Simon Wiesenthal Center

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A New Monument Spawns Outcry in Chicago

Lithuanian resistance hero linked to Jewish persecution during Holocaust

(Newser) - The Russian embassy is among critics saying a Chicago monument honoring a Lithuanian hero seemingly ignores that that hero rounded up Jews during the Holocaust, a horror only 4% of Lithuania's Jewish population survived. Before he was executed by the Soviets in 1957, Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas became a national hero...

2 Most-Wanted Nazis Won't Face Trial

Alleged war criminal-turned-beekeeper dies in Canada

(Newser) - There were two men at the top of this year's Simon Wiesenthal Center most-wanted Nazi war criminal list —and there is now no chance either one will face a court. No. 2 on the list, Ukrainian-born Vladimir Katriuk, has died in Quebec at the age of 93, the...

3 Auschwitz Suspects Arrested
 3 Auschwitz Suspects Arrested 
Feb 21, 2014 2:18 AM CST

3 Auschwitz Suspects Arrested

Germany raids homes of 9 suspected former guards

(Newser) - In a last push to punish Nazi atrocities, German authorities have swooped in on the homes of nine suspected former guards at the Auschwitz death camp. Three men aged 88, 92, and 94 were arrested yesterday in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg and are now in a prison hospital, reports...

Final Hunt Is On for 60 Believed Nazis

Simon Wiesenthal Center's poster campaign hits Germany

(Newser) - There are believed to be about 60 surviving former Nazis fit to stand trial—and the Simon Wiesenthal Center wants to track them all down. The US-based organization has distributed some 2,000 posters across Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne calling for tips, the BBC reports. The posters read: "Operation...

98-Year-Old Charged With Nazi War Crimes

Laszlo Csatary's trial to begin within 3 months

(Newser) - Laszlo Csatary has made it almost to the century mark, but even that wasn't long enough to escape the Nazi hunters. The 98-year-old, who was arrested last year in Hungary after being named the Simon Wiesenthal Center's most wanted, was charged today with war crimes for his role...

Inside the Last-Ditch Effort to Go After Auschwitz Guards

John Demjanjuk case lowered threshold for convictions

(Newser) - Sixty-eight years after the end of World War II, Germany's Central Office for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes has made a last attempt at justice: a list. On it are the names of 50 former Auschwitz guards still known to be alive, compiled via state databases, Holocaust documents, and...

Alleged Nazi War Criminal Hiding in Hungary

Simon Wiesenthal Center tracked down Ladislaus Csizsik-Csatary

(Newser) - A Jewish rights group has hunted down a 97-year-old alleged Nazi war criminal living in Budapest, apparently under the eye of Hungarian authorities, CNN reports. Representatives from the Simon Wiesenthal Center knocked on the door of Ladislaus Csizsik-Csatary's 2-bedroom apartment and had the door slammed in their face, according...

Romney Keeps Mum on Mormon Baptism of Jews

Pressure builds to respond to baptism of Nazi-hunter's parents

(Newser) - Mitt Romney is keeping his mouth shut about controversial Mormon baptisms of dead Jews, even though Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel has demanded he speak up. A researcher discovered that the late parents of famed Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal were baptized in Mormon ceremonies in Utah and Arizona last...

Mormons Baptized Parents of Nazi-Hunter Wiesenthal

Simon Wiesenthal Center appalled, Mormons apologize

(Newser) - In a ritual that doesn't sit well with many, Mormons last month baptized the deceased parents of Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal. Now they're sorry. Asher and Rosa Rapp Wiesenthal were baptized in proxy ceremonies by church members in Arizona and Utah, reports the BBC . "We are outraged that...

Fox Apologizes to Jews for 'Jesus Killer' Poll

Poll asked who viewers blame for death of Christ

(Newser) - A Fox staffer in Latin America thought a good way to promote a Christmas special would be with an online poll asking people whether they thought the Jewish people were responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. Other options included Pontius Pilate or the high priests. Fox pulled the poll...

