Which nation has been the most helpful in bringing war criminals to justice?
The report has been issued for the past seven years, and it has become clear that the country that has done more than any other to take legal action against Nazi war criminals is the United States. It has done so with unique success, and has already won cases against 107 war criminals and collaborators who entered the United States under false pretenses.
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Which nations do you consider to be the worst at bringing Nazi war criminals to justice?
There are three categories, the first of which is the leading perpetrators—Germany and Austria. Germany has a mixed record, whereas Austria over the last 30 years has an abominable record; it’s an absolute paradise for Nazi war criminals. The next category is the countries of post-Communist Eastern Europe. There I would say the Baltic countries, especially Lithuania, have terrible records. In terms of the “big four” countries where Nazi war criminals found refuge—the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Australia—the worst record undoubtedly belongs to Australia. It is the only one of the four that has hereto failed to take successful legal action against a single Nazi war criminal.
Tell us about Operation Last Chance.
It’s a joint project between the SWC and the Targum Shlishi Foundation, and it offers financial rewards for evidence and information that can facilitate the prosecution and punishment of Nazi war criminals. We launched it in 2002 in the Baltic countries; it has since expanded to include Austria, Romania, Poland, Croatia, Hungary, Germany, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Uruguay. We’ve received the names of more than 500 suspects of whom we were unaware. We’ve submitted the names of about 99 to local prosecutors after determining that the people were valid suspects. The process has yielded three arrest warrants, two extradition requests, and dozens of ongoing murder investigations.
Do you have any regrets about a life spent hunting Nazis?
I’m sometimes jealous of Mr. Wiesenthal, who had the opportunity to go after the main criminals of the Holocaust—by the time I started, many of the major war criminals were no longer alive. But even though the people I’ve pursued were not of the highest rank, they certainly bear criminal responsibility and deserve to be brought to justice. I regret that this subject has not been given its due, for a variety of political reasons. The sad conclusion is that far too many people got away with it, and in that respect, I think the successes we’ve had in the past decade are of particular importance because they show that even many years after the crimes were committed, these people can still be brought to justice; there are people out there who are doing whatever they can to bring them to justice. And I think people should remember this: while prosecution of Nazi war criminals is important, the real challenge is to help those countries that participated, and whose nationals participated, face the truth about their World War II crimes, and find a way to confront them both honestly and courageously, so that we can make a better world.
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