Wiesenthal center denounces Lithuanian decision not to implement jail sentence for convicted Nazi criminal based on flawed medical examination

According to Zuroff:

“This is only the latest in a long series of farces produced by Lithuanian prosecutors and judges who are clearly incapable of punishing local Holocaust criminals. Despite the presence in Lithuania since independence of numerous Nazi war criminals, not a single one has ever been punished, a fact which clearly shows the total inability of Lithuanian society to face its bloody past of extensive participation in the mass murder of Jews. It is high time that the international community start paying attention to the serious judicial and educational failures of Lithuania.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156

THE WIESENTHAL CENTER WELCOMES INVESTIGATION OF IVAN DEMJANJUK AND URGES THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT TO EXPEDITE EXTRADITION REQUEST

The Simon Wiesenthal Center today in Berlin has welcomed the announcement of the Zentrale Stelle at Ludwigsburg according to which they have collected enough evidence for an indictment against the presumed mass murderer Ivan Demjanjuk. The Wiesenthal Center expressed the expectation that he is going to be tried in Munich as quickly as possible. (The Zentrale Stelle of Ludwigsburg has passed the case there because Demjanjuks last German residence was near Munich.)

Dr. Efraim Zuroff, director of the Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem who is actually staying in Berlin, says: "We urge the German Government to expedite this case as quickly as possible so that Demjanjuk can be fully punished for his crimes"

Dr. Efraim Zuroff
Rückfragen unter: 00972 – 507 – 214 - 156
www.operationlastchance.org
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IWAN DEMJANJUK: DAS WIESENTHAL CENTER BEGRÜSST ERMITTLUNGEN IN LUDWIGSBURG UND FORDERT VON DER BUNDESREGIERUNG SOFORTIGES AUSLIEFERUNGSERSUCHEN

Das Simon Wiesenthal Center hat heute in Berlin die Mitteilung der Zentralen Stelle in Ludwigsburg begrüßt, wonach genügend Beweismaterial für eine Anklageerhebung gegen den mutmaßlichen Massenmörder Iwan Demjanjuk zusammengetragen worden sei. Das Wiesenthal Center brachte die Erwartung zum Ausdruck, dass es möglichst schnell zu einer Anklageerhebung durch die Staatsanwaltschaft in München kommt. (Die Zentrale Stelle in Ludwigsburg hat den Fall dorthin abgegeben, weil Demjanjuks letzter deutscher Wohnsitz bei München war.)

Dr.Efraim Zuroff, Leiter des Wiesenthal Centers in Jerusalem, der sich zurzeit in Berlin aufhält, macht darauf aufmerksam, dass die Zeit drängt: „Nun muss die Bundesregierung möglichst schnell ein Auslieferungsersuchen an die USA richten, damit Demjanjuk vor Gericht gestellt werden kann.“

Dr. Efraim Zuroff
Rückfragen unter: 00972 – 507 – 214 - 156
www.operationlastchance.org
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WIESENTHAL CENTER SLAMS ELECTION OF RIGHT-WING EXTREMIST MARTIN GRAF AS DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF AUSTRIAN PARLIAMENT

Jerusalem-The Simon Wiesenthal Center today harshly criticized the election yesterday of ultranationalist Martin Graf of the extremist Freedom Party as the deputy president of the Austrian parliament. In a statement issued in Jerusalem by its chief Nazi-hunter Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center called the election of Graf “ a highly-distressing result which will considerably strengthen the forces of right-wing extremism in Austria, a country whose representatives should be highly aware of the dangers of such an ideology.”

According to Zuroff:
“Graf has on numerous occasions made clear his extremist views and his membership in the “Olympia” student union is clear proof of his ultranationalist ideology. The fact that he could be elected Deputy President of the Austrian Parliament should light warning signals not only in Austria but all over Europe.”

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WIESENTHAL CENTER: CLOSURE OF FABRICATED CASE AGAINST DR. ARAD WELCOME BUT IS ONLY THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG OF THE FAR MORE SERIOUS PROBLEM OF LITHUANIAN HOLOCAUST DISTORTION AND OBFUSCATION

According to Zuroff:
“The case against Dr. Arad is only the tip of an ugly iceberg created in Vilnius by government officials and institutions determined to hide the truth about the critical and extremely significant role played by local Nazi collaborators in the annihilation of Lithuanian Jewry and the mass murder of Jews in Belarus and Poland. Thus the Lithuanians did everything possible to avoid prosecution of their own Nazi war criminals, and when pressured to prosecute the three cases brought to trial [Lileikis, Gimzauskas, and Dailide], made sure by devious legal tactics that none of the three would ever be punished, thereby reinforcing the myth propagated by the authorities that only a few local hooligans mistreated Jews. The latest campaign to prosecute Soviet anti-Nazi Jewish partisans was merely another link in this chain of historical duplicity and distortion. It’s high time that the truth about the Shoa will finally be told in Vilnius and the investigations of Jewish partisans Rachel Margolis and Fania Brantsovsky be closed as well.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156

Wiesenthal Center Welcomes Serbian Decision to Seek Extradition of Three Nazi War Criminals

Belgrade – The Simon Wiesenthal Center today warmly welcomed the decision, announced here today at a press conference convened by Serbian Justice Minister Snežana Malovic and chief war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukčevic with the participation of the Center’s chief Nazi-hunter Dr. Efraim Zuroff to seek the extradition of three Nazi war criminals, two of whom were discovered and exposed in the framework of the Center’s “Operation: Last Chance” project. The criminals in question are former Hungarian gendarmerie officer Dr. Sandor Kepiro, currently residing in Budapest Hungary; former Ustasha police chief of Požega, Croatia Milivoj Ašner, currently residing in Klagenfurt, Austria and former Belgrade Security Police operative Peter Egner, currently residing in Seattle, Washington, USA. The first two were found and exposed by the Wiesenthal Center.

