"A bad liar": The Israeli who tried to reach Mengele — through his nephew in Switzerland

Swiss documents revealed an unknown chapter in the Israeli hunt for Josef Mengele: In May 1964, a man named "Soker" arrived at an elite boarding school in Montreux, where Karl-Heinz Mengele, the war criminal's nephew and stepson, studied. Soker tried to coax the boy for information on Mengele's hiding place, but the school principal deemed him "a bad liar" and warned him against intelligence activity in Switzerland.

Documents from the Swiss authorities revealed today (Thursday) expose an unknown chapter in Israeli attempts to locate Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele. In May 1964, a man presenting himself as "Soker" arrived at an elite boarding school in Montreux, where Karl-Heinz Mengele, the nephew and stepson of the "Angel of Death of Auschwitz," studied. His goal was to see if he could coax the boy for information leading to Mengele's hiding place. The incident occurred on May 14, 1964, at College Monte Rosa. Soker, about 33 years old, came from Tel Aviv or Jerusalem and initially presented himself as a representative of the World Jewish Congress. He first denied any connection to Israeli intelligence services, but later did not deny it. The school principal described him in a report as "a bad liar" and warned him that espionage activity in Switzerland could be considered a criminal offense. The documents show that the Swiss authorities launched their own investigation. Soker allegedly admitted to working for Israeli intelligence, but the file contains no official Israeli confirmation of his identity. Karl-Heinz left Switzerland about two weeks after the visit. The documents indicate that even after the Mossad's active operation against Mengele in South America was halted, Israeli attempts to find a way to the man who never faced justice apparently continued.