Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
AZI HUNTERS
evidence. But many more are. The nation most willing to prosecute is Germany, where the trial of ex-ss guard Bruno Dey, 93, is ongoing in Hamburg.
His is accused of being an accessory to the murder of at least 5,230 inmates at Stutthof in Nazi-occupied Poland.
Efraim was involved in finding more than 20 survivors willing to give evidence and is confident the trial will result in a conviction as long as Dey lives. “I’m praying for his good health,” he says.
He dismisses reports this could be the last Nazi trial. “Of course there’s time. The Germans have announced 23 additional investigations,” he says.
He and his team work on tip-offs, offering up to €25,000 for information.
For all his frustrations, there are numerous successful cases.
His personal best, he says, was the trial of Dinko Sakic, a pro-nazi who ran Jasenovac camp,
“the Balkan Auschwitz”, in Croatia in 1944.
He was found guilty in 1998 and sentenced to 20 years. Efraim recalls how his team tracked down the Croatian and confronted him.
He says: “He wasn’t really hiding. It wasn’t hard to find him but no one had bothered him for more than 50 years.
“It was one of the most amazing interviews because he said he would do it again. Normally a Nazi will say ‘It’s not me’ or ‘It’s me and I didn’t do it.’”
One day in 1944 Sakic began picking inmates at random to be hanged. A Serb said hanging was against his culture so Sakic shot him in the head.
What happened after the verdict 54 years later, Efraim carries around with him always. It’s a prime motivation.
He says: “As the court was clearing,