10 Most Wanted Nazi War Criminals

(April 1, 2008)

*Alois Brunner, in Syria: Key operative of Adolf Eichmann. Responsible for deportation of Jews from Austria (47,000), Greece (44,000), France (23,500), and Slovakia (14,000) to Nazi death camps. Status – living in Syria for decades; Syrian refusal to cooperate stymies prosecution efforts; convicted in absentia by France. Alois Brunner is the most important unpunished Nazi war criminal who may still be alive, but the likelihood that he is already decreased increases with each passing year. Born in 1912 and last seen in 2001, the chances of his being alive are relatively slim, but until conclusive evidence of his demise is obtained, he should still be mentioned on any Most Wanted List of Holocaust perpetrators.

1. Dr. Aribert Heim, whereabouts unknown: Indicted in Germany on charges he murdered hundreds of inmates at Mauthausen concentration camp where he was camp doctor. Disappeared in 1962 before planned prosecution.

2. John Demjanjuk, in United States: Ukrainian immigrant alleged by US authorities to have been guard at Nazi camps. He denies that. Extradited to Israel in 1986, where he was sentenced to death for allegedly being Treblinka camp guard Ivan the Terrible. Verdict overturned in 1993 and Demjanjuk returned to America. US citizenship restored in 1998, then removed in 2002. Seeking to appeal court’s January rejection of challenge to immigration judge’s order that would send him to Germany, Poland or Ukraine.

3. Sandor Kepiro, in Hungary: Former Hungarian gendarmerie officer accused of involvement in wartime killings of more than 1000 civilians in Serbia. Convicted twice in Hungarian courts, in 1944 and 1946, but never punished. Kepiro, who moved back to Hungary in 1996 after decades in Argentina, denies accusations. Hungary reinvestigating.

4. Milivoj Asner, in Austria: Police chief in Croatia’s wartime Nazi puppet regime, he is suspected of active role in persecution and deportation to death of hundreds of Serbs, Jews and Gypsies. In 2005, Croatia requested his extradition from Austria, which refused, saying he is unfit to stand trial or be questioned.

5. Soeren Kam, in Germany: Former member of SS wanted by Denmark in assassination of journalist in 1943. Extradition from Germany was blocked in 2007 by Bavarian court that found insufficient evidence for murder charges.

6. Heinrich Boere, in Germany: Admitted hit man for Waffen-SS accused of killing three Dutch civilians. Sentenced to death in absentia in 1949 in Netherlands, later commuted to life in prison. German courts refused to extradite him, then declared conviction invalid. Prosecutors in Dortmund, Germany, brought new murder charges against him this month.

7. Charles Zentai, in Australia: Former Hungarian soldier has been under investigation by Hungary’s Foreign Ministry since December 2004 on suspicion of killing Peter Balazs in Budapest in 1944 for failing to wear a yellow star identifying him as Jew. Zentai denies charge and fighting extradition.

8. Mikhail Gorshkow, in Estonia: US officials and Jewish groups accuse Gorshkow of helping kill Jews while serving as interpreter and interrogator for German Gestapo in Belarus. He returned to native Estonia in 2002 just before federal court stripped him of US citizenship for lying about his war record. Prosecutors in Estonia investigating case.

9. Algimantas Dailide, in Germany: Convicted in 2006 in Lithuania of helping round up Jews for Nazis as officer in Vilnius security police. Sentenced to five years in jail, but judge ruled he was too frail to serve sentence. He had been deported from US to Germany in 2003 for lying on immigration application. Lives in Germany, but went voluntarily to Lithuania for trial.

10. Harry Mannil, in Venezuela: Former officer in Estonia’s political police and German security forces during Nazi occupation of Estonia. US authorities investigating Mannil’s 1990s visa application concluded he took part in murder of hundreds of Jews, barring him entry. Was cleared in 2005 by Estonian investigation into allegations of crimes against humanity.