A simple house sale advertisement in Argentina has unraveled an 80-year-old mystery involving Nazi war crimes, stolen art, and a carefully constructed new identity in South America. When Patricia Kadgien posted photos of her family's coastal home in Mar del Plata for sale last month, she unknowingly revealed a painting that had been missing since World War II – a discovery that would expose her father's dark past as a high-ranking Nazi official and financial mastermind.
The painting, "Portrait of a Lady" by 17th-century artist Giuseppe Ghislandi (1655-1743), had been stolen from Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Goudstikker, who died in 1940, was forced by Adolf Hitler's regime to surrender his valuable collection of more than 1,100 works. The portrait, which dominated the living room in the Mar del Plata house photos, had been sought by Dutch authorities for decades.
Friedrich Gustave Kadgien (1907-1978) was no ordinary Nazi official. Characterized as "a snake" by Allied officers who tried to arrest him in 1945, he served as a close collaborator to war criminal Hermann Göring and was known as the "financial wizard of Nazism." From 1938, Kadgien worked as Göring's right-hand man, playing a crucial role in purchasing foreign currency for the Nazi regime and orchestrating the systematic plunder of German-occupied territories during the war.
As Nazi defeat became inevitable, Kadgien began meticulously planning his escape. He shipped diamonds and other valuables to Switzerland, where he settled in 1945 alongside his partners Ernst Rudolf Fischer, an official from the Third Reich's Ministry of Economics, and Ludwig Haupt, a businessman. With the help of Swiss lawyer Ernst Imfeld and his wife Tony – who were instrumental in helping their German friends evade Allied officials – they created a company called Imhauka (an abbreviation of Imfeld, Haupt, and Kadgien). Through this and other companies, they allegedly laundered much of their stolen wealth.
Kadgien's post-war life in South America was one of calculated reinvention. After spending time in Brazil, where the partners purchased 85,000 hectares of land, he settled in Buenos Aires around 1950. There, he established himself as a wealthy businessman, selling German weapons to the Brazilian military regime and representing companies like Siemens before Juan Perón's government. He acquired extensive land holdings and started a new family after his first wife's death, living in the affluent suburb of Vicente López on the outskirts of the Argentine capital.
The recent recovery of the Ghislandi painting has opened a broader investigation into Kadgien's stolen art collection. During searches of properties owned by Patricia Kadgien and her sister Alicia, law enforcement officers discovered numerous other antique works, including prints, plates, drawings, and engravings of various kinds. Among the finds were two paintings that experts believe date to around 1840, depicting male figures with ornate carved wooden frames. All items will be examined by specialized experts to determine whether they were stolen by the Nazis.
One particularly intriguing mystery involves a second stolen work from Goudstikker's collection – a still life by Dutch artist Abraham Mignon (1640-1679). The Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands records show that this oil on canvas work, measuring 88 by 66.5 centimeters and depicting flowers, fruit, and small animals, also ended up in Kadgien's possession in the mid-1940s. While investigators didn't find it during their raids, a strikingly similar painting appears in Facebook photos posted by Alicia Kadgien in 2011 and 2012, where she poses with others inside a house with the artwork visible in the background.
Adding another layer of complexity to the case, Buenos Aires's National Museum of Decorative Art currently exhibits a still life almost identical to the missing Mignon work as part of its permanent collection. This piece is attributed to Dutch artist Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750). Some experts suggest that Ruysch may have been creating an imitation of Mignon's work, while others suspect that the authorship of one of the paintings may have been misassigned, either accidentally or deliberately. Such confusion is not unprecedented in the art world, as there are other works whose attribution to either Mignon or Ruysch remains uncertain.
The legal proceedings surrounding the case have revealed the extent of the alleged cover-up. Patricia Kadgien, 59, and her husband Juan Carlos Cortegoso have been detained for 72 hours and are prohibited from leaving the country. They face charges of aggravated accessory after the fact, with prosecutor Carlos Martínez explaining that "the underlying crime being covered up is particularly serious: robbery in the context of genocide." The charges stem from allegations that they were aware of the painting's importance and value, with investigators claiming to have evidence that they had previously attempted to sell the work.
Patricia Kadgien has maintained her innocence, filing a lawsuit in civil court to claim ownership of "Portrait of a Lady." She argues that "the work I owned and exhibited for more than 35 years belonged to my father and was legitimately owned," claiming it was purchased by a sister of her father's first wife in February 1943. She insists she only learned through recent media coverage that the painting was stolen, stating, "I was extremely surprised, given that I never hid this painting from third parties."
Investigators remain skeptical of these claims, pointing to the couple's behavior after the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad revealed the painting's presence in their home. Rather than immediately cooperating with authorities, they allegedly hid and concealed the artwork, only handing it over days later through their lawyer when they were already under house arrest. This pattern of behavior, prosecutors argue, suggests prior knowledge of the work's problematic provenance.
The case has broader implications for understanding Argentina's role as a haven for Nazi war criminals. The Commission for the Clarification of Nazi Activities in Argentina estimated that at least 180 war criminals arrived in the country between 1946 and the mid-1950s, taking advantage of Argentina's openness to former Third Reich leaders and officials. Friedrich Kadgien's name now joins the ominous list that includes notorious figures such as Adolf Eichmann, Josef Mengele, Erich Priebke, and Reinhard Kopps.
Kadgien's transformation from Nazi financial operative to respected Buenos Aires businessman exemplifies the systematic way in which war criminals were able to rebuild their lives in South America. He lived comfortably for decades, his past carefully buried, until his death in 1978 as what appeared to be an illustrious citizen. His remains now rest in the German Cemetery in Buenos Aires, his crimes unpunished and his victims uncompensated.
The judicial investigation is expected to continue for six months, during which time experts will analyze all recovered artworks and trace their provenance. Meanwhile, in the United States, Goudstikker's heirs are claiming ownership of the recovered portrait, setting up what could be a complex international legal battle over restitution. The case serves as a stark reminder that the consequences of Nazi crimes continue to reverberate decades later, and that justice, however delayed, can still emerge from the most unexpected places – even a simple house sale advertisement posted on social media.
