Congressman Grimm Supports Hikind’s Effort to Deport Nazi War Criminals

NEWS FROM

ASSEMBLYMAN DOV HIKIND

December 17, 2013

Contact: Yehudah Meth                                                       

For Immediate Release

718-853-9616 (office)

Congressman Grimm Joins Hikind’s Effort to Deport Nazi War Criminals

Plans to Enlist Other Congressional Representatives to Fight for Justice for Holocaust Survivors

Congressman Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island) is supporting Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) in calling on Germany to accept all Nazi War Criminals living illegally in the United States. Last month, Assemblyman Hikind launched a campaign to bring the remaining Nazi war criminals living in America to justice.

“The rights and freedoms we enjoy in America should not extend to those who commit genocide,” said Congressman Grimm, a Member of the Board of the Holocaust Museum in Washington. “Nazi War Criminals who are living in this country illegally should not be here and we will not rest easy while they are.”

“This farce has gone on too long,” said Assemblyman Hikind. “Why are illegal Nazi war criminals still here? Because of a technicality. We can’t deport them because there’s no country that wants them. We need to fix this. A technicality can’t impede justice.”

Hikind vowed to pursue Nazi war criminals that had been identified by the U.S. Justice Department data—Nazis who had been ordered deported by the U.S. but had never left the country. The Justice Department’s list included Vladas Zajanckauskas in Sutton, Massachusetts; Theodor Szehinskyj in West Chester, Pennsylvania; John Kalymon in Troy, Michigan; and Jakiw Palij in Queens, New York.

Assemblyman Hikind plans to stage a protest in Michigan sometime during the coming weeks. On November 10, Assemblyman Hikind, along with Rabbi Zev Friedman of Rambam Mesivta, led a group of more than 150 yeshiva students and Holocaust survivors to Queens where they protested Palij’s presence  in the U.S. in front of the Nazi’s home as Palij himself looked out of his window upon the crowd. Assemblyman Hikind promised to return, and to travel to and lead similar rallies in front of the homes of the other identified Nazis war criminals.

“We don’t want these murderers living among us—among the descendants of the men, women and children they tortured,” said the Assemblyman. “Their presence here mocks the memory of the tens of thousands they collectively murdered. It is our obligation to remove this evil from among us. And it is only just that today’s German government accept them into Germany so these mass murderers can finally be prosecuted.”

photo caption: Congressman Michael Grimm visiting Assemblyman Dov Hikind today to discuss the Nazi war criminals in America.