2023-09-30 18:41:27
LOOK: Who is Yaroslav Hunka, the Nazi war criminal who was honored in the Parliament of Canada
From his residence in Jerusalem, Dr. Zuroff, principal investigator of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and founder and director of the office in Israel, spoke with El Comercio about the search for justice as a mission and the need to not forget the horrors of one of the eras darkest of humanity. In this way, he says, scenes like the one that recently occurred in Canada’s Parliament, where a Nazi war criminal was honored, can be avoided, a fact for which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had to apologize.
—Ukrainian Yaroslav Hunka was presented as a hero in the Canadian Parliament, but it was later revealed that he served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, a Nazi military unit. What did he think when he found out?
It is not surprising that such a mistake was made. In Canada, the Government did not consider the Galicia Division, as the 14th SS Waffen Grenadier Division is also known, war criminals, which is a terrible mistake because they were war criminals and committed terrible crimes. In that country they are considered regular soldiers or, even worse, freedom fighters, which is ridiculous because the Nazis had no intention of giving independence to Ukraine. These soldiers fought alongside the worst government in history, a regime that carried out a genocide against the Jews, murdered hundreds of thousands of gypsies, physically disabled and mentally ill people, and liquidated them even though they were people. totally innocent.
—Poland requested the extradition of this Ukrainian…
I’m very happy to hear that. I think it’s the right thing to do.
Ukrainian Yaroslav Hunka, 98, was applauded in Canada’s Parliament on Friday, September 22, when he was presented as a hero of the Second World War. It did not take long for it to be reported that, in reality, he was a Nazi war criminal. (Photo: AP)
—Do you know how many Nazis are still alive?
Nobody knows. In the middle of this conversation, a couple of them might die. They are all old and many are sick. It is certainly not an exact number. I would say at least hundreds.
—Several Nazis have been captured or tried in recent decades. What have been the most significant cases?
It is a difficult question. First, efforts to bring the Nazis to justice have occurred over the past few decades. These people have escaped to countries all over the world, so bringing them to justice is a very difficult task.
—Are you still on the trail of anyone these days? How are your investigations going?
We are working on the trial of a guard who served in a concentration camp near Berlin, Germany. He is supposed to stand trial in January or February of next year. He was a guard in Sachsenhausen. His name is Gregor F. He is accused of participating in the murder of more than 3,000 inmates.
—How many active trials against Nazis are there?
There will be a single trial. The last one will be in January or February in Germany, for the moment. There are no more trials.
“The Nazis escaped to countries around the world; Bringing them to justice has been and is a very difficult task.”
—How does your work work? What is the process of searching for a Nazi?
When they ask me about my job, I say that a third of me is a detective, because I look for these criminals and almost no one else does. I am also one third a historian, which is my true profession. And the last third are political lobbyists, because in many countries they do not want to judge these people because they know that the only thing they have to do is wait for them to die and that will save them the shame, expense and all the hassle of a trial.
1
Joseph Schütz
This former Waffen SS non-commissioned officer was sentenced in 2022 to five years in prison for his complicity in the murder of at least 3,500 prisoners while working as a guard at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, north of Berlin. He died last April at the age of 102.
2
Reinhold Hanning
The former German guard at the Auschwitz concentration camp was sentenced to five years in prison in 2016, but died months after the verdict without entering prison. He was 94 years old.
3
Oskar Gröning
Nicknamed the ‘Auschwitz Accountant’. The German apologized in 2015 and acknowledged his “moral failure.” He was sentenced to four years in prison for complicity in the deaths of 300,000 Jews. He died in March 2018 without serving his sentence.
4
Yakiw Palij
Born in Poland, he is the former guard of a Nazi concentration camp. He was expelled in August 2018 from the United States. He died in January 2019 in a nursing home in Germany, at the age of 95.
—How do you be a detective, historian and political lobbyist at the same time?
The thing is that the work revolves around those three tasks. In other words, it’s about finding Nazis, building the case against them, finding the evidence, witnesses and documents. Test if I am able to find them. And then work so that public opinion supports the accusation.
—Is it very difficult these days to defend the importance of holding Nazis accountable in the final stretch of their lives?
The best way to explain the problem is to compare a 90-year-old Nazi to a serial killer, because he still is. If there is a serial killer free in Lima, the police will look for him. Because you know that as long as he’s not in jail, he’ll be killing innocent people, right? Now, many say: “But what is the probability that a 90-year-old Nazi will kill someone?” And yes, since it has never happened, they know that all they have to do is ignore people like me and they will save themselves the embarrassment and expense.
—Why have you dedicated your life to investigating Nazi war criminals?
I think it is a noble and very important mission. And, as a Jew and someone who lost his family in the Holocaust, and in fact I am named after my mother’s uncle who was murdered along with his wife and children, it is a privilege to be able to bring these horrible people to justice . And it is something that is really worth the effort to hold these people accountable. Because they are the last people on earth who deserve any sympathy. They had no sympathy for their victims, those innocent people killed because they were considered enemies.
—There are stories and theories about the Nazis who came incognito to Latin America. What information do you have about it? Do you know of anyone with a high profile who has arrived in Peru?
They didn’t even do it incognito. Many were really well known. There were two networks that helped the Nazis escape to Latin America, among other places. One of the routes was led by the Austrian Catholic priest Alois Hudal. He was the director of a seminary in Rome and ran an escape network that offered Nazis, including very high-ranking ones, the option of going to Egypt, Syria or South America, mainly Argentina, but also Brazil, Chile, Paraguay , Bolivia. There was another network that was run by a Catholic priest from Croatia who was a fascist, and he sent those people to South America. Now, none of the famous people came to Peru, let’s put it that way.
Efraim Zuroff has dedicated more than half of his life to hunting Nazis. (Photo: AFP)
/ PETRAS MALUKAS
—You have helped capture dozens of Nazis around the world. Which one do you remember the most?
Dinko Sakić. He was one of the commanders of a horrible camp called Jasenovac, in Croatia, where at least 100,000 people were murdered, including Serbs, Jews, Gypsies and anti-fascist Croats.
“Two networks helped the Nazis escape to Latin America, both led by Catholic priests.”
—How did you catch it?
He was in Argentina. From there we managed to get him extradited to Croatia. We got him because of his arrogance and his stupidity. The name was not changed. And then he gave an interview to a Croatian magazine. We followed the trail and found it in Santa Teresita, south of Buenos Aires. That happened in 1998.
—Did he face justice?
He was extradited to Croatia and put on trial. He was charged with mass murder and received the maximum sentence, which was 20 years in prison, and he died in prison. But let me tell you something: at his funeral he asked to be buried in his uniform from the Ustasha unit, formed by Croatian fascists. Horrible and disgusting criminals. And he was buried in his uniform at a private funeral. The Catholic priest who spoke at the funeral said that Dinko Šakić was a model for Croatia. There is a big problem in a country like that.
—How do the authorities of the countries where these Nazis have been found usually act?
Depends. Some cooperate, others do their best not to. Its not that easy. The Americans have done a good job, winning cases against more than 100 Nazi war criminals living in the US and having the best record in recent years. But, for example, the British only successfully prosecuted one Nazi war criminal. The Australians created a law for prosecution and not a single one was convicted.
—How long would you like to continue doing this job?
The last trial is going to be in January or February, so it seems like my work is almost done. And I am very sad. I’m so sorry to see it end because I think it’s a great job to bring these people to justice, and doing so sends a very powerful lesson. If you commit crimes like that, we will find you and put you in jail, even 70 years later.
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