A NAZI monster tracked down by The Sun faced spending the rest of his days in jail last night after our investigation forced officials to take action.
SS executioner Klaas Faber, 88 - responsible for slaughtering 22 captives at a concentration camp - has been allowed to live peacefully in Bavaria since escaping from a prison in Holland in 1952.

But in July The Sun found him - and now German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger has stepped in and ordered local officials to reopen the case.

She acted after worldwide outrage following our story. The Israeli government sent a formal letter to Berlin demanding action followed a petition from 150 Jewish lawyers sickened by Faber's case.

Faber, a Dutch-born SS volunteer, was sentenced to life in prison after the Second World War. But following his escape he fled over the border to Germany.

Incredibly, officials refused to hand him back, insisting a law brought in by Hitler gave all foreign collaborators citizenship, which meant he was immune from extradition. And they insisted he could not be tried locally because his crimes were technically manslaughter not murder, and they happened too long ago.

Officials there were under huge pressure from the German national government last night.

Bavarian leaders have now signalled they will act if Holland makes a formal request for Faber to be returned to serve out his life sentence. But he could also be brought before a German court and tried again for the crimes.

Hopeful
Justice Minister Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger yesterday confirmed she had intervened. Her spokesman said: "She wrote a letter to the Bavarian Minister of Justice to look into the case again."

Dr Efraim Zuroff, of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre which hunts Nazi war criminals, said The Sun's investigation had shamed Germany into action. He said: "This is a major step forward."

Israeli lawyer David Schonberg said: "The Sun has exposed a great scandal and given an opportunity to right a wrong."

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