The European Parliament has urged the Syrian government to extradite Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner to stand trial in Germany.
It is believed that Brunner, now 79, was given protection by Syrian authorities in 1954 to live comfortably in Damascus.
The parliament, the European Community’s legislative body, expressed its “deep concern” that Syria participates in the Middle East peace process while harboring the most notorious Nazi war criminal known to be alive.
Brunner, who was Adolf Eichmann’s right-hand man, is held personally responsible for the deaths of more than 120,000 Jews in Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Greece.
In France, he was in charge of arresting Jews on the Riviera, commanded the detention camp at Drancy and sent more than 200 Jewish children from an orphanage to death camps, even when the defeat of the Third Reich was imminent.
Eichmann, who directly implemented the “Final Solution” to eliminate the Jews, was tried in Israel and hanged in 1961.
Brunner was tried in absentia in France and condemned to death for war crimes.
A resolution urging the Syrian government to agree to Brunner’s extradition was adopted by a vote of 219-1, with eight abstentions. One of its several co-sponsors was Simone Veil, a former president of the parliament and an Auschwitz survivor.
NUMEROUS EXTRADITION REQUESTS
The resolution calls on the 12 E.C.-member states to launch a joint initiative with Syrian President Hafez Assad to bring Brunner to justice.
It states that Brunner has been living in Damascus under the assumed name of Georg Fischer.
“It’s a well-known fact that he occupies an apartment at 70 Hadad Street,” under protection of the government, which provides him with Syrian bodyguards, the resolution says.
It notes that Syria has failed to respond to numerous requests for Brunner’s extradition.
Such bids were made by Israel and Austria in 1961, West Germany in 1984, France and Austria again in 1988 and East Germany in 1990.
The French warrant delivered in 1988 was returned with the notation that there was “no Alois Brunner” in Syria.
This past July, a French judge issued an international arrest warrant for Brunner. The warrant, asking for Brunner “also known as Georg Fisher,” was delivered to authorities in Damascus.
Syria also ignored a 1987 search warrant issued by Interpol, the international police agency, and a resolution adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives in April 1991.
The European Parliament asked its committee on relations with the Middle Eastern Arab countries to raise the issue of Brunner’s extradition when it visits Syria this month.
The resolution also expresses concern over human rights in Syria, particularly the condition of political prisoners. Several members raised the issue of Syria’s 5,000 Jews, who are not permitted to emigrate.
The recent requests for Brunner’s extradition from Syria may, in fact, be too late. In July, the French news magazine Le Point reported that Assad had asked the head of the Syrian secret police to find a new haven for Brunner, probably in Latin America.
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.