In his remarks at the press conference, Dr. Zuroff stressed the practical and symbolic significance of the decision and praised the new Serbian government for undertaking this step which had hereto merely been discussed by its predecessors.

According to Zuroff:
“In today’s circumstances, in which the most difficult part of bringing Nazi war criminals to justice is often the lack of political will of governments to take the necessary action, Serbia’s decision to seek the extradition of Kepiro, Ašner and Egner sends a powerful message that the passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the murderers and that it is still possible to bring the perpetrators of the Holocaust to the bar of justice. We hope that these requests will be issued as quickly as possible to maximize their impact.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156
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Jerusalem – The Simon Wiesenthal Center welcomed the decision by an Australian court in Perth to allow the extradition to Hungary of Hungarian officer Charles Zentai who is wanted for murder committed in Budapest during the Holocaust. In a statement issued by its chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, who exposed Zentai in the framework of “Operation: Last Chance”, the Center expressed deep satisfaction that justice might finally be achieved.

According to Zuroff:

“Today’s decision brings us a giant step forward toward achieving historic justice. Our thoughts are with the family of Peter Balazs whom Zentai is alleged to have murdered in Budapest in November 1944. And it is only thanks to Peter’s father Dezso and his brother Adam, who collected the evidence of Zentai’s role in Peter’s murder, that the Wiesenthal Center was able more than three years ago to track down the person responsible for the crime. We urge the Australian authorities to expedite the case and complete the extradition process as quickly as possible so that justice can finally be achieved.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156

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Wiesenthal Center to Lithuanian Ambassador: Ignoring Past and Present Anti-Semitism Paved the Way for Yesterday’s Vandalization of Vilnius Jewish Community

Jerusalem – The Simon Wiesenthal Center today demanded prompt action from the Lithuanian government to identify and punish those responsible for the vandalization yesterday of the offices of the Jewish community in central Vilnius. In a letter sent today to the Lithuanian ambassador in Israel Mrs. Asta Skaisgiryté-Liauskienè, the Center’s chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, accused the Lithuanian authorities of failing to adequately respond to recent several anti-Semitic provocations as well as to protecting local Nazi war criminals from prosecution and instead harassing Jewish anti-Nazi Soviet partisans, all of which paved the way for yesterday’s attack on the Vilnius Jewish community

According to Zuroff:

“Given the woefully inadequate response by the government to the neo-Nazi march through the center of Vilnius less than half a year ago, I believe that the time has come for unequivocal, resolute and immediate action to identify and punish those responsible for this anti-Semitic attack.

“There is no doubt in my mind that these outbreaks of anti-Jewish violence are the direct result of Lithuania’s failure to punish its Nazi collaborators, the recent campaign against Soviet Jewish partisans and the ongoing efforts to minimize the role of Lithuanians in the mass murder of their Jewish neighbors during the Holocaust. Today’s anti-Semitic violence is the direct result of ignoring the crimes of the past.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156
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Wiesenthal Center Urges Croatian President Mesić to Condemn Display of Ustashe Symbols and Praise for Convicted Mass Murder at Recent Funeral of Former Jasenovac Commandant Dinko Sakić

Jerusalem – The Simon Wiesenthal Center today called upon Croatian President Stjepan Mesić to condemn the organizers of the recent funeral of convicted Croatian mass murderer Dinko Sakić, the former commandant of the infamous Jasenovac concentration camp, for turning the event into a celebration of his Ustasha crimes. In a letter sent today by its chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff to the Croatian president, the Center stressed the affront to all Ustasha victims and people of conscience the world over when a mass murderer is buried in his Ustasha uniform and praised by a priest as being “a model for all Croatians.”

According to Zuroff:
“To the best of my knowledge, no public official of any significant stature has spoken out against this outrageous display of unrepentant racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia. I therefore urge you, in your capacity as president of the republic and knowing full well your unqualified and unequivocal opposition to the crimes of the Ustasha, to publically condemn the organizers of the funeral and the priests who conducted it.

