The Simon Wiesenthal Center has just released the initial findings of its twelfth annual status report on the worldwide investigation and prosecution of Nazi war criminals. The report covers the period from April 1, 2012 thru March 31, 2013 and awards grades ranging from A (highest) to F, to evaluate the efforts and results achieved by more than 36 countries which were either the site of Nazi crimes or admitted Holocaust perpetrators after World War II.
Among the report’s highlights:
• The indictment in Hungary of ghetto commander Laszlo Csatary for his role in the mass deportation of approximately 15,700 Jews to Auschwitz…
• Two new names on the list: armed SS-Death’s Head camp guards Hans (Antanas) Lipschis and Theodor Szehinskyj, both of whom escaped to the United States after World War II…
• The decision by the Australian High Court to reject the extradition request submitted by the Hungarian authorities for Karoly (Charles) Zentai…
• The lack of political will to bring Nazis war criminals to justice and/or to punish them continues to be the major obstacle to achieving justice, particularly in post-Communist Eastern Europe….
• The campaign, led by the Baltic countries to distort the history of the Holocaust and obtain
official recognition that the crimes of the Communists are equal to those of the Nazis, is another major obstacle to the prosecution of those responsible for the crimes of the Shoah…
SWC Israel Director, Dr. Efraim Zuroff, who coordinates the Center’s research on Nazi war criminals worldwide, notes that the statistics in the report clearly show that a significant measure of justice can still be achieved against Nazi war criminals.
“The Report’s purpose is to focus public attention on the issue and encourage all the governments involved to maximize their efforts to ensure that as many as possible of the
unprosecuted Holocaust perpetrators will be held accountable for their crimes,” said Dr. Zuroff.
Also highlighted are both the positive results achieved, such as Hungary and Canada, as well as the failures of countries like Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the Ukraine which have consistently failed to hold any Holocaust perpetrators accountable, primarily due to a lack of the requisite political will, as well as Sweden and Norway who refuse to investigate, let alone prosecute, due to a statute of limitations.
