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The Real Odessa
As Russian forces closed in on Berlin and Hitler’s premiership drew to a close, many Nazi officials fled Germany. In this startling, meticulously researched account, acclaimed journalist Uki Goñi unravels the complex network that led them to Argentina. Relying on international support—in Scandinavia, Switzerland, and Italy—and the enthusiasm of the Vatican and President Juan Perón, Goñi shows how this ratline allowed Adolf Eichmann—the architect of the Final Solution—Josef Mengele, Eric Priebke, and many more, into the country. Both riveting and rigorous, this remarkable investigation sheds vital light on both a disquieting episode in Europe’s history and the ties between Argentinian Catholic Nationalism and Fascist movements in Europe.
Hardcover
First published January 10, 2002
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About the author
Uki Goñi
5 books26 followersUki Goñi is an Argentine author, best known for his ground-breaking research into the roles played by the Vatican, Swiss authorities and the government of Argentina in organizing escape routes for Nazi criminals and collaborators.
He has participated in countless documentaries by the BBC, Discovery Channel, History Channel, PBS and other media in the US and Europe.
He writes for The Guardian and The New York Review of Books. He has also written Op-Eds for the New York Times.
During Argentina's 1976-83 dictatorship he worked as a journalist at the Buenos Aires Herald, the only newspaper in Argentina to report on the "disappearance" of thousands of young people kidnapped, tortured and murdered by the military.
Goñi was born in Washington DC, growing up in the US, Argentina, Mexico and Ireland.
He lives in Buenos Aires.
He has participated in countless documentaries by the BBC, Discovery Channel, History Channel, PBS and other media in the US and Europe.
He writes for The Guardian and The New York Review of Books. He has also written Op-Eds for the New York Times.
During Argentina's 1976-83 dictatorship he worked as a journalist at the Buenos Aires Herald, the only newspaper in Argentina to report on the "disappearance" of thousands of young people kidnapped, tortured and murdered by the military.
Goñi was born in Washington DC, growing up in the US, Argentina, Mexico and Ireland.
He lives in Buenos Aires.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
January 28, 2021
Uki Goñi has written a fantastic book with The Real Odessa. His research is considerable as he pieced together the secret trail that spirited Nazi war criminals and collaborators from post WW2 Europe to Argentina under its leader Juan Perón. Argentina at that time was deeply sympathetic to Nazi ideals and even joined the Allies in 1944 in a ruse to make it easier to help Nazis enter Argentina as they escaped allied advances as the Axis powers began to collapse. I’d never heard of a country being a secret agent, but that is precisely what Argentina was at that time pretending to be an Ally when in fact they were clandestinely supporting Nazi Germany. The covert measures worked and resulted in several secret networks being set up around Europe used to help hundreds of convicted war criminals escape to Argentina where they were welcomed by Perón. He saw these Nazis and their sympathizers as ardent anti-communists just as he was. He saw them as anti-capitalist just as he was as well. And they matched his strong anti-Semitic views additionally. So, they were a perfect match for the Peronista Argentina of that time. Even the Vatican, British, and Americans had a hand in supporting this network somewhat. It was a truly shameful coda in history to the most violent war the world has ever known — proving that war makes the oddest bedfellows and allies. While a little hard to follow at times, Goñi has written a brilliant history of this little known chapter of the war that is well worth the read.
September 18, 2025
Although flawed (see the Guardian review at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...) Uki Goni's book is excellent for the solid foundation in fact, rather then highly inaccurate speculations of journalists and novelists, of the post WWII efforts to remove Nazis from justice in Europe by sending them to South America. Nowadays people are more likely to refer to the 'Ratline' then 'Odessa' (and I do recommend 'Ratline' by Philippe Sands and the excellent review of it at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/202... o-got-away) but nomenclature changes the reality of what happened remains the same.
