Striving for Accountability in tbe Aftermath of tbe Holocaust

399 Pages·2012·37.89 MB·English

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The Office of Special Investigations:
Striving for Accountability in tbe Aftermath of tbe Holocaust
by Judy Feigin
Edited by Mark M Richard
Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General
Department ofJ ustice
Criminal Division
December 2006
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Table of Con lea II
Page
Preface..................................................................................................................................... iv
Chapter One: The Creation ofOSI
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Int roducti on . ............................ ,. ..................................................•.............................
The Beginning. ..........•...................................... ~························································ 2
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His tOnans ................................................................................................................ . 21
Chapter Two: The Limits oft he Law
Introduction. ........................~ ···················································· .. ····················· .. ········ 33
Statutes and Procedures............................................................................................. 3 5
Chapter Three: Case Studies ofVarious Persecutors and How the Law Haodled Them
Introduction.................................................................................................................. 45
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Hands Pmeqrton
Feodor Fedorenko-"Assistance in Persecution" Under the DPA........................... 48
Oeo111 Lindert and Adam Friedrich- "Assistance in Persecution" Under the RRA 64
Fran.k. WahlS-L.essons Learned by 081...................................................................... 71
Ehruus Sprogis-When Are Law Enforcers Persecutors? ..... .,................................ 101
Jacob Tann.enbaWD -1"be Kapo Di1etnnl8 ................................ :............................... 106
Edg ars Laipeoieks - When There are No Good Choices.... .. .. . .. .. . .. .... .. . . .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. . 117
Juouos Kungys-When is Misrepresentation Actionable?...................................... 127
Leonid Petkiewytscb - An Aberrational Loss.......................................................... 134
Aloyzas Balsys and Vytautas Gecas-Self-Incrimination in OSI Cases. ................. 141
John DcmjanjUk-An Appropriate Prosecution Initially Brought, io Part,
Under the Wrong Factual Predicate........................................... 150
Johann Breyer - An American Persecutor................................................................ 115
Propagandists
Vladimir Sokolov-A Persecutor Who Found a Home in Academia ...................... 192
Valerian Trifa-A Persecutor Who Found Refuge in His Church ........................... 203
Ferenc Koreh-A Lifetime ofPropagaoda. .............................................................. 229
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Senior Officials
Andrij Artllkovic-Justice Interminably Delayed. ................................................... 239
Otto von Bolschwing-An Eichmann Associate Wbo Became a CIA Source ......... 259
Karl Linoas-Cold War Poliiics and OSI Litigation. ................................................ 271
Chapter Four: Protecting Our Borders
In.ttod:uction.. ................•................•......................................•.......................•.•...•......•... 296
The Watcblist. ............................................................................................................... 297
Kurt Wa!dheim-A Prominent International Figure. ............. , ................................. 310
Chapter Five: Alleged U.S. Support for Entry of Nazis into the United StaleS
lntrodllCtion. .................................................................................................... ~ ............ 330
Arthur Rudolph-An Honored Rocket Scientist. ..................................................., .. 331
Tscherim Soobzokov -The Victim ofVigilankS. ................................................... 342
The Belarus Conspinlcy-Sensationalism vs. Reality .............................................. 356
Chapter Six: Expanding Jurisdiction
Introduction .......................................................... :. .................................................... 3 70
Reports
Klaus Barbie-The Butcher ofLyons. ................................................... :. .................. 371
Robert Verbelen - Anoth.er Barbie? .......................................................................... 38S
JosefMengeJe -The .Angel ofDeath. ........................................................................ 390
Looted Assets ................................................................................................................ 406
OS! Goes ln!emational
Germany. .................................................................................................................... 424
The Baltics ............................................................................. 454
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The Commonwealth Nations. ................................................................................... 48S
Japan. .......................................................~ ................................................................. 5·00
Tracking Persecutors Outside the United States:
Case Studies ofBohdan Koziy and Harry Miionil.. .................................................. S09
Chapter Seven: Reaction to OSI
Introduction.............................................................................................................. S23
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The Jewish Community. ................................................................................................ 524
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CritiCS ..........................................................................................................., ••....•••....••....• 533
Conclusion. ............................................................................................................................... 556
Appendix .............................................................................•.................................................... 569
Prdace
[T]be Holocaust is one oft hoSe few issues that the more distant we are from it; the
larger it looms. Each decade since the end of the war bas seen greater, not lesser,
attention, and that is an oddity. There are very few issues which grow in
magnitude as they are further away from the event. This is one oft helll. P.ethaps
because it is the ultimate evil, because it takes so much time to absorb its lessons,
and thai those lessons have become lllliversaliwt in Cambodia, in Rwanda, in
ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, the Holocaust has taken on an ever~ greater sense
of urgency.1
The Offioe ofS pecial Investigations (OS!) is often refmed to as the government's "Nazi-
bunting" organization.' Whlle that moniker is Calcby, in fact the United States does not seek to
exclude everyone wbo had an affiliation with the Nazis, nor even everyone wbo fought on their
behalf. OSI's role is to identify, and to seek removal of, only those wbo assisted the Nazis and
their"allies in the ~on of civilians. • ··
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In the 1970s, the public was sboclced to learn that some Nazi persecutors had emigiated to
the United States. There were calls for their expulsion and legislation was passed to facilitate
their deportation. OSJ was created in 1979 to handle the caseload.
