Nazis in Australia: The Special Investigations Unit, 1987–1994

by Mark Aarons (Editor)

The incredible story of the special investigations unit that tracked down the Nazis who called Australia home after World War II.
In 1986 journalist Mark Aarons presented a Radio National series, which established that a significant number of Nazi collaborators and war criminals – particularly from Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania and Yugoslavia – had settled in Australia after World War II.


Aarons' explosive reporting led to the formation in 1987 of the Special Investigations Unit, which investigated over 800 suspected war criminals living in Australia. This book gathers the recollections of historians, archaeologists, police investigators, SIU leaders, translators and lawyers to create a detailed insiders' account of the unit's efforts to prosecute Australian residents and citizens believed to have participated in horrific war crimes.


The SIU left an important legacy. As well as pursuing justice for victims of the Holocaust, it demonstrated that historical investigation of war crimes was possible, even decades later. In the words of former SIU director Graham Blewitt, 'Australia should be proud that, for a brief period in our legal history, we stood up and did the right thing. There was a time when Nazi collaborators living in Australia were wondering when the SIU knock on the door would come.'


'Blewitt and Aarons have given us an unflinching history, beautifully written and devastating to read.' —The Conversation

Genres: History

367 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 11, 2025

About the author

Mark Aarons is an international award-winning investigative reporter and the author of several books on intelligence-related issues. He exposed Nazi war criminals in Australia, where he lives, and prompted changes to Australian federal law.

Reviews

[Mara]

Absolutely a worthwhile read about trials of Nazi collaborators who likely committed war crimes abroad before migrating to Australia in the 50s. Each chapter is written by someone involved in the Special Investigations Unit and/or the trials themselves. There are many interesting perspectives about the importance of the SIU and the trials, even though there were ultimately no convictions. The work of the team was truly remarkable, as is the fact that the government let so many of these collaborators into the country. (And since then, other perpetrators of horrendous actions in conflicts across the world have continued to find safe harbour here.)
As other reviews have mentioned, the book does suffer from poor editing. The chapters could have been organised in a more logical, linear way, and it feels like some information given later in the book would have been more helpful delivered earlier. However, I don't think that should be a deterrent. It's an important piece of Australian history.

[Sam Forrest]

Deeply interesting subject matter that reflects on several spheres of society of great consequence. Details of Government's inner workings, the barriers between legislation, executive and the courts, the strength of Aus' capability in prosecuting war criminals and an expressive, detailed view of acts so horrific.
The book is poorly structured, however, the different accounts repeat on each other and it is genuinely difficult to keep reading as you go on.

[Kim]

great info but not that well written. hard to get all the way through.

[Tony Tone]

This is an excellent history of the special investigations unit which in the late 1980s and early 1999s investigated a number of war criminals from the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia who who been allowed to settle in Australia despite their involvement in the Holocaust.

[Maureen]

How to rate a book so profoundly depressing?
As far back as 1986 Mark Aarons has exposed the fact the Nazi collaborators and war criminals, particularly from Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania and Yugoslavia, settled in Australia after WWII.
It had been no secret that the CIA's covert operations unit settled many high ranking Nazis, including almost the entire collaborator administration of Belarus, into the USA immediately after WWII, but it is perhaps lesser known that many were resettled into Australia. Many of the war criminals in the US were later recruited as anti-communist agents by the FBI.

This book chronicles the Australian Special Investigations Unit which investigated over 800 suspected war criminals living in Australia, this with full support from PM Bob Hawke. Sadly Paul Keating decided that there weren't any votes in chasing Nazis and shut the programme down.

The most startling part of the book for me were the photographs, all of numerous memorials in Australian cemeteries glorifying men who fought on Hitler's side, including mass murderers of Jews and Roma. These graves and sometimes memorial gates or walls, mostly in Melbourne, celebrate those people, proudly displaying the swastika in some cases and in others the Latvian, Estonian or Ukrainian SS symbols. Passers by would likely assume that these memorials honour those who fought against the Nazis, how wrong they would be.

[Rose Mccrink]

This was a very interesting book, however for my liking it jumped all over the place and was quite repetitive. But still well worth reading

[Penelope Connolly]

While this book would have benefited from some restructuring and further editing, it provides a wealth of information about the SIU and the background work behind the 3 court cases.