Perhaps unsurprising but always overwhelming depressing is the role of the Catholic Church in Europe and Argentina in aiding and abetting the 'rescue' of former Nazis. It always amazes me that those apologists for Pius XII and the failure of the Catholic Church to find even a fraction of the resources to help or protect the lives of even Jewish converts such Edith Stein (read her Wikipedia entry at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_S... and weep) later devoted to saving Nazis. But I do admire the 'universal' church's consistency in its sympathy to mass murderers; it is identical to the 'universal' attitude adopted towards pedophiles in its midst, ignore, pretend they don't exist, lie and if all else fails blame others.
An excellent book but not the only one you should read.
Perhaps unsurprising but always overwhelming depressing is the role of the Catholic Church in Europe and Argentina in aiding and abetting the 'rescue' of former Nazis. It always amazes me that those apologists for Pius XII and the failure of the Catholic Church to find even a fraction of the resources to help or protect the lives of even Jewish converts such Edith Stein (read her Wikipedia entry at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_S... and weep) later devoted to saving Nazis. But I do admire the 'universal' church's consistency in its sympathy to mass murderers; it is identical to the 'universal' attitude adopted towards pedophiles in its midst, ignore, pretend they don't exist, lie and if all else fails blame others.
An excellent book but not the only one you should read.
February 6, 2020
Not quite as bad as Gerald Steinacher's book "Nazis on the Run", but I simply couldn;t get into this.
I recommend reading Andrew Nagorski instead (The Nazi Hunters).
I recommend reading Andrew Nagorski instead (The Nazi Hunters).
March 25, 2022
Excellent work.
Good for those new or well versed on the topic.
It's similar to Ratlines except it's a bit more concrete.
I primarily bought it for the chapter on the Ustasha and the Catholic Church's involvement. The wealth the Ustasha amassed from murdering hundreds of thousands of people is staggering. Ex. 1100 carats of diamonds, 350 million Swiss francs, 350- 500 kilos of gold. Horrific. In Egon Berger's book, I found pictures of "vultures" extracting gold teeth from their victims. Now we know where it went.... It's enough to send a shiver up and down your spine and maybe might make your last meal come up. The Catholic Church helped the Ustasha stash and transport the assets.
This begs the question: where are our reparations? which must surely be in the billions if not trillions.
Goni distressingly notes that many of these fascists mass murderers are not only living in his country of Argentina- many are living on the same street as him! Unsurprisingly, the fascist mass murderers used the the plundered assets to start factories and businesses in Argentina to become even more rich.
"There is no doubt that the Franiscans ran the escape line."
Good for those new or well versed on the topic.
It's similar to Ratlines except it's a bit more concrete.
I primarily bought it for the chapter on the Ustasha and the Catholic Church's involvement. The wealth the Ustasha amassed from murdering hundreds of thousands of people is staggering. Ex. 1100 carats of diamonds, 350 million Swiss francs, 350- 500 kilos of gold. Horrific. In Egon Berger's book, I found pictures of "vultures" extracting gold teeth from their victims. Now we know where it went.... It's enough to send a shiver up and down your spine and maybe might make your last meal come up. The Catholic Church helped the Ustasha stash and transport the assets.
This begs the question: where are our reparations? which must surely be in the billions if not trillions.
Goni distressingly notes that many of these fascists mass murderers are not only living in his country of Argentina- many are living on the same street as him! Unsurprisingly, the fascist mass murderers used the the plundered assets to start factories and businesses in Argentina to become even more rich.
"There is no doubt that the Franiscans ran the escape line."
March 30, 2022
This book is a very detailed description of the efforts of Juan Peron and the Argentine government to allow war criminals and collaborators to find refuge from justice in Argentina. Densely written, the book lays bare not only Peron's actions but also those of the Vatican/Catholic Church. The story is not an unfamiliar one, but the book provides additional and irrefutable proof of the whole sordid affair. Most notable to me was the scene in which Bishop Hudal greeted, literally with open arms and by name, the commandant of Treblinka (the death camp in Poland where at least 750,000 human beings, nearly all of them Jews, were methodically murdered), and helped him continue his escape to Argentina. Germans, Austrians, Croats, Belgians, Slovaks, French, Romanians; all the war criminals and collaborators make an appearance and are helped to safety.
