Pursuit of Nazi collaborators 506050 223518076 2008-07-04T12:21:00Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other The '''pursuit of Nazi collaborators''' refers to the post-WWII pursuit and apprehension of individuals who were not citizens of the [[Third Reich]] at the outbreak of [[World War II]] and [[Non-German cooperation with nazis during World War 2|collaborated]] with the [[Nazism|Nazi]] regime during the war. Hence, this article does not cover [[ex-Nazis|former members of the NSDAP]] and their fate after the war. ==Background== There were a number of motives for the apprehension of suspected collaborators, the main motives were Revenge for those killed, especially those killed on ethnic grounds in the Holocaust (principally amongst [[Jew]]s and [[Russia]]ns). A desire after a bitter war, to see those responsible face justice, and be characterised as criminals under a court of law (See [[Nuremberg Trials]]). To ensure that the acts done were brought to light and placed on formal record, with evidence, so that they could never be denied (some of the acts being so unthinkable that [[Holocaust denial|denial]] was plausible). A widespread sense that wanton annihilation of whole communities and cultures on such a scale was intolerable and must not be left unpursued even despite the inadequacy of existing laws. Other motives included were the fear that a "Nazi underground" of some kind existed, such as the [[ODESSA]], which would allow the enemy to somehow regroup for their proclaimed [[Fourth Reich]]. ==Means of pursuit== This pursuit takes many forms, both individual and organised. Several organizations and individuals (famous [[Nazi hunters]]) pursue [[ex-Nazi]]s or Nazi [[Collaborationism|Collaborators]] who allegedly engaged in [[war crimes]] or [[crimes against humanity]]. The pursuits took varied forms such as Individuals who reported they saw someone that they recognised, who had now assumed an identity and were slipping back into civilian life undetected. Specific individuals were named and sought by groups or governments for their activities in the war. Others were subject to after-war spontaneous retaliation committed by populations within occupied countries, which in some areas led to "[[Witch hunts]]" for those suspected of having been collaborators, where Vigilantism and "summary justice", were common often without trial. After a first period of spontaneous pursuit, provisional governments took the matter into their hands and brought suspected criminals before courts. The [[Nuremberg Trial]] in Germany judged only the highest Nazi authorities, but each country attempted in judging its Collaborationists (i.e. [[Pierre Laval]] in France was judged and sentenced to death, while [[Philippe Pétain]] was also sentenced to death, but [[Charles de Gaulle]] later commuted his sentence into a life condemnation). Government action to the form of investigation and interrogation for people suspected to be such. For example: [[U.S. DOJ Office of Special Investigations]]. Infiltration of Nazi support and escape organisations (the most famous one being the [[ODESSA]] network and its various "[[Ratlines (history)|ratlines]]") and those believed to be aiding and abetting them. However, many suspected war criminals were also [[amnesty|amnestied]], some of whom succeeding in reaching high positions in post-war administrations (i.e. [[Maurice Papon]], who became [[Préfecture de police|Police Prefect of Paris]] in charge during the [[Algerian War]] (1954-62), leading to tragic events such as the [[1961 Paris massacre]]). ==Pursuit in specific countries== ===Argentina=== Argentina was a popular destination for Nazis. Declassified files show how Buenos Aires helped establish a network to rescue Collaborators and Nazis from post war Europe. The Network issued false paperwork to help Nazis escape the Allies, via the port of Genoa and finally by ship to Argentina. Once in Argentina [[Juan Perón|Juan Perón's]] government protected them and they settled in the southern regions of the country. In early October 1999 [[Nazi hunter]] [[Efraim Zuroff]] tracked [[Ustaše|Ustasha]] [[Dinko Šakić]], the former commandant of [[Jasenovac concentration camp]] (nicknamed the “Auschwitz of the Balkans”). Sakic had lived in Argentina for more than fifty years, he was extradited to [[Croatia]] and sentenced by a Zagreb court to twenty year's imprisonment for his crimes. [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22509603-5006789,00.html] ===Australia=== Latvia applied to Australia to extradite [[Konrads Kalejs]], allegedly a senior officer in the pro-Nazi [[Arajs Commando]], but he died on [[November 8]] [[2001]] before he could be extradited. Kalejs migrated to Australia in 1950 and took citizenship. Hungary applied and successfully extradited [[Charles Zentai]] from Australia. He was accused of the murder of Peter Balazs, an 18-year old [[Jew]]ish man, in Budapest in November 1944, while serving in the [[Military of Hungary#Mid-twentieth century|Hungarian Army]]. However at the Subsequent trial [[Charles Zentai]] was cleared of any involvement in the Killing, following evidence from his commanding officer. