EX-NAZIS IN THE USA AFTER WWII

Larry Bonanni, GAO Auditor

 My Background

After graduating St. John's University in 1959, where I received a BBA in Accounting, I went to work for the U.S. General Accounting Office, a "Congressional Watchdog" agency, as a junior auditor. I stayed with GAO, progressing to Supervisory Auditor until 1978. At that time, I became an audit group supervisory with the U.S. Customs. In 1981 I transferred from Customs to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms as Regional Audit Manager for the North and Mid-Atlantic Regions. In that capacity I supervised ATF's audit operations from Virginia to Maine out of six field offices.

 INS Experience

In the early 1970's I supervised two audits of the Immigration and Naturalization Service's New York Regional office. The first audit dealt with B-1 and B-2 tourist visa overstays as well as their student visa program. While at INS I met a supervisory investigator who was the lead agent in the (name withheld) case. Ms. (name withheld) was a Long Island housewife, married to a WWII GI, who was accused of being a concentration camp "SS" guard.

She was investigated by INS who found that Ms. (name withheld) was much more than a guard. In fact, she was in charge of a field of inmates. The field held over 5,000 inmates. In order to confirm her SS position, the CIA had an Austrian agent (she was Austrian born) review her file in the Austrian government's archives. I actually read his copy of the CIA document.

 By the way, the INS investigator was a U.S. Army Intelligence Officer in WWII and an expert in the German language. He was also among the first U.S. troops to enter German concentration camps. The sights and smells have seared his memory forever. Ms. (name withheld) would normally have been processed by the INS Administrative Court judge.

However, the German government requested that Ms. (name withheld) be extradited in order to stand trial for war crimes in Germany. As a result of this request, the case transferred from INS to the jurisdiction of the Southern District of New York, Justice Department. She was subsequently extradited to Germany where she was tried and convicted of war crimes. I believe she received a five-year sentence.

Odessa Organization

The INS investigator told me that Ms. (name withheld) 's legal expenses in the late 1960's cost her and her husband, an engineer earning about $12,000 per annum, about $100,000—a ghastly sum of money. Although he had no proof, the investigator believed that Odessa, an organization of ex-Nazi's, paid for much of Ms. (name withheld) 's legal expenses. He also believed that a "fix" was in with the INS Administrative Law Judge. However, her extradition papers, signed by a very nice U.S. Federal Judge, sent Ms. (name withheld) packing to Germany.

Other Ex-Nazis in the USA

The same INS agent said that as a result of his investigative efforts, he compiled a list of over 50 other ex-Nazis, mostly SS, who were currently (circa 1971-1972) in the New York City Metropolitan area. These Nazis were mostly from Eastern Europe—Estonia, Lithuania, Romania and the Ukraine. They either worked as guards at concentration camps, were members of SS units, or worked as police for German occupation authorities in these captured countries.

The INS investigator told me that he tried to get his agency to open investigations relative to some or all of these individuals, but was refused by INS higher-ups. It will be noted that all of these ex-Nazis, at the time, were either middle-aged or relatively old men. All had led exemplary lives in the U.S., and many were U.S. citizens. In fact, one was a priest and another an Orthodox bishop. He asked me if I could interest the GAO in pursuing this matter. I prepared a covering memo and attached the list and forwarded it to GAO Headquarters auditors who had oversight on INS matters. But when my local Regional Manager found out what I had done, I really got my ass chewed out—but I didn't really care because I did the right thing.

Eventually this list was passed on to Congresswoman Elizabeth Holzman (D), Brooklyn, N.Y. She requested that GAO investigate this matter. The GAO investigation included interviewing retired INS officials about these individuals. Many were still alive and retired in Florida. Two of my friends conducted this review. They told me that INS officials generally knew about many of the persons included on the list. They told the GAO auditors that most of them ended up in Displaced Persons (DP) camps after the end of WWII and sought asylum in the U.S. because they feared being shot if returned behind the Iron Curtain. Many of these ex-Nazis had a fund of knowledge about the police infrastructure in these now Communist countries. They knew of many of the local Communists who were in charge of both police and intelligence operations. In return for this information, which at the time was very valuable to the U.S. Intelligence Service, they were given refuge in the U.S.

 As a result of Ms. Holzman's hearings, the Justice Department set up a small War Crimes Unit in Washington and investigated a number of ex-Nazis living in the U.S.. Some were extradited to Germany. One or two may have been sent behind the Iron Curtain—I am not sure.

 Upon retirement I received the Treasury Department's prestigious Gallatin Award.