March 28, 2016
Solid, with lots of information, but I couldn't help being confused by all the unfamiliar names.
October 14, 2024
Uki Goñi’s 2022 book is sub-titled ‘How Nazi War Criminals Escaped Europe’ and is an updated version of a book of the same title published in 2002. He has been relentless in delving into old archives in Argentina and Europe, and even the CIA. This testament reveals the people ‘co-mingling in a common cause: a bitter and shared hatred of communism that united the unlikely combination of capitalists, fascists and Catholics into the project known by Nazi sympathisers as the ‘Reich migratory route’.
While it is probably common knowledge that a number of war criminals escaped to Argentina, I for one was surprised at how many succeeded and escaped censure, later dying of old age. There were literally thousands who got away with mass murder.
In the 1970s, Goñi’s newspaper office was inundated with concerned citizens: ‘Daily, mothers of the victims would come in to report their tragedies. Men in green uniforms had broken into their homes in the middle of the night and taken their children from their beds to an unknown destination. They were never to be seen again’ (pxxxii).
Before the war, all nationalities were welcome to Argentina as immigrants. That changed in July 1938: Directive 11 was sent out to all consuls, ordering them to deny visas to Jews trying to reach Argentina. The order only fell into disuse in the mid-1950s and was only repealed in 2005.
Goñi states: ‘I realised that the problem was not the bad guys: the problem was the good guys who out of fear or affinity protected them (the war criminals)’ (pxli)
During the war the Argentine embassy in Madrid served as a transit point for Nazi arms purchased by Argentina. It had the secret support of Franco’s regime, which provided cover for the overland transport of guns and munitions through occupied France to Spanish ports and their conveyance from there in Spanish ships to Argentina’ (p5).
Franco’s Spain was not quite as neutral as it appeared. ‘During the last days of the war neutral Spain became the main safe haven for fugitive Nazis and their French and Belgian collaborators...’ (p65). Spain and Italy aided and abetted by functionaries of the Vatican. Virtually every false passport of the Nazi criminals had the religion stated as ‘Catholic’. In fact, a good number of Jewish passports declared the same religion...
A good number of those who escaped did so with funds, some of which was doubtless passed on to them by Swiss banks. Funds pilfered from their countless victims. The sequestered money was meant to finance a post-war Fourth Reich (p248). Using their ill-gotten gains, many Nazi immigrants contributed to Perón’s election campaign in 1946. Perón dreamed of turning Argentina into a military-industrial power and utilising the many escapees’ expertise in munitions and aircraft-design and build... (p138). The argument went that if Argentina didn’t get the German technicians then the Soviets would (not to mention the Americans and British) (p151). There were many reasons for this: one was that Perón and his Nazi pals believed a Third World War was imminent – against the Russians, probably in 1948.
Moral blindness: the Vatican and Allied intelligence conspired to look the other way regarding the whereabouts of the majority of Nazi war criminals – because they were anti-Communist, against International Marxism...
Goñi provides several biographies of escapees. It is remarkable how many Nazi war criminals were held in prisoner of war camps yet managed not only to escape but also to identify and use appropriate ‘ratlines’ to get them to Argentina.
Compulsive and gripping, these revelations, even at remove in time, are still deeply shocking.
While it is probably common knowledge that a number of war criminals escaped to Argentina, I for one was surprised at how many succeeded and escaped censure, later dying of old age. There were literally thousands who got away with mass murder.
In the 1970s, Goñi’s newspaper office was inundated with concerned citizens: ‘Daily, mothers of the victims would come in to report their tragedies. Men in green uniforms had broken into their homes in the middle of the night and taken their children from their beds to an unknown destination. They were never to be seen again’ (pxxxii).
