Representatives of an association of Yugoslav Jews who settled in this country called on the United States Government to cease giving asylum to Adrija Artukovic, alleged war criminal, and to hand him over to the Yugoslav Government for trial.
In a memorandum handed U.S. Ambassador Edward B. Lawson, the Yugoslav Jews called Artukovic, who now lives in the Los Angeles area, “one of the principal murderers of Yugoslav Jewry in the second World War. ” A hearing will be held later this month in Federal Court in Los Angeles on Yugoslavia’s request for the extradition of the former Minister for Interior of the Nazi puppet Croatian State.
The memorandum accused Artukovic of responsibility in the murder of 30, 000 Jews in Croatia, pointing out that execution orders carried his signature. Documents discovered at the end of the war, the memorandum said, painted a picture of Artukovic giving direct orders for “the torture of prisoners and the murder” of Jews.
The Yugoslav Jews rejected Artukovic’s assertions that he is “a victim of Communism. ” The memorandum expressed the Jews’ “feeling of disappointment” at the United States asylum to “a man who is not only a war criminal but a common criminal as well.”
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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.
