The case for the deportation of a 68-year-old Latvian native now living in Baltimore, for alleged war crimes against Jews was turned down by a U.S. immigration judge for lack of substantial evidence. Judge Emil Bobek ruled that none of the government’s witnesses satisfactorily identified Karlis Detlavs as being the same man they saw beat and participate in the execution of Jewish residents in Latvia during World War II. Although Detlavs conceded serving in the Nazi-organized Latvian Legion during the war, Bobek ruled that Lying about this on an application for a U.S. visa in 1950 did not warrant Detlav’s deportation.
Detlavs has admitted that he lied about the membership but denied all other charges against him, including several reports that he had beaten Jews between 1941 and 1943 in Latvia, as well as having helped select a group of Jews for execution in Latvia in 1941. A spokesman for the Justice Department said yesterday that it has not yet been decided whether to appeal the judge’s ruling.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