“Under these circumstances what Croatian society needs is a clear and unequivocal reminder that Dinko Sakic was a mass murderer and brought shame to the Croatian people, that one of democratic Croatia’s greatest achievements was his prosecution and punishment, and that only by totally repudiating the legacy of the NDH [Independent State of Croatia 1941-1945] and its fanatic Ustasha extremists will Croatia become a welcome member of NATO and the European Union.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156
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Wiesenthal Center Receives New Information on Whereabouts of Most Wanted Nazi War Criminal Dr. Aribert Heim

Puerto Montt, Chile – The Simon Wiesenthal Center announced today that it had already received new information regarding the possible whereabouts of its “Most Wanted” Nazi war criminal Dr. Aribert Heim, in the framework of the launch of the latest stage in its “Operation: Last Chance” project. In a press conference held here today by its chief Nazi hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, and its Latin American director Sergio Widder, the Center's officials stated that since announcing its new ad campaign for “Operation: Last Chance” in Santiago on Tuesday, it had received two important tips regarding the possible whereabouts of Dr. Heim in Chile.

According to Zuroff and Widder:

“The current phase of “Operation: Last Chance” which includes an ad campaign focusing the 315,000 euros reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of Dr. Heim and meetings with top police and justice officials in Chile and Argentina to help facilitate the ongoing investigations, will not necessarily lead to Heim’s immediate capture. These steps are designed, however, to put in place the tools which we hope will ultimately lead to his arrest.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156
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Wiesenthal Center Calls for International Experts to Assess Health of
Nazi War Criminal Milivoj Ašner

Vienna – The Simon Wiesenthal Center today called for a panel of international medical experts to assess the health of hereto unprosecuted, escaped Croatian Nazi war criminal Milivoj Ašner, presently living in Klagenfurt, Austria to which he fled following his exposure by the Center in the framework of its “Operation: Last Chance” project. In a meeting here today with Austrian Justice Minister Dr. Maria Berger, the Center’s chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff noted that recent photos, videos, and interviews of Ašner by journalists from the British daily The Sun clearly disprove the results of court-appointed Austrian doctors who claimed that Ašner was suffering from dementia and was too ill to be extradited to Croatia to stand trial for his crimes as police chief of Požega. Zuroff submitted an affadavit from Sun journalist Brian Flynn who interviewed Ašner for 45 minutes and found him to be “lucid throughout the interview and that he did not forget any facts such as what he had done in the war.”

According to Zuroff:
“Austria’s handling of the Ašner case has been severely flawed from the very beginning and therefore the request that special measures be taken to assess Ašner‘s health objectively are entirely justified. His tranquil life in Klagenfurt, protected by the Austrian legal system, is an insult to his many victims and their families.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156
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Wiesenthal Center Calls Upon Spanish Government to Extradite Former Concentration Camp Guards Identified in the United States

Jerusalem – The Simon Wiesenthal Center today called upon the Spanish government to extradite four former Nazi guards, currently living in the United States, who served in concentration camps in which numerous Spanish citizens were tortured and murdered during World War II. The Center’s appeal, issued today in Jerusalem by its chief Nazi hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, comes in the wake of a petition filed late last week in Madrid, with the Center’s support, by “Nizkor” a Spanish human-rights organization, which called upon the Spain judicial authorities to request the extradition of Ivan Demjanjuk, Johann Lepprich, Josias Kumpf and Anton Tittjung, for their service in Flossenburg (Demjanjuk), Mauthausen (Lepprich and Tittjung) and Sachsenhausen (Kumpf). All four have already been ordered deported from the U.S. for concealing their wartime activities, but none has hereto been accepted by any country, as a result of which they are still residing in the United States.

According to Zuroff:
“The willingness of the Spanish authorities to prosecute these Nazi war criminals would be of great significance given the current impasse in their cases in the US. Holding accountable guards from these camps in which so many innocent Spaniards were murdered would be a form of historic justice, which is reinforced by Spain’s decades-long role as a haven for such prominent Holocaust perpetrators as Ante Pavelic and Leon Degrelle.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156
www.operationlastchance.org
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Wiesenthal Center Urges Immediate Extradition of Wanted Nazi Revealed in Good Health in Austria

Jerusalem – The Simon Wiesenthal Center today urged Austria to immediately extradite wanted Croatian Nazi war criminal Milivoj Ašner, who has been living in Klagenfurt since shortly after his exposure by the Wiesenthal Center as part of its “Operation: Last Chance” project on June 30, 2004. Ašner, who served as the Ustasha police chief of Požega during World War II and orchestrated the destruction of the local Serb, Jewish and Gypsy communities, is wanted for war crimes in his native Croatia but his extradition has hereto been blocked by the Austrian authorities on medical grounds. more...
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WIESENTHAL CENTER ERHEBT SCHWERE VORWÜRFE GEGEN
BERUFSVERBAND DEUTSCHER INTERNISTEN: SS-ARZT DR. SEWERING GEHÖRT NICHT GEEHRT, SONDERN VOR GERICHT

Jerusalem. Das Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem fordert den Bundesverband Deutscher Internisten dazu auf, seine Ehrung für den Euthanasie-Arzt Hans-Joachim Sewering zurückzunehmen. Der Leiter des Büros, Dr. Efraim Zuroff: „Es ist schon schlimm genug, dass Sewering für seine Beteiligung am nationalsozialistischen Massenmord nicht vor Gericht gestellt worden ist. Noch schlimmer ist es, wenn man einen SS-Mann und Lügner, der der Gerechtigkeit bis heute entkommen ist, trotz seiner Beteiligung an der Euthanasie auch noch ehrt.“

Vor Jahren hatte das Wiesenthal Center die bayerische Justiz dazu aufgefordert, das Beweismaterial gegen Dr. Sewering nicht länger zu ignorieren und ihn vor Gericht zu stellen. Hans-Joachim Sewering hatte in den Kriegsjahren sechs bis acht Patienten der Heilanstalt Schönbrunn schriftlich in die Krankenmord-Anstalt Eglfing-Haar überwiesen. Drei von ihnen wurden dort ermordet.

