Wiesenthal Center: Csatary's Death Cannot Erase His Crimes

August 12, 2013

Jerusalem – The Simon Wiesenthal Center expressed deep disappointment in response to the death in Budapest of Hungarian Nazi war criminal Laszlo Csatary (pictured), while awaiting trial for his role in the deportation of approximately 15,700 Jews from Kosice (today Slovakia, then under Hungarian occupation) and its environs to the Auschwitz death camp.

In a statement issued here today by its chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center noted that Csatary had been living in Hungary for more than fifteen years, until his current whereabouts were brought to the attention of the Hungarian authorities by the Wiesenthal Center on the basis of information received in the framework of its "Operation: Last Chance" project.

According to Zuroff: "The fact that a well-known war criminal whose Nazi past was exposed in Canada could live undisturbed for so long in the Hungarian capital raises serious questions as to the commitment of the Hungarian authorities to hold their own Holocaust criminals accountable. It is a shame that Csatary, a convicted (in Czechoslovakia in 1948) and totally unrepentant Holocaust perpetrator who was finally indicted in his homeland for his crimes, ultimately eluded justice and punishment at the very last minute."

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO).