Even before their defeat in World War II, the Nazis were the subject of all kinds of rumors and hearsay, and since then have become favorite villains for comic books, action films, and video games. Among the many enduring myths surrounding them is the idea of secret Nazi hideouts in South America.
Well now, according to researchers from the University of Buenos Aires and the Museum of La Plata, at least one of those hideouts might be real. Recent explorations of ruins in Teyu Cuare Park in Northern Argentina have revealed evidence that they may have been built to function as a hideout for Nazi officers.
Researchers discovered German coinage minted between 1938 and 1944, the bulk of Hitler’s time in power, and a porcelain plate made in Nazi Germany. That also found German inscriptions and Nazi symbols engraved in the walls. None of this means for sure that the ruin was planned as a hideout, or that it was even built by the Nazis, but it’s a solid hypothesis, and the team is working to find more evidence of the ruins’ origin.
Working there is difficult, but the team is dedicated to putting in the effort. The site was discovered 15 years ago, but researchers have only recently been able to do any real work there. The ruins are also very overgrown, required researchers to cut through vines and moss in order access it.
If built by the Nazis, the ruin was likely intended as a hideout for high ranking officers in the event that they lost the war. Despite the fact that they did lose the war, hideouts such as these, at least in Argentina, ended up being unnecessary. Former Argentinean president Juan Perón, who was in office from 1946 to 1955, welcomed thousands of fleeing Nazi officers after the war.
