Originally, the project was supposed to start in June, then the date was
delayed to 20 September. Now the Simon Wiesenthal Center has postponed the
start of its Operation Last Chance in Germany for another two months until
November.
One does not seem to be in a hurry with the hunting of the last remaining
Nazi criminals. Strange, because the time is working against the
investigators. The perpetrators are old, often weak and therefore unfit to
stand imprisonment.
This is one reason why the project almost 60 years after the end of the
war is controversial. But also the method to collect information on Nazi
criminals is being criticized. Ten thousand Euro is being offered to those
who have information that will lead to a trial and to a conviction. The
Zentralrat of the Jews in Germany was not pleased about this proceeding, and
Micha Brumlik of the Fritz Bauer Institut in Frankfurt criticized a
" denunciation effect". Have the critics' criticism had an effect and
consequently the Wiesenthal Center has gotten "cold feet"? Is the start
delayed to reduce further criticism and not to be isolated? "No way", says
Efraim Zuroff, director of the center in Jerusalem. It was about scheduling
problems. He feels the disbelief and laughs. "Listen, the project is being
co-financed by the Targum Shlishi Foundation". The chairman wants to take
part in the opening press conference, and he has his own schedule".
All this all does not sound convincing. The reason, why one could believe
Zuroff, is different. One had hoped after the start in Baltic States, that
the reward would arouse the greed of those Nazi war criminals already
convicted and released which would lead them to accuse their former fellow
murderers. "This did not work out", Zuroff admits. Nevertheless several
hundred names were collected. In nine cases there are murder investigations.
One could not say that the OLC has failed. But Zuroff also seems to view the
suitability of the method chosen and the slim chances of success
realistically. One way of thinking is to increase the reward though, but
the call had a convenient and unexpected side effect. "If I go to the press
in Frankfurt and say: Dear friends, please think and give me the names of
all Nazi criminals that you know', what do you think how many newspapers
will report on that the next morning?"