Jewish Advocate

Simon Wiesenthal Center still hunting

By Lorne Bell - Friday May 9 2008


Efraim Zuroff

Organization releases list of top 10 most wanted Nazi criminals

From 1945-1949, the Nuremberg Trials prosecuted more than 200 Nazi war criminals for their role in the torture and execution of six million Jews. But there were others – former Nazi officers and henchmen who never faced trial for their crimes. Many are still free men, and they are doggedly pursued by Efraim Zuroff, director and self-proclaimed “Chief Nazi Hunter” of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem.

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“This is probably the most frustrating job in the world,” said Zuroff, who released the center’s top 10 most wanted Nazis list last week.
The Wiesenthal Center’s Jerusalem office, which also focuses on fighting anti-Semitism and Islamic extremism, is the nexus of the organization’s Nazi-hunting program. Zuroff has been compiling the annual most wanted list for five years. Most of the men on the list are not on the run, and would not likely be able to run anywhere because of their advanced age. But their crimes, said Zuroff, are as heinous now as they were 60 years ago.
“The passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the killers,” he said. “These people don’t deserve a medal for reaching old age. To set a limit on prosecuting them is morally outrageous.”
Zuroff spearheads the center’s effort to provide detailed research to law enforcement agencies seeking to extradite ex-Nazis. Topping this year’s list is Dr. Aribert Heim, a former physician at the Mauthausen concentration camp who was indicted by the German government for the murders of hundreds of camp inmates. Heim disappeared in 1962 before he could be prosecuted. He is the only Nazi on the list whose whereabouts is still unknown.
But even for those who have been found, capturing and charging them is a laborious process. It is further complicated by the complacency of governments who do not see geriatric murderers as a priority, according to Zuroff.
“Part of the problem is that unlike serial killers, these men are not going to commit murder again and are not viewed as an immediate danger to people,” he said. “Some of these governments figure that if they just wait long enough, they’ll die.”
Many nations also avoid bringing charges against their own nationals, he said, and the legal wrangling can take years. To expedite the process, the Wiesenthal Center has partnered with the Targum Shlishi Foundation, a Miami-based nonprofit investment organization, to establish “Operation: Last Chance.” The international initiative provides financial rewards for information leading to the arrests of former Nazis in countries like Lithuania, Germany, Latvia and Croatia.
“We’ve had serious problems in post-Communist Eastern Europe, where there is very little political will to deal with these cases,” Zuroff said.
The Wiesenthal Center issues yearly reports that grade countries according to their willingness to cooperate with efforts to prosecute former Nazis. But even in nations like Australia, extraditing aging criminals is not easy.
“[Charles] Zentai mounted a legal challenge against his extradition [from Australia] that had nothing to do with the facts of the case, but he has been able to delay the process for over two years,” Zuroff said. “And when we’re dealing with men in their 80s, they could actually elude justice by doing that.”
Zentai is a former soldier wanted by the Hungarian government for the 1944 murder of Peter Balazs, a Jew who Zentai allegedly killed for failing to wear an identifying yellow star. The 86-year-old comes in at number seven on the most wanted list, and is fighting extradition based on his failing health. The case will be heard by the Magistrates Court in Perth on May 20.
But not every country has received a less-than-honorable grade from the Wiesenthal Center. U.S. officials are currently trying to force the extradition of the center’s number two most wanted Nazi, John Demjanjuk, a Ukrainian immigrant alleged to be the infamous Treblinka concentration camp guard, “Ivan the Terrible.” It is a testament to a nation that, according to Zurich, consistently ranks as the most vigilant nation in its pursuit of Nazis. Still, he is hopeful that other nations will recognize the importance of the Wiesenthal Center’s mission, and will act soon.
“Every victim of the Holocaust deserves that an effort be made to bring these men to justice,” he said.

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