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/08/secondworldwar.argentina] ===Belgium=== Belgium imprisoned Belgian nationals who had collaborated with the Nazis and executed some. One Belgian to be sentenced to execution was [[Pierre Daye]], however he was one of the first Nazis Collaborators to escape Europe, and unusually by plane. He fled to Argentina with the help of [[Charles Lescat]], also collaborator of ''Je suis partout'' <ref name=extradiciones> [http://www.argentina-rree.com/portal/archivos/justicia01.htm Extradiciones] {{es icon}} </ref>. Once in Argentina he attended a meeting organized by [[Juan Peron]] in the ''[[Casa Rosada]]'' during which a network (colloquially called [[ratlines (history)|ratlines]]) was created, to organize the escape of collaborationists and [[ex-Nazis|former Nazis]] <ref name=PaginaUki> [http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-14198-2002-12-15.html La Odessa que creó Perón], ''[[Pagina/12]]'', 15 December 2002 {{es icon}} </ref>. On June 17, 1947, Belgium requested his [[extradition]] from Argentina, however the Argentine Government ignored this request. Now secure in his freedom Pierre Daye resumed his writing activities, becoming the editor of an official [[Peronist]] review <ref name=Time> [[Mark Falcoff]], [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1998/int/981109/latin_america.perons_na30a.html Peron's Nazi Ties], ''[[Time]]'', November 9, 1998, vol 152, n°19 {{en icon}} </ref>. [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22509603-5006789,00.html] [[Henri de Man]] was one of the leading Belgian socialist theoreticians of his period, who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II. After the liberation of Belgium, he crossed the border to [[Switzerland]].<ref name=classiques>Jean-Marie Tremblay. [http://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/de_man_henri/de_man_henri_photo/de_man_henri_photo.html Henri de Man, 1885-1953, Professeur à l’Université libre de Bruxelles, Député et ministre dans le parlement belge] (French), [[University of Quebec]], [[9 October]] 2006 ([http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fclassiques.uqac.ca%2Fclassiques%2Fde_man_henri%2Fde_man_henri_photo%2Fde_man_henri_photo.html&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 Google translation])</ref> He was convicted ''[[in absentia]]'' of [[treason]] after the war. He died in 1953, together with his wife, in a collision with a train.<ref name=classiques/> ===Czechoslovakia=== Actions against Nazi collaborators in [[Czechoslovakia]], real or alleged, had two significant forms, by judiciary or by mob justice. Immediately after liberation of Czechoslovakia by [[Red Army|Soviet]] and [[USA|American]] armies, in an atmosphere of chaos, wild chases began. Individual acts of revenge, mob violence, and simply criminal acts motivated by the possibility to rob or loot targets, occurred. In some places were conducted, by organized groups of self-styled [[Partisan (military)|partisan]]s, violence which resembled what is today known as [[ethnic cleansing]]. In most places this stopped when the provisional Czechoslovak government and local authorities took power. Other forms included legal action, undertaken by the state administration, after the war, until the regular Czechoslovak parliament was established. [[Edvard Beneš|President Benes]] ruled by issuing [[Talk:Beneš decrees|decrees]], which were later ratified by parliament. By decree ''5/1945'' property of untrustworthy persons was put under national administration. Untrustworthy were considered German and Hungarian nationals, people who were active in destruction of the Czechoslovak state and its democratic government, supported Nazi occupation by any means or were members of organizations considered fascist or collaborator. By the same decree, property of people of German and Hungarian nationality, who