A. Rationale
While the necessity of bringing those who committed the crimes
of the Holocaust to justice is patently obvious, the practical
difficulties of achieving this goal are becoming increasingly difficult
as time goes on. Although there are at least many thousands of
individuals who actively participated in the implementation of
the Final Solution who have never been prosecuted for their crimes,
the chances of their being held accountable are rapidly diminishing
due to several obvious factors
| 1. |
the advanced age of
the suspects; |
| 2. |
the advanced age of the potential
witnesses (survivors, bystanders, and/or fellow perpetrators); |
| 3. |
the difficulty in obtaining credible
witnesses for crimes which were committed many years ago, often
in remote and/or inaccessible locations chosen to insure secrecy; |
| 4. |
the lack of political will to prosecute
local Nazi collaborators in numerous post-Communist societies; f political will to prosecute
local Nazi collaborators in numerous post-Communist societies |
| 5. |
the lack of political will to prosecute
immigrant Holocaust perpetrators in some of the countries of
refuge |
Under these circumstances, the Simon Wiesenthal Center decided almost
three years ago that a special concentrated campaign employing more
innovative methods was required to upgrade and maximize the efforts
to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. In July 2002, therefore,
the Center – together with the Targum Shlishi Foundation of
Miami, founded by Aryeh Rubin, who conceived of this project – officially
launched “Operation: Last Chance,” a special program
designed and coordinated by its Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff,
which offers financial rewards for evidence which facilitates the
prosecution and conviction of Holocaust perpetrators. As a first
step, the Center decided to launch “Operation: Last Chance” in
the Baltics B. Why “Operation: Last
Chance” Was Initially Launched in the Baltics?
There are numerous reasons why the Baltics were chosen as the
first place to implement “Operation: Last Chance.” While several
relate to the specific nature of the events of the Holocaust in Lithuania,
Latvia and Estonia, others were a product of practical and technical considerations.
The most important are the following:
| 1. |
These countries had
the highest victimology rate in Europe during the Holocaust.
Not only were the local Jewish communities almost completely
annihilated, but many thousands of Jews from other countries
(Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and France) were
deported to the Baltics and murdered in Lithuania, Latvia,
and Estonia |
| 2. |
The extremely large number of local
collaborators who actively participated in the mass murder
of the local Jewish communities and Jews deported to these
countries. |
| 3. |
The fact that local police units
from each of the Baltic countries were sent abroad, where they
actively participated in the mass murder of Jews (especially
in Belarus and Poland). |
| 4. |
Following the occupation of the
Baltics by the Soviet Union in 1944, many Nazi war criminals
were prosecuted and convicted by the Soviet authorities. These
individuals can testify regarding crimes committed during the
Holocaust that they personally witnessed without fear of prosecution. |
| 5. |
The fact that there has not been
a single prosecution of a local Nazi war criminal – in
which the defendant was healthy enough to attend the trial
and bear punishment if convicted – in any of the three
Baltic countries since regained independence in 1991, makes
the efforts to bring the guilty to justice of unique significance
for Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian society |
| 6. |
With all three countries on the
verge of membership in NATO and the European Union, and the
European Union, there will be special interest in the attitude
of the Baltic republics to this important subject |
C. Implementation – Stage 1
IIn July 2002, the Wiesenthal Center officially launched “Operation:
Last Chance” in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia with press
conferences in Vilnius (July 8), Tallinn (July 10) and Riga (July
11). At the press conferences, the Center announced its willingness
to pay ten thousand U.S. dollars ($10,000) to anyone who would
provide information which would lead to the prosecution and punishment
of a Nazi war criminal. These press conferences were followed by
imaginative ads which publicized the reward offer, while highlighting
the active participation of local Nazi collaborators in the mass
murder of the Jewish community
D. Initial Results – Stage 1
During the initial two years of “Operation:
Last Chance,” the Center received the names of a total of
two hundred and sixty suspected Nazi war criminals from the Baltics
and the Ukraine according to the following breakdown by country
of origin:
| Lithuania |
198 names |
| Latvia |
43 names |
| Ukraine |
13 names |
| Estonia |
6 names |
Each of the names and all of the accompanying information were
investigated by the Center to evaluate their validity and relevance.
In that regard, the name of every suspect must be subjected to
three tests which determine whether the information regarding the
crimes ostensibly committed is reliable, whether the suspect is
alive and healthy enough to stand trial, and whether the suspect
has ever been prosecuted for the crimes in question. Only if all
three tests are passed, will the Center submit the name to prosecution
authorities. To date, the names of seventy-two of the suspects
from the above countries were submitted to local prosecutors as
worthy of further investigation, according to the following breakdown
by country of origin:
| Lithuania |
44 names |
| Ukraine |
13 names |
| Latvia |
13 names |
In the wake of the launching of “Operation: Last Chance” and
the submission of the names of the suspects to local prosecutors,
eighteen official pretrial murder investigations were opened by
government prosecutors in Lithuania and Latvia against more than
four dozen suspects. In addition, several preliminary investigations
were initiated in the United States and Canada since some of the
suspects identified, escaped many years ago to those countries
(as well as to Sweden).
