KLM Said to Have Helped Nazis Escape

KLM, the Dutch national airline, says it would welcome an investigation into claims that it helped Nazi war criminals get out of Germany.

Dutch filmmakers working on a documentary found papers in Switzerland that appear to show at least one KLM representative asked the Swiss government in 1948 to allow German nationals across the border without all the required papers, The Times of London reported. The employee is identified only as a Mr. Frick.

KLM officials say some war criminals may have flown to Argentina on its planes but that does not mean the airline assisted them or knew who they were. But Marc Dierikx of the Institute for Netherlands History said documents show that some Germans paid handsomely for assistance and that KLM was intensively involved.

Prince Bernhard — husband of Queen Juliana and father of the present queen, Beatrix — was director of KLM in the late 1940s. Bernhard was born in Germany and his brother served with the German army while the prince was serving with the British Royal Air Force.