Bariloche

Bariloche is a small city on the shore of Nahuel Huapi Lake, and is the jump-off point for visiting the dozens of lakes and mountains in the lake district which is the northern part of Patagonia.  In the winter this is a big ski area.  I arrived early enough on Tuesday to take a tour that I was interested in but that is only given three times a week:  the German footprint tour and Nazi presence.  In two months of touring in Argentina - and I have taken a lot of tours - the only guide to ever mention the Nazis was Rabbi Ernesto on my second day in Argentina, and he focused on the kidnapping of Eichmann.  I have heard a lot about what a great populist Juan Peron was, how much he did for the poor and working class.  But he was president from 1946 to 1955, the period during which Argentina took in many high-profile Nazis, and no one has said a word about Peron’s role.

As it happens, the Bariloche area is the center of a German community in Argentina that arrived in three waves:  disappointed revolutionaries in the mid-19th century, disappointed or displaced people in the interwar years, and refugees after World War II.  According to the guide, fifteen million Germans left in the mid-19th century with thirteen million going to the United States.  The next biggest group - several hundred thousand - came to Argentina which welcomed immigration at that time, and while some stayed in Buenos Aires, many came to the Bariloche region because it is so similar to Bavaria.  Here they established hiking and ski clubs.

There were two ways that Nazis came to Argentina after World War II according to the guide:  the scientific route and the “ratline.”  Peron did welcome several scientists who he hoped would bring nuclear and other technology to the country.  The “ratline” involved false identities and sponsorship by the Vatican.  The guide was not willing to put any blame or even tacit acceptance on Peron.  False papers equals deniability.  But, I said, everyone knew the Nazis were here.  Why were they so accepted?  He said other countries did the same thing including Brazil, Paraguay, Canada, and the US.  Not an answer.  He was quick to assign blame to the Vatican, maybe even the pope, and to draw comparisons to other countries.  He had already discussed the huge 1938 rally in Buenos Aires by over 12,000 Nazi supporters celebrating the Anschluss, and quickly pointed out that it was not the largest such rally in the Americas.  A rally later that year in Madison Square Garden was attended by more than 20,000.  Also, as specific as he was with the number of German immigrants in the 19th century, when I asked if Argentina took in Jewish refugees before and after the war, he said, of course, but was very vague on numbers.  Now I am curious about why so many Nazis came here and how welcoming Argentina was to the Jews.

For the next three days, I took excursions to see the various lakes and mountains.  The first day was the Short Circuit to the nearby mountains.  We took a chair lift to the top of Cerro Companario, and in the afternoon, a gondola and then a chair lift to the top of Cero Cathedral, one of the tallest mountains.  This is the view from the top. The next day we took the route of seven lakes to see …  well, the name is pretty descriptive.  And the third day, a boat ride across the lake to Puerto Blest to see a waterfall.  You could continue from there to cross the Andes to Chile but I returned to Bariloche.

Absolutely beautiful country again, and so different from either southern Patagonia or the Salta area.

I returned to Buenos Aires for my last few days.  When I was here on the night of Carnaval, there was a huge line in front of my hotel.  I tracked it to the end, thinking it was a theater or nightclub, but it went to a pizza place.  Now it was an ordinary Saturday and the line was just as long.  I looked it up online and discovered that this pizza place is reputed to have THE BEST pizza in Buenos Aires.  I’m not willing to stand in line for pizza, so I went there on Sunday for lunch.  Not bad but I’m not sure it was that much better than other pizzas I have had here.

After lunch I went to the Holocaust Museum to get answers to my unanswered questions from Bariloche.  The Holocaust Museum in Buenos Aires is the only holocaust museum in South America.  It turns out that Argentina, which had been very open to immigration in earlier years, passed a law in 1938 refusing immigration to anyone who was stateless and/or had been evicted from their own country.  In other words, Argentina refused to take in refugees of conquest or displacement by the Nazis.  Without using the word “Jewish,” Argentina closed the door to Jews.  During the war, Argentina was neutral until 1944 when they joined the Allies.  After the war, Argentina again refused to take in refugees.  Nonetheless, over 5,000 Jews arrived, most illegally.  In 1949 Argentina granted amnesty to anyone who had arrived illegally.  At first I thought that meant the Nazis, but I realized that they had come with false papers so is that legal or illegal?  Eichman had a pass of safe conduct from the Red Cross.  Now I can understand why the guide in Bariloche was vague to the point of misleading, and I still don’t have an answer to one (well, two) questions:  what did Peron know and why was Argentina so welcoming to fleeing Nazis?

I have been thinking about my son-in-law, Joe, who loves trains and all forms of transportation.  In two months in Argentina I have been on:

• innumerable subways and city buses

• many tour buses

• a train to and from Tigre

• a cruise ship with multiple zodiac excursions

• a ferry to Colonia, Uruguay

• four more boat rides

• two horseback rides

• one gondola and two chair lifts

Except for taxis, I have not been in a car.  I have now had the best pizza in Buenos Aires and can’t think of any more modes of transportation, so I guess it is time to come home.