By DPA,
Jerusalem : A Nazi physician known as “Dr Death” for murdering hundreds of inmates of Mauthausen Concentration camp in Austria by lethal injection, is the most most wanted Nazi war criminal still at large, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre said Wednesday.
Aribert Heim has replaced Alois Brunner at the top of the list of most wanted Nazi war criminals, which the international Jewish human rights organization released Wednesday.
Brunner, an aide to Adolf Eichmann and responsible for deporting over 100,000 Jews to Nazi death camps from Austria, Greece, France and Slovakia, is defined by the centre as “the most important Nazi war criminal who may still be alive.”
However the centre said, the chances that Brunner, who was born in 1912, and found refuge in Syria, is still alive, “are relatively slim.”
Ivan Demjanjuk, who participated in the mass murder of Jews in Sobibor death camp and also served in Majdanek death camp (both in Poland), is number two on the list.
Demjanjuk stood trial in Jerusalem in the late 1980’s, on suspicion he was the death camp guard known as “Ivan the Terrible”, but was freed through “reasonable doubt”.
Denaturalized in the US and deported, he is currently under investigation in Poland.
Sandor Kepiro, a Hungarian gendarmerie officer who participated in the mass murder of over 1,2000 civilians in Novi Sad, Serbia, is third on the list.
Hungary, which refused to enforce his original conviction for war crimes, has opened a new criminal investigation against him.
Milivoj Asner, who played an active role in the persecution and deportation of hundreds of Gypsies, Serbs and Jews, is fourth on the list. His extradition from Austria has been refused on medical grounds.
Number five on the list is Soren Kam, who stole the population registry of Danish Jews to facilitate a roundup, and whose role in the deportation of Danish Jews is currently being investigated by Danish judicial authorities.
Heinrich Boere, who as a member of a Waffen-SS squad murdered three Dutch civilians, is sixth; in April 2008 he was indicted in Germany for his crimes.
Karoly Zentai, who participated in manhunts, persectuion and murder of Jews in Burapest in 1944 is seventh on the list. He is currently appealing the extradition from Austria which Hungary has asked for.
Mikhail Gorshkow, who participated in the murder of Jews in Belarus, and is under investigation in Estonia is eighth on the list.
Algimantas Dailide, who arrested Jews later murdered by Nazis, is ninth. He was convicted in Lithuania, which has so far refused to implement his sentence of imprisonment.
The list is rounded off with Harry Mannil, who arrested Jews and communists executed by the Nazis and their Estonian collaborators. He was cleared by investigation in Estonia.