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Ex-Nazi concentration camp guard, living in U.S. since 1959, faces deportation Ex-Nazi concentration camp guard, living in U.S. since 1959, faces deportation
(about 4 hours later)
Seventy-five years after the end of World War II, a U.S. immigration judge in Memphis has ordered the deportation of a longtime Tennessee resident and German citizen who admitted having served as a guard at a concentration camp in Germany and is still receiving a pension for his wartime service. Seventy-five years after the end of World War II, a U.S. immigration judge in Memphis has ordered the deportation of a longtime Tennessee resident and German citizen who acknowledged having served as a guard at a concentration camp in Germany and is still receiving a pension for work that includes his wartime service.
An index card found submerged in a sunken ship in the Baltic Sea helped federal prosecutors prove their case.
According to the removal order, announced by the Justice Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday, Friedrich Karl Berger served at a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp system, near Hamburg.According to the removal order, announced by the Justice Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday, Friedrich Karl Berger served at a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp system, near Hamburg.
The camp held Russian, Dutch and Polish civilians, as well as Jewish prisoners and political opponents from France, Italy and other countries. In the winter of 1945, according to the removal order, prisoners were forced to live in “atrocious” conditions and work “to the point of exhaustion and death.”The camp held Russian, Dutch and Polish civilians, as well as Jewish prisoners and political opponents from France, Italy and other countries. In the winter of 1945, according to the removal order, prisoners were forced to live in “atrocious” conditions and work “to the point of exhaustion and death.”
In March 1945, as British and Canadian forces approached the camp, Berger helped guard prisoners forced to evacuate to the main camp, Justice Department officials said. During the two-week trek, 70 prisoners died. In March 1945, as British and Canadian forces approached the subcamp, Berger helped guard prisoners forced to evacuate to the main camp, Justice Department officials said. During the brutal, two-week trek, 70 prisoners died. Hundreds more were killed when they were placed on two ships at anchor in the Bay of Lubeck, in the Baltic Sea, that were mistakenly bombed by the British Royal Air Force in May 1945 during the last week of the war.
Justice Department historians were able to document Berger’s service at the camp in part with information from an index card found in one of the sunken ships several years after the bombing. The card summarized Berger’s work in the camp system.
‘Get the Nazi out of New York.’ The secret operation to deport one of the last living Nazi defendants.‘Get the Nazi out of New York.’ The secret operation to deport one of the last living Nazi defendants.
After the war, Berger emigrated from Germany to Canada with his wife and daughter, and came to the United States in 1959.After the war, Berger emigrated from Germany to Canada with his wife and daughter, and came to the United States in 1959.
“If you had told me even a couple of years ago that I would find myself in February 2020 — last week — cross-examining a former Nazi concentration camp guard in an American courtroom, I would have found that difficult to believe,” said Justice Department prosecutor Eli Rosenbaum, who helped oversee the case and has spent years at the department investigating and prosecuting Nazi war criminals in the United States.“If you had told me even a couple of years ago that I would find myself in February 2020 — last week — cross-examining a former Nazi concentration camp guard in an American courtroom, I would have found that difficult to believe,” said Justice Department prosecutor Eli Rosenbaum, who helped oversee the case and has spent years at the department investigating and prosecuting Nazi war criminals in the United States.
Reached by phone, Berger, now 94, said he was ordered to work in the camp, was only there for a short time and did not carry a weapon. In the United States, he said he made a living building wire-stripping machines. He is now a widow with two grandchildren. Reached by phone, Berger, now 94, said he was ordered to work in the camp, was only there for a short time and did not carry a weapon. In the United States, he said he made a living building wire-stripping machines. He is now a widower with two grandchildren.
“After 75 years, this is ridiculous. I cannot believe it,” he said. “I cannot understand how can happen in a country like this. You’re forcing me out of my home.” “After 75 years, this is ridiculous. I cannot believe it,” he said. “I cannot understand how this can happen in a country like this. You’re forcing me out of my home.”
