state Republicans are pushing to protect the Medicaid healthcare program for low-income Americans. One of the hawks, Senator Mike Lee, called on party members to use the Trump bill and future spending measures to reduce the deficit. "We must commit now to doing so, as this is what voters justifiably expect -- and indeed deserve -- from the (Republican) Congress," the Utah Republican said on X while reposting Musk's message. Republicans have a 53-47 seat majority in the Senate and can afford to lose support from no more than three members, if they expect to pass the legislation with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance by a July 4 deadline. Another hardliner, Senator Ron Johnson, predicted that lawmakers would not be able to meet the deadline and secure an adequate number of cuts. Lee and Johnson are among at least four Senate hardliners demanding that the bill be changed to restrict the growth of the debt and deficit. The faction of party lawmakers determined to limit spending cuts to project Medicaid beneficiaries and business investments in green energy initiatives is of similar size. "I certainly have an interest in making sure people with disabilities are not harmed. But also, there's the broad issue of how does it affect hospital reimbursements," Sen. Jerry Moran told reporters. "There's a set of my colleagues who are pushing to do more. And so it turns on how do you get the votes to pass a bill," the Kansas Republican said. Other Senate Republicans said lawmakers may have to look elsewhere to boost savings, including the possibility of leaving Trump's much touted tax break proposals for tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits for later legislation. "Those are all Democrat priorities. I'm not sure why we shouldn't be doing that in a potential bipartisan bill to create headspace for this bill," said Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.
