Successor hunts Nazis the modern way

BERLIN - A New York historian is set to inherit the mantle of Simon Wiesenthal, who died last week, as the world's leading Nazi-hunter.

Efraim Zuroff is putting cash bounties on the heads of fugitives accused of war crimes in an attempt to bring them rapidly to justice. The founder of the Jerusalem branch of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, Zuroff is the brains behind "Operation Last Chance", a final attempt to flush out Nazis before they die or are too old or infirm to stand trial.

The pair met in 1978 in Los Angeles at the premiere of the Wiesenthal-inspired film The Boys from Brazil. "I was just so struck by him," said Zuroff. "He was this lonely fighter for justice, with incredible wit and perseverance in his crusade."

The meeting prompted Zuroff, 57, to ditch his academic career and become a full-time Nazi hunter. His approach is radically different to that adopted by Wiesenthal, who died in Vienna aged 96, but Zuroff sees it as the most effective way of continuing his legacy.

Operating on a shoestring in a cramped Vienna office, Wiesenthal, a Holocaust survivor, tracked down more than 1100 fugitive Nazis. Wiesenthal kept track of sightings of former Nazis by sticking drawing pins in a map hung above his desk, and relied on a network of informants and personal contacts.

But with time running out, Zuroff has decided to throw money at the problem. Since many of Germany's high-profile cases have been solved, his attention is on eastern Europe and the Baltic states, where many locals collaborated with the Nazis, believing it would bring them independence. Aided by a Miami-based Jewish charitable foundation, Zuroff descends on east European capitals, holds high-profile press conferences, buys advertising space in newspapers and on billboards, sets up local hotlines and offers rewards of around NZUS$260,600 for tips that lead to prosecution.

The initiative has spread to nine countries, including Lithuania, Poland, Hungary and Romania, and was extended to Germany last year. It has thrown up the names of 380 suspects, some 79 of whom are under investigation by local prosecutors.

When there are no more left, Zuroff says he will turn his efforts to rebutting historical revisionism and Holocaust denial.

- INDEPENDENT