Syria Obligated to Extradite War Criminal, Rabbi Hier Asserts

Because the Syrian government knows where ex-Nazi SS Capt. Alois Brunner is living in Damascus, it has an obligation to extradite the 73-year-old convicted war criminal, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies said Tuesday.

“His continued presence is not only an indictment of Brunner, but it’s an indictment of Syria for allowing him to stay there,� Rabbi Marvin Hier said in Los Angeles. “It’s an outrage for a government to harbor a Nazi war criminal.�

Hier sent a telegram to Syria’s ambassador in Washington, Rafik Jouejati, early Tuesday, requesting an urgent meeting to present the evidence against Brunner that has been collected by the Los Angeles-based center.

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Brunner’s presence in Damascus was reported Monday by the West German magazine Bunte, which said he was living in the Syrian capital under the name Dr. Georg Fischer and posing as a German businessman.

Brunner, who was sentenced to death in absentia in 1954 in France on charges of crimes against humanity, has been blamed for sending more than 120,000 Jews to their deaths in Hitler’s gas chambers. He is also wanted in West Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Greece and Israel.

In an effort to exert as much pressure as possible on Brunner, the Wiesenthal Center also sent a telex message to West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl requesting, “in the strongest terms,� that West Germany formally request Brunner’s extradition in writing, Hier said. A previous request was made orally, Hier said.

“Such a move would force Syria to deal more forthrightly on the issue and would show the world of Germany’s serious desires to bring this notorious war criminal to justice,� the telex said.

In the Bunte article, Brunner is reported to have told reporters that he is willing to stand trial in an international forum, providing that he is not turned over to Israel.

Hier suggested that Brunner may realize that because there is “evidence . . . that he worked for the secret police� in Syria, the Damascus government will never let him leave the country.

Bunte reported that whenever Brunner leaves his apartment in an upper-class neighborhood, he is guarded by Syrian soldiers.