At the release of his book, "Operation Last Chance," at the Wilf Campus on November 10, the 71st anniversary of Kristallnacht, Nazi-Hunter Dr. Efraim Zuroff articulated why it is still a moral imperative to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. Zuroff, director of Israel Wiesenthal Center Director, acknowledged that as Nazi war criminals age, some people may be tempted to say, "Why bother? …These people are old, they've got families."

However, this excuse does not cut it for the Nazi-Hunter, a graduate of Yeshiva University and nominee for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize. "The passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the killers," emphasized Zuroff. "If someone committed a crime in World War II and were not brought to justice, they're still as guilty as they were then…we don't believe people should be protected from prosecution just because they've reached an elderly age."

Zuroff launched Operation Last Chance in 2002 in an effort to bring remaining Nazi war criminals to justice. The program offers monetary incentives to Eastern Europeans who are able to provide information that leads to the finding of Nazi war criminals who have evaded their due punishment. Since the launch, hundreds of new cases have been opened in the hunt for these murderers, camp guards, experimenting doctors and master-minders.

"There's not a single country in the world that has limited prosecution based solely on age," said Zuroff, asserting that the practical implication of such a system would be that if someone were smart or lucky enough to elude justice for many years, that person could rely on never being brought to justice. He also noted, in light of the Darfur genocide entering its seventh year, the inherent danger in countries where these criminals now reside failing to take action. "Their [Nazi war criminals'] presence in these countries is a form of moral pollution," declared Zuroff. "If you ignore these people, you say that the crime of genocide is not so terrible, because they get away with it."

The work has led Zuroff to incredible discoveries. In the search for Dr. Joseph Mengele, Auschwitz's Nazi doctor known as the "Angel of Death" and for his gruesome experiments on twins, Zuroff discovered a collection in Yad Vashem of more than 16 million index cards listing people living in Europe during World War II. Most of the people listed, however, were non-Jews. Not only did the cards contain each individual's place of birth, they also noted where these people had immigrated after the war. Nazi war criminals had entered countries around the world posing as refugees, but invariably under their own names. The names of 49 known Latvian and Lithuanian Nazi war criminals were found on these cards, along with the boat on which they left Europe, their new country, and, if they had gone to the United States, their first address in America.

In the U.S., Nazi war criminals cannot be prosecuted for their crimes. The reason: the crimes were not committed in the U.S., and were not committed against U.S. citizens. So how can the villains be brought to justice? Zuroff compared his method to the "Al Capone compromise." The FBI wanted to nail the early 20th century gang leader for murder, but could not prove murder sufficiently to proceed with prosecution. Instead, they jailed Capone for tax evasion.

Zuroff explained that Nazi war criminals lied about their activities during the war-for example, they might have been a concentration camp guard or part of a shooting squad-when entering different countries after the war. In these cases, Zuroff's team do not need to prove murder to the United States government; they just need to prove that the criminal lied on his or her entry documents. The individual is then deported to his or her country of origin to face prosecution. "To become an American you need to have good character," explained Zuroff.

The event was organized by SHEM, the Student Holocaust Education Movement, founded and led by current Yeshiva College student Simon Goldberg. Goldberg founded the movement with the knowledge that our generation is probably the last to learn about the Holocaust from actual Holocaust survivors. With Holocaust denial on the rise and genocide in Darfur continuing without an end in sight, Goldberg decided that Holocaust education was "the beginning of the answer" to preventing genocide.

Goldberg plans for SHEM to eventually expand beyond the study and lecture halls of Yeshiva University and into the wider Jewish and non-Jewish community. It will begin as a more tightly focused effort in the Jewish community, as participating students will expose themselves to educational programs featuring guest speakers, museum visits, professional panels and classroom discussions," explained Goldberg. "It will draw strength from involvement in community-based projects, outreach initiatives, and genocide prevention campaigns, and will challenge, pursue, and ultimately seek to answer the long overdue questions that highlight both the frailty and magnificence of humanity."

"Once our network of student activists is firmly established on the national stage-built on a foundation of SHEM chapters operating across the country-" continued Goldberg, "we will seek to further our goal by fostering principled dialogue and inspiring students around the world to join our movement of building in the face of destruction. This will take shape in the form of widespread blogging, worldwide educational seminars and an enduring solidarity much consistent with our mission."

Goldberg explained why SHEM is unique among Holocaust education organizations. "The process of commemoration should be one that is constantly ensuing," he said. "And while the overwhelming concentration in this subject seems to lie in the facts and the figures, our focus is less on Holocaust history itself than it is on what that history means in the context of our lives today, and why it means just that. And if that sort of paradigm shift can take place, it will not only revamp the way the Holocaust is studied in our schools, but what impact its lessons have on bettering our humanity."

SHEM's last event of the semester will be a panel featuring a Holocaust survivor, a professional in the field of Holocaust studies/education and a rabbinic authority. Goldberg is also planning a YU Mission Trip to Washington, D.C.'s Holocaust Memorial Museum and a program that will train students to become middle and high school Holocaust educators in the New York area.

yuobserver.com