Wiesenthal Center: Csatary's Death Cannot Erase His Crimes

Jerusalem – The Simon Wiesenthal Center expressed deep disappointment in response to the death in Budapest of Hungarian Nazi war criminalLaszlo Csatary (pictured), while awaiting trial for his role in the deportation of approximately 15,700 Jewsfrom Kosice (today Slovakia, then under Hungarian occupation) and its environs to the Auschwitz death camp.

In a statement issued here today by its chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center noted that Csatary had been living in Hungary for more than fifteen years, until hiscurrent whereabouts were brought to the attention of the Hungarian authorities by the Wiesenthal Center on the basis of information received in the framework of its "Operation: Last Chance"project.

According to Zuroff: "The fact that a well-known war criminal whose Nazi past was exposed in Canada could live undisturbed for so long in theHungarian capital raises serious questions as to the commitment of the Hungarian authorities to hold their own Holocaust criminals accountable. It is a shame that Csatary, a convicted (inCzechoslovakia in 1948) and totally unrepentant Holocaust perpetrator who was finally indicted in his homeland for his crimes, ultimately eluded justice and punishment at the very lastminute."

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in theUnited States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO).