In July, Efraim Zuroff, the director of the Jerusalem Office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, made waves in the Baltics by offering a $10,000 (US) reward for information leading to the trial and conviction of any Nazi war criminal that had operated in the Baltic States during WWII. Unspoken, but assumed was that Zuroff’s offer pertained to alleged war criminals of Baltic heritage, not German nationals — officers, commanders or conscripts — that might have perpetrated war crimes. The ensuing furor was evidently forseen by Zuroff, who must assume that any publicity is good.

Many are still indignant that Soviet war criminals are not being sought with the same, shall we say, intensity, never mind publicity. One Estonian farmer even went as far as to offer twice the amount — $20,000 — for information leading to the conviction of a Soviet war criminal. Strangely, his challenge received little media attention or space in print. Why?

It has been suggested that dwelling on this inequality is not wise. Perhaps so. But without a shadow of a doubt it is patently unjust that one side gets more attention than the other. Estonians are notorously reticent, unwilling to get involved in su ch affairs. However, there still remain the vocal minority, those with no compunctions, those who for revenge or for financial considerations have no qualms about ratting or finking on friends or neighbours,. Who can forget the “koputajad” the knockers, who informed Soviet authorities about their neighbours’ activities? They operated under the Soviet veil of terror with impunity, informing the KGB and other repressive organs about nationalist activities, or even statements, that had been made both during independence or under occupation. Their actions created an atmosphere of caution and distrust, making Estonians even less open that they are by nature, speaking in circles, expressing little beyond the obvious and publicly acceptable under the rules of the regime. The trend is still present in some politicians today.

Many of those koputajad carry blood on their hands, indirectly or not. I am sure that it should weigh on their conscience. A campaign against koputajad would not do the nation any good at this late stage. However, a campaign against actual murderers, war criminals wearing the uniform of the Red Army, those who followed Soviet orders, would do much to balance Zuroff’s often far-fetched claims.

Zuroff at least is getting results — perhaps from those same people that were koputajad, who knows. According to an ETA report from the 10th of September a total of seventeen Baltic residents (Nota Bene: residents. Not citizens or nationals. An important distinction, for there are still people living in the Baltics that have Russian papers.) have come forward, offering information about a total of 51 suspects, in hopes of getting the reward. Another important fact: The Estonian Information Agency ETA gave as its source the Jerusalem Post, where the story first appeared. Zuroff knows how to manipulate the media.

No names were given but a breakdown was provided about the ethnic background of the “suspects”. Of the 51 names gathered, 47 are from Lithuania, three from Estonia, and the final one from Latvia. However, 12 of those named are known to be dead.

Other lists have made it public as well. The names, however, found on those lists must be considered with caution. Some are obvious misspellings, others are blatant aliases. As a comparison, Canadian authorities found out to their chagrin from 1993 on that while the country was accepting genuine refugees from war-torn Somalia, many war criminals from that country were able to use different spellings of their names, or adopted aliases, and made it to safe haven in Canada. Some were uncovered, but while the government does not acknowledge this fact, many remain here. Deportation is, of course, difficult.

The telling fact is that with all the fanfare accompanying Zuroff’s statement, Lithuanian officials —with 93% of the named suspects being of Lithuanian origin — have stated that this is merely a lot of noise. The Lithuanian officials who would be involved in any possible future prosecutions note that neither the Jewish Lithuanian Community nor the Wiesenthal Centre have presented any new evidence to the Lithuanian law enforcement agencies.

So there you have it. Greed — the hope of getting a large reward, especially in greenbacks not shekels, was what Zuroff was counting upon, a return to the koputaja mentality. Seems though, that t’is to no avail, no matter how much publicity the issue receives. Could it be, that the hound is barking up the wrong tree?

It is time to repeat — seems to be a regular responsibility — that ALL war criminals should be hunted down with the same intensity that Zuroff possesses. Soviet, American, Japanese, German, Italian, French, Somali, Serbian, Chilean, Nicaraguan, Palestinian, Israeli... Keep the scales balanced, no matter how many pieces of silver are offered, justice should be impartial, not inflamed by questionable rhetoric, dubious facts.

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