NAZI hunters said today they were closer to tracking down Aribert Heim, the infamous
sadistic "Doctor Death", after finding one of his daughters and what they called "credible" information.
SAM:
CHILE NAZI
PUERTO MONTT, Chile, July 10 AFP - Nazi
"
We have hard facts, which are credible, but have to be
checked," Sergio
Widder, Latin America director of the Simon Wiesenthal
Centre, told AFP. "Those who spoke to us did so in good faith, without trying to twist the information."
An Austrian doctor, Heim is wanted for killing hundreds
of concentration camp victims with his horrific medical
experiments, including performing operations without
anaesthesia and injecting petrol directly into their
hearts.
Widder said dozens of people had come forward with information
on Heim, which led the Centre's investigators to this
town, some 1,000km south of the Chilean capital of Santiago.
All those who offered details on Heim, who would now
be 94, were interviewed by Efraim Zuroff, a historian
considered the best "Nazi
hunter" in the world. Zuroff also is the director of the Israel office of the Wiesenthal
Centre.
"
All the information we have points to Heim living in
this area. Somewhere between Puerto Montt and Bariloche" in
Argentina, Zuroff told reporters today.
"
We think there must be someone here who may have the
key to finding Heim. There is a $US500,000 ($A523,500)
reward for that person, provided by Heim's victims," he
said.
Zuroff said no matter how old Heim was, he had to be
held accountable for his crimes.
"
He castrated people, he used parts of their body to decorate
his office. I'm not giving out these details to emotionalise
the issue, but for people to understand how important
it is to catch this criminal," Zuroff
said.
The Wiesenthal delegation said they had found Heim's
daughter Waltraut Boser in Puerto Montt, but had not
contacted her. Now aged 60, Boser is believed to be married
to a local businessman and to have lived in Chile some
30 years.
During that time, she has travelled to Europe roughly
50 times, and in the last two years visited the Bariloche
area in neighbouring Argentina about a dozen times. Several
Nazi criminals have found refuge in Argentina.
Heim disappeared from public view some 43 years ago.
news.com.au
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