Protesting Nazi War Criminals

HIKIND’S CAMPAIGN TO BRING JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIMS OF NAZI WAR CRIMES TARGETS NAZI IN QUEENS

On Sunday, November 10, the 75^th anniversary of Krystallnacht, Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) brought more than 150 yeshiva students as well as five Holocaust victims to rally at the front door of convicted Nazi War Criminal Jakiw Palij. Palij has been identified by the Department of Justice as an armed guard who was actively involved in the extermination of 6,000 men, women and children in the Trawniki labor camp in Poland in November, 1943. The gathering was co-organized by Rabbi Tzvi Friedman of Rambam Mesivta in Lawrence, NY.

Palij was stripped of his United States citizenship in 2003 for failure to disclose that he had been a guard in Trawinki, but with no country willing to take him in, he has continued to reside in New York.
“He came here under a lie and he continues to live here, enjoying the fresh air in Queens,” said Assemblyman Hikind.  “He is living here among us, with his name on his doorbell, and he has nothing to worry about. People have said ‘why are you bothering old men?’ But these are people who were responsible for murdering men, women and children.”

“I am determined to pursue not only this guy, but also Nazis who live in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Michigan,” vowed Hikind.  “I will go there and rally the Jewish communities.  This is alef bais; this is fundamental.  The idea that someone who participated in ‘The Final Solution’ can be living here among us. This goes to the heart and soul of what my parents went through and what so many in our community went through.”