A Tennessee resident with German citizenship was deported to Germany for his involvement in Nazi-sponsored persecution while serving as an armed guard in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945, the U.S. Department of Justice announced through a statement Feb. 20. The man is the 70th Nazi persecutor to be deported from the United States.
Friedrich Karl Berger, 95, who has lived in the United States since 1959, was ordered deported from the United States in February 2020 for his involvement in Nazi-supported persecution in the Neuengamme concentration camp system as an armed guard for concentration camp inmates while serving in Nazi Germany in 1945. in which he participated in Nazi acts of persecution. Records show that more than 40,000 inmates died in the Neuengamme concentration camp system, where Berger served as a guard. The inmates there at the Time included “Jews, Poles, Russians, Danes, Dutch, Latvians, French, Italians and political opponents of the Nazis.” The largest groups of prisoners were Russian, Dutch and Polish civilians. Berger gave an interview to the Washington Post last year in which he expressed doubts about the possibility of his deportation. He claimed he was only 19 years old when he served in the camp, was unarmed and was simply following orders. “After 75 years, that’s ridiculous.” Beigel told The Washington Post.
But court documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice show that in late March 1945, as British and Canadian Allied forces advanced, Beigel helped guard the prisoners during their forced evacuation to the Neuengammer concentration camp for a nearly two-week trip under inhumane conditions, claiming the lives of about 70 prisoners. The verdict also cited Beigel’s admission that he never requested a transfer from the camp guard service and that he continued to receive a pension from Germany based on his wartime service. Beigel reportedly could face questioning by German judicial authorities upon his arrival in Germany.In 1979, the U.S. established the Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations to specifically seek out Nazis.On Feb. 20, the U.S. Justice Department said it had completed investigations into 109 former Nazis. The most recent repatriation occurred in August 2018, when the U.S. government repatriated a then 95-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard to Germany. The guard became a U.S. citizen in 1957, but the U.S. government stripped him of his citizenship in 2003.
“Beigel’s deportation demonstrates the commitment of the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners to ensure that the United States is not a safe haven for those involved in Nazi Crimes Against Humanity and other human rights abuses,” said acting U.S. Attorney General Monty Wilkinson. He said, “The Justice Department has collected evidence found in the files of our Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section here and in Europe, including records from the historic trials at Nuremberg of the most notorious former leaders of the defeated Nazi regime. As we mark the 75th anniversary of the Nuremberg convictions this year, this case shows that even the passage of decades will not stop the Justice Department from seeking justice for the victims of Nazi crimes.”
“We are committed to ensuring that the United States does not become a safe haven for human rights violators and war criminals,” said Tae Johnson, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He emphasized, “We will never stop going after those who persecute others. This case exemplifies ICE and the Department of Justice’s unwavering commitment to pursuing justice and relentlessly pursuing those involved in one of the worst atrocities in history, no matter how long it takes.”
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