Newly Declassified Documents Show Nazis Plotted to Destroy Panama Canal

[Judi Lynn]

George Dvorsky
Friday 10:40am


Investigators in Chile have released thousands of declassified documents dating back to the Second World War, revealing the extent to which Nazi spies had infiltrated the country. Among the more shocking revelations is the discovery of a Nazi plot to destroy the Panama Canal—an act that would have changed “the history of the whole world.”

As reported in Deutsche Welle, the documents were presented yesterday at an unveiling ceremony in Santiago, Chile. The files were finally made public after a petition was filed earlier this year by Chilean deputies who demanded their release. The files will now stay on public display at Chile’s National Archives, and digital versions will be made available online.

“Until yesterday, this was a state secret,” said lawmaker Gabriel Silber, one of the authors of the petition. “Maybe, from today, we are going to recognize an uncomfortable truth that unfortunately some political and business figures in Chile supported the Nazis.”

Indeed, the Nazis had some support in Chile and other Latin American countries during WWII, which is why so many Nazi officials fled to South America after the war. In 1941, after Nazi groups were discovered in the country, the Chilean government set up a special police unit called Department 50 to track these spy rings and thwart their activities.

More:
http://gizmodo.com/newly-declassified-documents-show-nazis-plotted-to-dest-1796363800

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https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016187848

[Boomerproud]

1. My dad was stationed in Panama from 1942-1946.

He was told that he and about 1,200 other soldiers were there because the Army thought the Nazis were going to blow up the Canal because of its strategic significance. Of course he always gave credit (and rightly so) to the men who suffered in combat.

[Judi Lynn]

2. It could easily have become a different story in a flash! Glad that didn't happen. Thanks. n/t