rat line
n.— «The former CIC colonel said hundreds of Nazis were brought out of Germany by the same route and “everybody that went through the Rat Line was personally accompanied to the ship by a member of our organization.”» —“U.S. agents felt ‘no great pangs’ after helping Barbie flee Europe” Globe and Mail (Toronto, Can.) July 5, 1983. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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Michael from Jones, Michigan, says he was stationed on a U.S. Army base in Germany in the early 1960s. If there was a gust of cold wind, a fellow soldier would say the hawk’s out. This expression is largely associated with Chicago, Illinois...