The Ratline
Post-war escape route out of Europe.
What has become known today by historians, researchers and WW2 enthusiasts as one of the most infamous escape methods used by war criminals and fascists after the war was called The Ratlines.
A system of escape paths and routes used, first by Catholic immigrants during the war, followed by Croatian Ustashe officials and officers was later used extensively by Nazis who were scrambling to get out of their sinking ship, and find refuge abroad, mainly in Latin speaking countries.
Today Italy comes to mind when we think of the clandestine system used after the war but not all know that its routes go back, originally, to the Spanish Civil war and Spain was the first country to be used by the Ratline. Later on it would divert to Italy’s capital and mainly the Vatican, which shared a common goal with those looking for ways to escape capture: their hatred towards Communism and in so doing everything in their power to avoid capture by those who were sympathetic to its ideology and cause.
Influential in assisting the war criminals in escaping, be it with money, charity and lodging, at first, was Alois Hudal, a German Bishop and a Nazi sympathizer based in Rome at the Collegio Teutonico, who would later on be providing “spiritual” guidance and assistance to Germans interned in Italy. Important factor in aiding the escapees was the provision of false documents and papers vital for hiding and traveling in post-war Europe and eventually to South America. This was done by obtaining temporary ID’s from the Vatican Refugee Association, the Pontificia Commissione di Assistenza, which was established by Pope Pius XII in April 1944, to avoid formalities and bureaucratic procedures to needy and those in refugee in Europe during the war. Though it may have had good intentions at first, it would later be extensively used for issuing the greatly needed FIRST papers for those escaping, and with such temporary documents they could then, with relative ease, obtain the much-desired travel document issued by the International Red Cross (ICRC) based in Rome. These were simple folding-card identity documents that would have the holder’s personal details such as name, place and date of birth, profession and also include inside the reasons for being issued these “stateless” passports in the first place. The example used in this article would be a fascinating example of the above, since it would clearly indicate inside the institutes that were involved in this operation!
International Red Cross identity certificate number 36192 was issued at Rome by H.W.De Salis, head of the ICRC in Rome, on January 4th 1947 to Croatian Curin Veljko, aged 22. It’s states clearly that he IS a Croat and that the basis for this issued travel document is from a 1946 issued ID by the “Croatian St. Jerome Association” in Rome and also by the Vatican Refugee Association, and as mentioned above, an organization clearly assisting those using the Ratline escape system.
Another important factor to be mentioned is Argentina under Peron, which was very instrumental in offering final refuge locations for those escaping Europe. This could also then explain the Argentinean tourist visa issued on March 17th 1948 by Consul Manuel J. Peña, which did not require any health certificates or return tickets, a GRATIS visa (the waver of “bureaucratic” documentation for visas being issued was first recommended by Argentinean Bishop Antonio Caggiano back in 1946 when visiting Rome).
It seems he reached South America in July of 1948, as seen by a stamp on page 7.
I have added several images of documents used after the war to leave Europe (not all who did so were war-criminals).
Thank you for reading “Our Passports”.
