Wiesenthal Center Launches Operation Last Chance in Norway Following Revelations of Crimes by Norwegian Waffen-SS Troops on Eastern Front

Norwegian Hotline: 9057.2666 (in Norway)
From outside Norway: country code 47

Oslo-The Simon Wiesenthal Center today announced the launch in Norway of its Operation Last Chance project, which offers a reward of up to 25,000 euros for information which will facilitate legal action against Nazi war criminals. At apress conference held here today by its chief Nazi hunter Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center noted that the project was being initiated in Norway in the wake of new revelations concerning crimescommitted by Norwegian Waffen-SS soldiers of the Viking Division in the Ukraine, as well as information publicized by Norwegian journalists/historians Eirik Veum and Bernt Rougthvedt about theparticipation of local Nazi collaborators in Holocaust crimes.

According to Zuroff:

"We are hopeful that the new revelations, as well as additional information we hope to obtain through Operation Last Chance, will helpconvince the Norwegian authorities to enable prosecution by dropping the existing statute of limitations on World War II crimes. At present Norway and Sweden remain the only two Western countriesin which Holocaust perpetrators cannot be brought to justice, a situation highly incompatible with the human rights values these two countries ostensibly hold dear."

For more information: Dr. Efraim Zuroff 972.50.721.4156 Twitter: @EZuroff, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updatessent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

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).