According to the Justice Department, Berger was a member of the German military and detailed to the concentration camp in the last months of the war. During the two-day trial in immigration court, held last week, Berger acknowledged that he guarded prisoners forced to work outdoors from dawn to dusk. He also said that he never requested a transfer from the camp and that he was still receiving a pension from Germany for work that included his wartime service. According to the Justice Department, Berger worked in the German navy. He was detailed to the concentration camp in the last months of the war. When prisoners were evacuated, they were placed on three ships at the German port city of Lubeck.
Berger said much of what was determined in court about his work at the camp was based on “lies.” The British Royal Air Force, unaware that thousands of prisoners were being held, bombed. Two of the ships sunk.
“I was 19 years old,” he said. “I was ordered to go there.”
Justice Department officials said Berger came to the United States legally; the federal law that barred the entry of people who assisted in Nazi persecution had expired by 1959. On his application, Berger disclosed that he had been a member of the German military.
How a team of prosecutors and historians and exposed Nazi collaborators hiding in plain sight in America.How a team of prosecutors and historians and exposed Nazi collaborators hiding in plain sight in America.
Immigration Judge Rebecca L. Holt ordered Berger removable under a 1978 law, known as the Holtzman Amendment, that bars anyone who participated in Nazi-sponsored persecution from entering or living in the United States. He has 30 days to appeal the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals in Falls Church, Va. When the Germans raised one of the ships a few years later, they found more than 2,000 index cards with personnel information for Berger and others.
“Berger was part of the SS machinery of oppression that kept concentration camp prisoners in atrocious conditions of confinement,” Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski said in a statement. “This ruling shows the Department’s continued commitment to obtaining a measure of justice, however late, for the victims of wartime Nazi persecution.” “What are the odds, you know, of that card having survived . . . and making it to us decades later?” Rosenbaum said.
The Justice Department launched the investigation. Prosecutors and former and current Justice Department historians worked with law enforcement and archival authorities in Germany, Denmark, England, Poland and Russia. Officials at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum also assisted. Prosecutors and former and current Justice Department historians found more evidence in Germany, Denmark, England, Poland and Russia. Officials at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum also supported the investigation.
Alice Crites contributed to this report. During the two-day trial in immigration court, held last week, Berger acknowledged that he guarded prisoners, did not request a transfer from the camp and was still receiving a pension from Germany for work based in part on his wartime service, U.S. officials said.
Berger said much of what was determined in court was based on “lies.”
“I was 19 years old,” he said. “I was ordered to go there.”
In 1946, British authorities charged four top officials at the camps with war crimes. One escaped before trial, another was hanged and two others were imprisoned. One of the lead British investigators, according to the Justice Department, was the late Capt. Anton Walter Freud, the grandson of Sigmund Freud, who had escaped Vienna with his family in 1938. One of the British military judges was Earl Edward John Spencer, whose daughter, Diana, would go on to become the princess of Wales.
Justice Department officials said Berger came to the United States legally; the federal law that barred the entry of people who assisted in Nazi persecution had expired in 1957. When he applied to emigrate to the U.S., Berger disclosed that he had been a member of the German navy.
U.S. Immigration Judge Rebecca L. Holt ordered Berger removed under a 1978 law, known as the Holtzman Amendment, that bars anyone who participated in Nazi-sponsored persecution from entering or living in the United States.
“This is an important step in bringing Nazi war criminals to justice,” said Elizabeth Holtzman, the former U.S. congresswoman from New York who pushed for the law. “We cannot forget as a nation, and this court decision shows that we are not forgetting.”
Berger has 30 days to appeal the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals in Falls Church, Va. If he gets sent back to Germany, German officials will then decide whether to prosecute.
Post researcher Alice Crites contributed to this report. Baldauf is a student journalist at the Medill Investigative Lab at Northwestern University.