Wiesenthal Center Welcomes Announcement By Finnish Government Of Launch Of State Investigation Of Possible Participation Of Finnish-SS Volunteers In Holocaust Crimes

Jerusalem-The Simon Wiesenthal Center today welcomed the announcement late last week by the office of the Finnish Prime Minister of the launch of a comprehensive investigation to determinewhether Finnish-SS volunteers had participated in the murder of Jews in Ukraine during the Holocaust, while serving in Waffen-SS units. The decision to investigate came in response to the January4, 2018 letter by the Center's chief Nazi-hunter, Holocaust historian Dr. Efraim Zuroff, to Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in the wake of new research by Dr. Andre Swanström, the Chairman ofthe Finnish Society of Church History, which indicates that Finnish SS volunteers had actively participated in the mass murder of Jews in Ukraine during the initial months following the Naziinvasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.
The investigation will be conducted by the Finnish National Archives, headed by Jussi Nuorteva, and is scheduled to be completed by the end of November 2018.

According to Zuroff:

"Finland's courageous decision to fully investigate the activities of these SS volunteers is an important step in ensuring the accuracy of the historical narrative of the Holocaust. At a timewhen numerous countries are trying to hide the crimes of local Nazi collaborators, the Finnish inquiry is an outstanding example of national courage and integrity in dealing with sensitivehistorical issues."

For additional information please contact the Israel Office of the Wiesenthal Center: Tel: 972-2-563-1274 or Tel: 972-50-721-4156, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal @EZuroff for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the UnitedStates. 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).