The obstacles to sucoess were fonnidable. OSI had to prove events decades old wllich
wen: conunined thousands of miles away, despite the fact that most witDesseS bad been killed
during the war. Many wbo survived the war nevertheless died before OSJ's foiiJ>din&. The
witnesses ultimately available for testimony rarely knew the names oft heir tormentors.
Moreover, by the time they wen: called up<in to bear witness, their memories were fallible. Much
oft he relevant documentary proof bad been destroyed - some in the rubble of war, some by
Nazis intent on obliterating evidenoe of their honific acts, and some by newly Jiberated camp
imnates who, in the first blush of freedom, wanted to bum the records oft heir persecutors. Mucb
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ofw hat survived was behind 1he Iron Cunain. Access to this material was extremely limited
until the Cold War ended - more than a decade after OSI 's founding.
The most frequently asked questions about Nazi persecutors in the United States are:
bow many came? did OSI find most of them? and was 1he government complicit in providing
these persccutors a safe haven? OSI's work sheds light, although not definitive answers, on all
these questions.
One ofOSI's early Directors hypothesized in 1984 that approximately 10,000 Nazi
persecutors had emigrated to tbe United States! In retrospect, that estimate seems high. In
1984, 1he Cold War was at its height; one could only speculate about information in Soviet
archives. We now have access to thoU$8ndS ofn ames not available then. Running thoile names
tlirOUgli compiiiii1ildicesofpe:r!Oii$1ilihe United States.(a research technique also not available
in 1984) bas not led to anywhere near I 0,000 "bits."'
The 10,000 figure bas enduring significance, however, because it bas been widely
reported.' To the extent that people believe it, it unfortunately suggests that 1he numbet of cases
handled by OS!-approximately 130- is de minimus.• However, that numbet, which includes
three cases that reached 1he SU)IIeme Court, should be placed in context. There is enormous
difficulty in marshaling the evidence for these prosecutions, many subjects died before
investigation was complete,' the cases take years to litigate to completion, and the office is
small.' As oft his writing, more than 25 YtalS after OSI's founding, 83 persecutors have been
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denatunllizcd; sixty-two have left 1he country permanently as a result ofOSl's work.' More than
170 have been prevented from entering at all.
The disparity between the number ofc ases filed and the numbet ofd efendants who left
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the country is due to a variety off acton. Several cases are still in litigation. More than 20
defendants died while their cases were pending. Some cases were settled-generally because of
health issues-with the government apeeing not to punue depor1alion even though the facts
would have wananted it. The government did not prevail in a few cases, and a handful of
defendants wbo have been ordered deported remain in the United Stetes because no other country
is willing to accept them.
"Nazi hunting" so many years after the war is dramatic, tedious and difficult. It calls for
the prosecutorial collaboration of litigaton and historians. Because the work is so unusual, and
the moral content so profound, the .Department ofJ ustice determined 1hat the history of the office·
itself should be documented. This Jq)Ort is the result of that determination.
Ill preparing a report of this type, there is inevitably the question of what, and bow much,
to include. Any reader interested in the full scope oft he litigation handled by the office should
tum to the Appendix at the conclusion oft his rep6rt. It lists every case tiled, the charges made,
and the litigative outcome. The body oft he report details only a sampling oft he cases. They
case.
were chosen as representative ofa type of or ofa particular issue, important to
understanding the work ofOSI.
Although OSI's litigative losses are few, vlrtually all are discussed.10 This was done for
two reasons: (I) to avoid any suggestion that the report is designed to aggrandiu the office's
record; and (2) because the losses are rare, almost all present unique issues worthy ofc omment.
The history of OSI involves more than its cases, however. Although initially conceived
solely as a litigating unit, OSI's mandate has expanded over the years. As a repository of World
War II knowledge, the office bas been called upon by various partS oft he government to prepare
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rej,orts and to assist in non-litigative matters concerning the Holocaust. The reports, all ofwhicb
are detailed herein, involve World Waz D issuei relevant to the nation and to the world
community.
