8 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 23, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Ex-Nazi guard living in Jackson Heights deported to Germany
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
Aft er 14 years of eff orts to get him out
of the United States, a Nazi war criminal
that was living in Jackson Heights
has been removed to Germany, the
Department of Justice announced on
Tuesday.
Jakiw Palij, 95, was removed by ICE
to Düsseldorf, Germany, landing at 8
a.m. on Aug. 21. Th e former Nazi guard
had been living in an apartment on 89th
Street for years and was initially stripped
of his naturalized citizenship in 2003.
“Nazi war criminals and human rights
violators have no safe haven on our
shores,” said U.S. Homeland Security
Kirstjen M. Nielsen. “We will relentlessly
pursue them, wherever they may
be found, and bring them to justice.
Th e arrest and removal of Jakiw Palij to
Germany is a testament to the dedication
and commitment of the men and women
of ICE, who faithfully enforce our immigration
laws to protect the American people.”
Born in a part of Poland that is now
present-day Ukraine, Palij emigrated to
the United States in 1949 and was granted
naturalized citizenship in 1957. However,
Palij concealed his involvement as a Nazi
in World War II by telling U.S. immigration
offi cials that he had spent the war
years working on his father’s farm, which
was previously a part of Poland and is
now in Ukraine, until 1944 and then
worked in a German factory.
In 2001, Palij admitted to the Justice
Department offi cials that he was trained
at the SS Training Camp in Trawniki, in
Nazi-occupied Poland, in the spring of
1943. Documents also revealed that Palij
was an instrumental role in “Operation
Reinhard,” a plan by the Th ird Reich to
murder Jews in Poland.
On Nov. 3, 1943, 6,000 Jewish men,
women and children that were incarcerated
at Trawniki were shot to death,
marking one of the largest single massacres
of the Holocaust. Palij played an
indispensable role in the plan by helping
to prevent the escape of these prisoners
during his service at Trawniki.
Based on Palij’s concealed crimes,
the Criminal Division’s then-Offi ce of
Special Investigations (OSI) and the U.S.
Attorney’s Offi ce of the Eastern District
of New York fi led a four-count complaint
to revoke Palij’s citizenship on May 9,
2002. Palij’s citizenship was revoked in
August 2003, based on his wartime activities
and postwar immigration fraud, and
was placed in immigration removal proceedings
in November that same year.
In 2004, Palij was ordered to be deported
to the Ukraine, Poland or Germany, or
any other country that would admit him,
on the basis of his participation in Nazisponsored
acts of persecution while serving
during World War II as an armed
guard at the Trawniki forced-labor camp
that he concealed on his application for
citizenship. Palij’s appeal was denied by
the Board of Immigration Appeals in
December 2005.
Despite the court’s ruling, Palij
remained in the United States as no
other country would take him following
his deportation. Palij would live in his
Jackson Heights apartment for the next
15 years, which caused demonstrations by
the public and politicians to deport him.
In August 2017, nearly two dozen elected
offi cials signed a letter that was penned
to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, calling
for Palij’s deportation. On Nov. 9,
2017, which marked the 79th anniversary
of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken
Glass, about 160 students and staff from
Rambam Mesivta in Lawrence rallied
outside of Palij’s apartment to show that
they wanted him out of the country.
Offi cials from the Justice Department
said on Tuesday that President Trump
took a special interest in Palij’s case, stating
that he wanted him removed from
the U.S.
Germany ultimately agreed to take Palij
in 2018, citing a moral argument made by
the United States that Palij, despite not
being a German citizen, had in the name
of the former German government.
Palij was the last known Nazi living
within the U.S. borders that was under
a court order to be removed, however
the Justice Department will continue to
Photo courtesy of the Department of Justice
investigate for those who have committed
war crimes.
“Th e United States will never be a safe
haven for those who have participated
in atrocities, war crimes, and human
rights abuses,” said Attorney General Jeff
Sessions. “Jakiw Palij lied about his Nazi
past to immigrate to this country and then
fraudulently become an American citizen.
He had no right to citizenship or to even
be in this country. Today, the Justice
Department — led by Eli Rosenbaum and
our fabulous team in the Human Rights
and Special Prosecutions Section, formerly
the Offi ce of Special Investigations —
successfully helped remove him from the
United States, as we have done with 67
other Nazis in the past. I want to thank
our partners at the State Department and
the Department of Homeland Security
for all of their hard work in removing this
Nazi criminal from our country.”
BACK TO SCHOOL
SALE
With the purchase of glasses,
contact lens e l.
$100OFF
DESIGNER FRAMES
PLUS FREE 2ND PAIR
2 Boxes of Lenses Frames & Lenses
* $200 minimum purchase on first pair of designer
frames. Second pair frame from select group with
clear plastic, single vision lenses +/-4 sph., 2 cyl.
Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this
location only. Not valid with any other offers, sales,
vision plans or packages.
Offer ends 10/15/2018
Select frame with select clear plastic no-line bifocal lenses
+/- 4 sph., 2 cyl up to 2.50 add. Not valid with any other
offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present
prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only.
Offer ends: 10/15/2018
������������������������������brand clear sphericalLenses/*Contact
lens fitting additional. Not valid for Toric lenses. Not valid with
any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must
present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only.
Some restrictions apply, see store for details.
Offer ends: 10/15/2018
Select frames with clear plastic, single vision lensas
+/- 4 sph., 2 cyl. Not valid with any other offers, sales,
vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase.
Offer valid at this location only. Some restrictions apply,
see store for details
Offer ends: 10/15/2018
2 PAIR OF CHILDREN'S
EYEGLASSES
18 years & younger
Includes polycarbonate lenses, plastic and metal frames.
Select frames with clear plastic single vision lenses
+/- 4 sph, 2 cyl. Must present prior to purchase. Offer
valid at this location only. Not valid with any other offers,
sales, vision plans or packages.
Offer ends 10/15/2018
link