E. Expansion of “Operation: Last Chance” – Stage
2
Given the encouraging results achieved in the Baltics, the Center
decided last summer to expand the project to several additional European
countries. Thus in the fall of 2003, “Operation: Last Chance” was
launched in Poland, Romania and Austria. The reasons these countries
were chosen is as follows
a. Poland
As the site of all six Nazi death camps, Poland was the country
in which the majority of European Jewry were murdered by the Germans
and their collaborators during the Holocaust. In addition millions
of non-Jewish Poles were persecuted and murdered during the Nazi
occupation. Although Poland suffered terrible losses during World
War II, there were numerous Poles who assisted the Nazis in the implementation
of the Final Solution and therefore it is only natural for the Wiesenthal
Center to initiate “Operation: Last Chance” in Poland
in order to help facilitate the prosecution of those responsible
for Nazi crimes in that country.
In that context, it is important to note the important work already
being done by the Institute of National Memory under the leadership
of its president Prof. Dr. Leon Kieres. Since the establishment of
the Institute, Poland has made significant progress in the investigation
and prosecution of Nazi war criminals, especially in comparison to
other post-Communist and post-Soviet countries. Thus the conviction
in 2001 of Henryk Mania for crimes committed at the Chelmno death
camp and the recent investigation of the murder by the local population
of the Jews of Jedwabne are concrete examples of the existence of
political will in Warsaw to investigate the cases of Holocaust perpetrators
and bring them to justice, and the ability of the Institute to do
so successfully.
The Center expects to work together with the Institute to help maximize
the prosecution of Nazi war criminals and is hopeful that the results
achieved by “Operation: Last Chance” in Poland will expedite
the efforts of the Institute. To help achieve those goals, the Center
has maintained close cooperation with Prof. Dr. Kieres and his staff
and hopes that this cooperation will be enhanced by the successful
implementation of “Operation: Last Chance” in Poland
b. Romania
During World War II Romania was a satellite state of Nazi Germany
and actively participated in the implementation of the Final Solution
in Romania and in the territories it annexed, as well as in the Ukraine.
In fact, the Romanian government under Marshal Ion Antonescu played
a leading role in the mass murder of Romanian Jews, and tens of thousands
of Jews in the Ukraine.
Despite the active complicity of Romanians in the crimes of the
Holocaust, Romania has had considerable difficulty in facing its
World War II past, as clearly evidenced by the following facts:
| 1. |
Not a single Holocaust
perpetrator has been investigated, let alone prosecuted, in post-Communist
Romania; |
| 2. |
The lack of a special unit to
investigate and prosecute such cases; |
| 3. |
3. The numerous instances of the
commemoration and glorification of fascist Romanian leader Marshal
Antonescu who committed terrible crimes against civilians, primarily
Jews, during his rule as leader of Romania during World War II; |
| 4. |
4. Recent comments by prominent Romanian
leaders and officials, including President Ion Iliescu, minimizing
the severity and scope of the crimes of the Holocaust and the
complicity of Romanians in these crimes. |
Under these circumstances, the Wiesenthal Center believes that the
implementation of “Operation: Last Chance” in Romania
can have a beneficial effect both in terms of facilitating the prosecution
of Holocaust perpetrators and the sensitizing of Romanian public
opinion regarding the severity of the crimes committed by Romanians
during World War II.
c. Austria
While Austria has made considerable progress in facing its Holocaust
history during the past two decades, one major area in which it has
been terribly deficient has been the investigation and prosecution
of Nazi war criminals. Despite the existence of numerous Austrians
who actively participated in the implementation of the Final Solution,
not a single Austrian has been convicted of Holocaust crimes during
the past quarter of a century.
Austria’s failure in this respect has been reinforced by recent
research carried out the Wiesenthal Center which has shown that numerous
Austrians served in German police battalions which committed the
mass murder of civilians, primarily Jews, in Eastern Europe during
the years 1939-1944. (The research in question was carried out in
conjunction with German Labor Ministry by the Center’s researcher
Dr. Stefan Klemp as a part of a project designed to cancel the special
disability pensions of individuals who violated the norms of humanity,
in accordance with a law passed by the Bundestag in January 1998.)
