The
director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Efraim Zuroff, implored
Romanian officials to start hunting down and prosecuting
Nazi war criminals still living in the country Friday.
" Romania
was a satellite state of Nazi Germany and actively participated
in the implementation of the Final Solution," he said,
yet "not a single Holocaust perpetrator has been investigated,
let alone prosecuted in post-communist Romania."
Zuroff, holding a press conference in Bucharest, wants Romania
to help with the search his center started last year - Operation:
Last Chance - an international hunt for the remaining members
of the Nazi party responsible for the deaths of thousands of
Jews.
Since the inception of the program the center has received
the names of 241 suspected war criminals, with the majority
coming from Lithuania (184). Latvia (38), Ukraine (13), and
Estonia (6) have also participated in turning over names.
Zuroff simply wants Romania to follow the lead of these countries
and search for these suspects before they die. "The numerous
instances of the glorification of fascist leader Ion Antonescu
and recent comments by prominent Romanian officials, including
President Ion Iliescu, minimizing the severity and scope of
the crimes for the Holocaust and the complicity of Romanians
in those crimes" cause concern and elicit a heightened
sense of urgency, he said.
Iliescu caused an uproar last month when an Israeli magazine,
Ha'aretz, printed an interview with the leader containing comments
that Israelis charged diminished the importance of the Holocaust
and of Jewish suffering.
Zuroff says Romanian compliance is a challenge that must be
met. "I cannot think of a better history lesson for the
Romanian society than a trial here in Romania, in the Romanian
language, with Romanian judges, in front of your courts, your
legal system," he said.
"
This is a test -- does the Romanian leadership have the courage
to bring these people to justice today?"
The center, an international Jewish human rights organization,
is set to expand its search for criminals to Poland and Austria
in the next month.
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