Nazi Hunter - An Account of the Global Pursuit of Nazi War Criminals

Author: (Russian) B. Grachev, A. Onya
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: Among those stripped of American citizenship for concealing their service in concentration camps, participation in the massacre of peaceful civilians, and committing other crimes are Yojias Kumpf, Aliqmanantas Daliad, Adam Friedrich, and others. In recent years, the workload of the Special Investigations Unit has significantly expanded. For example, in 1994, the office submitted 7 new indictments to federal courts at various levels, the highest number in the past 10 years. The main reason for this is the change in the social system in Eastern and Central European countries, which has allowed the staff of the Special Investigations Unit to utilize previously restricted archival materials. Overall, these archival materials encompass the comprehensive wartime documents of the Axis powers. In recent years, a large amount of new material has unexpectedly become available to the staff of the Special Investigations Unit, and like their colleagues in Germany, the UK, and other countries, they continue to race against time to extract as much information as possible from these archival documents. These documents enable the Special Investigations Unit to prepare more thoroughly for prosecuting Nazi suspects and have also led to the discovery of many new suspects living in the United States. In 1996, under President Clinton, a large-scale cross-departmental initiative to investigate the fate of gold and other treasures looted by the Nazis expanded the scope of the Special Investigations Unit's work. Even without this initiative, the work of the Special Investigations Unit at the time was already substantial. Led by Deputy Secretary of State Stuart Eizenstat, the Special Investigations Unit participated in the implementation of this initiative as the main representative of the Department of Justice. During the course of this initiative, the Special Investigations Unit made significant breakthroughs, uncovering evidence that had long been inaccessible. This evidence showed that the gold looted by the Nazis from victims: 1) was transferred to Switzerland during the war; 2) was included in the gold transported by the U.S. occupation forces to post-war Germany and handed over to the Tripartite Gold Commission for management and distribution within the Central Banks of European countries. It was the Special Investigations Unit that discovered documents seized from the Germans, which revealed that the Nazis had formulated and implemented a plan to transfer looted Jewish treasures to Switzerland. These treasures (explicitly referred to as "Jewish treasures" in the documents) were transported to the German mission in Bern in diplomatic mail, and subsequently used by German intelligence agencies to obtain advanced technology for the German fascist army. Additionally, the Special Investigations Unit successfully located archival documents from the German Bank's precious metals department, which had been believed to have been lost for nearly 50 years. In September 1997, the Special Investigations Unit's task force on the fate of looted assets was awarded the Medal of Honor by the Deputy Attorney General. A cross-departmental report was published in May 1997 and received almost unanimous praise from all sides, particularly the chapters handled by the Special Investigations Unit, such as the crucial evidence proving that gold confiscated by the Nazis was transferred to Switzerland and used by the Allies after the war to establish "gold funds." In 1946, the U.S. executive branch faced congressional inquiries regarding negotiations with Switzerland for the return of looted gold, to which the U.S. executive branch provided responses. The report specifically details these responses, which also hold significant importance. A second cross-departmental report was released in June 1998, primarily detailing the actions of countries such as Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, and Argentina during and after the war, as well as how the wartime Croatia government, supported by the Nazis, transferred gold to Vatican City. At a press conference on June 2, 1998, Deputy Secretary of State Eizenstat described the work of the Special Investigations Unit as "innovative and outstanding." In October 1998, after the implementation of the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act (P.L. 105–246), the Special Investigations Unit took on the heavy burden of conducting large-scale investigations within the framework of the newly established cross-departmental Nazi War Criminal Records Interagency Working Group. They were tasked with locating, declassifying, and making public secret files related to Nazi criminals and the assets looted from Holocaust victims. At the time of this book's publication, this work is still ongoing. In 1997, the direct costs for the Special Investigations Unit's program were nearly $3,371,000. As of March 25, 1998, the Special Investigations Unit had a total of 29 full-time staff members, including 11 lawyers and 8 historians. Despite the increasing workload, the office has been gradually reducing its staff. In January 1983, the Special Investigations Unit had a staff of 51, including 22 lawyers. Although the workload of the Special Investigations Unit has been growing, it is clear that in the near future, the program to pursue and punish World War II criminals will gradually fade into history due to the natural decline in the number of suspects and witnesses. P18-19