Nazi Hunter - History

History

With the onset of the Cold War following World War II, both the Western Allies and the USSR sought out former Nazi scientists and operatives for programs such as Operation Paperclip. Cooperative former Nazis, such as Wernher von Braun and Reinhard Gehlen, were occasionally given state protection in return for valuable information or services. At the time, Gehlen had been chief of the German Bundesnachrichtendienst secret agency, founder of the Gehlen Org and co-founder of the ODESSA network, which helped exfiltrate Nazis from Europe. Other alleged Nazis used ratlines to escape post-war Europe to places such as Latin America.

In response, Nazi-hunters sought out fugitives on their own or formed groups, such as the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Methods used by Nazi-hunters include offering rewards for information, reviewing immigration and military records, and launching civil lawsuits.

In later decades, Nazi-hunters found greater cooperation with Western and Latin American governments and the state of Israel. By the end of the 20th century, pursuit of former Nazis declined, because most of the generation active in Nazi leadership during the Holocaust had died or reached extreme old age.