The world’s top Nazi hunters are demanding the truth about a wrecked ‘submarine’ alleged to have helped Hitler escape to Argentina.
The 80m-long wreck was found near Quequén, a port in central Argentina, by the Eslabón Perdido (Missing Link) research group.
And their leader, Abel Basti, believes it was a Nazi submarine that may have carried Hitler to a new life in South America, despite the widely accepted view by most historians that he killed himself in his Berlin bunker in April 1945.
Government divers examined the wreck after its discovery was confirmed last year, but their findings remain shrouded in mystery.
Now the Simon Wiesenthal Center – named for the famed Nazi hunter whose work it continues – is calling for Buenos Aires to end its ‘suspicious’ silence.
German U-boat U-530 at Mar del Plata after its surrender in 1945 in Quequen, Buenos Aires. It is a different vessel to the one that was discovered last year
Group leader Abel Basti believes it was a Nazi submarine that could have smuggled Hitler (pictured in painting) to South America
Ariel Gelblung, director of the center’s Latin America office, said: ‘I think that the government has the obligation to let us know about this – if it’s something real or not.
‘They have to give some opinion because the silence is suspicious.
‘It’s really important to know if it’s a Nazi U-boat or not, because if it is, it will change all the things we know.
‘We know about the ratlines and that the others came by plane, and a lot of people talked about U-boats – but nobody found them.
‘This is the one chance we have where we can understand if it’s a U-boat or another kind of wreck.’
Argentina’s coalition government is currently led by the Justicialist Party, whose founder, Juan Perón, welcomed fleeing Nazis to his country after the war.
For Dr Gelblung, that makes transparency all the more important.
He said: ‘The government that is in power at this moment is from the same line that was Perón.
Photo shows a potential periscope on the shipwreck in images taken by divers
Fabio Bisciotti, who leads the underwater study group at the Italian Naval League, analysed photos of the wreck and found several potential clues. One such clue was a yellow plate, marked with two S-like characters in a familiar font (pictured)
‘So they have to give some answers and they have to compromise with this investigation.
‘They have to say ‘okay we are looking at what we have found and our experts say this or that’ but not silence – silence is not good.’
Dr Gelblung added that he did not believe Hitler settled in Argentina after the war.
‘But what’s really true is that the government in the 40s and 50s helped Nazis to come to Argentina,’ he said.
For now, the Simon Wiesenthal Center is reserving judgement about whether the wreckage was a Nazi submarine.
‘I don’t know – maybe, maybe not,’ said Dr Gelblung.
‘I have to see the results of the investigation.’
Fabio Bisciotti, a diver who leads the underwater study group at the Italian Naval League, analysed photos of the wreck and found several clues that could point to German origin.
He offered to dive the wreck and identify it properly, but said he had no response from the Argentinian government.
In emails in May, Mr Basti said Buenos Aires had killed its probe of the wreckage.
Mr Basti said: ‘The Argentine government has notified me that it will not continue to investigate.
‘It is a political decision – by law they should identify the shipwreck, and verify if it has potential risks, explosives, dangerous substances, fuel, etc.’
Last year, the Argentine Naval Prefecture – which conducted the expedition to the wreck – declined to comment when asked about their dive.
Photo shows part of the wreck, described as a ‘gear or block section
Now shipwreck experts say the wreck could be a German U-boat after all, after analysing new pictures taken by Argentine divers
The Argentine government has been contacted for comment.
One local legend, recounted in 2021 by Argentine newspaper La Arena, says that policeman Luis Mariotti even went to investigate reports of submarines landing in 1945.
He reportedly followed truck tracks from the beach to Moromar, where men with machine guns prevented him from entering.
When he asked for further instructions from his superiors, Mariotti was told to forget the whole matter – or so the story goes.
Declassified FBI documents also include one 1945 account of Hitler reaching Argentina by U-boat, but that was at the Valdes Peninsula – some 400 miles south of the newly-found wreckage.
In any case, Mr Basti’s theory remains controversial.
Even some members of his group, Missing Link, have reportedly distanced themselves from his claims.
Steven Woodbridge, a senior history lecturer at London’s Kingston University, urged scepticism when the wreck was found earlier this year.
‘Until it can be fully verified by the Argentinian authorities one has to tread very carefully,’ he said.
