Officials here reported yesterday that the Syrian government has refused a West German request for the extradition of Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner who has been living in Damascus at least since 1958. Brunner, widely described as “the right hand” of Adolf Eichmann, is held responsible for the deportation of more than 100,000 Jews to death camps. According to testimony by survivors, he personally murdered at least one Jew on a transport from Vienna to Riga.
Walter Griebel, the prosecutor general in Frankfurt, said the Syrian authorities refused to confirm published newspaper reports that Brunner was interviewed in Damascus with their approval. He said additional material is being studied for another official extradition request. But the Bonn government is not known to be applying any pressure on Syria toward that end.
Brunner, now 74, has abandoned his alias, “Dr. Georg Fischer,” and is now living openly under his own name, sources here said. They said his exact location in Damascus has been documented in West Germany since June 22, 1960.
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