Officials involved in the creation of a new museum at Argentina’s Supreme Court made a surprising historical discovery while transferring parts of the court’s archives: a series of boxes containing Nazi-related materials were found in the court’s basement. The items had arrived in Argentina in 1941 and were forgotten for decades.
Following preservation of the materials, Supreme Court President Horacio Rosatti ordered a thorough investigation of the contents, citing the historical importance of the discovery and the possibility that it could shed light on Holocaust-related events.
On Friday, in an office on the court’s fourth floor, Rosatti personally led the opening of the boxes in a ceremony attended by Rabbi Eliahu Hamra, chief rabbi of the AMIA Jewish community organization; Jonathan Karszenbaum, director of the Buenos Aires Holocaust Museum; and museum researcher Prof. Marcia Ras.
One of the boxes was found to contain material intended to spread Adolf Hitler’s ideology in Argentina, even after World War II had already begun. Given the sensitive nature of the contents and commitments made by the court, the remaining boxes will be preserved until their formal opening.
The story dates back to June 20, 1941, when 83 crates arrived from the German Embassy in Tokyo aboard a Japanese ship. The German Embassy in Argentina declared them as personal belongings of diplomatic staff and demanded their release. In a letter dated July 28, 1941, then-Finance Minister Carlos Acevedo asked Foreign Minister Enrique Ruiz Guiñazú whether approving the embassy’s request might compromise Argentina’s neutrality during the ongoing war in Europe.
On August 8, 1941, customs and foreign ministry officials randomly opened five of the crates. They contained scientific, literary, and cultural publications that fell within the propaganda restrictions Argentina had previously agreed upon with the Nazi regime. Among the materials were postcards, photographs, and propaganda pamphlets from the Nazi government, including thousands of booklets—some from the Nazi Party’s foreign branches and others from the German trade union federation.
“Since only five of the 83 packages were opened, the committee I chair finds it essential to open the remaining 78 for a more serious investigation,” wrote Radical Party lawmaker Raúl Damonte Taborda to Finance Minister Acevedo. “This view is based on information the minister must fully consider, such as the fact that the contents of the opened packages consist mainly of anti-democratic propaganda harmful to countries with which Argentina maintains normal relations.”
Following a legal review, the court ordered the materials to be stored in a secure room on the fourth floor of the Supreme Court, equipped with police protection and surveillance cameras.
After Friday’s initial opening, researchers began reviewing the contents. The inventory process is expected to take weeks and will aim to assess the historical context, determine whether the material contains vital information related to the Holocaust, and investigate whether it offers clues about the fate of Nazi funds around the world.
