Alois Brunner, Franz Stangl, Gustav Wagner, Aribert Heim - all of them Nazi monsters who deserved the worst of punishments. But these men were just four of the many war criminals of the Holocaust who found refuge in Syria and Egypt after escaping justice following the Second World War.
![[He advised the Syrian dictatorship on torture methods he had learned in roles that included commandant of the Drancy internment camp outside Paris. Above: Inmates at the Drancy camp]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/11/92950183-14172981-He_advised_the_Syrian_dictatorship_on_torture_methods_he_had_lea-a-27_1734263646623.jpg)
Whether it was aiding the missile programme of Egypt's leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, or advising the Syria's Assad regime on torture, many proved to be useful. But there were many other, less talented, apparatchiks who simply benefited from the Middle East's dictatorial regimes' willingness to give them a new home.
![[Brunner was protected from extradition by Hafez al-Assad (left) and then his son Bashar, who was deposed earlier this month]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/11/92952835-14172981-Brunner_was_protected_from_extradition_by_Hafez_al_Assad-a-24_1734263646622.jpg)
'These people helped the regimes in Syria and Egypt to build their capacities for torture, for surveillance, but we shouldn't exaggerate their contributions,' Israeli historian Professor Danny Orbach told MailOnline. He added: 'All sorts of charlatans could pretend to be experts when they were not. Very few were actually helpful. Most of them were third or fourth grade experts.'.
![[Brunner was in charge of Drancy internment camp (pictured) outside Paris]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/11/92950215-14172981-Brunner_was_in_charge_of_Drancy_internment_camp_pictured_outside-a-26_1734263646623.jpg)
Among those who proved less useful was 'murderous' former concentration camp doctor Hans Eisele, who became a 'wreck' of a drug addict in Cairo. But, regardless of whether or not they were helpful to their new benefactors, dozens of Nazis - many of them war criminals - found refuge in the Middle East.
![[Known as the 'Angel of Death', Wagner was regarded as the most hated man at Sobibor (pictured above in 1943)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/11/93088615-14172981-Known_as_the_Angel_of_Death_Wagner_was_regarded_as_the_most_hate-a-22_1734263646558.jpg)
As deputy to Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann, Brunner had overseen the deportations of Jews from countries including France and Austria. He carried out interrogations and torture of inmates which reputedly left blood stains and bullet holes on the walls of his office.
![[During the war, Franz Rademacher (pictured above in 1968) - who had been the head of the 'Jewish Affairs' office in the German foreign ministry - was directly involved in the execution of 1,300 Serbian Jews]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/11/93076221-14172981-During_the_war_Franz_Rademacher_pictured_above_in_1968_who_had_b-a-34_1734263646713.jpg)
