RALEIGH -- A Nazi hunter with the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem will speak at a synagogue Wednesday about his work helping locate and bring war criminals to justice.

Efraim Zuroff, an American-born historian living in Israel, will discuss his latest book, "Operation Last Chance: One Man's Quest to Bring Nazi Criminals to Justice."

Q: How many efforts to bring people to justice are there left? Every year our office puts out a report on the worldwide investigation and prosecution of Nazi war criminals. The latest statistics we have from a year and half ago are 700 ongoing investigations in 12 countries. Those countries are: Poland, Canada, U.S., Italy, Germany, Lithuania, Austria, Serbia, Hungary, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia and the Netherlands. In other words, today Nazi hunting is a global enterprise because the people who committed the crimes are living not only in countries where the crimes were committed but in countries of refuge.

Q: What's the biggest problem in bringing them to justice? Most people think the toughest problem we face is to find Nazi criminals or find evidence against them. But in reality the toughest problem we face is lack of political will to prosecute Nazi war criminals. There are very few countries that do this willingly. ... If there were a serial killer on the loose, the police or government would do everything possible to try to apprehend that person because he might strike again. In the case of Nazi war criminals, there's very little likelihood they'll kill again. So countries want to wait it out, wait for these people to die and the problem will disappear. The country won't have to go through the bad publicity of having a Nazi war criminal on trial and the expense of doing it.

Q: Who are the best and worst offenders? We give grades every year, ranging from A to F. The United States is the only country that has received an 'A' every single year. This year, for the first time ever, Germany got an 'A.,' too. Their policy has become a lot more pro active.

Q: Why do you continue? The passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the killers. We don't think old age should afford protection to people who have committed such crime. The victims deserve that an effort be made to find the people who turned them into victims. And then there's deterrence: It sends a powerful message, If you commit crimes like this, even many decades later, there'll still be an effort to find these people accountable.

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