Die Ermittlungen gegen Sewering waren eingestellt worden, weil er behauptet hatte, von den Tötungen nichts gewusst zu haben. „Diese Behauptung ist falsch“, so Efraim Zuroff. „Die Schwestern haben von der Ermordung der Kranken gewusst und ausgerechnet der SS-Arzt will es nicht gewusst haben. Das ist lächerlich.“ Die Einstellung der Ermittlungen war ferner damit begründet worden, dass ihm nur Totschlag vorzuwerfen sei. Die Tat sei damit verjährt. „Demnach hätte der Bundesverband der Internisten einen SS-Mann und mutmaßlichen Totschläger geehrt“, sagt Efraim Zuroff. „Ein Skandal sondergleichen.“

Dr. Efraim Zuroff
Rückfragen unter: 00972 – 507 – 214 - 156
www.operationlastchance.org
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Wiesenthal Center Protests Lithuanian Judicial Campaign to Discredit Jewish Heroes of anti-Nazi Resistance

According to Zuroff:

“On May 5 and 13, 2008 plainclothes policemen came looking for Fania Brantsovsky, the librarian of the Vilnius Yiddish Institute, and Rachel Margolis in connection with an investigation against the former for supposed war crimes during World War II. The irony of such allegations is that on April 30, 2008 Fania Brantsovsky has just been honored by the American Embassy for “her struggles as a partisan fighting the Nazi occupiers.”

“If we add this investigation to the one currently being conducted by the Lithuanian authorities against former Yad Vashem Chairman and anti-Nazi partisan Dr. Yitzchak Arad, it is absolutely clear that a deliberate campaign is currently underway to discredit the brave Jewish heroes of the anti-Nazi resistance and help deflect attention from the infinitely more numerous crimes by Lithuanians against Jews during the Holocaust.

“I want to point out that we have every intention of exposing and responding to this malicious campaign against innocent heroes of the anti-Nazi resistance whose only “crime” was to fight against the occupiers of Lithuania who sought with the help of local collaborators to annihilate the Jewish people.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156

WIESENTHAL CENTER HARSHLY CRITICIZES THE GERMAN ASSOCIATION OF INTERNISTS: “SS DOCTOR SEWERING DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE HONORED BUT SHOULD BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE”

Jerusalem – The Simon Wiesenthal Center of Jerusalem today called upon the German Association of Internists (Bundesverband Deutscher Internisten – BDI), to withdraw the medal it recently awarded to Dr. Hans-Joachim Sewering, who was an active participant in the Nazis’ infamous euthanasia program which resulted in the mass murder of at least 100,000 chronically ill, handicapped, and mentally ill civilians.

For years, the Center has been urging the German authorities to prosecute Sewering for his role in killing patients of the Schoenbrunn Hospital as part of the Nazis’ euthanasia program.

In a statement issued today in Jerusalem by its chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center accused Sewering of lying about his role in the murders and his claim that he did not know what fate awaited his patients.

According to Zuroff:

“In view of the fact that the nurses working with Dr. Sewering knew that the patients sent to the killing center at Eglfing-Haar would very likely be murdered, it is virtually impossible that he had no idea of the fate awaiting them. The honor recently bestowed upon him by the Association of German Internists is an insult to his victims and their families, and is incomprehensible in the light of his record. How can a doctor who sent innocent patients to their death be honored for his medical achievements?”

For further information: Call 972-50-721-4156.
www.operationlastchance.org www.wiesenthal.com
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Croatian President Stjepan Mesic Attacks Efforts to Equalize Communist and Nazi Crimes in Meeting with Wiesenthal Center’s Chief Nazi-Hunter Efraim Zuroff

Jerusalem – The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s chief Nazi–hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, met here today with Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, who is participating in the President’s Conference to mark Israel’s 60th anniversary, to discuss a variety of issues concerning the manner in which Croatia is dealing with its World War II past.

In the course of their discussion, President Mesic told Zuroff that he unequivocally opposes recent efforts to equate Communist crimes with those of the Nazis. In his opinion, the crimes are simply incomparable and gave several examples from his own family, many of whom were murdered by the Ustasha Croatian fascists during World War II.

President Mesic and Zuroff also discussed the problematic new exhibition at the site of the Jasenovac Ustasha concentration camp, which both agreed, fails to educate its visitors about the roots of Ustasha ideology, the scope of the crimes committed at Jasenovac and identify the major criminals who ran the camp and bear responsibility for the mass murder of an estimated 80,000-100,000 innocent victims – Serbs, Jews, anti-fascist Croatians and Gypsies. Zuroff offered the Center’s assistance in any efforts which will be undertaken to improve the exhibition.

