Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister's Father Barred Nazi Officer's Deportation
In 1978, the then Attorney General Henrique Araújo denied requests from three different countries to bring fugitive Gustav Wagner to trial
Feb.12.2019 1:07PM
Paula Sperb
PORTO ALEGRE
In 1978, Former Attorney General Henrique Fonseca Araújo, father of current Foreign Affairs Minister Ernesto Araújo, actively avoided extraditing Gustav Franz Wagner, a Nazi officer responsible for 250,000 deaths between 1942 and 1943, and who was living in Brazil during the military dictatorship.
After being asked for comment repeatedly by Folha, Ernesto Araújo announced on Monday he would release a written statement on a later date. His father died in 1996.
Wagner was the deputy commander at the concentration camp in Sobibor, Poland. The sickening smell of burnt bodies was the prisoner's first impression when they arrived at the camp.
Cannibalism was typical because the Nazi soldiers offered human remains for the prisoners to eat. They also witnessed atrocious acts like a baby shot with a machine gun on his mother's lap. Sobibor survivor Esther Raab, whose story is recorded at the Holocaust Museum in the United States, described the scene.
More:
https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/brazil/2019/02/brazilian-foreign-affairs-ministers-father-barred-nazi-officers-deportation.shtml
Images of Sobibor, some very graphic:
https://tinyurl.com/y6kpdgls
Gustav Franz Wagner SS officer, protected by fascist Brazilians.
sandensea
(21,720 posts)Plus, as you know, Brazil has quite a history of Nazi post-war exploits. Many right-wing Brazilians see nothing wrong with it.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/4307262/Nazi-angel-of-death-Josef-Mengele-created-twin-town-in-Brazil.html
Thank you, Judi, for posting these disturbing but important news.
Judi Lynn
(160,682 posts)I never saw the film, but have always wanted to run across it sometime, "The Boys from Brazil." It had very big actors of the time, and concerned Josef Mengele. Here's the Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boys_from_Brazil_(film)
Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, even Bolivia. Nazis were infesting these countries as soon as they realized they would be charged with war crimes.
Isn't it sad to know that it appears the human race hasn't learned a thing from the world wars?
Thank you for that excellent link, sandensea.