More than 200 publications and book covers on Nazism and its doctrine were seized on Wednesday in a clandestine printing press in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, the owner of which was arrested, the police announced on Wednesday September 13, 2023. Police boss Juan Carlos Hernandez told a news conference: “We are stunned by the quantity of material found. It’s a historic catch. It is a real printing house specializing in the distribution and sale of symbols and Nazi indoctrination books.
Police made this seizure in a house in San Isidro, 25 km north of the Argentine capital, after a two-year investigation. The complaint leading to the investigation was filed in 2021 by the Delegation of Argentine Jewish Associations (DAIA) and was received by the terrorism investigation unit of the Argentine Federal Police (PFA).
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The seized material was sold in e-commerce stores “with a high level of consumption and consultation,” said Juan Carlos Hernandez. “And we do not exclude that this is the tip of an iceberg. For now, we have cut off the distribution lines, but the law also punishes those who consume such publications,” he added.
Displaying and selling symbols or works encouraging adherence to Nazism violates Argentine law because, in particular, the country has been a refuge for war criminals and criminals against humanity, such as Adolf Eichmann and Klaus Barbie, during and after World War II. But it is important to note that by a curious historical paradox, Argentina also welcomed Jews fleeing persecution and extermination camps such as the grand master of Polish origin, Miguel Najdorf.
In 2019, a set of 83 Nazi objects, seized by police in Buenos Aires two years earlier, had already been handed over to the Argentine Holocaust Museum. These objects, most of them coming from Germany, were discovered by a collector in June 2017, in the northern suburbs of the capital Buenos Aires.
