FIS publishes the Josef Mengele file

The Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) is publishing the Josef Mengele file held in the Swiss Federal Archives (SFA). The file is therefore now available to anyone interested. Certain passages have been redacted to protect sources and the personal data of third parties.

Following a request for access to the file submitted by a historian, the FIS received numerous further requests. As a rule, federal archive material is made accessible on request, on a case-by-case basis and subject to certain conditions. Access to archived FIS records has generally been restricted, as they regularly contain information subject to source protection.
A different rule applies to archive material evaluated by the Bergier Commission: the Federal Council decision of 7 December 2001 instructs the responsible bodies to make full use of the latitude afforded by the Federal Act on Archiving and to pursue a liberal access policy.
Given the exceptionally high level of public interest and the number of requests received, the FIS has decided not to restrict access to the file to individual applicants viewing it on site under certain conditions. Instead, it is publishing the file on its website. Where statutory source protection applies or the personal data of third parties are affected, that latitude ends – such information has been redacted.
A copy of the file is available for download at this link:
«BAR-Dossier Josef Mengele»
. The unaltered original file remains held at the SFA.
As few redactions as possible
Whenever archived records subject to a protection period are made accessible, a careful balance must be struck between the interests of research and the public on the one hand, and the need to protect information on the other.
The FIS has therefore kept redactions to a minimum. Only information that must be protected has been redacted: the personal data of former and current federal administration employees connected to the FIS and its predecessor organisations; information subject to statutory source protection; and the personal data of third parties whose personality rights take precedence. Publicly known individuals are excluded from this.
The documents remain legible as a whole, and the processes they document remain traceable.
Background
The Josef Mengele file was compiled by the police service of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, a predecessor organisation of the FIS. It was transferred to the Swiss Federal Archives (SFA) in 2001. As the legal successor, the FIS is therefore responsible for handling requests for access to the file.
Under archiving law, the file is subject to an extended protection period until the end of 2071. On the basis of the Federal Act on Archiving and the Intelligence Service Act (ISA), the FIS had previously rejected requests for access, most recently in February 2026. The historian appealed against this decision to the Federal Administrative Court.
In the course of the appeal proceedings, clarifications with the SFA showed that the request had to be assessed on the basis of the Federal Council decision of 7 December 2001 on the archiving of records of the Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland – Second World War (ICE / "Bergier Commission"). There is no list showing which files fall under this decision, nor are the relevant files marked as such in the archive material. Until then, the FIS therefore had no way of knowing that the Josef Mengele file was among them.
In May 2026, the FIS announced that it would reconsider its ruling (see press release of 4 May 2026). On 8 September 2026, it issued a new ruling and released the file with redactions.
Review of access practice
The FIS has taken this case as an opportunity to review its access practice for archived records more generally. It is also involving the SFA in this process. This work is ongoing.