Franco Protected Nazi Spies Wanted By Allies After Wwii

The Allies sought 104 Nazi secret agents in Spain at the end of World War II, but dictator Francisco Franco refused to hand them over and most lived out their lives there peaceably, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The agents, whose identities were revealed in the daily El Pais, include a man who tortured French citizens in ice baths, a Gestapo agent who planted bombs in crates of Spanish oranges bound for England and a spy responsible for the death of two Canadian pilots trying to get back behind Allied lines.

All but one are dead.

The list of wanted agents, prepared in 1945 by France, Britain and the United States, was shelved in the Foreign Ministry for 50 years while the agents enjoyed the protection of Franco, a friend of Hitler, the newspaper said.