Holocaust distortion in sights of renowned Nazi hunter

Dr Efraim Zuroff, chief Nazi hunter for the past 38 years, announced recently that he was stepping down from his position as director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, but told the SA Jewish Report he would continue to tackle Holocaust distortion and fight antisemitism.

This renowned American-born Israeli Holocaust historian’s career in Nazi-hunting began when he joined the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles in 1978. “Shortly after joining, I convinced them that they needed a researcher in Israel because Israel was the biggest repository of World War II documents and information with the largest number of Holocaust survivors. So, I got the job,” he says.

His tall, imposing frame is mitigated by a warm, impassioned energy as he details timelines, recalls records, names, dates, statistics, and facts like a human time machine.

Because Nazi war criminal legislation didn’t exist in many countries, Zuroff played a pivotal role in locating and helping bring to justice the worst suspected Nazi criminals around the world, convincing foreign governments to pass laws enabling their prosecution. His efforts influenced the passing of special laws in Canada (1987), Australia (1989), and Great Britain (1991). His research uncovered the postwar escape of several thousand suspected Nazi war criminals to Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, and other countries.

“Governments around the world have taken legal steps against at least 50 war criminals,” says Zuroff. Perpetrators who fled must be held accountable before ill-health or death can save them from facing rightful punishment, he says.

Operation Last Chance, spearheaded by Zuroff, is a vast public project active in more than a dozen countries that focuses on tracking down ex-Nazis still in hiding. So far, it has helped to locate and investigate more than 520 names of previously unknown suspects in 24 different countries, leading to numerous convictions and prosecutions, including that of Sobibor death camp guard John Demjanjuk in Germany, as well as 101-year-old Josef Schütze, who helped murder thousands of Sachsenhausen concentration camp inmates. Although most Nazi war criminals and collaborators are nearing the end of their lifetimes “late justice is still justice”, says Zuroff. Hence the operation’s name.

“The one I’m most proud of is the prosecution of Dinko Šakić, who was the commandant of Jasenovac, one of the most horrific camps in World War II,” he says.

Zuroff was internationally recognised for his role in the arrest, extradition, and prosecution of Šakić, who was extradited from Argentina, prosecuted in Croatia, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The particulars of his crimes against civilians included ordering executions, torturing and inhumanely treating civilians, intimidation, collective punishment, forced labour, and starvation of detainees at the Jasenovac concentration camp.

Another smaller yet notable research project directed by Zuroff involved identifying Nazi war criminals who were still receiving special disability pensions from the German government, which resulted in the cancellation of pensions of about 100 individuals who “violated the norms of humanity”.

Zuroff has kept an account of his life’s work in four published books, which have been translated into 15 languages. The most recent of which is Our People: Discovering Lithuania’s Hidden Holocaust, co-authored by Lithuanian journalist Rūta Vanagaitė. The book offers a powerful examination of the genocidal murder of Lithuanian Jews by their own countrymen during World War II.

“I’ve been tackling Holocaust distortion primarily among countries in Eastern Europe who made the transition from communism to democracy. They created a false narrative as to what happened in their countries during the Shoah by trying to hide the significant role of their nationals in the mass murder of Jews. Particularly horrifying statistics come straight out of Lithuania,” says Zuroff.

“Of the 220 000 Jews living in Lithuania under Nazi occupation, 96.4% of them were murdered – shot near their homes – by their neighbours. These war criminals remain heroes in their home countries to this day, perceived as having fought communism rather than having been vicious Nazis.”

Zuroff’s personal ties to South Africa come through his father’s family roots in Lithuania, who escaped during this time. While his father sought refuge in the United States, two uncles came to South Africa. He often visits the country as his wife, too, is an ex-South African Israeli.

“People are wasting their time looking to say that what happened on 7 October is precedence for the Shoah,” Zuroff says about Israel today. “This isn’t the Shoah, it will never be. Not every war crime is a case of genocide. It’s a terrible pogrom, and it is horrendous in terms of the people who were murdered, the people who fought and fell, and those who are still on the frontlines. But we must remember two cases in history in which criminals pulled off a huge attack not realising that the tragedy they engineered was the beginning of the end for them: Pearl Harbor and the Twin Towers – both ultimately ended with the death and persecution of the perpetrators.”

There’s no way to compromise with Hamas, he says. “It’s a fundamentalist organisation seeking our destruction and we have to keep fighting and doing whatever we can to obliterate fundamentalist Islam. We need hope and perseverance because there are no easy victories, especially in the Middle East.”

In recognition of his life-long commitment as a Holocaust scholar and Nazi hunter, Zuroff has been awarded many times by both the Serbian and Russian governments, including a nomination by the Serbian president for the Nobel Peace Prize.

However, life hasn’t necessarily played out as he planned as a youngster. “My fantasy growing up was to be the first Orthodox Jew to play in the NBA [National Basketball Association]” he says. “I knew I wanted to make history rather than just learn about it, but the truth is I wasn’t a good enough basketball player.”