could prove they were anti-Nazi, should have been returned to them. By decree ''12/1945 Sb.'' farm property of German and Hungarian nationals or citizens was confiscated, unless they could prove active resistance against Nazism. Property of ''traitors, and enemies of the republic'' was confiscated no matter what nationality or citizenship. By decree ''16/1945 Sb.'' special tribunals were set up. These people's courts had right to sentence to long term imprisonment, life sentence or death. Prosecutions varied from verbal support to those who had committed crimes against humanity, no prosecution was based on ethnicity. By ''33/1945 Sb.'' people of German and Hungarian nationality or ethnicity lost Czechoslovakian citizenship. However, they had right to apply for renewal. Most problematic was the law ''115/1946'' about resistance against Nazi regime, which shifted limit of immunity to the year 1946, effectively amnestying all crimes, acts of individual revenge and atrocities against Germans and Hungarians long after war. People, who lost Czechoslovakian citizenship and failed to apply or did not get it, were [[population transfer|transferred]] to Germany, many through the [[transfer camp]] established at [[Terezín]] also known as the [[Theresienstadt concentration camp]]. ===France=== {{Unreferencedsection|date=March 2008}} {{See|Epuration légale}} After the liberation, [[France]] was briefly swept by a wave of executions of suspected collaborators. Women who were suspected of having romantic liaisons with Germans, or more often of being German prostitutes, were publicly humiliated by having their heads shaved. Those who had engaged in the [[black market]] were also stigmatized as "[[war profiteer]]s" (''profiteurs de guerre''). However, the [[Provisional Government of the French Republic]] (GPRF, 1944-46) quickly reestablished order, and brought Collaborationists before the courts. Many convicted Collaborationists were then [[amnesty|amnestied]] under the [[Fourth Republic]] (1946-54), while some civil servants, such as [[Maurice Papon]], succeeding in holding important functions even under [[Charles de Gaulle]] and the [[Fifth Republic]] (1958-). Three different periods are distinguished by historians:{{Fact|date=March 2007}}<!-- Which historians examples needed--> The first phase of popular convictions, executions without judgments and shaving of women's heads. Estimations by [[Préfecture de police|police prefects]] made in 1948 and 1952 counted as much as 6,000 executions before the Liberation, and 4,000 afterwards.{{Fact|date=March 2007}}<!-- source needed for specific numbers like these--> The second phase (''legal epuration'' or ''[[épuration légale]]''), which began with Charles de Gaulle's [[June 26]] and [[June 27]], 1944 ordonnances on epuration judgments of Collaborationists by the ''Commissions d'épuration'', who condemned approximatively 120,000 persons ([[Charles Maurras]], leader of the royalist ''[[Action française]]'', condemned to life sentence on [[January 25]], 1945). The third phase, more lenient towards Collaborationists (the trial of [[Philippe Pétain]] or of writer [[Louis-Ferdinand Céline]]) In 1944-51, official courts in France sentenced 6,763 people to death (3,910 in absentia) for treason and other offenses; only 791 executions were actually carried out. More common was “National degradation,” a loss of face and civil rights, which was meted out to 49,723 people.<ref>Judt, Tony, Postwar: ''A History of Europe Since 1945'', Pimlico (London: 2007), p. 46.</ref> [[Philippe Pétain]], the former head of [[Vichy France]], was charged with treason in July 1945. He was convicted and sentenced to death by firing squad, but [[Charles de Gaulle]] commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. Most convicts were amnestied a few years later. In the [[French police|police]], collaborators soon resumed official responsibilities. This continuity of the administration was pointed out, in particular concerning the events of the [[Paris massacre of 1961]], executed under the orders of head of the Parisian police [[Maurice Papon]], who was judged in the 1990s for his role during Vichy. The French members of the Waffen-SS [[SS Division Charlemagne|''Charlemagne'' Division]] who survived the war were regarded as traitors. Some of the more prominent officers were executed, while the rank-and-file were given prison terms; some of them were given the option of doing time in [[Indochina War|Indochina]] (1946-54) with the [[Légion étrangère|Foreign Legion]] instead of