Operation Last Chance: One Man's Quest to Bring Nazi Criminals to Justice
Historian Zuroff began a career of Holocaust study in the archives of Israel’s Yad Vashem memorial, continued it as a researcher for the U.S. Department of Justice, and, at present, represents the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Evolving from a scholar to a detective, Zuroff underscores the documentary evidence needed to open a case and explains his methods for bringing fugitive war criminals from World War II to justice. Once he identifies an individual, and ascertains that he or she is living, Zuroff alerts, via publicity or direct communication, the authorities of the country that harbors the person. Describing his pursuit of about two dozen individuals, Zuroff outlines a range of problems that may hamper successful prosecution, from legal technicalities to prosaic disbelief that the senior citizen next door was a mass murderer of Jews to outright protection of alleged killers. Some convictions have resulted from Zuroff’s efforts, and some of his subjects will apparently never face the music, but all of his readers will better understand the process of Nazi-hunting. --Gilbert Taylor