KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (WVLT) – A man from Tennessee became the 70th Nazi stalker removed from the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The United States Department of Justice states that 95-year-old Friedrich Karl Berger was ordered to be removed from the United States based on his participation in Nazi-sponsored persecution while serving in Nazi Germany in 1945 as an armed guard for prisoners in camps. concentration.
“Berger’s removal demonstrates the commitment of the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners to ensuring that the United States is not a safe haven for those who participated in Nazi crimes against humanity and other human rights abuses,” he said. the acting attorney general Monty Wilkinson. “The Department has gathered evidence that our Human Rights and Special Proceedings Section has found in archives here and in Europe, including records of the historic Nuremberg trial of the most notorious ex-leaders of the defeated Nazi regime. In this year in which we mark the The 75th anniversary of the Nuremberg convictions, this case shows that even the passing of many decades will not prevent the Department from seeking justice on behalf of the victims of Nazi crimes. “
Officials say Berger served in the Neuengamme Concentration Camp system.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in November 2020, the Immigration Appeals Council upheld a decision by the Immigration Judge of Memphis, Tennessee, of February 28, 2020, that Berger was removable under the Holtzman Amendment of 1978 to the Immigration and Nationality Law because his “Voluntary service as an armed prisoner of prisoners in a concentration camp where the persecution took place” constituted assistance in the persecution sponsored by the Nazis.
Authorities said the court concluded that Berger served in a Neuengamme subfield near Meppen, Germany, and that the prisoners there included “Nazis’ Jews, Poles, Russians, Danes, Dutch, French, Italians and political opponents”. The largest groups of prisoners were Russian, Dutch and Polish civilians.
“We are committed to ensuring that the United States does not serve as a safe haven for human rights violators and war criminals,” said ICE Acting Director Tae Johnson. “We will never stop chasing those who chase others. This case exemplifies the unwavering dedication of the ICE and the Department of Justice to seek justice and relentlessly hunt down those who participated in one of the greatest atrocities in history, no matter how long it takes. “
This removal was supported by the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and the Office of the Chief Legal Adviser, as well as by the Center for Human Rights Violators and War Crimes (HRVWCC).
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