Allan Ryan Jr., director of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Special Investigations (OSI) issued a plea here today to Holocaust survivors around the world to help in locating Nazi war criminals now residing in the U.S.
“My office has one purpose,” Ryan told a press conference at the World Gathering of Holocaust Survivors in Jerusalem, “To seek out, investigate and prosecute those persons who took part in Nazi persecutions and who received an American citizenship which was never rightfully theirs. Our ultimate goal is to remove them from the United States.” Set up three years ago, Ryan’s office is presently in-
vestigating 20 cases of such a nature. But Ryan believes there may be hundreds more. In that light, he needs to make contact with as many survivors as possible. “The cooperation of survivors can make the differences between winning and losing a case. The story must be told to American judges it we are to prevail,” he said.
Ryan attended the World Gathering to talk with heads of survivor organizations. He circulated a questionnaire to all Gathering participants in hopes that this might broaden his contacts with Holocaust survivors from around the world.
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