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1944–1945

Collapse of Nazi Germany

▸ As Allied forces advanced, high-ranking Nazis began planning escape routes.
▸ Key figures, including Adolf Eichmann, Josef Mengele, and Klaus Barbie, seek refuge.
▸ Initial ratlines operate primarily through Germany, Austria, and northern Italy, leveraging tumultuous wartime conditions and sympathetic officials.

1945

Establishment of Formalized Escape Networks

▸ Catholic clergymen in Rome, Genoa, and elsewhere in Italy provided shelter, identity papers, and letters of passage.
▸ Spanish and Portuguese authorities, who issue visas or allow travel under false identities.
▸ Fugitives began moving towards neutral countries (Switzerland, Spain) as staging points for transatlantic departure.

1945–1947

Transatlantic Evacuation

▸ Ships departing various Italian ports (Genoa, Naples).
▸ Flights through Spain and Portugal, often under forged passports.
▸ Financial networks, including Swiss banks, facilitate the laundering of looted assets to fund travel and resettlement.

Notable arrivals: Josef Mengele and Adolf Eichmann to Argentina (late 1940s).

1946–1949

Consolidation in South America

▸ Nazis established new identities, political connections, and business networks.
▸ Countries like Argentina under Juan Perón actively welcomed former Nazis for ideological alignment, technical expertise, or political leverage.
▸ Ratlines also allowed Ustaše, Croatian fascists, and other collaborators to relocate.

1950–1955

Decline and Exposure

▸ Allied intelligence agencies, including Mossad and U.S. counterintelligence, began to track fugitive Nazis.
▸ Public awareness grows with investigations into war criminals living abroad, press exposés, and early Holocaust trials.
▸ Adolf Eichmann remained in hiding until 1960; Klaus Barbie was exposed decades later.
▸ Some ratline facilitators faced historical scrutiny; the Vatican's involvement came under investigation by historians like Simon Wiesenthal and organizations like the Simon Wiesenthal Center.