Uncovering uncomfortable truths of how and why Nazis found allies in the suburbia of the USA after their gruesome pasts were uncovered.
Book Review by Dr. Efraim Zuroff
First published in the Jerusalem Report
It took more than three decades for any of the five Allied Anglo-Saxon democracies which fought against Nazi Germany in World War II (United States, Canada, Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand), and against all logic, admitted at least hundreds, if not thousands of Nazi criminals as immigrants, to take any legal measures against those persons who had lied to obtain entry. It was only in 1979, that the United States, which admitted the largest number of former Nazis, estimated at 10,000, established the “Office of Special Investigations” to exclusively prosecute former Nazi collaborators who lied on their immigration applications in order to obtain permission to enter the United States and subsequently become American citizens. Three additional countries – Canada in 1986, Australia in 1989, and Great Britain in 1991 – followed suit and passed laws enabling to pursue legal measures against former Nazi collaborators. The only country which refused to prosecute those who lied about their service with the Axis forces, was New Zealand.
This year, now that almost all of the perpetrators are no longer alive, and it appears that there will not be any more Nazi trials, historians, journalists and writers can summarize the results achieved by each of the countries which tried to take legal action against the Holocaust criminals who sought refuge in Anglo-Saxon democracies, and the same is true for Germany. So far, four excellent books have been published this year, about four different countries which summarize their efforts to bring Holocaust perpetrators to justice. Tobias Buck‘s The Final Verdict; The Holocaust on Trial in the 21st Century focuses on the belated trials in Germany, but also gives excellent insights to explain why West Germany made it so difficult to prosecute Nazi criminals, and why so many murderers were spared trials and punishment. Jon Silverman and Robert Sherwood‘s Safe Haven; The United Kingdom’s Investigation Into Nazi Collaborators and the Failure of Justice explains the failures of the British War Crimes Unit, which account for the paltry results achieved (only one perpetrator convicted and punished). Historian Jayne Persian‘s Fascists In Exile; Post-War Displaced Persons in Australia explains the reasons for the even worse results in Australia (no convictions).
In view of such dismal results all over the globe, Michael Soffer‘s Our Nazi; An American Suburb Encounter With Evil is a genuine breath of fresh air for several reasons. First of all, the major focus of the book is a case of a German Nazi who immigrated to the United States, which has the most successful record of all the Anglo-Saxon democracies who faced this problem. For the record: 109 Nazis who immigrated to the U.S. illegally have been punished either by denaturalization and/or deportation for immigration and naturalization violations.
And what makes this book even more interesting is the particular problems which arose in the case of German Reinhold Kulle, who served as an S.S. guard in the notorious Gross-Rosen concentration camp, and whose diligence and dedication to his job posed some difficult dilemmas for his employers and his neighbors.
Kulle was considered an outstanding school custodian, beloved and respected by the staff and students of Oak Park and River Forest High School. His work performance was uniquely appreciated, as was his personal conduct and exceptional relations with the students, many of whom found it difficult to believe that Kulle had been an S.S. guard in a Nazi concentration camp.
To make the story more understandable, Soffer provides an excellent summary of the history of the Office of Special Investigations (OSI), its establishment, and the obstacles that they faced to pursue the cases in the United States. Of particular interest, are his descriptions of the OSI lawyers, such as Bruce Einhorn and Eli Rosenbaum, for whom the Kulle case was his first at OSI, and later for many years became its director.
He also described in great detail the local personalities on both sides of the debate about Kulle and how to decide his fate. What was of particular interest was the tireless efforts of some of the Jewish women residents of Oak Park, who never gave up despite the pressure they faced from their colleagues and neighbors. Leah Marcus, Rima Lunin Schultz, and Rae Lynne Toporoff, helped make history and achieve justice, and deserve the mention that Michael Soffer gave them.
About the writer:
Dr. Efraim Zuroff is the former director of the Israel office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center dedicated to Holocaust research, the prosecution of Nazi war criminals, and confronting antisemitism. As the world’s last Nazi hunter, Dr. Zuroff co-created the project, “Operation Last Chance” that operated across 14 countries in Europe and South America, offering financial rewards for information which could facilitate the prosecution of Nazi Holocaust perpetrators. Dr. Zuroff is also the author of over five hundred scholarly articles, publications, and books about the Holocaust and related subjects.
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