Before the war, all nationalities were welcome to Argentina as immigrants. That changed in July 1938: Directive 11 was sent out to all consuls, ordering them to deny visas to Jews trying to reach Argentina. The order only fell into disuse in the mid-1950s and was only repealed in 2005.
Goñi states: ‘I realised that the problem was not the bad guys: the problem was the good guys who out of fear or affinity protected them (the war criminals)’ (pxli)
During the war the Argentine embassy in Madrid served as a transit point for Nazi arms purchased by Argentina. It had the secret support of Franco’s regime, which provided cover for the overland transport of guns and munitions through occupied France to Spanish ports and their conveyance from there in Spanish ships to Argentina’ (p5).
Franco’s Spain was not quite as neutral as it appeared. ‘During the last days of the war neutral Spain became the main safe haven for fugitive Nazis and their French and Belgian collaborators...’ (p65). Spain and Italy aided and abetted by functionaries of the Vatican. Virtually every false passport of the Nazi criminals had the religion stated as ‘Catholic’. In fact, a good number of Jewish passports declared the same religion...
A good number of those who escaped did so with funds, some of which was doubtless passed on to them by Swiss banks. Funds pilfered from their countless victims. The sequestered money was meant to finance a post-war Fourth Reich (p248). Using their ill-gotten gains, many Nazi immigrants contributed to Perón’s election campaign in 1946. Perón dreamed of turning Argentina into a military-industrial power and utilising the many escapees’ expertise in munitions and aircraft-design and build... (p138). The argument went that if Argentina didn’t get the German technicians then the Soviets would (not to mention the Americans and British) (p151). There were many reasons for this: one was that Perón and his Nazi pals believed a Third World War was imminent – against the Russians, probably in 1948.
Moral blindness: the Vatican and Allied intelligence conspired to look the other way regarding the whereabouts of the majority of Nazi war criminals – because they were anti-Communist, against International Marxism...
Goñi provides several biographies of escapees. It is remarkable how many Nazi war criminals were held in prisoner of war camps yet managed not only to escape but also to identify and use appropriate ‘ratlines’ to get them to Argentina.
Compulsive and gripping, these revelations, even at remove in time, are still deeply shocking.
Read
June 9, 2024A brilliantly-researched exploration of how Perón's government, Nazis, European war criminals, the Catholic church, and a huge cast of others collaborated to help Nazis guilty of the worst crimes imaginable escape to impunity in Argentina.
For those who think of Peronism in its 21st-century light, as a largely center-left movement, this book contains important and disturbing lessons about Perón's anti-Semitism - which included declining to help Argentine Jews leave Europe during WW2, leading to their murders in concentration camps - and his explicit collaboration with the Nazis.
It also sheds damning light on how the British government was only too happy to turn a blind eye to efforts to see criminals brought to justice to avoid collaborating with Tito's Yugoslavia during the cold war.
With more characters than a Russian novel, the book dives straight into the fine detail in a way that is sometimes hard to follow, replete with extensive lists of political organisations and acronyms that are sometimes taken as assumed knowledge or mentioned just once in hundreds of pages. There is a list of major figures and abbreviations, but it would benefit from more synthetic sections and more diagrams.
Nonetheless, drawing on months of meticulous and persistent archival work combined with interviews, the final result is an impressively original book that feels like it could have been a doctoral thesis. I'm keeping my copy and I'm sure I'll refer back to it.
For those who think of Peronism in its 21st-century light, as a largely center-left movement, this book contains important and disturbing lessons about Perón's anti-Semitism - which included declining to help Argentine Jews leave Europe during WW2, leading to their murders in concentration camps - and his explicit collaboration with the Nazis.
It also sheds damning light on how the British government was only too happy to turn a blind eye to efforts to see criminals brought to justice to avoid collaborating with Tito's Yugoslavia during the cold war.
With more characters than a Russian novel, the book dives straight into the fine detail in a way that is sometimes hard to follow, replete with extensive lists of political organisations and acronyms that are sometimes taken as assumed knowledge or mentioned just once in hundreds of pages. There is a list of major figures and abbreviations, but it would benefit from more synthetic sections and more diagrams.
