The
ODESSA, from the
German Organisation der Ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen, meaning “Organization of Former SS Members,” supposedly was an international
Nazi network set up towards the end of World War II by a group of
SS officers. The purpose of the ODESSA was purportedly to establish and facilitate secret escape routes, later known as
ratlines, to allow SS members to avoid capture and prosecution for war crimes and to escape to
Argentina,
Brazil or the Middle East.