prison. Many war criminals were judged only in the 1980s: [[Paul Touvier]], [[Klaus Barbie]] (who worked after war for the CIA), Maurice Papon (above-mentioned), [[René Bousquet]], head of French police during the war, and his deputy [[Jean Leguay]] (the last two were both convicted for their responsibilities in the July 1942 [[rafle du Vel'd'hiv]], or Vel'd'Hiv raid). Famous [[Nazi hunter]]s [[Serge and Beate Klarsfeld]] spent decades trying to bring them before the courts. A fair amount of Collaborationists then joined the [[OAS]] terrorist movement during the [[Algerian War]] (1954-62). [[Jacques de Bernonville]] escaped to Quebec, then Brazil. [[Jacques Ploncard d'Assac]] became counsellor of [[Salazar]] in Portugal. Executions without trials and other forms of popular justice, were harshly criticized immediately after the war, with circles close to Pétainism advancing the figures of 100,000, and denouncing the "[[Red Terror]]," "[[anarchy]]" or "blind vengeance." Journalist [[Robert Aron]] estimated the popular executions to a number of 40,000 in 1960, provoking de Gaulle's surprise, who estimated the real number to be around 10,000, which is the figure today admitted by mainstream historians. Approximatively 9,000 of these 10,000 refers to summary executions in the whole of the country, which occurred during battle. In absolute terms (numbers), there were fewer legal executions in France than in neighbouring, and much smaller, Belgium, and fewer internments than in Norway or Netherlands.{{Fact|date=March 2007}} ===Greece=== {{See also|Axis occupation of Greece during World War II}} Greece was under occupation by the Third Reich from 1941 to 1944. After the liberation, the country followed a controversial period of "de-nazification". Many collaborators and especially former leaders of the Nazi-held puppet regime in Athens were sentenced to death penalties. General [[Georgios Tsolakoglou]], the first Quisling prime minister, was tried by the Greek Special Collaborators Court in 1945 and sentenced to death, but his penalty like most death sentences was commuted to life imprisonment. The following Quisling leader [[Konstantinos Logothetopoulos]], who had fled to Germany after the Wehrmacht's withdrawal, was caught by the U.S. military and was condemned to life imprisonment. In 1951, he was given parole and thus died outside prison. [[Ioannis Rallis]], the third Quisling prime minister, was trailed on treason charge, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment. ===Norway=== {{main|Legal purge in Norway after World War II}} [[Vidkun Quisling]], the war time [[Norway|Norwegian]] "[[Minister President]]", along with, among others, [[Nasjonal Samling]] leaders, [[Albert Viljam Hagelin]] and [[Ragnar Skancke]], were convicted and [[execution by firing squad|executed by firing squad]]. A total of 45 people were sentenced to death and 37 were executed (25 Norwegians and 12 Germans). Both at the time and later these sentences have been the subject of some debate, since the decision to reintroduce capital punishment to the Norwegian legal system for the post war trials was based on clauses in military law. Capital punishment in the Criminal Code had been abolished in 1904. The decision was made by the exiled Norwegian government in London in 1944, later to be debated three times in the Parliament during the trials, and to be confirmed by the Supreme Court. ===Poland=== In [[German occupation of Poland|occupied Poland]] the status of ''[[Volksdeutsche]]'' had many privileges but one big disadvantage: ''Volksdeutsche'' were conscripted into the [[German army]]. The Volksliste had 4 categories. No. 1 and No. 2 were considered ethnic Germans, while No. 3 and No. 4 were ethnic Poles that signed the ''Volksliste''. No. 1 and No. 2 in the Polish areas re-annexed by Germany numbered ~1,000,000 and No. 3 and No. 4 ~1,700,000. In the [[General Government]] there were ~120,000 Volksdeutsche. Volksdeutsche of [[Polish people|Polish origins]] were treated by Poles with special contempt, and also it constituted [[high treason]] according to [[Polish law]]. [[German citizen]]s that remained on territory of Poland became as a group ''[[persona non grata|personae non gratae]]''. They had a choice of applying for [[Polish citizenship]] or being expelled to Germany. The property that belonged to Germans, German companies and [[German state]], was confiscated by the [[Polish state]] along with many other properties in [[communist Poland]]. German owners, as explicitly stated by the law, were