800.20235/1–2645

The Chargé in Argentina (Reed) to the Secretary of State

[Extracts]
No. 17175

Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Embassy’s despatch no. 15331 of July 8, 1944,81 transmitting a tabulation of arrests and releases of Axis agents as known on that date, and to subsequent despatches announcing new arrests, notably no. 15842 of August 2681 reporting the round-up of the so-called Utzinger ring. There is enclosed herewith a new list81 compiled by the Office of the Legal Attaché, representing what is in the opinion of the Embassy the most authentic tabulation on the subject to date. …

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Of the 122 suspects arrested (including Herbert Jurmann, who committed suicide), 62 are listed as still in jail. Among these 62 are practically all those whom the Embassy classifies as “bona fide agents”. It should be borne in mind, however, that not a few of the more influential Germans have succeeded, under real or feigned pretexts, in [Page 442] obtaining internment in the German Hospital instead of in prison. …

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Of the 11 Japanese arrested at one time or another, all have been released with the exception of two occidental accomplices, Elias Jofre and Carlos Santa Cruz Poblete. This fact, mentioned in past Embassy despatches, was confirmed recently in the Japanese press, which stated that all the Japanese were free and that their imprisonment had ranged in various cases from 10 to 100 days.

Respectfully yours,

Edward L. Reed
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