The world's chief Nazi hunter, who uncovered the alleged war crimes of Perth
grandfather Charles Zentai, has touched down in WA for less
than 48 hours to educate the community over the importance
of never forgetting the Holocaust.
While his job title may make some people uneasy, Efraim Zuroff - the Jerusalem-based
head of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre - said
having such an outrageous term associated
with his name only made his work easier.
He has
tracked down and prosecuted dozens of war
criminals in his quest to bring closure to
victims of the Holocaust.
Dr Zuroff arrived in Perth yesterday as part of a whirlwind tour of the country
promoting his latest book, Operation Last
Chance: One Man's Quest to bring Nazi Criminals
to Justice.
He is the man responsible for tracking down Mr Zentai, a Hungarian-born man now
residing in Perth, and overseeing charges
against him over the alleged murder of a Jewish
man in Hungary in 1944.
Zentai
allegedly spotted the man, Peter Balazs on
a train in Hungary, not wearing his identifiable
yellow star, a crime punishable by death.
He allegedly then took the 18-year-old to
his army barracks where he beat him to death
before dumping his body in the Danube River.
Dr Zuroff
said Zentai's identity was revealed in a Hungarian
war crimes trial in 1947, however he had already
fled to an American-occupied zone in Germany.
Zentai
was arrested by the Australian Federal Police
in July 2005, and at the age of 89 is continuing
to fight the extradition case through Australia's
legal system.
Dr Zuroff
said the large amount of publicity this case
had been given in Perth, especially given
Zentai's age and poor health, only further
justified his cause.
"There
are some people that are sceptical about its
validity, because the people are 89, or 92,
or 94," he said. "This is the reality of the world we live in.
"We're
trying to pick up the pieces and bring closure,
and send the message that these crimes cannot
be ignored, they should not be ignored.
"This
is nothing personal against Mr Zentai himself
or his family. I'm an advocate for the victims."
He said
it would be impossible to ignore the fact
that crimes had been committed, and those
responsible had to be held accountable.
"It's
a tragedy in the sense that all of a sudden
the family finds itself facing accusations
they had no idea about," he said.
"In
that respect, I certainly have a degree of
empathy for the family. Having said that,
this is not an uncommon occurrence.
"Ninety-nine
per cent of the people who committed the crimes
of Holocaust are normative people. They did
not commit murder before the Holocaust, before
World War II, they didn't commit murder after
WWII.
"But
during the geopolitical circumstances created
by the Third Reich, they did some pretty horrible
things.
"We
can't ignore that just because they're not
psychopaths. If someone reaches the age of
90, it doesn't turn the mass murderer into
a righteous gentile."
Dr Zuroff
last night addressed a crowd at the Jewish
Community Centre in Dianella, updating the
Jewish community and other interested people
about the current state of "Nazi hunting" around the world.
"What
I will be doing [while in Perth] is meeting
with members of the Jewish community to explain
what is going on, meeting with the media to
talk about the [Zentai] case, and quite frankly
I think it is a really outrageous that this
thing has lasted so long without justice being
achieved," he said.
"If
anything, I think Mr Zentai's behaviour and
the behaviour of the people that are helping
him increases our suspicions of his role during
the war, and only increases our motivation
to see to it that he is finally held accountable.
watoday.com.au
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