Both President Mesic and Zuroff expressed deep regret that former Ustasha official Ivo Rojnica who died late last year in Buenos Aires was not prosecuted in Croatia for his World War II crimes in Dubrovnik, and Zuroff updated President Mesic on the Center’s ongoing efforts in the case of Ustasha Požega police chief Milivoj Ašner, currently in Austria.

For more information call 00-972-50-721-4156

Jerusalem-The Simon Wiesenthal Center expressed deep satisfaction in the wake of the rejection today by the Australian Supreme Court of a legal challenge mounted by suspected Hungarian Nazi war criminal Charles Zentai to prevent his extradition to stand trial in Budapest for his crimes during World War II. (Zentai, together with a suspect wanted for fraud in Ireland, had claimed that the courts in Perth did not have the jurisdiction to rule in his extradition case, a technical argument which hereto had delayed his extradition to Hungary for more than two years.)

In a statement issued today by its chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center called upon the Australian authorities to expedite the extradition process to help ensure that justice is achieved, and warned that Zentai’s supporters would make every effort to present him as unable to stand trial even if this was not necessarily the case.

According to Zuroff:
“In these circumstances, it is important to remember that the passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the perpetrators and that suspected killers should not be ignored simply because they have hereto eluded justice. The families of the victims are the ones who deserve our sympathy, not those who committed murder, and in this regard it is illuminating that it was Adam Balasz, the brother of Zentai’s alleged victim, Peter Balasz, who submitted the evidence to the Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem shortly after “Operation:Last Chance” was launched in Hungary, with a request that we try to track down and bring his brother’s murderer to justice.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156

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WIESENTHAL CENTER PROTESTS CELEBRATION OF WORLD WAR II CROATIAN MASS MURDERER ANTE PAVELIC IN MELBOURNE RESTAURANT

Jerusalem-The Simon Wiesenthal Center today protested a celebration held this past weekend in a restaurant in Melbourne, Australia in honor of Ante Pavelic, the leader of World War II Croatia, who implemented genocidal policies against the Serbs, Jews, and Gypsies living in his country, which resulted in the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.

In a statement issued in Jerusalem by its chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center called the celebrations held in the “Katarina Zrinski” restaurant attached to the local Croatian Club “an outrageous affront not only to the hundreds of thousands of blameless victims of the Pavelic regime and their families, but also to any persons of morality and conscience who oppose racism and genocide.”

According to Zuroff:
“This is not the first time that Croatian émigrés in Australia have openly displayed their sympathy for the fascist killers of the Ustasha and have defended Croatian Nazi war criminals. It is high time that the authorities in Australia find a way to take the necessary measures to stop such celebrations, which clearly constitute racist, ethnic, and anti-Semitic incitement against Serbs, Jews, and Gypsies.”

[According to local press reports, a large photograph of Pavelic was hung in the restaurant, T-shirts with his picture and that of two other Ustasha commanders were offered for sale at the bar, and the establishment of the fascist state of “Independent Croatia,” which fully collaborated with Nazi Germany was celebrated last weekend.]

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156
www.operationlastchance.org www.wiesenthal.com
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Wiesenthal Center Congratulates Anti-Nazi Partisan Prof. Dov Levin for Returning Military Award to Lithuanian President; Calls Upon Other Honorees to Do Likewise

In a statement issued today in Jerusalem by its chief Nazi-hunter Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center praised Prof. Levin for taking “an unequivocal stand against the attempts by the Lithuanian judicial authorities to delegitimize the courageous struggle of the Soviet partisan movement against the Nazis and their numerous Lithuanian collaborators. This is merely another attempt by Lithuania to minimize or relativize the extensive participation by Lithuanians in the mass murder of Jews during the Holocaust,” said Zuroff, who urged other honorees to follow Levin’s example.

In his letter to President Adamkus, Prof. Levin explained why he took this unprecedented step:

“As a former comrade-in-arms of Dr. Arad, and as someone who has very closely followed the efforts of Lithuanian society to erase the guilt of Lithuanian complicity in Holocaust crimes, I want to strenuously protest the absolutely disgusting demand to extradite this Jewish hero to stand trial in Lithuania. Out of a sense of solidarity with Dr.Arad and deep disgust and anger at this despicable step, which attempts to delegitimize the courageous struggle of myself and my comrades against the Nazi invaders and their Lithuanian collaborators, I hereby return the certificate of honor whose contents have been rendered meaningless by the recent actions and events in Lithuania as explained above.