Nonetheless, drawing on months of meticulous and persistent archival work combined with interviews, the final result is an impressively original book that feels like it could have been a doctoral thesis. I'm keeping my copy and I'm sure I'll refer back to it.
January 6, 2023
Książka to dziennikarskie śledztwo argentyńskiego dziennikarza Ukiego Gonii na temat ucieczek po wojnie nazistowskich, włoskich i chorwackich zbrodniarzy wojennych do Argentyny, jaki miał w tym udział rząd Juana Perona i Watykan. Największą wartością książki jest jej wiarygodność - autor prawie każde napisane zdanie potwierdza odszukanymi / odnalezionymi w archiwach dokumentami. Nie jest to kompletne opracowanie na ten temat - przedstawiony został ogólny mechanizm działania tych ucieczek i opisywane są dokładniej ucieczki kilkunastu zbrodniarzy na których autor się skupił (szacuje się, że do Argentyny uciekło/wyemigrowało po wojnie nawet kilkadziesiąt tysięcy Niemców, Włochów i Chorwatów). Minusem książki jest może niekiedy zbyt naukowy jej charakter - podawane są suche fakty i daty, dlatego czyta się to niekiedy dość ciężko. Książka warto jednak przeczytać - bo otwiera ona oczy na to jak po wojnie zwycięscy alianci przymykali oko na unikanie kary przez nazistowskich zbrodniarzy, jaka była ich moralność (lub jej brak).
September 9, 2024
Well researched book involving many countries and people who were prime players in the WWII atrocities.
These men were high ranking German officials and officers who profited from the plunder of Jewish people in every country the Germany invaded. Money was transferred to bank accounts using fake names and used to transport these people to Argentina with the open welcome from Juan Peron and his wife Évita.
It describes in detail the passages and escapes that were extremely successful and a few failures.
It followed the war criminals from their highest achievements to their lowest moments.
These men were high ranking German officials and officers who profited from the plunder of Jewish people in every country the Germany invaded. Money was transferred to bank accounts using fake names and used to transport these people to Argentina with the open welcome from Juan Peron and his wife Évita.
It describes in detail the passages and escapes that were extremely successful and a few failures.
It followed the war criminals from their highest achievements to their lowest moments.
April 14, 2019
As expected, this was a truly insightful read. Gōni exposed the bleak truths about the network that allowed hundreds of Nazi war criminals, including Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele to flee to Argentina at the end of the war.
It is a remarkable and shocking research. I am lucky I haven't lived through those years, but I do suspect much more filth is around and working behind the scenes nowadays.
Recommended and 5-starred.
It is a remarkable and shocking research. I am lucky I haven't lived through those years, but I do suspect much more filth is around and working behind the scenes nowadays.
Recommended and 5-starred.
July 21, 2025
Solid book. Facinating coverage of an aspect of the war i knew next to nothing about and was stunned to learn of the massive scope. The author more than prooves his case, while the th3 story may sound ludacrus in places it's always backed with documentation. What stops it being great though is the sheer amount of names and reeling off of lists, it forms a massive part of the book and just makes it a little dry and catalogue like. Can't fault the research though
September 19, 2025
Impressive work from the author to not only retrieve the array of information accurately but also to give such a succinct, interesting and ominous report of one of histories biggest ‘scandals’.
Although the pure array of individuals and institutes can be overwhelming, this book is a great and intriguing read.
This book comes highly recommended by myself especially due to the exposure it precedes to portray of WWII in a broader understanding.
Although the pure array of individuals and institutes can be overwhelming, this book is a great and intriguing read.
This book comes highly recommended by myself especially due to the exposure it precedes to portray of WWII in a broader understanding.
November 10, 2021
A detailed history of post WWII escape route to South America.
I found this book to be very informative but not an easy read. Extremely detailed and overly footnoted, it was much akin to a textbook. I like to read at night prior to sleeping and I found myself dozing on several occasions.
