Dual rallies against Nazi war criminal

Monday, Nov. 9, marked the 71st anniversary of Kristallnacht, or “The Night of Broken Glass,” which many historians consider the beginning of the Holocaust. In conjunction with that anniversary, hundreds of students from Rambam Mesivta for Boys and Shalhevet High School for Girls commemorated Kristallnacht’s significance by protesting the German government’s refusal to allow the U.S. to deport Jakiw Palij, a known Nazi war criminal whose U.S. citizenship has been revoked, back to Germany.

Rabbi Zev Friedman, the rally organizer and Rosh HaYeshiva of both schools, said that he believes that it is “unconscionable” for a Nazi war criminal such as Palij to remain free in the U.S. despite all of the evidence against him.

“It is an outrage that Nazi war criminals like Palij have avoided justice for so long and continued to live in our

country,” Friedman said. “When one thinks of the brave young American servicemen and women who gave their lives during World War II fighting the Nazis, and the fact that they were unable to build a life in our great country. Then we contrast that with the fact that Nazis like Palij came here and enjoy all the benefits of our land — one should be filled with a sense of outrage.”

At 11 a.m. on Monday, nearly 50 students and staff members from the Shalhevet High School for Girls rallied outside of Palij’s house in Queens, located at 33-18 89th Street in Jackson Heights, to express outrage at Palij’s continued presence in the United States. The students chanted, ‘Your hands are drenched in blood,’ and to onlookers they said, ‘You’re neighbor is a Nazi.’ Palij was seen peering out of his upstairs window which prompted the students to chant ‘Show your face’ and ‘What a coward’ when he refused to do so.

“The guys house we went to, he was a Nazi war criminal who killed thousands of Jews,” said Dana Gerson, a ninth grader at Shalhevet from West Hempstead. “So we thought it would be appropriate to rally to send him back to Germany because he can’t be punished here for a crime he committed somewhere else. We wanted to send him back so he could be extradited and tried in Germany.”

According to the Justice Department, Palij obtained his U.S. Citizenship by concealing his Nazi past. Judge Allyne Ross, who presided over the Palij case found that he had trained for his Nazi service at the SS-run Trawniki Training Camp and that on November 3 and 4, 1943, he took part in the slaughtering of Trawniki’s entire inmate population of some 6,000 Jewish civilians. Later, Palij served in the Deployment Company, “a unit that perpetrated numerous atrocities against Polish civilians and others,” according to Judge Ross.

Palij’s citizenship was stripped three years ago, and he has been ordered deported to Germany. Yet he remains in the U.S. because Germany refuses to accept him and other Nazi war criminals who have escaped justice.

In response to Germany’s stance on these war criminals, more than 200 students and staff members from Rambam Mesivta High School rallied in front of the German Mission to the United Nations in New York City at 1 p.m. on Monday. They demanded that Germany immediately move to extradite Palij and put him on trial for his complicity in the murder of thousands of people.

“I thought it was very important what we did because Palij was a war criminal and he shouldn’t be able to live in the U.S., said Michael Rosenfeld, a ninth grader at Rambam from Lawrence. “What he did was wrong and he has pay for his crimes. He should be sent back to Germany and put on trial. It’s their responsibility to take him back and to put him on trial.”

The rally evoked a response from the Germans as their legal counsel Dr. Andreas Zimmer agreed to meet with rally representatives, Rabbi Friedman and Councilman David Weprin. Dr. Zimmer indicated that Germany may not have proper jurisdiction, as Palij was not a German citizen. “I reminded Dr. Zimmer that Palij fought with a uniform, a gun and bullets which were all paid for by Germany and acted on orders received from his German superiors,” Friedman said. “There is no doubt that Germany has a moral responsibility to put Palij on trial.”

Dr. Zimmer promised that he would contact the offices in Berlin to find out where Germany stands on this issue, and rally organizers promised that they would continue to use the political process until Palij is brought to justice.

“We’re very hopeful that some action will be taken,” Rosenfeld said. “But if something doesn’t then we will continue to rally for Palij to be extradited.”

“We definitely hope to continue rallying against him because he should be tried in Germany,” Gerson said. “He has no right to be here. He lied to get into this country. He shouldn’t be here.”

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