The Simon Wiesenthal
Center revealed today that it had received official confirmation
from the Lithuanian Prosecutor-General’s Office that three
new murder investigations have been initiated by the Lithuanian
authorities based on information submitted to the Center in the
framework of “Operation: Last Chance,” a joint project
of the Center and the Targum Shlishi Foundation of Miami, Florida,
which offers financial rewards for information leading to the prosecution
and punishment of Nazi war criminals. In a statement issued in
Jerusalem by Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, who coordinates
the project, the Center welcomed the opening of the investigations
but warned that unless the cases were given priority treatment,
it was doubtful whether any of the guilty would actually be tried
and punished for their crimes.
According to Zuroff, the new investigations concerned the murder
of Jews and non-Jews in Aukstadvaris (Trakai district), Pandelis
(Rokiskis district),and the area of Jurbarkas. All the murders
took place in 1941.
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This brings the number of murder investigations opened in Lithuania
in the wake of the initiation of “Operation:Last Chance” in
July 2002 to eight and we are hopeful that at least some of the
several dozen suspects currently under investigation will finally
be brought to trial and be held accountable for their crimes. This
will only happen, however, if these cases will be given high-priority
treatment.”
To date, the Wiesenthal Center has received the names of 196 suspects
from Lithuania, 41 from Latvia, 13 from the Ukraine, and 6 from
Estonia of which 67 have been submitted to local prosecutors. In
addition, the Center has received the names of an additional dozen
suspects from Poland, Austria, and Romania where the project is
only in its initial stages.
For more information call: 972-51-214156
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