Doesn't the world owe it to all
the Nazis' victims to make equal efforts to bring each of
their torturers and killers to justice? Recently, I've found
myself increasingly preoccupied with that question, following
a two-week mission to South America on the trail of the Wiesenthal
Center's most-wanted Nazi war criminal, Dr. Aribert Heim.
Heim committed his most heinous crimes at the Mauthausen
concentration camp, where his nickname was "Doctor Death."
To put the question into proper perspective, it is important to note that during
practically every press conference I conducted or interview
that I gave in South America, I had to address the question
of the validity or value of the effort to track down a 94-year-old
war criminal. In every venue, I recited the standard mantras: "The passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the killers"; "a suspect's advanced age is no reason to ignore mass murder"; and "the practical implication of establishing a time limit for prosecuting genocide
suspects is that those lucky enough, rich enough or smart
enough to elude justice will ultimately be allowed to get
away with their crimes." However, I also stressed the concept that every man and woman persecuted by
the Nazis deserves that an effort be made to find and hold
accountable those who turned them, innocent civilians, into
victims.
I noted in my remarks that Simon
Wiesenthal himself had always stressed this principle, and
in fact I deeply believe in its validity and moral power.
But the fact of the matter is that our recent mission to
Chile and Argentina clearly underscores the unfortunate
fact that not all of the Nazis' victims get equal treatment
when it comes to the investment made to bring their killers
to justice, and the Heim case is a classic illustration.
For starters, Heim is the only Nazi war criminal in recent history who is being
sought by four different police forces - those of Germany,
Austria, Chile and Argentina. He is, to the best of my knowledge,
the only Holocaust perpetrator in at least the past three
decades, for whose capture a special task force was established
by the German police. Also he is the only such criminal
for whom a huge reward is being offered: 315,000 euros (135,000
euros from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, 130,000 euros from
the German government, and 50,000 euros from the Austrian
government).
It is true that these relatively excellent and virtually unprecedented conditions
stem, to a large extent, from the fact that Heim has been
on the run since 1962, when he disappeared from his home
in Baden-Baden after being tipped off that the West German
police were about to arrest him for his crimes at Mauthausen.
So while it is true that the current whereabouts of all
the other Holocaust perpetrators on our "most wanted" list (with one exception) are now known, down to their exact address and telephone
number, the fact is that none of the police forces in their
countries of residence were looking for them at all before
they were exposed as Nazi war criminals.
Given the fact that criminals like
John Demjanjuk, Sandor Kepiro and Milivoj Asner - Nos. 2,
3 and 4 on the list, respectively - played an active role
in the liquidation of at least hundreds, if not thousands,
of innocent civilians, one may ask what allows the Heim
case to benefit from special status, abundant political
good will and relatively munificent financial resources?
The answer to this question became
apparent when our team traveled to Puerto Montt, Chile and
Bariloche, Argentina - the area where we believe he is currently
hiding. Although we had previously publicized the reward
for Dr. Heim in Chile and Argentina, it was only when we
actually reached Patagonia and had an opportunity to describe
his crimes in great detail, that we felt that we were finally
getting our message across to the wider public. This achievement
was no doubt considerably enhanced by the fact that Heim's
daughter is living in Puerto Montt, and it became evident
to us in two ways: One was the flow of information that
reached us from informants in the area, either via our hotline
or in person. The other was the expressions of support,
on the one hand, and opposition, on the other, from various
local residents.
What became clear was that even
if Heim had committed his crimes 67 years ago, their utter
cruelty simply could not be ignored. So although I consciously
tried not to overdo the descriptions - of the injections
of phenol directly into the hearts of inmates, the operations
performed without anesthesia, the castrations and use of
body parts of those murdered as decorations - the few facts
I did relate made quite an impact.
In other words, the key issues that
elevated Heim to his current status were the degree of his
own personal responsibility for his crimes and their absolutely
horrific nature, all compounded by the fact that he was
a doctor who had pledged to protect and save his patients,
whom he instead mercilessly murdered. In that respect, Heim
easily became a symbol of the Nazis' perversion and misuse
of medicine - a fact which no doubt increased his "attractiveness" as a target for all of us.
If Mengele was never prosecuted,
perhaps Dr. Death's apprehension and punishment could be
a partial atonement by those who failed to bring the "Angel of Death" to justice. I certainly have no objection to the efforts and resources being
invested in trying to bring Heim to justice. I only wish
that a far more serious effort was being to made to ensure
that the killers of the other victims will also be held
accountable in this world.
haaretz.com
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