The Vatican Ratlines - How the Ustaše Escaped

The "Ratlines" were secret escape routes for Nazi and Ustaša criminals after the Second World War, organised with significant help from the Vatican.

What are the Ratlines?

Definition: The secret routes and support network that enabled war criminals to flee from Europe to South America, mainly between 1945 and 1950. The main destinations:

• Argentina (the Perón regime) - received the most
• Brazil
• Chile
• Paraguay
• Bolivia

How did it work?

A typical route:

1. Austria/Germany → Hiding in monasteries
2. Italy (Rome, Genoa) → Obtaining false documents
3. A port (Genoa/Naples) → A ship to South America
4. Argentina/Brazil → A new life under a false name (or the real one!)

• Issuing false Church identities ("identity papers")
• Accommodation in monasteries while waiting for a ship
• Money for the journey - the Vatican Bank
• Contacts in South America - the Catholic Church there assisted their arrival

Key figures in the Vatican

• Bishop Alois Hudal (a German in Rome)
  • Rector of the German Catholic church in Rome
  • Personally organised the escape of hundreds of Nazis
  • Considered "communism" a greater threat than Nazism
  • Issued false passports with a Vatican seal
• Monsignor Krunoslav Draganović (a Croatian priest in Rome)
  • THE CHIEF ORGANISER of the Ustaše escape
  • Worked in the Vatican Institute for Refugees (the Croatian Catholic Committee)
  • Personally helped at least 300-500 Ustaše to escape
  • Maintained contacts with Ante Pavelić while he was in hiding
  • Worked for the CIC (American intelligence services) - a double agent
• Pope Pius XII
  • Never officially condemned the NDH or Jasenovac during the war
  • According to some historians, knew of the Ratlines and approved of them
  • According to others, was not directly involved
  • In any case - he did not stop the Ratlines

The special "Ustaša route"

For the Ustaše there was a special organised route:

1. Zagreb/Austria - hiding after the fall of the NDH (May 1945)
2. Austria - monasteries - accommodation in Catholic monasteries
3. Rome - Draganović - arrival at Monsignor Draganović's
4. San Girolamo - the Croatian college in Rome, a "safe house" for the Ustaše
5. False passports - the International Red Cross (bribed or deceived)
6. The port of Genoa - a ship to Argentina
7. Buenos Aires - a welcome from the Croatian émigré community

How many Ustaše escaped?

Estimates:

• Official estimate (historians): 3,000-5,000 Ustaše
• Some sources: up to 10,000

• Ante Pavelić - the leader of the NDH, fled to Argentina in 1948.
• Vjekoslav "Maks" Luburić - organiser of the camps, Spain
• Dinko Šakić - commander of Jasenovac, Argentina
• Hundreds of others - officers, camp guards, members of the Ustaša police

The American role

Surprisingly, the American intelligence services (CIC, CIA) were aware of the Ratlines and used them:

• Anti-communism - the Cold War began in 1947.
• Some Nazis/Ustaše were used as agents against Yugoslavia/the USSR
• Krunoslav Draganović - worked for the American CIC while helping the Ustaše
• Klaus Barbie (the Nazi "Butcher of Lyon") - the Americans got him out via the Ratlines

Documentation

The existence of the Ratlines is documented through:

• CIC files (CIA, declassified in the 1980s-1990s)
  • The file "La Vista Report" (1947) - an American report on the Ratlines
  • The document "Draganovic Operations" - the activities of the Monsignor
• Simon Wiesenthal - investigated the Ratlines for decades
• The Vatican archives - partially opened in 2020 (the documents of Pope Pius XII)
• The Argentine archives - lists of immigrants under false names
• Photographs - Ustaše in Argentina with Pavelić

Example: Ante Pavelić

Ante Pavelić, the leader of the NDH and the man chiefly responsible for Jasenovac:

• May 1945 - Escape from Zagreb towards Austria
• 1945-1946 - Hid in Austria in a monastery
• 1946-1948 - Lived in Rome, in the Vatican (!) or nearby
• 1948 - Obtained a false passport under the name "Pablo Aranjos" (or similar)
• November 1948 - Arrived by ship in Buenos Aires
• 1948-1957 - Lived in Argentina, worked as an "adviser" to the Perón government
• 1957 - An assassination attempt (by the Yugoslav intelligence services), he was wounded
• 1957-1959 - Fled to Spain (Francisco Franco took him in)
• 1959 - Died in Madrid of the consequences of his injuries

The Vatican's position today

• The Vatican has never officially acknowledged systematic help with the Ratlines
• 2020 - Pope Francis opened the archives of Pope Pius XII (partially)
• Historians found evidence of Draganović's activities
• The Vatican claims: "These were individual actions, not official policy"

Why did the Vatican help?

Historians offer several explanations:

• Anti-communism - the Vatican considered communism the greater threat
• Catholic solidarity - the NDH was a "Catholic state"
• The Cold War - the Americans pressed for anti-communists to be used
• Naivety/deception - some Church officials believed the false stories of the Ustaše

Consequences

• Justice evaded - thousands of criminals were never punished
• Victims without satisfaction - the families of the victims never saw justice
• Ustaša communities abroad - continued their propaganda from Argentina, Canada, Australia
• A historical lesson - the power of institutions to protect criminals

"The Vatican saved more Nazis and Ustaše than it saved Jews during the Holocaust. That is a historical fact." - Simon Wiesenthal