Switzerland to Open Secret Files on Nazi Doctor Josef Mengele

The Swiss Federal Intelligence Service will grant access to long-sealed files on Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele after years of rejecting requests from historians. The files concern possible visits by Mengele to Switzerland after an international arrest warrant was issued against him in 1959. Historians have long suspected he returned to Europe despite living in South America.

Mengele served as chief physician at Auschwitz from 1943 to 1944. He selected prisoners for the gas chambers and conducted medical experiments on children and twins. He sent about 400,000 people to their deaths, according to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum.

After the war he fled to South America using Red Cross documents obtained under a false identity. Mengele died in Brazil in 1979 at age 67 without facing prosecution for his crimes.

Mengele visited Switzerland at least once in 1956 for a ski vacation with his son. Historians found that his wife rented an apartment in Zurich near the international airport. Zurich police observed an unidentified man entering the flat and placed it under surveillance in 1961.

A historian challenged the decision to keep the files sealed until 2071 by taking Swiss authorities to court. The Swiss Federal Intelligence Service announced this month that the appellant will be granted access subject to conditions yet to be defined.

No date has been set for the release. Historians have expressed concern that the files may be heavily redacted.