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Jakiw Palij: Nazi guard deported by US dies in Germany | |
(35 minutes later) | |
A former Nazi collaborator who served as a labour-camp guard in World War Two has died in Germany aged 95, local media report. | A former Nazi collaborator who served as a labour-camp guard in World War Two has died in Germany aged 95, local media report. |
Jakiw Palij, who was thought to be the last Nazi collaborator living in the US, was deported to Germany last year after a lengthy legal battle. | Jakiw Palij, who was thought to be the last Nazi collaborator living in the US, was deported to Germany last year after a lengthy legal battle. |
Palij had been stateless since 2003 when a federal judge revoked his US citizenship over his Nazi links. | Palij had been stateless since 2003 when a federal judge revoked his US citizenship over his Nazi links. |
Reports say he died in a home for the elderly in the town of Ahlen. | Reports say he died in a home for the elderly in the town of Ahlen. |
Before his deportation, the former guard lived in the Queens borough of New York City. | Before his deportation, the former guard lived in the Queens borough of New York City. |
His presence there, in a particularly diverse borough, became a point of contention when his past emerged. | His presence there, in a particularly diverse borough, became a point of contention when his past emerged. |
His home was often picketed by protestors demanding his expulsion. | His home was often picketed by protestors demanding his expulsion. |
Palij's deportation case was resolved last year when Germany agreed to take him in - despite him not possessing German citizenship. | Palij's deportation case was resolved last year when Germany agreed to take him in - despite him not possessing German citizenship. |
In August, the 95-year-old was taken from his home in a wheelchair and flown to Düsseldorf. | |
At the time Richard Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany, praised President Trump's leadership in helping to resolve the protracted legal dispute. | At the time Richard Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany, praised President Trump's leadership in helping to resolve the protracted legal dispute. |
What was he accused of? | |
Palij is believed to have been born in 1923, in an area of Poland that is now in Ukraine. | |
US authorities alleged he was trained in 1941 by Nazis to work at Trawniki - a camp in German-occupied Poland. | |
The camp initially served as a holding centre for refugees and Soviet prisoners of war, but was eventually transformed by the SS into a training facility. | |
The thousands who trained there became known as Trawniki men - tasked with rounding up Jewish civilians from Poland and staffing killing centres at Sobibor, Treblinka and Belzec. | |
It also housed a forced labour camp where thousands of Jews died - including 6,000 who were killed in a single day in 1943. | |
US authorities accused Palij of being an armed guard at Trawniki, and said he played an "indispensible role" in ensuring Jews were killed. | |
Read more on the Holocaust: | |
Palij himself denied collaborating with the Nazis - telling the New York Times in 2003 he worked for them in fear for his own family's safety. He also denied having ever set foot in a camp himself. | |
A US court ruled he had assisted in the persecution of prisoners, but did not find him personally responsible for deaths. | |
Citizenship battles | |
The former guard entered the US through Boston in 1949, allegedly under a law meant to help refugees fleeing post-war Europe, the Associated Press report. | |
He was eventually granted US citizenship in 1957, and held it until his past came to light decades later. | |
In 2004 he was ordered to leave the country - but ambiguity over his citizenship delayed deportation. | |
For 14 years US authorities could not persuade Germany, Ukraine or Poland to take him in. | |
That changed last year, when it was announced the German position relented. | |
He was given a residency permit using a technicality decree intended for humanitarian or political purposes, German media report. | |
However, after Palij's arrival, German officials cast doubt he would ever face prosecution over alleged war crimes - citing lack of evidence. |