Files discovered in Argentina reveal the names of 12,000 Nazis who lived there in the 1930s and many had Swiss bank accounts, researchers say.

The US-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre, famous for tracking down Nazis, has asked Credit Suisse to identify the dormant bank accounts.

“We believe that these long-dormant accounts hold monies looted from Jewish victims,” the centre says.

The papers were found in a store room at a former Nazi HQ in Buenos Aires.

Nazi Germany began seizing Jewish property after enacting racist laws in 1935 and a colossal amount was stolen during the Holocaust in the 1940s. Much of that wealth was transferred to secret Swiss bank accounts.

In a letter to Credit Suisse Vice-President Christian Küng, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre says “we are aware that you already have claimants as alleged heirs of Nazis in the list”.

In a statement on its website, the centre says many of the Nazis listed in the Argentinian files “contributed to one or more bank accounts at the Schweizerische Kreditanstalt, which became the Credit Suisse bank”.

In 1930-1938 Argentina had a pro-Nazi military regime led by President José Félix Uriburu, nicknamed “Von Pepe”, and his successor Agustín Pedro Justo.

source bbc.com