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Hunt begins for Nazi 'Dr Death'
More than six decades after he earned the nickname "Doctor Death" for his barbarous experiments on concentration camp inmates, the hunt for Aribert Heim has been rejoined in South America.
- By Harry de Quetteville, Telegraph Group
- Published: 00:04 July 10, 2008
Berlin: More than six decades after he earned the nickname "Doctor Death" for his barbarous experiments on concentration camp inmates, the hunt for Aribert Heim has been rejoined in South America.
Nazi hunters from the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Jerusalem arrived in Santiago, Chile, on Monday to pick up a pursuit that has spanned the globe over almost half a century.
They believe new tip-offs from the public and a concerted effort by local police and intelligence services could finally bring Heim, now 94, to justice.
"The welcoming climate for Nazis in South America has totally changed," said Ephraim Zuroff, the head of the search team, from Santiago on Monday. "The days of dictatorship here and a free pass for Nazis are over." He described Heim as "the principal target" of the two-week mission to Chile and Argentina, and said meetings with senior law enforcement officials had already begun to co-ordinate the hunt.
Reign of terror
Heim's reign of terror at Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria - where he specialised in injecting poison into the hearts of his victims, and where he fashioned a paperweight from the skull of a man he had decapitated - was notorious even by Nazi standards.
In its senselessness, his viciousness exceeded that of Josef Mengele at Auschwitz, some of whose grotesque experiments were conducted to help the German war effort.
But Heim eluded the attention of prosecutors for decades. Only in 1962 was his tranquil post-war existence as a gynaecologist in the spa town of Baden-Baden troubled by investigators. He fled into hiding before he could be arrested.
"The scope of his crimes - he personally murdered hundreds - his cruelty and sadism, all make him the top target for us,"' said Zuroff.
There have been reported sightings of Heim all over the world, from the Balkans to the Middle East. But as with many wanted Nazis, his most likely location is thought to be South America.
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