Early life Riphagen was born as the eighth child into a Dutch family in
Amsterdam. Riphagen's father worked for the
Royal Dutch Navy, while his mother, a
homemaker, died when he was six years old. His father married a second time but did not take care of the children because he was an alcoholic. At the age of 14, Dries Riphagen was sent to the notorious merchant-navy training center "Pollux". From 1923 to 1924, he went to sea as an ordinary seaman. He stayed in the United States for two years working for
Standard Oil, during which time he came into contact with local criminal circles and learned their methods. His subsequent nickname, "
Al Capone", came from this time in the United States. After his return from the United States, Riphagen joined the
National Socialist Dutch Workers' Party (NSNAP, aimed to be the Dutch version of Hitler's
NSDAP), an extremely anti-Semitic minor party whose aim was that the Netherlands should become a province of the German Reich. He became one of the foremost figures of the Amsterdam underworld, known among the pimps on the Rembrandtplein, and developed a taste for jewellery, precious stones, gambling, as well as dealing in used—sometimes stolen—cars. In May 1946, Riphagen was held in
Huesca, Spain, because he lacked the necessary personal papers. He was imprisoned but on the intervention of a Jesuit priest he was released on bail, under the order to get his papers rectified. He obtained a
Nansen passport and Frits Kerkhoven provided him with clothes and shoes in which diamonds that he had deposited with Kerkhoven were hidden. When he was about to be extradited to the Netherlands—he was now living in Madrid—he flew to Argentina on 21 March 1948 with a friend. His contact address there was also that of a Jesuit priest, but nothing is known of any connection with the
ratlines. The Dutch ambassador in
Buenos Aires, Floris Carcilius Anne Baron van Pallandt, made a request for extradition, based on lesser offences such as vehicle theft and robbery and which, according to the Argentine judiciary, were already time-barred and for which the submitted evidence was inadequate. That Riphagen was not handed over to the Netherlands was most likely due to his good connections. He was friends with a member of the
Supreme Court of Argentina, Rodolfo Valenzuela, who also served as secretary to President
Juan Perón. He became acquainted with the presidential couple and remained in contact with Perón until his death. He settled in
Belgrano, a district of Buenos Aires, where he ran a photography press office and worked for Perón's secret service as an instructor in anti-communist tactics, imparting whatever knowledge he acquired working for Germany during the war. He also organized boxing competitions at the
Luna Park for Jan Olij, his old friend from Amsterdam. After the Revolucion Libertadora, where Perón was overthrown, Riphagen returned to Europe and travelled around, mainly in Spain, Germany and Switzerland. He preferred to surround himself with wealthy women, who also maintained him. His last known address was in Madrid. In 1973, Dries Riphagen, the "worst war criminal in Amsterdam", died of cancer in
Montreux. ==Historical re-appraisal in the Netherlands==