Documentary on Nazis in America

A television documentary to be aired this month will examine the fact that there are more than 200 alleged Nazi war criminals now living in the United States who may be responsible for the deaths of as many as two million people.

“ABC News Closeup — Escape From Justice Nazi War Criminals in America” will be aired Sunday, Jan. 13 (7-8 p.m. EST) on the ABC Television Network. An ABC spokesman termed it the most comprehensive examination of Nazis in America ever televised — exploring how they got here, why they have been able to stay, and why effective legal action against them is starting only now.

This investigation of Nazi war criminals in America presents evidence indicating that some of them have been recruited, protected and even employed by the United States government. “Escape from Justice” will be narrated by ABC News correspondent Tim O’Brien, and will feature investigative reports by “Closeup” correspondent Micheal Connor. Richard Gerdau is the producer.

Of the more than 200 cases involving alleged Nazi war criminals in the U.S. — only Argentina and West Germany are thought to have more — there are but 16 in litigation, according to ABC. One thing the defendants share in common is that for decades they lived untouched by the U.S. government, even though there was evidence of their war-time activity.

INVESTIGATED ‘PROJECT PAPERCLIP’

Connor investigated one top-level intelligence program “Project Paperclip,” which not only allowed some war criminals into this country, but did so with the official sanction of the government. From the end of World War II to the mid-1950s, it brought more than 900 German scientists to the U.S. Paperclip’s goal, Connor says, was to recruit and “exploit” the best of German brainpower. Officially Paperclip burred active Nazis, but screening procedures were lax and, in some cases, negligent.

Connor investigates two such Project Paperclip recruits Otto Ambros, convicted at Nuremberg of slavery and mass murder and sentenced to eight years in prison. Ambros, according to the investigation, now works as a consultant for W.R. Grace & Company. The other is Maj. Gen. Walter P. Schreiber, a doctor who was the second ranking medical officer in the German army, and was later hired by the U.S. Air Force.

Two conclusions can be drawn from the evidence of Project Paperclip and the cases being pressed by the Justice Department, says O’Brien. First, the majority of alleged Nazi war criminals in this country have managed to avoid deportation because of simple negligence on the part of government agencies. Second, at least some of them have been protected by influential friends, including intelligence agencies of the U.S. government.

Government prosecution of alleged Nazi war criminals is not an easy assignment, the documentary notes. O’Brien points out. “The fighting and violence of World War II involved millions of soldiers. Now, 40 years after the war began, the U.S. Justice Department finds itself probing the history of that violence, trying to distinguish between some who may have been good soldiers, and others who may have been unprincipled killers. It is a task made difficult and, in some cases, impossible, by the passage of time.”

The ABC documentary was filmed in West Germany, Rumania, Austria, France and throughout the United States. Richard Richter is senior producer of the ABC News documentary unit. Pamela Hill is executive producer of the documentary unit.

ABC News Closeup — Escape from Justice: Nazi War Criminals in America will carry the following advisory: “This program contains graphic historical film. Parental discretion is advised.”