Germany Reopens Hundreds of Nazi Investigations

John Demjanjuk's conviction sets new precedent, say prosecutors

(Newser) - Now that John Demjanjuk has been convicted of war crimes, Germany has reopened investigations into hundreds of other former Nazi death camp guards, looking for ones who might share his profile. Demjanjuk's conviction sets a precedent that could allow others to be charged, prosecutors say, although they are waiting...

ESPN Yanks Anti-Jewish Fantasy Football Names

Site pulls leagues with anti-Semitic names

(Newser) - ESPN is cracking down on anti-Semitism. Of late, a gaggle of bigoted fantasy football enthusiasts have been creating league names like "Jews are Immoral" and "Jews are terrible". In response, ESPN expelled from the online community all such anti-Semitic designations, USA Today reports.

Early Hitler Letter Shows Anti-Semitic Beginnings

1919 writing calls for "uncompromising removal of Jews"

(Newser) - The founder of a Jewish human rights organization said today the group has acquired a document by Adolf Hitler believed to contain his first written comments calling Jews a threat that should be removed. Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said the center paid $150,000 to a...

Holocaust Trial Begins for 97-Year-Old

Former Hungary captain accused of killing civilians

(Newser) - What could be one of the last major Holocaust trials in history is under way in Hungary, reports the BBC . War crimes prosecutors accuse 97-year-old Sandor Kepiro of participating in the deaths of more than 30 civilians in Serbia in 1942 while he was a Hungarian police captain. Kepiro denies...

96-Year-Old Hungarian Charged With WWII Crimes

New evidence implicates former officer in Serb slaughter

(Newser) - A 96-year-old Hungarian police officer has been charged with war crimes committed during World War II, the AP reports. Sandor Kepiro allegedly ordered the killing of four civilians during a massacre of 1,200 that took place in Serbia. Hungarian courts had convicted Kepiro twice in the 1940s, says the...

Nazi-Hunter Wiesenthal Worked for Israel

Biography counters belief that Israel didn't actively go after Nazis

(Newser) - Simon Wiesenthal wasn't the one-man Nazi-hunting organization he was seen as, but a longtime agent of the Israeli secret service—who, contrary to what has long been believed, played an active role in locating Nazis, according to a new biography. Author Tom Segev, whose Simon Wiesenthal: The Life and Legends...

Hate Speech Soars on Social Networks

Hate speech up 20% on the Web

(Newser) - Hate speech is on the rise online, particularly on social networking sites. A new study registered about 11,500 hate-affiliated web pages, up 20% from last year, along with a growing number of terror-related "how to" sites. "The spike is not in traditional websites in the United States,...

Demjanjuk Charged With 27,900 Holocaust Deaths

(Newser) - German prosecutors formally charged John Demjanjuk today with 27,900 counts of being an accessory to murder at a Nazi death camp during World War II, reports the AP. The 89-year-old retired auto worker, who was deported from the US in May, faces 15 years for every count. Prosecutors accuse...

Oliphant Cartoon Is Anti-Israel, Not Anti-Semitic

(Newser) - A Pat Oliphant cartoon is an attack on Israel, not "hideously anti-Semitic," writes blogger Emily Moulton in Gather. The controversial cartoon shows a woman carrying a small child labeled "Gaza" being pursued by a headless Nazi pushing a giant Star of David with teeth. "The cartoon...

Tolerance Museum Digs Up Trouble in Jerusalem

Arab angered as construction of Gehry-designed site disturbs remains

(Newser) - A parking lot in downtown Jerusalem is the latest battleground in the Arab-Israel conflict, Bloomberg reports, as plans for a museum of tolerance have inflamed tensions after initial construction work uncovered human remains in long-abandoned Muslim cemetery. The Israeli supreme court’s decision to approve the re-interment of Muslims remains...

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