The fact that John Demjanjuk served in the extermination camp at Sobibor, a low rank, no argument against criminal prosecution, said Efraim Zuroff. The "Nazi hunter" still hoping that Nazi war criminals live undisturbed for decades in Germany, put to justice.

n-tv.de: John Demjanjuk is in your list of most wanted Nazi war criminals (p. 40 in the annual "Status Report") To first place. Does this mean that you live it as the worst classified Nazi war criminal?

Efraim Zuroff: We have three criteria on the basis, we evaluate the crimes of individuals to help us decide on which place they stand. The first is the extent of the crime, the number of cases involved, the number of victims. The second criterion is whether the person has personally committed murder, the third their rank, their rank, their power. Overlooking the Demjanjuk case, one can say that it is classified in the first two criteria is very high, the third criterion is not. But the overall view is that he was actively and personally involved in the murder of 29,000 people.

Demjanjuk is the first child suspected Nazi war criminal who is accused in Germany not because of specific murders, but because of participation in mass murder.

Next: Just because in the past, mistakes were made, one must now add any more mistakes. Second, the fact that he held a low rank, in no way protects him from prosecution. During the period in which he served at Sobibor, March-September 1943, 29,000 Jews were murdered there. The question of whether a low or a high grade, had is not as important as the fact that he helped to kill these people.

Demjanjuk was from 1987 to 1993 in Israel for crimes in the Treblinka concentration camp in court. His trial ended in acquittal. Why was he not indicted for the murder at Sobibor?

Because the charge of being "Ivan the Terrible" of Treblinka been much more serious than was the allegation that a guard at Sobibor was to be - especially as the evidence at that time was relatively thin.

New to your list is Carl or Klaas Carel Faber. He was convicted after the war in the Netherlands because of murder eleven times, but escaped in 1952 after Germany. Since then he lives here without ever being brought to justice.

This is exactly the reason why we put him on the list: To draw attention to his case, which we consider to be very problematic.

Attention there, but the German authorities have not become active.

That is the problem that we want to change.

A central problem seems to be that Germany generally does not extradite a German citizen.

There are three people on the list, which are protected by the German citizenship, which they have been by "leaders" decree awarded by May 1943: Faber, Søren Kam and Heinrich Boere. This "leader" decree was "German-born foreigners", the Nazi Germany helped to automatically German citizens.

What do you think about it, not that Germany extradite these people?

Of course I'm against it! I would have no objection if they were made in Germany before the court. Boere is on trial, Joseph Scheu Graber has already been convicted. But these are, unfortunately, only two cases. There are more like Soren Kam and Klaas Faber, of which we hope that they will be prosecuted or extradited. We put them on the list to ensure attention.

Scheu Graber had led as a Wehrmacht officer in 1944, a revenge action in Tuscany, in August 2009 he was convicted of murder and sentenced to ten times that of a lifelong prison sentence. However, he went to revision and is now sitting not even in custody. Is not that very frustrating?

Yes, very!

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