{"id":1272,"date":"2020-03-25T14:40:53","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T18:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ielrblog.com\/?p=1272"},"modified":"2020-03-25T14:40:53","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T18:40:53","slug":"judges-orders-extradition-of-ex-nazi-camp-guard-from-tennessee-to-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/25\/judges-orders-extradition-of-ex-nazi-camp-guard-from-tennessee-to-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"Judges Orders Extradition of Ex-Nazi Camp Guard from Tennessee to Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On Wednesday, March 5, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that a U.S. immigration judge in Memphis ordered a Tennessee man\u2019s extradition to Germany.<\/p>\n<p>The man, Friedrich Karl Berger, 94, is a German citizen and served as an armed guard at a concentration camp in Nazi Germany during World War II. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/ex-nazi-camp-guard-living-tennessee-be-deported-germany-judge-n1150586\">According to the DOJ<\/a>, Judge Rebecca L. Holt made the ruling after \u201ca two-day trial \u2018on the basis of his service in Nazi Germany in 1945 as an armed guard of concentration camp prisoners in the Neuengamme Concentration Camp system.<\/p>\n<p>In response to Judge Holt\u2019s decision, Berger told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-51774404\">The Washington Post<\/a>, \u201cAfter 75 years, this is ridiculous. I cannot believe it. You\u2019re forcing me out of my home.\u201d It is not immediately clear if Berger intends to appeal his decision, which would be a move that could delay his deportation for several years. Berger has been living in the U.S. since 1959.<\/p>\n<p>Berger participated as a guard at one of the Neuengamme system\u2019s sub-camps in Germany, known as Meppen. As a guard, he admitted to preventing prisoners from escaping during the workday and during their trips to and from work sites. In anticipation of the British and Canadian forces\u2019 arrival to liberate the camps in 1945, Berger helped guard the prisoners during their \u201cforcible evacuation,\u201d a two week trip the killed around 70 prisoners due to inhumane conditions.<\/p>\n<p>It is important to note that Berger said he was forced to work in World War II and he never carried a weapon. However, records reflect he never requested a transfer from concentration camp guard services. Additionally, he still receives a pension from Germany due to his employment and \u201cwartime service.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Judge Holt issued her opinion \u201cfinding Berger removeable under the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/criminal-hrsp\/legacy\/2011\/01\/31\/holtzman-amend.pdf\">1978 Holtzman Amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act<\/a>.\u201d This was because he committed a \u201cwilling service\u201d as an armed guard of inmates at a concentration camp where Nazi-sponsored persecution took place.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ wrote: \u201cBerger was part of the SS machinery of oppression that kept concentration camp prisoners in atrocious conditions of confinement,\u201d said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Department of Justice\u2019s Criminal Division. \u201cThis ruling shows the Department&#8217;s continued commitment to obtaining a measure of justice, however late, for the victims of wartime Nazi persecution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The investigation was initiated by the DOJ\u2019s Human Rights and Special Prosecution Section and completed with help from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center.<\/p>\n<p>David C. Shaw, the supervisor of war crime cases of ICE, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/03\/06\/us\/tennessee-man-deported-nazi\/index.html\">said in a statement<\/a>, \u201cThe United States will not serve as a safe haven for human rights violators and war criminals. We will continue to pursue these types of cases so that justice may be served.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>A note about Neuengamme\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Neuengamme Concentration Camp System was a system in which around 100,000 people were imprisoned between 1938 and 1945. According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kz-gedenkstaette-neuengamme.de\/en\/history\/death-register\/\">Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial<\/a>, at least 42,900 were killed here.<\/p>\n<p>The Neuengamme prisoners were compiled of \u201cJews, Poles, Russians, Danes, Dutch, Latvians, French, Italians, and political opponents [of the Nazis].\u201d The imprisoned experienced \u201catrocious\u201d conditions during the winter of 1944-1945 and faced exploitation for labor that forced victims to work from dawn until dusk each day, which often led to exhausted and death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Wednesday, March 5, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that a U.S. immigration judge in Memphis ordered a Tennessee man\u2019s extradition to Germany. The man, Friedrich Karl Berger, 94, is a German citizen and served as an armed guard at a concentration camp in Nazi Germany during World War II. According to the DOJ, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[23,36,60,93,20,88,82],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1272","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-crimes-against-humanity","7":"category-extradition","8":"category-genocide","9":"category-human-rights","10":"category-immigration-enforcement","11":"category-international-cooperation","12":"category-war-crimes","13":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Judges Orders Extradition of Ex-Nazi Camp Guard from Tennessee to Germany | IELR Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/25\/judges-orders-extradition-of-ex-nazi-camp-guard-from-tennessee-to-germany\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Judges Orders Extradition of Ex-Nazi Camp Guard from Tennessee to Germany | IELR Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Wednesday, March 5, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that a U.S. immigration judge in Memphis ordered a Tennessee man\u2019s extradition to Germany. The man, Friedrich Karl Berger, 94, is a German citizen and served as an armed guard at a concentration camp in Nazi Germany during World War II. According to the DOJ, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/25\/judges-orders-extradition-of-ex-nazi-camp-guard-from-tennessee-to-germany\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IELR Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/intlenforcementlawreporter\/?ref=bookmarks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-25T18:40:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alexandra Haris\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ielr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ielr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alexandra Haris\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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