Dr. Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's office in Israel and coordinator of the center's Nazi war crimes research, will be in Mount Pleasant on Thursday to discuss his work. The event is being coordinated by Chabad of Charleston and the Low Country.

For decades, Zuroff has chased known war criminals, following in the footsteps of his mentor and the center's founder, Simon Wiesenthal.

It is grueling, important, often disappointing work, Zuroff says. But as long as Nazis and their collaborators remain alive, he will continue the effort to bring them to justice.

The Post and Courier asked the man known as "the Last Nazi Hunter" about his work.

Q: You run the Israel office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which is mostly focused on bringing Nazi war criminals to justice. Can you describe the process? How big is your staff? How do you identify and track fugitives? How do you get them charged and prosecuted?

A: We work differently than the police, who start from a crime and then try to find out who committed it. Due to a lack of time, which is rapidly running out, we start with a lead or an allegation and try to see if we can corroborate it with sufficient evidence and help make sure that the government of the country in which it was committed, or which sent the criminal to commit it, will put him or her on trial. My office in Jerusalem has two full-time employees, and I have a full-time researcher in Germany. I sometimes describe my job as one-third detective (finding the criminal physically), one-third historian (finding the evidence-documents, testimony, witnesses) and one-third political lobbyist (to create political will if it is missing).

Q: Nearly 70 years after the end of World War II, most of the prominent Nazi war criminals have been caught and tried, or they have died. Who's left? Are there still big fish to catch?

A: There are still middle-level officers and lower-level operatives, but the rank is not the issue, since it is important to remember that many privates and corporals were actively involved in the murders. On our website (www.operationlastchance.org) in the "Writings" section, there is an article I recently wrote about how I rank Nazi war criminals and decide who is on our "Most Wanted" list. (See box)

Q: You, known as "the Last Nazi Hunter," met and worked with Simon Wiesenthal, "the First Nazi Hunter," and a Holocaust survivor who tracked down one of the most infamous Nazi criminals, Adolf Eichmann. Which success are you most proud of? What are your biggest disappointments?

A: My biggest success was to facilitate, in 1998-99, the arrest, extradition, prosecution and punishment of Dinko Sakic, the commandant of the infamous Jasenovac concentration camp in Croatia, which was nicknamed "the Auschwitz of the Balkans." That trial had a very positive impact on Holocaust consciousness in Croatia, a country in which many locals supported the Ustasha fascist movement. Another great success was my discovery and exposure in 1991 of the fact that the Lithuanian government was giving pardons (rehabilitations) along with financial benefits to locals who had been convicted by Soviet courts for their role in the mass murder of Jews during the war, even though legally individuals who have "participated in genocide" were ineligible for these pardons. My biggest disappointments were several cases in which the criminals died before they could be prosecuted and punished, such as Estonian mass murderer Evald Mikson (in Iceland), Lithuanian death squad officer Antanas Gecas (in Great Britain) and Majdanek death camp guard Erna Wallisch (in Austria).

Q: What can countries harboring remaining Nazi war criminals do more or better to bring these men to justice? What country has been most resistant to your efforts? What country has been most helpful?

A: Please read my 2009 Annual Report on the Worldwide Investigation and Prosecution of Nazi War Criminals, which you can find on the homepage of our website, as well as the summary findings of the 2010 report. Take a look at the grades received by each country since 2001. That will give you a clear picture of the level of effort on this issue in each country. (See box)

Q: What have you learned about the ways people behave and react when asked to confront atrocity? What have you learned about yourself from your experiences?

A: Mine can be a very frustrating job which requires a lot of perseverance and determination. The encounter with human evil of the scope of the Holocaust is gut-wrenching, but when we register any successes, it is incredibly heartwarming. One of the most rewarding experiences over the years has been to meet the wonderful people who volunteer to help me because they realize the importance of what I am trying to do.

Q: What can average people do to ensure justice is served, history is respected and humanity is protected from similar crimes in the future?

A: The most important things the average person can do are to educate themselves about the Holocaust and the dangers of anti-Semitism and racism and remain vigilant in the fight against them. It also helps to support persons and organizations which lead the efforts in these fields.

postandcourier.com