Belgrade-Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic yesterday awarded a Golden Medal for Merit to Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's chief Nazi hunter and director of eastern Europeanaffairs, as part of the celebrations of Sretenje, the National Day of the Republic of Serbia. The rationale for the award, which was granted to Zuroff for "exceptional achievements," was his"selfless dedication to defending the truth about the suffering of Jews, and also Serbs, Roma and other nations during World War II."
Zuroff was the first of the medal recipients to be called up to the president and among the very few foreigners whose achievements were honored. He is the only Israeli to ever receive thisrecognition, with the exception of Serbian-born foreign Justice Minister Yosef (Tommy) Lapid.
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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 the United States. It is an NGO at international agenciesincluding the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).
Follow Dr. Zuroff on Twitter: @EZuroff