Under these circumstances, the Center hopes that the launching of “Operation:
Last Chance” in Austria will help facilitate the investigation
and prosecution of Austrian Holocaust perpetrators, and educate the
Austrian public regarding the important role played by numerous Austrians
in the implementation of the Final Solution
F. Implementation and Results – Stage 2
The project was initially launched at press conferences held with
the participation of local Jewish community leaders in Warsaw (September
10), Bucharest (September 12) and Vienna (September 15). Special “info
lines” or “hotlines” were installed to help facilitate
receipt of information from informants in Austria (December 2003),
Romania (January 2004) and Poland (June 2004) and our initial ad
campaigns have already been launched in Austria (December 15, 2003)
and Romania (March 24, 2004), while the ads planned for publication
in Poland have hereto been delayed by legal and bureaucratic obstacles.
To date we have received the names of thirty-seven suspects from
these countries according to the following breakdown by country of
origin:
| Romania |
15 names |
| Poland |
15 names |
| Austria |
7 names |
During the coming weeks, our investigation of the suspects will
be completed and a decision made as to how many of the names will
be submitted to prosecution authorities in these countries.
G. Expansion of “Operation: Last Chance” – Stage
3
In the summer of 2004, “Operation: Last Chance” was
launched in Croatia (on June 30) and in Hungary (on July 13). The
reasons that these countries were chosen is as follows:
a. Croatia
During World War II Croatia, which during the interwar period had
been part of Yugoslavia, was established as an “independent” satellite
state of Nazi Germany which was ruled by the “Ustasha” Croatian
fascists and implemented policies of genocide and ethnic cleansing
against local minorities. Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilian
Serbs, Jews and Gypsies were harshly persecuted and/or murdered by
the Croatian authorities who established numerous concentration camps
throughout the country to implement their racist policies. The largest
of these was Jasenovac, which was nicknamed “the Auschwitz
of the Balkans” and in which at lest 85,000 civilians were
murdered.
After World War II many of those responsible for these crimes were
prosecuted by the Yugoslav authorities, but numerous perpetrators
were able to escape punishment by fleeing abroad, including Ustasha
leader Ante Pavelic who was head of state in independent Croatia.
Following the breakup of Yugoslavia and the renewal of Croatian
independence, the Croatian authorities did not initiate any investigations
of Holocaust crimes and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman published
the views of Holocaust deniers in his book The Wastelands of Historical
Reality.
During the past five years, Croatia has successfully prosecuted
former Jasenovac commandant Dinko Sakic, who was extradited from
Argentina, but his case remains the only such achievement to date,
and many other potential cases await investigation and possible legal
action.
b. Hungary
During World War II, the Hungarian authorities and local Nazi collaborators
played a major role in the destruction of Hungarian Jewry, both by
direct participation in the murder of Jews in Hungary, the Ukraine,
and Serbia, as well as by the involvement of the Hungarian gendarmerie
in the mass deportations of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz in the spring
of 1944. In late 1944, the regime established by the fascist Arrow
Cross under Ferenc Szalasi ordered the ghettoization of the Jews
of Budapest and independently carried out the murder of thousands
of Jews. In total, 564,500 Hungarian Jews were murdered during the
Holocaust.
Following the conclusion of the war, thousands of those responsible
for the crimes of the Holocaust were brought to trial, but numerous
others escaped justice, many of whom fled overseas. Since Hungary
became a democracy, however, the authorities have failed to initiate
a single investigation, let alone a prosecution, of Holocaust crimes.
H. Implementation and Results – Stage
3
The project was officially launched at press conference held in
Zagreb (June 30) and Budapest (July 13) at which the infoline phone
numbers were announced. The former was held following a meeting with
Croatian president Stjepan Mesic, who expressed his fullest support
for “Operation: Last Chance.” In the meantime, special
ads publicizing the project have been published in Croatia, but the
threat of a legal challenge regarding the transfer abroad of personal
data concerning Hungarian citizens has interfered with the implementation
of the project in Hungary.
To date, we have received the names of six suspects from Hungary
and five from Croatia, one of which has already been submitted to
the Croatian Attorney-General. In this case an official criminal
investigation has already been initiated by the Croatian authorities.
I. Launching of “Operation: Last Chance” in
Germany
The Center plans to launch “Operation: Last Chance” on
Germany in January 27, 2005, the national memorial day for the victims
of the Holocaust. This will mark the culmination of the project and
the ninth country in which it will be initiated. To date, the Center
has already received the names of five suspects in Germany which
are currently being investigated
J. Conclusion
During the past three years (2001-2004), more than two-dozen Nazi war criminals have been convicted in six different countries all over the world. During 2002, the United States alone filed ten new indictments against Holocaust perpetrators. These statistics clearly prove that it is still possible –even at this time – to bring Nazi war criminals to justice, but time is rapidly running out, which is the primary reason why “Operation: Last Chance” is so important.
Dr. Efraim Zuroff
Director, SWC-Israel
Coordinator, “Operation: Last Chance”
|