While the cases and projects are individually fascinating, t1Us report was not written
simply to recount a series of unrelated but interesting undertakings. It is designed to SCJVe as a
teaching and research tool for historians, the media, academics, policy mak~ and the general
public. The project will hopefully provoke discussion about some oft he legal and moral issues
involving prosecution oft hose involved with the Holocaust. Among the questions: what kind of
behavior constitutes assistance in persecution? bow do people become involved in genocidal
activity? did they have viable alternatives? ifn ot, should that be a factor in determining whether
they are allowed to stay in the United States? how should society handle them, 30, 40, SO yeazs
after the fact? does the passage oftime affect their ability to refute the charges? And what is
society's goal in bringing these cases? should it be to punish? to establish personal
accountability? to educate future generations? to present a historical record? Whatever the
goals, how can they best be met?
The issues are legion. While one would hope that the Holocaust was such an aberration
that its like would never recur, the world has since leazned ofn ew and horrific genocidal
undertakings. Bosnia, Cambodia, Croatia, Iraq, Rwanda, Serbia and Sudan are among the all
too-many countries involved. These societies will inevitably have to confront some oft he same
issues which faced OSI. The United States as well will have to revisit some of the issues as it
determines how to treat those new persecutors who have emigrated to this country. It is the
Department's hope that this report will help bring some oft he matters into focus, both for
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historical ac.:uracy as well as to provide some guidance on how to respond to the inevitable
.repetition of penecution.
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I. S. Eizenstat, Keynote Address, 25 Fordham Int'l L.J. 205, 208 (2001).
2. E.g.,"Racing Against Time," by Angie Cannon, The Miami Herald, Nov. 2, 1996; "Nazi
HWIIers are Still al War," by Ric.k Atkinson, The Washington Post, Aug. 27, 1995; ABC-TV
News, March 25, 1995 (describing OSI as "the~st successful government Nazi-bunting
organiution on earth.")
3. Allan Ryan, Quiet Neighbors (HarcoUJ1 Brace, 1984), pp. 26-27. Ryan acknowledged that
the figure was speculative. His calculation was based on the fact that approximately 400,000
emigres bad been admined under the Displaoed Persons Act. That statute favored persons in the
Baltic states and Ukraine, two regions rife with Nazi collaborators. Because the visa screenins:
process was woefully inadequate (see pp. 36-37), .Ryan postulated that I 00.4 of those admined
had been collaborators. Not wanting to be accused of ''being hysterical on this subject," he
halved the pen:entage aod then halved it yet again. The fiaure thus calculated.was 10,000.
Recorded Ryan interview. Oct. 6, 2000. (.Ryan's calculations do not include my adminees
under the Refugee Relief Act, under which another 200,000 persons entered the countly. Very
few of those adminees were from the Baltics or Ukraine.)
4. Ofc ourse, not all persons who participated in the Holocaust are listed on I'OStelS and the
government does not have all relevant rosters in 811)' event; many are missing or incomplete.
Mo!"''ver, the number of"hiiS" does not correlate directly with prosecutable cases. Many
subjects died before OSlleamed their names. Some hilS are cases ofm istaken identity; in others
there is no evidence or insufficient evidence ofJ >C!SCCuUOO. Although we have no reliable way
ofd etermining the precise number of Nazi persecutors who entered the United Stales after World
WarD, OS! has investigated approximately I ,500 persons since its founding in 1979.
That number overstates the universe oflcnown potentially viable ~s, however: Before
!988, a maner was "opened" as an OS! investigation as soon as a malch (or sometimes a near·
match) was found between a name in INS files and a name on an OS! source list. In many
instances, it rumed out that the person was dead, the near-match was not an actual match, or there
was no reasonable basis to believe the individual was involved in persecution. After 1988, OS!
generally "opened" a case only after it was clear that the subject was alive and living in the U.S.
(or aU. S. citizen Jiving ab.road),lhe match was proper, and there was a l'eaSOoable basis to
believe he had been involved in acts of persecution.
5. E.g., "As Suspected Nazi Cases Dwindle, Government to Cast Wider Net," by J?avid Poner,
AP, Feb. 27, 2005; "Uoforgiven, Michael Gruber Can Never Escape his Nazi Past." by Katherine
Marsh, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, June I 7, 2001; "Filed Away, As America's Last
Hidden Nazis are Pursued, Silent Wimesses Emerge to Testify from Long-Hidden Soviet
Archives," by Joseplt Slobodzian, The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, May 13, 2001; "Probers
Race Against Tune in Hunt for Fugitive Nazis," by Adam Piore, The Record (Bergen Co., NJ),
Aug. 10, 1997; "Nazi Hunters Sift Aging Archive," by Angie Cannon, The Cha,lolle Observer
(No. Car.), Oct. 13, I 996; "Holocaust's Last Chapter; Hunt for Nazis Continues As Clock Winds
Down," AP, Apr. I I, I9 95; "The Nazis Among Us," by David Friedman, Nel.!sday (New York),
Feb. 22, 1995; "As Time Runs Out, Hunt for Nazis Speeding Up," by Man O'Connor, The
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