November 9, 1938 – Jews trembled in fear as the Nazis began their rampage on the infamous night called Kristallnacht. 71 years later Jewish students at both the Shalhevet high school and Rambam Mesivta listened raptly as they heard Rabbi Zev Friedman speak to them about what transpired on that day and how they as Jewish Americans have the opportunity and obligation to remember the Shoah and take action against Nazi war criminals living in their backyard.

Students were shocked to learn that Nazis do in fact live in the New York metropolitan area with many of them hiding in plain sight. Many  Nazis actually settled in neighborhoods which house synagogues and other Jewish establishments.

Although at one point a number Nazi war criminals lived in the New York metropolitan area-currently Jakiw Palij is the last remaining known Nazi in New York City. Others have either died, having lived the life out freely in the United States-or were deported by the US government. After the collapse of the Iron Curtain the US Department of Justice’s  OSI (office of special investigations) under the direction of Mr. Eli Rosenbaum has successfully stripped the citizenship of over 100 Nazis and ordered their deportation.

Jakiw Palij served at the infamous SS Trawniki camp during World War II. It was determined that he participated in liquidation of the 6000 Jews being held at Trawniki on November 3, 1943. US District Judge Allyne Ross found the evidence so compelling that she revoked Palij’s citizenship because “Palij directly contributed to the eventual slaughter (of the Jews in Trawniki) at the hands of the Nazis.

According to Rabbi Zev Friedman “it is an outrage that Nazi war criminals like Palij have avoided justice for so long and continued to live in our country. For the memory of the Kedoshim we cannot forget or forgive what Palij and the Nazis did. We should do everything possible to prevent him from living out his life as a free man in the United States, enjoying all of the benefits that this country offers”.

In the morning, students from the Shalhevet High School rallied in front of Palij’s house chanting ‘your hands are drenched in blood’ and to the onlookers ‘you 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.

Separately, in the afternoon, students from Rambam Mesivta high school rallied outside the offices of the German mission to the United Nations.

They called on Germany to take moral responsibility for Nazis like Palij and immediately move to call for his extradition and 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 Zev Friedman and Councilman David Weprin. Dr. Zimmer indicated that Germany may not have proper jurisdiction, as Palij was not a German citizen. Rabbi Friedman reminded Dr. Zimmer that Palij fought with uniform a gun and bullets which were all paid for by Germany and acted on orders received from his German superiors. “There is no doubt that Germany has the  responsibility to put Palij on trial-they finally did the same with Demjanjuk who is not a German citizen”, he said.

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.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)