After decades of refusing access, Swiss government officials have reversed their position and will now permit researchers to examine classified documents related to Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele, according to Swiss media reports.
The documents, which detail Mengele’s activities while in Switzerland, have been stored under strict security measures at the Swiss Federal Archives. Switzerland’s Federal Intelligence Service had consistently denied all requests to view the materials, including a rejection as recently as February 2026.
A legal challenge to that denial is still working its way through the Federal Administrative Court. Officials now say the person who filed the appeal will be permitted to review the documents under terms that are still being developed, and these same guidelines will govern future access requests.
Known as the “Angel of Death,” Mengele performed horrific medical experiments on prisoners at the Auschwitz death camp during World War II. Following Germany’s defeat, he escaped to South America but eventually made at least one return trip to Europe as a tourist, which included time spent in Switzerland.
The Swiss government’s Bergier Commission, created in 1996 to investigate how Swiss financial institutions managed Holocaust victims’ assets, had previously studied Mengele’s Swiss connections.
Even after that investigation concluded, Swiss authorities chose to place additional security restrictions on the Mengele documents in December 2001. From that point forward, the files have been essentially off-limits to both academic researchers and the general public.
Recent parliamentary motions filed by Swiss lawmakers requesting more details about Mengele’s Swiss activities have brought fresh focus to the controversy.
Government officials explained that their policy change resulted from a recent review they characterized as creating a “new situation,” though they did not elaborate on what specific circumstances led to the decision.
The upcoming document release is anticipated to shed light on previously unknown details of Mengele’s time in Switzerland, although officials have not yet determined exactly what information will be made available or under what conditions.
