Wiesenthal Center Submits Names of Four Suspected Nazi War Criminals Discovered in “Operation: Last Chance” to Romanian Attorney-General

The Simon Wiesenthal Center announced today that it had submitted the names of four suspected Romanian Nazi war criminals which were discovered in the framework of its “Operation: Last Chance” project to Attorney-General Dr. Ilie Botos with a request that the Romanian authorities carry out investigations of these cases with a view to possible prosecution. The suspects are alleged to have actively participated in the persecution and murder of Jews in several places in Romania among them Iasi, Dorohoi and Bucharest.

“Operation: Last Chance” was launched in Romania in September 2003. During the past year and a half, approximately one hundred persons called the project’s hotline in Bucharest (021-322-9554) and concrete information was received regarding fifteen specific suspects.

According to the Center’s chief Nazi-hunter Dr. Efraim Zuroff, who also coordinates “Operation: Last Chance,” since Romania became a democracy more than fifteen years ago, not a single Romanian resident has ever been prosecuted for Nazi war crimes, which makes this list of suspects of unique importance. “Despite the participation of numerous Romanians in the murder of Jews both in Romania and outside her borders, the authorities of democratic Romania have hereto never initiated any attempt to find and bring to justice unprosecuted Holocaust perpetrators. That is why “Operation: Last Chance” was launched in Romania and the submission of this list clearly indicates the need for more extensive investigations by the government,” said Zuroff.

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