I found this book to be very informative but not an easy read. Extremely detailed and overly footnoted, it was much akin to a textbook. I like to read at night prior to sleeping and I found myself dozing on several occasions.
December 14, 2023
Meticulously researched this book gives you detailed insight into the Peron government and their efforts to save Nazi war criminals. I was more interested in how the criminals sustained themselves as fugitives on the run so I was disappointed. As the author says at the start, this is more so a book about the Argentine government at the time
May 6, 2025
Well written but quite dense, could have used a bit more structure.
Reading this after Eichmann in Jerusalem helped make sense of why Mossad kidnapped Eichmann, since Argentina was essentially ignoring repatriation requests from Europe of those responsible for war crimes.
Shocking. But makes all too much sense.
Reading this after Eichmann in Jerusalem helped make sense of why Mossad kidnapped Eichmann, since Argentina was essentially ignoring repatriation requests from Europe of those responsible for war crimes.
Shocking. But makes all too much sense.
October 14, 2018
Good but difficult
Great research and historical info
Hard to follow all the different characters and paths by which the criminals escaped.
Could have been better organized and written
A more detailed final summary would have been helpful.
Great research and historical info
Hard to follow all the different characters and paths by which the criminals escaped.
Could have been better organized and written
A more detailed final summary would have been helpful.
September 19, 2019
An in depth look at Argentina during the Peronista period and its relationship with Nazi Germany and all things fascist. It is based in the Catholicism of the country and the anti communist bias but it goes much deeper. The dealings with the Nazis precede the 2nd World War and it does well beyond its ending. It tells the story of how the different regimes in Europe were able to wend their way to a very hospitable Argentina, in fact they were courted and treated as brothers. All the top people, from France, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Croatia who were not initially identified by the allies found escapes through Spain, Switzerland and mainly the Vatican. It is chilling that they were all accepted into Argentinian society and all given jobs. Many were employed by the government and almost all others were employed by industry that was government related. It is a really chilling tale.
October 11, 2020
I really enjoyed this book! It is an interesting investigative work and a great book that documents the first contacts between Perón and the Nazis based on unpublished documents and interviews with the people involved. Highly recommended!
May 24, 2022
Excellent although extremely detailed in parts. Did not understand the level of complicity of the Perons and moreover the whole of the Catholic church. Also was amazing to learn how to this day that denial of aiding nazi war criminals is still present in modern Argentina at an institutional level
March 3, 2020
A great book about the connections between Nazi Germany and Argentina. The story about how the author found key archival documents in Buenos Aires is also very interesting.
Read
August 18, 2020A very good book, a picture gallery would have been a nice addition though.
September 21, 2021
Rörig och full med namn som gör att man tappar tråden. Oviktiga detaljer skymmer de intressanta och gör att jag ständigt går vilse som läsare.
September 18, 2023
Best piece I have read on Perón’s project to rescue Nazi’s in Argentina. Quite detailed info and evidence which made it sometimes hard to get trough and got me off track what the evidence was proving
June 29, 2024
Very good book
Wpw! It's amazing how many worked together to save criminals that should have been tried. These individuals should have been rounded up too.
Wpw! It's amazing how many worked together to save criminals that should have been tried. These individuals should have been rounded up too.
February 5, 2025
Sparsely endnoted, but otherwise does a superb job of dispelling the ludicrous fantasies promulgated by Fredrick Forsyth and Jack Higgins
April 8, 2024
Disappointment
What ever respect I had for the Catholic Church during the 1940’s has been greatly diminished by the actions taken by the Vatican and its subordinates reflected in this writing. I don’t believe they were for humanitarian reasons but driven by greed for gold, silver and currency.
What ever respect I had for the Catholic Church during the 1940’s has been greatly diminished by the actions taken by the Vatican and its subordinates reflected in this writing. I don’t believe they were for humanitarian reasons but driven by greed for gold, silver and currency.
