"Fugitives" in Paraguay

     Paraguay has always had a reputation for harboring unsavory characters, fugitives from around the world.  This was particularly true shortly after the end of World War Two.  However, in reality, Paraguay drew all sorts of people, bad and good, who came to that country for a fresh start.   
     Paraguay's "open door" policy to immigrants dates back to the 19th Century, shortly after the end of the disastrous "Triple Alliance War" in which Paraguay went to war against Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay (three countries that surround it), at the same time!  Paraguay lost the bulk of its male population during that war, and as a result, found itself very shorthanded, mostly populated with women.  An open door immigration policy was established to draw immigrants from Europe to fill the void in male population caused by the war.  Frankly, Paraguay was never able to recover from that war to this day.  Currently the female to male ratio runs around 3 to 1, three females for every male.
     In SNAP SHOTS from a Wingshooting Odyssey there are two stories centered around somewhat unusual characters.  In  "Wildeburger of Pirayu" it is a mysterious German shopkeeper who I suspect was a Nazi fugitive. In the "The Gun Collector" it is a South African of German descent who is more of an economic refugee who came to Paraguay for a better life, not to escape or hide from authorities.  There were many such characters in Paraguay in the 1980s.  There were Nazi fugitives who did not even try to hide their true colors.  During Oktoberfest, a very popular holiday in Paraguay,  many old Nazis gathered at one of the many German clubs in Asuncion and celebrated banging beer steins on wooden tables and singing Nazi martial songs.  It was spooky, to say the least!  They were old men, most of them in their late sixties and seventies, some in their eighties. I imagine they have all died off by now, but back in the 1980s when I was in Paraguay, they were very much around!  It is not surprising that the notorious Josef Mengele lived in Paraguay in the 1950s, even managed to get (purchase) Paraguayan citizenship under his own name!  He only left Paraguay when Israeli Nazi hunters were getting too close.
     Although there were Nazi fugitives in Asuncion (capitol city), most hard core Nazis were scattered around the countryside living on large farms and cattle ranches.  German influence was markedly strong in those days.  The Paraguayan army dress uniforms were patterned after the German uniforms, and the dictator/president of the country at the time was of German descent, Alfredo Stroessner.  There were many Germans, and their influence was quite apparent.
     I made the acquaintance of Stroessner's Palace Security Chief, an old Paraguayan Army Colonel by the name of Alejandro Von Eckstein who was in his 70s or 80s!  Von Eckstein was a curious blend of Russian and German.  He was from the Baltic region of Russia and although he was ethnically German, he was educated in Russian schools, so he was completely bilingual, trilingual by the time he came to Paraguay.  His Russian, although heavily accented with German, was completely fluent.  His Spanish had a curious mixture of Russian and German accent, very difficult to understand!  Von Eckstein was not a Nazi, he came to Paraguay in the 1930s to volunteer to fight for Paraguay during the Chaco War when Paraguay fought with Bolivia.  The Paraguayans recruited in Paris among Russian émigré community,  especially those with military background.  Von Eckstein was not a military veteran, but he was a graduate of Russian Kadetski Korpus, a military schooling system.  So his training and knowledge was welcome, since Paraguay didn't have much of an army at the time.
     Von Eckstein's story is fascinating, much like something a Hollywood script writer dreamed up!  I will discuss my brief association with Von Eckstein in the next blog.