Commander in SS-led unit living in US

[garbon]

http://news.yahoo.com/ap-impact-commander-ss-led-unit-living-us-101016457.html

A top commander of a Nazi SS-led unit accused of burning villages filled with women and children lied to American immigration officials to get into the United States and has been living in Minnesota since shortly after World War II, according to evidence uncovered by The Associated Press.

Michael Karkoc, 94, told American authorities in 1949 that he had performed no military service during World War II, concealing his work as an officer and founding member of the SS-led Ukrainian Self Defense Legion and later as an officer in the SS Galician Division, according to records obtained by the AP through a Freedom of Information Act request. The Galician Division and a Ukrainian nationalist organization he served in were both on a secret American government blacklist of organizations whose members were forbidden from entering the United States at the time.

Though records do not show that Karkoc had a direct hand in war crimes, statements from men in his unit and other documentation confirm the Ukrainian company he commanded massacred civilians, and suggest that Karkoc was at the scene of these atrocities as the company leader. Nazi SS files say he and his unit were also involved in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, in which the Nazis brutally suppressed a Polish rebellion against German occupation.

The U.S. Department of Justice has used lies about wartime service made in immigration papers to deport dozens of suspected Nazi war criminals. The evidence of Karkoc's wartime activities uncovered by AP has prompted German authorities to express interest in exploring whether there is enough to prosecute. In Germany, Nazis with "command responsibility" can be charged with war crimes even if their direct involvement in atrocities cannot be proven.

Karkoc refused to discuss his wartime past at his home in Minneapolis, and repeated efforts to set up an interview, using his son as an intermediary, were unsuccessful.

Efraim Zuroff, the lead Nazi hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, said that based on his decades of experience pursuing Nazi war criminals, he expects that the evidence showing Karkoc lied to American officials and that his unit carried out atrocities is strong enough for deportation and war-crimes prosecution in Germany or Poland.

"In America this is a relatively easy case: If he was the commander of a unit that carried out atrocities, that's a no brainer," Zuroff said. "Even in Germany ... if the guy was the commander of the unit, then even if they can't show he personally pulled the trigger, he bears responsibility."

And another one...

More in the link just couldn't be bothered to copy all of it and re-format.

[derspiess]

On my wife's naturalization application we had to answer whether she was a member of the SS between 1933-1945.  She answered "no" and I guess I'll have to take her word for it.

[DGuller]

On my wife's naturalization application we had to answer whether she was a member of the SS between 1933-1945.  She answered "no" and I guess I'll have to take her word for it.

That's a pretty reasonable question to ask Argentinians. 

[Valmy]

94?  He sure had a good run.

[PDH]

Never trust a Uke.

[Barrister]

Never trust a Uke.

[Neil]

Silly.

[dps]

On my wife's naturalization application we had to answer whether she was a member of the SS between 1933-1945.  She answered "no" and I guess I'll have to take her word for it.

How old is your wife?!?

[crazy canuck]

On my wife's naturalization application we had to answer whether she was a member of the SS between 1933-1945.  She answered "no" and I guess I'll have to take her word for it.

I am guessing you didnt have any kids with this wife.

[derspiess]

On my wife's naturalization application we had to answer whether she was a member of the SS between 1933-1945.  She answered "no" and I guess I'll have to take her word for it.

I am guessing you didnt have any kids with this wife.

Two.  And both could pass as Germans.

[Malthus]

On my wife's naturalization application we had to answer whether she was a member of the SS between 1933-1945.  She answered "no" and I guess I'll have to take her word for it.

I am guessing you didnt have any kids with this wife.

Two.  And both could pass as Germans.

Presumably, those kids would be in their mid-60s or so now? 

[Grey Fox]

Derspiess, are you Michael Biehn?

[Zanza]

On my wife's naturalization application we had to answer whether she was a member of the SS between 1933-1945.  She answered "no" and I guess I'll have to take her word for it.

That question is on every immigration/visa application form for the US:
Have you ever been or are you now involved in espionage or sabotage; or in terrorist activties; or genocide; or between 1933 and 1945 were involved, in any way, in the persecutions associated with Nazi Germany or its allies?

http://chcidoameriky.cz/wp-content/uploads/formular-I-94W.jpg

[Razgovory]

On my wife's naturalization application we had to answer whether she was a member of the SS between 1933-1945.  She answered "no" and I guess I'll have to take her word for it.

I guess it's okay if you join it after 1946.  At least you aren't a fair weather friend.

[DGuller]

On my wife's naturalization application we had to answer whether she was a member of the SS between 1933-1945.  She answered "no" and I guess I'll have to take her word for it.

That question is on every immigration/visa application form for the US:
Have you ever been or are you now involved in espionage or sabotage; or in terrorist activties; or genocide; or between 1933 and 1945 were involved, in any way, in the persecutions associated with Nazi Germany or its allies?

http://chcidoameriky.cz/wp-content/uploads/formular-I-94W.jpg

How did you answer?