Jews’ ‘Avenger’ dies

TEL AVIV — Holocaust survivor Joseph Harmatz, who led the most daring attempt by Jews to seek revenge against their former Nazi tormentors, has died.

He was 91. His son, Ronel Harmatz, confirmed the death Monday.

Born in Lithuania, Harmatz was one of the few remaining Jewish “Nokmim” or “Avengers” who carried out a mass arsenic poisoning of former SS officers in an American prisoner-ofwar camp in 1946. The scheme sickened more than 2,200 Germans, but caused no known deaths.

After the war, Harmatz worked at the Jewish Agency and was director general of World ORT, a Jewish educational organization.