“In that context, I cannot refrain from mentioning my deep sense of shock and indignation at the recent demonstration by some two hundred neo-Nazis, who brazenly marched in the main streets of our beloved Vilna [Vilnius] shouting anti-Semitic slogans such as "Juden raus" under the protection of the local police, who stood by passively despite this blatant exhibition of incitement against Jews and Russians. And thus it is perhaps no coincidence that this disgusting anti-Semitic event took place not long after the insulting demand by the Lithuanian authorities to extradite our comrade Dr. Yitzchak Arad.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156

מרכז ויזנטל מברך את פרופ. דב לוין, פרטיזן שלחם נגד הנאצים, על השבת עיטור צבאי לנשיא ליטא; המרכז קורא למקבלי עיטור נוספים ללכת בעקבותיו

דר' אפרים זורוף, מנהל מרכז ויזנטל בישראל וצייד-הנאצים הראשי של המרכז שיבח היום בירושלים את פרופ. לוין על ש"התייצב בתוקף נגד ניסיונות מערכת המשפט הליטאית להפוך את מאבק הפרטיזנים הסובייטיים נגד הנאצים ומשתפי הפעולה הליטאים ללא לגיטימי. זהו נסיון נוסף לגמד את השתתפותם הפעילה של ליטאים רבים ברצח יהודים במהלך השואה," אמר זורוף, שקרא למקבלי עיטור כבוד נוספים ללכת בעקבות פרופ. לוין.

פרופ. לוין הסביר במכתב לנשיא אדאמקוס מדוע החליט לנקוט בצעד תקדימי זה:

"כחבר לנשק של דר' ארד וכמי שעקב מקרוב אחר מאמצי החברה הליטאית לטשטש את אשמת המעורבות העמוקה של ליטאים בפשעי הנאצים, אני רוצה למחות בכל תוקף נגד הדרישה המתועבת בעליל להסגיר את הגיבור היהודי הזה לליטא כדי לעמוד לדין. מתוך תחושת סולידריות עם דר' ארד ותעוב וכעס עמוקים כלפי צעד מכוער זה, שמנסה לשלול את הלגיטימיות מהמאבק האמיץ שלי ושל חבריי לנשק נגד הפולשים הנאצים ועוזריהם הליטאים, אני מחזיר בזאת את אות הכבוד שאיבד את ערכו בשל צעדיה האחרונים של ליטא שהוזכרו לעיל.

"בהקשר זה, איני יכול להימנע מלהזכיר את זעזועי וזעמי על הפגנת מאות הניאו-נאצים שהתקיימה לאחרונה, בה הם צעדו במצח נחושה ברחובות הראשיים של וילנה האהובה שלנו, וקראו קריאות אנטישמיות כגון "יהודים החוצה" בעודם מאובטחים על ידי המשטרה המקומית, שלא התערבה למרות גילויי השיסוי הצעקניים נגד יהודים ורוסים. נראה שאין זה מקרה שהפגנה אנטישמית נוראה זו התאפשרה זמן קצר לאחר דרישת שלטונות ליטא מישראל להסגיר את חברנו יצחק ארד."

למידע נוסף נא להתקשר לטל. 7214156-050

Wiesenthal Center Criticizes Failure of Lithuanian Authorities to Prevent Neo-Nazi Anti-Semitic Demonstration in Vilnius and Demands Harsh Punishments for Participants

In a letter sent by its chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff to the Lithuanian ambassador to Israel, the Center demanded that the demonstrators be punished as quickly as possible, noting that public opinion poll published today in Vilnius indicated widespread public support of the march, which clearly shows that Lithuanian society in acute need of a lesson about the dangers of Nazism.

According to Zuroff:

“The Wiesenthal Center would therefore request that you transmit to Vilnius not only the sense of shock and outrage felt by Jews the world over, but our demand that those responsible for this outrage be prosecuted and punished in an expeditious manner. I would also add that the failure of the police to respond to the march raises serious questions about the willingness of the Lithuanian authorities to take the necessary measures to prevent such cases in the future.

“In fact, based on the public opinion poll which appeared in today’s’ Lietuvos Rytas in which 32% of the respondents expressed approval for the anti-Semitic and racist slogans chanted by the neo-Nazi demonstrators and another 22% approved of the march, it appears that there is much work to be done in educating the Lithuanian public about the dangers posed by Nazism. But perhaps that is not surprising in a country in which not a single one of the numerous unprosecuted Lithuanian Nazi war criminals has ever been punished for his crimes.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156
www.operationlastchance.org www.wiesenthal.com

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Wiesenthal Center: Riga March Honoring Latvian SS Legion Symptomatic of Latvia’s Failure to Fully Recognize Horrors of Nazi Regime and Latvian Participation in Holocaust Crimes

In a statement issued today in Jerusalem by its chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center called the annual march a misguided attempt to create a false symmetry between Nazi and Communist crimes which will help minimize the guilt of Latvians in the crimes of the Holocaust.

According to Zuroff:

“By permitting a march of to honor those who fought alongside the Nazis for a victory of the Third Reich during World War II, the Latvian authorities are sending a deeply-flawed message which distorts the historical events. And by honoring all the Latvian SS Legion veterans, even though among them are many who were active participants in the mass murder of Jews in Latvia and Belarus, the organizers of the march are insulting the victims of these murderers and reinforcing the myth that Latvians bear no responsibility whatsoever for the annihilation of Latvian Jewry (and numerous Jews in other countries), a fabrication which has no connection to reality.”

