You Had Hitler; We Had Mengele
by Brad in Paraguay
Although we had our own fascist dictator who lasted a lot longer than Peron, all that Paraguay got in the way of Nazi notables was Dr. Mengele of death camp fame. He was the sicko who did experiments with twins. He ended up initially in Argentina but eventually came to Paraguay. He settled in the little town of Altos (5 km from my home, actually) and practiced medicine for a number of years as well as produced at least one Paraguayan son of his own.
Once it became common knowledge that he was here, I guess he felt the breath of Mossad kidnap squads getting closer, He went on a vacation to Brazil and supposedly drowned while swimming in a river there. Of course he was buried there. One of the local guys who worked with me for a while doing some construction/renovation at the house drove with me to Altos to get some construction supplies once. He pointed out Mengele’s house. A very old and very unhappy looking lady was sitting out front in a chair glaring at us as we slowed down to check the place out. My tour guide was a bit nervous with being noticed, which I thought was interesting.
I make it a habit now to drive by this house every time I go to Altos. Since it’s in the town square there is nothing outrageous about that but I’ve never seen another living soul there. I’ve read a few articles in various publications that talk about how once Mengele started practicing medicine, a practice which specialized in OB GYN of all things, there was an inordinate number of twins born in the local area. And of course there are “rumors” that many were blond haired/blue eyed, even though they were pure blooded Paraguayans. I don’t doubt he was here and the death in Brazil was faked. And even though his wife and son stayed in the Altos area, whether he came back here or not who knows, not me that’s for sure. But even today, this region of Altos and San Bernardino is crawling with German families who have been settling here since the late 1800s. I went to the local farmers market yesterday and had my fill of bratwurst, German pastries and saw all the German wares being sold–all the while hearing more German spoken than Spanish. The German roots run deep here in this region and through Paraguay but it sounds as if they don’t run as deep as they do in Argentina!
. . . see you next week.
Arlean
Hi Brad: great article!
I have applied for citizenship about 3.5 years ago , after having permanent residency for over 5 years. I am still waiting. I have heard that there are some vacancies on the Supreme Court, that may be preventing me from obtaining citizenship at this time . Has the supreme court have back its 8 judges by now. So you know if anyone is receiving citizenship for the past 3 months or so. Or has the granting of citizenship stopped for now until new judges are appointed. I would appreciate hearing from you.
Chez, I have no idea regarding Supreme Court justices. Very few expats go forward to get their citizenship as the process is a bit more strict than just getting residency. And most don’t stick it out three years or see the need to follow thru with citizenship. In fact I know of no one persoanlly who has done it. It sounds though as you have met the requirements I’m aware of though in that you have been living here permanently for over 3 years. So as long as your application and all the back up documentation is correct and complete I would think that any number of things could slow it up. The biggest being a crooked lawyer who is not doing things correctly or at all. The second thing is just the slow process of the judicial system here in Paraguay. Whether it’s vacancy’s on the Supreme Court I doubt anyone could say for sure. I somehow doubt the Supreme Court involves themselves with citizenship applications. But I could be wrong. I would bet your aware that there are many lawyers you must be very careful of using as they are basically scam artists and prey on expats. If you wonder how your lawyer checks out, go to the FaceBook site “Expats in Paraguay” and ask for a recommendation. You can email me at majbjb@aol.com and I’ll give you the name of the worst offender I’m aware of personally. God help you if your using him. Hopefully your not though and it’s just the usual Paraguayan inefficiency holding things up. Good luck !