All NY congressmen urge Tillerson to deport former Nazi guard

New York’s congressional delegation is urging Secretary of State Tillerson to deport a former guard at the Trawniki Nazi concentration camp.

New York’s entire congressional delegation has written a letter urging Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to deport a former Nazi concentration camp guard who currently lives in Queens.

The letter argues 94-year-old Jakiw Palij should be deported from the US.

The New York Daily News reports that in a rare display of unity, the letter was signed by all 29 members of Congress representing New York, both Democrats and Republicans.

Department of Justice officials say Palij was a guard at the Trawniki concentration camp in Poland in 1943. Palij claimed in 2003 that he was forced to be a guard.

All the Jewish prisoners of Trawniki were massacred during Operation Harvest Festival of November 3, 1943, by the auxiliary units of Trawniki men.

A federal judge removed Palij’s citizenship in 2003, saying he falsified his immigration application when he claimed that he was a farmer during WWII.

In August, 21 members of New York’s US House delegation wrote a similar letter to Tillerson, urging him to expedite Palij’s deportation.

An immigration judge ruled Palij should be deported to Germany, Poland or Ukraine, but those countries have expressed disinterest at accepting him.

The US initiated successful denaturalization proceedings against 16 former Trawniki guards, including three who served at killing centers, and virtually all of whom guarded Jewish prisoners at Trawniki itself.

By: AP and World Israel news Staff

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