מרכז ויזנטל: גרירת-הרגלים של אוסטריה בהעמדה לדין של ארנה וואליש, שהייתה זקיפה במחנה מאיידנק, אפשר לה בסופו של דבר לחמוק מהצדק למרות שהתיק בעניינה נפתח לאחרונה שנית

והתגוררה בוינה עד לשבת האחרונה, הצליחה לחמוק מהעמדה לדין בגין פשעיה בתקופת השואה עקב מותה בבית חולים בבירה האוסטרית.

בהודעה שהוציא דר' אפרים זורוף, צייד הנאצים ומנהל מרכז ויזנטל בישראל נאמר שמות וואליש מנע ממנה לעמוד לדין לאחר שממש לאחרונה גברה האפשרות לכך , עקב ההתפתחות החדשה ששלטונות פולין איתרו חמש ניצולות ממחנה המוות מאיידנק שראו במו עיניהן פשעים שביצעה שם וואליש. (עדויות אלה הובילו להחלטת רשויות אוסטריה מהעת האחרונה לפתוח מחדש את תיקה של וואליש.)

לדברי זורוף:

"ארנה וואליש ומשפחתה צריכים להודות לכל ממשלות אוסטריה לדורותיהן על גרירת הרגליים המתמשכת לגבי העמדתה לדין ועל העובדה שהיא לא נענשה מעולם על פשעיה במאיידנק ובמחנה הריכוז ראבנסברוק. העובדה שאישה זו, אשר הודתה בהובלת אנשים לתאי הגזים ובשמירה עליהם לבל יברחו, לא הועמדה מעולם לדין בגין פשעיה האכזריים, היא אות קלון לאוסטריה והוכחה ניצחת לחוסר הרצון הפוליטי המתמשך בוינה להעמיד פושעי מלחמה נאצים לדין. מותה חייב לשמש תזכורת לכל הממשלות אשר דנות בתיקים של פושעים נאצים שיש לזרז את העמדתם לדין כדי לא להחמיץ את האפשרות לעשיית דין צדק."

למידע נוסף נא להתקשר לטל. 7214156-050

WIESENTHAL CENTER: ÖSTERREICHS JAHRZEHNTELANGES VERSAGEN BEI DER STRAFVERFOLGUNG VON NS-VERBRECHERN ERMÖGLICHTE ES DER KZ-AUFSEHERIN ERNA WALLISCH, DER GERECHTIGKEIT ZU ENTKOMMEN, TROTZ DER WIEDERAUFNAHME IHRES VERFAHRENS

Jerusalem. Das Simon Wiesenthal Center Center hat heute tiefes Bedauern darüber zum Ausdruck gebracht, dass der Aufseherin des KZ Majdanek, Erna Wallisch, die bis letzten Samstag in Wien wohnte, eine Anklage wegen ihrer Holocaust-Verbrechen durch ihren Tod in einem Krankenhaus erspart geblieben ist. In einer Stellungnahme hat der Nazi-Jäger und Chef des Wiesenthal Büros in Jerusalem, Dr. Efraim Zuroff, heute festgestellt, dass der Tod sie vor einem möglichen Gerichtsverfahren bewahrt hat. Ein solches Verfahren sei kürzlich immer wahrscheinlicher geworden, nachdem polnische Behörden fünf Zeuginnen ausfindig gemacht hatten, die als Majdanek-Überlebende über Verbrechen der Wallisch ausgesagt hatten. Diese Zeugenaussagen hatten letztlich Österreich dazu bewogen, das Verfahren gegen Wallisch wieder aufzunehmen.

Dr. Efraim Zuroff: „Erna Wallisch und ihre Familie können sich bei den früheren österreichischen Regierungen dafür bedanken, dass sie durch jahrzehntelanges Versagen der ehemaligen Aufseherin dazu verholfen haben, dass sie nie für ihre Rolle im Vernichtungslager Majdanek und im KZ Ravensbrück bestraft wurde. Die Tatsache, dass eine Frau, die selbst gestanden hatte, Menschen auf dem Weg zur Gaskammer begleitet und sie dabei bewacht zu haben, nie für ihre grausamen Verbrechen zur Rechenschaft gezogen wurde, ist ein Schandmal für Österreich und ein starker Beweis für den über Jahrzehnte hinweg fehlenden politischen Willen, österreichische NS-Täter zur Rechenschaft zu ziehen. Ihr Tod sollte allen Regierungen, die noch mit der Verfolgung von NS-Verbrechern zu tun haben, in Erinnerung rufen, dass sie alles dafür tun müssen, diese Verbrecher vor Gericht zu stellen, so lange es noch möglich ist.“

Das Wiesenthal Center hatte im Mai 2004 bei der Operation Last Chance erstmals Hinweise auf die KZ-Aufseherin Wallisch erhalten und ihren Fall aufgedeckt.

Rückfragen unter: 00972 – 507 – 214 - 156

Wiesenthal Center: Austria’s Decades-Long Failure to Prosecute Majdanek Guard Erna Wallisch Ultimately Allowed Her to Escape Justice Despite Recent Re-Opening of Her Case

Jerusalem – The Simon Wiesenthal Center today expressed deep regret that Majdanek guard Erna Wallisch, until last Saturday a resident of Vienna, was spared prosecution for her Holocaust crimes in the wake of her death in a hospital in the Austrian capital. In a statement issued today in Jerusalem by its chief Nazi-hunter Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center noted that Wallisch’s death had prevented her from facing prosecution, which recently became a strong possibility in the wake of the discovery by the Polish authorities of five women who had survived the Majdanek death camp and had witnessed crimes committed by Wallisch. (These testimonies led to the recent decision the Austrian authorities to reopen the Wallisch case.)

