The Greek Jewish community has called upon the government of Greece to demand the extradition of Alois Brunner, the former aide to Adolf Eichmann now living in Syria, the World Jewish Congress reported here.
The Central Board of Jewish Communities of Greece, the representative body of Greek Jewry and the WJC affiliate, has formally urged the Athens government to seek Brunner’s extradition to stand trial before a Greek court on charges of complicity in the deportation to Nazi death camps of tens of thousands of Greek Jews from Thessaloniki. More than 50,000 of the deportees perished. The Central Board, in calling for Brunner’s extradition, noted that he recently gave an interview to a West German magazine in which he confirmed that he has been residing in Syria for many years. During the interview, Brunner also revealed that he had been part of a 1961 conspiracy to blow up a building in Vienna in which officials of the World Jewish Congress were meeting.
Joseph Lovinger, president of the Central Board, stated that he was confident that the Greek government “will make every effort” to ensure that “this human-like beast, called Brunner, will account for his actions before Greek justice.”
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