Despite the more than 60 years that have passed since
the Holocaust, the number of Nazi war criminals being convicted is
on the rise, a report released Thursday by the Simon Wiesenthal Center
in Los Angeles shows.
Nineteen Nazi war criminals were convicted over the last year, up from 16 a year
earlier and five the year before that, according to the center's
seventh annual report. Fourteen of the 19 Nazis found guilty last
year were convicted in absentia in Italy.
Most wanted Nazi war criminals
"
Despite the somewhat prevalent assumption that it is too late to
bring Nazi murderers to justice, the figures clearly prove otherwise,
and it is clear that numerous cases of such criminals will continue
to come to trial during the coming years," said
Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the group's chief Nazi-hunter and author of the
document.
The report slams Germany, Austria and Poland for failing
to achieve "any progress" against the war criminals over the last year despite hundreds of cases under
investigation.
"While it is generally assumed that it
is the age of the suspects that is the biggest obstacle to prosecution,
in many cases it is the lack of political will, more than anything
else, that has hindered the efforts to bring Holocaust perpetrators
to justice, along with the mistaken notion that it was impossible
at this point to locate, identify, and convict these criminals," Zuroff said.
The center commends Italy for becoming the second
most successful country, after the United States, in the prosecution
of Nazi war criminals, even if the Italian convictions were carried
out in absentia and the criminals have yet to be extradited or to
serve jail terms.
The report, which covers the period between April
1, 2006 and March 31, 2007, aims to focus public attention on the
issue and to encourage all the governments involved to maximize their
efforts to ensure that as many as possible of the Holocaust perpetrators
who have not been prosecuted will be held accountable for their crimes.
While heaping praise on the United States and Italy,
the report condemns the "abject failures" of countries like Austria, Germany, Poland and Canada, which failed to bring
any Nazi suspects to justice during the period under review.
The report notes that Sweden and Norway refuse to
investigate Nazi war criminals due to a statute of limitations, faults
Syria for ignoring the issue, and blasts the Lithuanian and Latvian
governments for failing to deal with the issue, primarily due to
a lack of requisite political will.
Other countries that were cited for poor performances
on the issue include Australia, Croatia, Estonia, Great Britain and
Ukraine.
The report also listed the 10 most wanted Nazi war
criminals, and their whereabouts, if known.
Topping the list is Alois Brunner, a key operative
for Adolf Eichmann who was responsible for the deportations of tens
of thousands of Jews to death camps. Convicted in absentia by France,
he has been living in Syria for decades.
Brunner is followed on the list by Dr. Aribert Heim,
a doctor in various concentration camps who is suspected of murdering
hundreds of Mauthausen camp inmates by lethal injection.
Heim disappeared in 1962 prior to planned prosecution;
his whereabouts are unknown but the report cites "strong evidence" that he is still alive.
Ivan Demjanjuk, who was ordered deported from the
US and is under investigation in Poland, is third on the list.
Milivoj Asner, a former police chief in Croatia who
has recently been uncovered and indicted by Croatia is fourth on
the list. Austria has refused a Croatian request for his extradition,
the report states.
The remaining suspects on the list - and whose whereabouts
are known - include Dr. Sandor Kepiro (Hungary), Mikhail Gorshkow
(Estonia), Erna Wallisch (Austria), Soeren Kam (Germany), Karoly "Charles" Zentai (Australia), Algimantas Dailide (Germany), Algimantas Dailide (Germany)
and Harry Mannil (Venezuela).
jpost.com
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