According to Zuroff:

“Erna Wallisch and her family can thank the decades-long failure of successive Austrian governments for the fact that she ultimately was never punished for her role at the Majdanek death camp and Ravenbruck concentration camp. The fact that a woman who admitted taking people to be gassed and guarding them so that they could not escape was never held accountable for her heinous crimes is a badge of shame for Austria and stark proof of the decades-long lack of political will in Vienna to bring Austrian Holocaust perpetrators to justice. Her death should serve as a reminder to all the governments which are dealing with the cases of Nazi war criminals that they had best expedite these prosecutions while justice can still be achieved.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156

www.operationlastchance. org www.wiesenthal.com

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Jerusalem – The Simon Wiesenthal Center today harshly criticized the decision of an Australian court to postpone for at least six months a decision which had hereto prevented the extradition from Australia to Hungary of Charles Zentai, a Nazi collaborator accused of murdering a Jewish teenager in Budapest during the Holocaust. In a statement issued today in Jerusalem, the Center’s chief Nazi-hunter Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff expressed his deep frustration and exasperation with the Australian courts which have allowed a purely technical legal issue, in no way connected to the facts of the case, to prevent the extradition to stand trial of an accused Holocaust murderer.

According to Zuroff:

“By failing to resolve the technical challenge mounted by Zentai’s lawyers and postponing the decision by half a year, the Australian courts have significantly increased the likelihood of an accused Nazi murderer escaping trial and punishment. It is as if the court is entirely oblivious to the responsibility it should feel to Zentai’s victim, Peter Balazs and his family, who for decades sought to bring his killer to justice, and instead of expediting the extradition process have allowed its manipulation to help Zentai avoid his day in court.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156

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Wiesenthal Center Urges Austrian Justice Minister to Expedite Re-Opened
Case of Majdanek Guard

Jerusalem – The Simon Wiesenthal Center today urged Austrian Justice Minister Dr. Maria Berger to expedite the case of Majdanek guard Erna Wallisch, which was recently reopened by the Austrian authorities, in order to ensure that she be held accountable for her crimes at the Nazi death camp on the outskirts of Lublin. In a letter sent today from Jerusalem by its chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center noted the urgency of the situation due to Wallisch’s age (85) and emphasized the importance of such prosecutions despite the decades that have passed since the crimes were committed.

According to Zuroff:

“The new evidence and witnesses uncovered by the Poles have created an unforeseen opportunity to achieve justice in this case and I therefore urge you to do everything possible to expedite the investigation in Vienna so that justice can be achieved. In this respect, it is important to remember that the passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the perpetrators and that murderers do not deserve any consideration just because of longevity.

“Austria’s absolute failure during the past three decades to prosecute Nazi war criminals is well-known, but one of the first steps you took was to add 50,000 euros to the reward for information on escaped Nazi war criminal Dr. Aribert Heim. We hope that you will continue to distinguish yourself from your predecessors by actively expediting the Wallisch case so that she will not be allowed to elude justice.

“People like Erna Wallisch do not deserve any sympathy. The fact that they have not previously been convicted is a travesty of justice which can now be corrected. Doing so, will send a very powerful message that Austria has finally ceased to be a haven for the perpetrators of the Holocaust.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156

www.operationlastchance. org www.wiesenthal.com

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WIESENTHAL CENTER URGES  HUNGARY TO PROSECUTE KEPIRO AT NOVI SAD MEMORIAL FOR VICTIMS OF JANUARY 1942 MASSACRE

Novi Sad, Serbia- The Simon Wiesenthal Center today urged Hungary to prosecute convicted but unpunished former gendarmerie officer Dr. Sandor Kepiro for his role in the mass murders carried out by Hungarian forces in Novi Sad in January 1942. In a speech read at the annual memorial for the victims of the massacre, the Center’s chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff emphasized the inordinate amount of time which has passed since the Wiesenthal Center discovered that Kepiro, who was convicted but never punished for his participation in the mass murder in Novi Sad, was living in Budapest at 78 Leo Frankel St. unpunished for his crimes.

According to Zuroff:
“ Last year, I stood here with you full of hope that one of the Hungarian officers who had played an important role in implementing the murders, and had been discovered several months previously by the Wiesenthal Center living in Budapest, would be punished for his crime. And on that day, a year ago, we all had joined together in the heartfelt call for justice. Hungarian gendarmerie officer Dr. Sandor Kepiro must pay for his crimes!!!

And I ask myself, what has to happen for justice to be achieved?? How is it possible that someone as obviously guilty as Kepiro, someone who was convicted for his role in 1944 by a Hungarian court is still a free man, walking the streets of Budapest?

Let today's gathering scream out for justice in the memory of the victims and let us never rest until the guilty are punished for their crimes. That must be the message from Novi Sad on the 66th anniversary of those heinous murders.”