Walter Rauff

Hermann Julius Walther Rauff, also Walther Rauff (19 June 1906 – 14 May 1984) was a mid-ranking SS commander in Nazi Germany. From January 1938, he was an aide of Reinhard Heydrich firstly in the Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst or SD), later in the Reich Security Main Office. He worked for the Federal Intelligence Service of West Germany (Bundesnachrichtendienst) between 1958 and 1962, and was subsequently employed by the Israeli secret service. He sailed to South America in December 1949 and landed in Ecuador, initially living in Quito. He was described in a documentary on the History Channel as one of the seven most dangerous Nazis who fled to South America after World War II. Rauff escaped an Allied internment camp in Italy and then was able to hide in Italian monasteries. He was able to live in Quito, Ecuador, for almost ten years after World War II, departing in 1958 and travelling to Chile before returning to Germany in 1960 to collect his German Navy pension. After this Rauff was recruited by Augusto Pinochet. Rauff played a role in the creation of the Chilean internal security apparatus during the military dictatorship. His funeral in Santiago, Chile was attended by several former Nazis. Rauff is accused of being responsible for nearly 100,000 deaths during World War II. Among other actions, he was instrumental in the use of mobile gas chambers for the execution of prisoners. He was arrested in 1945, but subsequently escaped and was never brought to trial.