not eligible for any [[Nationalization#Compensation|compensation]]. Those who decided to apply became subject to a verification process. At the beginning many acts of violence against Volksdeutsche took place. However, soon the verification of Volksdeutsche became controlled by the juridical process and was completed in a more controlled manner. ===Soviet Union=== Soviet and other Russian members of the [[Russian Liberation Army]] and the [[Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia]] were pursued tried and either sent to the gulags or executed. Many Soviet [[Prisoners of War]] were seen to have collaborated with the Nazis, even if they had done no more than been captured by the [[Wehrmacht]], and spent the war in a camp. Many such unfortunate Soviet citizens were persecuted on their repatriation to the Soviet Union. In general, after a short trial, if they were not executed, Nazi collaborators were imprisoned in [[Gulag]] [[forced labor camp]]s. The [[Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]] was abolished and [[Volga Germans]] were banished from their settlements on the [[Volga River]] with many being deported to [[Siberia]] or [[Kazakhstan]]. ==== Baltic Republics ==== In the [[Baltic Republics]], [[Estonian SSR]], [[Latvian SSR]] and [[Lithuanian SSR]], most collaborators had escaped with the retreating German army, or taken an oversea route to [[Sweden]]. In the [[Estonian war crimes trials]] of 1961 and 1962 several collaborators were sentences for participation and leadership in the [[Holocaust in Estonia]]. Many of the accused escaped punishment in exile or by suicide. [[Karl Linnas]] was finally deported by the [[United States]] and died in Leningrad while avaiting retrial. ===United Kingdom=== {{Unreferencedsection|date=March 2008}} At the end of the war a number of people were tried for high treason. These included members of the [[Waffen-SS]] [[British Free Corps]] and [[William Joyce]] (Lord Haw-Haw). As agreed at the [[Yalta Conference]], the British handed back many Soviet citizens to the Soviet regime. Some of these were collaborators who had fought in the Russian Liberation Army. In later years there would be a controversy because some of those handed over were [[White movement|White Russians]] who had never been Soviet citizens. Yugoslavs were handed over to [[Tito]]'s forces, and many were subsequently killed. In 1948 Victor Arajs, who was the leader of the eponymous commando unit which helped the Nazis murder the Jews of Latvia and Belarus, had been captured in the British zone of occupied Germany after the war but was allowed to go free. He remained at large until 1979 when West Germany put him on trial. One of Arajs's deputies, Harijs Svikeris, settled in Britain after the war and in the 1990s was thought to be a strong candidate to be prosecuted under the [[War Crimes Act 1991|War Crimes Act]], but he died before a prosecution was brought. In 1961 [[Ain-Ervin Mere]] was [[Estonian war crimes trials|put on trial]] for leadership in the murder of 5000 foreign Jews in [[Estonia]], but his [[extradition]] was denied by British authorities. On [[April 1]] [[1999]], [[Anthony Sawoniuk]] was sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of murdering two Jews in the UK's first full Nazi war crimes trial. Sawoniuk had led "search-and-kill" police squads to hunt down Jews trying to escape after nearly 3,000 were massacred at Domachevo in Nazi-occupied [[Belarus]] during September, 1942. He died in prison on [[November 7]] [[2005]] at the age of 84[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4413786.stm]. ===Yugoslavia=== The reprisals for collaboration with the Nazis were particularly harsh in [[Yugoslavia]], because collaborators were also on the losing side of a de facto civil war fought on the Yugoslav territory during WWII. The [[Partisans (Yugoslavia)|Partisans]] executed many [[Ustashe]] and [[Chetniks]], as well as their collaborators. One of the best documented incidents was the [[Bleiburg massacre]]. ==See also== *[[Denazification]] *[[Collaborationism]] *[[Jacob Luitjens]] *[[Deschênes Commission]] *[[Ex-Nazi]]s *[[List of SS personnel]] *[[Expulsion of Germans after World War II]] ==References and notes== {{reflist|1}} ==External links== * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/307921.stm BBC: UK Life for war criminal Anthony Sawoniuk] [[Category:Aftermath of World War II]] [[Category:Collaborators with Nazi Germany|*]] [[Category:Political and cultural purges]] [[Category:Politics of World War II]]