Argentina exposes Nazi symbolism in shocking weapons and memorabilia raid

Argentine police have arrested a man in Buenos Aires after discovering a significant collection of Nazi weapons and memorabilia at his residence.

Authorities seized over 60 firearms, including 43 rifles bearing the Nazi eagle emblem, 15 pistols, five bayonets, and a machine gun, according to Argentina’s federal police.

In addition to the firearms, police also confiscated Nazi flags, military uniforms, helmets, and busts of Adolf Hitler, Caliber.Az reports referencing foreign media.

The raid was part of an operation aimed at enforcing Argentina’s national anti-discrimination laws, with support from the Buenos Aires Holocaust Museum.

The objects were discovered in a home in Quilmes, a city on the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires. The suspect had been under investigation after travelling abroad and being implicated in a probe initiated by the federal police of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

This seizure comes as part of ongoing efforts by Argentine authorities to combat the spread of Nazi ideology. Argentina, historically a haven for fleeing Nazi officials after World War II — including notorious figures such as Adolf Eichmann — has long struggled with the legacy of its post-war connections to Nazi fugitives.

In 2023, Argentine authorities raided and shut down a bookstore in Buenos Aires that was selling Nazi and anti-Semitic publications, following a two-year investigation led by the Jewish community. The store sold books featuring Nazi symbols like swastikas and iron crosses, as well as propaganda from the regime. Marcos Cohen from the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations, which filed the legal complaint, expressed his shock, saying, "We are stunned by how profuse the material is. I don't remember anything like this being found before."

Displaying Nazi symbols is a criminal offence in Argentina. During the raid in the San Isidro district of Buenos Aires, one person was arrested.

Argentina is home to the largest Jewish community in Latin America, with many Jewish immigrants arriving following the Spanish Inquisition, pogroms in Eastern Europe, and the horrors of World War II. Despite the country’s longstanding Jewish community, Argentina has also seen the rise of several anti-Semitic groups. In 1994, the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires killed 85 people and injured hundreds, underscoring the ongoing tension surrounding the country’s complicated history with Nazi ideology and anti-Semitism.

By Tamilla Hasanova