October 28, 2022
Very well researched & therefore horrifying account of the ratline from Europe to Argentina, with massive help from Peron, the Vatican, former & current nazis, and the incompetence & disinterest of the Brits & the Americans. The fact that Mengele and Eichmann's families traveled to Argentina under their own names but no one put 2 +2 together is astounding. So many other nazi luminaries about whom I did not know much also made their way to a very comfortable haven in Argentina. The author is to be commended since brick walls were put up in front of him every step of the way.
November 17, 2025
Uki Goñi’s The Real Odessa is a masterful, meticulously researched investigation into one of the least-examined—and most unsettling—chapters of post–World War II history. Drawing on archival records, declassified intelligence documents, and interviews conducted over years of inquiry, Goñi exposes the extensive network that helped Nazi and fascist fugitives escape Europe and rebuild their lives in Argentina under Juan Perón’s government.
What sets this book apart is the clarity with which Goñi traces the structural, institutional, and diplomatic mechanisms that enabled the “ratlines.” He moves far beyond myth or rumor, producing a forensic, evidence-driven account of collaboration between Argentine officials, Catholic Church figures, European sympathizers, and even elements of Allied intelligence. His findings are both compelling and disturbing: the welcoming of war criminals was not a fringe operation run by rogue actors—it was an organized, state-supported endeavor.
Goñi’s narrative skill keeps the book accessible even as it navigates dense material. He brings to life the stories of notorious figures—such as Erich Priebke, Josef Mengele, and Ante Pavelić—showing not only how they escaped justice but how comfortably they settled in their new homeland. The author’s ability to interweave individual sagas with macrohistorical analysis gives the book emotional resonance as well as scholarly heft.
The prose is sober, restrained, and careful, which lends additional authority to the work. Goñi never sensationalizes; instead, he lets the documents—and the moral implications—speak for themselves. His critical stance toward Perón’s government is grounded in primary evidence, making The Real Odessa both a historical exposé and a piece of investigative journalism of exceptional integrity.
For readers interested in postwar politics, Latin American history, Holocaust studies, or the shadowy world of intelligence and clandestine operations, this book is indispensable. It reshapes our understanding of Argentina’s mid-century role on the global stage and confronts a troubling legacy with courage and precision.
The Real Odessa is not only a work of historical importance—it is a stark reminder of how political ideology, geopolitical opportunism, and institutional complicity can converge to shield some of the worst criminals in history.
What sets this book apart is the clarity with which Goñi traces the structural, institutional, and diplomatic mechanisms that enabled the “ratlines.” He moves far beyond myth or rumor, producing a forensic, evidence-driven account of collaboration between Argentine officials, Catholic Church figures, European sympathizers, and even elements of Allied intelligence. His findings are both compelling and disturbing: the welcoming of war criminals was not a fringe operation run by rogue actors—it was an organized, state-supported endeavor.
Goñi’s narrative skill keeps the book accessible even as it navigates dense material. He brings to life the stories of notorious figures—such as Erich Priebke, Josef Mengele, and Ante Pavelić—showing not only how they escaped justice but how comfortably they settled in their new homeland. The author’s ability to interweave individual sagas with macrohistorical analysis gives the book emotional resonance as well as scholarly heft.
The prose is sober, restrained, and careful, which lends additional authority to the work. Goñi never sensationalizes; instead, he lets the documents—and the moral implications—speak for themselves. His critical stance toward Perón’s government is grounded in primary evidence, making The Real Odessa both a historical exposé and a piece of investigative journalism of exceptional integrity.
For readers interested in postwar politics, Latin American history, Holocaust studies, or the shadowy world of intelligence and clandestine operations, this book is indispensable. It reshapes our understanding of Argentina’s mid-century role on the global stage and confronts a troubling legacy with courage and precision.
The Real Odessa is not only a work of historical importance—it is a stark reminder of how political ideology, geopolitical opportunism, and institutional complicity can converge to shield some of the worst criminals in history.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews