The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which is mainly dedicated to hunting ex-Nazis, said on Wednesday it had received the names of 174 Lithuanians suspected of committing crimes during the Holocaust.

The names were submitted in response to the organisation's "Last chance" operation launched nine months ago under which it offered a 10,000-dollar (9, 300 euro) reward for information which could lead to the conviction and punishment of Holocaust perpetrators in the three Baltic states.

Efraim Zuroff, head of the center, said that Lithuania has already opened an investigation into the murders of Jews in the northwest city of Rokiskis based on material gathered during the campaign.

"It is extremely likely that additional investigations will be initiated by Lithuanian prosecutors in the coming weeks based on new information which has recently been submitted to the Center and is currently being checked by the Center's researchers", Zuroff added.

He also announced a change in financial rewards offered by the project.

From now on the Center will pay 1,000 dollars for information leading to an official murder investigation against a suspect still alive and able to stand trial.

It would add an additional sum of 1,500 dollars if an indictment were submitted and would complete the sum of 10,000 if the suspects were convicted and punished.

"We hope this change will lead additional persons to supply us with information necessary to bring the murderers of Lithuanian Jews to justice", Zuroff said.

About 90 percent of Lithuania's pre-war 220,000 strong Jewish community perished during the Holocaust