KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (WVLT) – A Tennessee man has become the 70th Nazi persecutor to be removed from the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to the US Department of Justice, Friedrich Karl Berger, 95, was ordered to be removed from the United States for his part in the Nazi-sponsored persecution while serving as a Nazi in 1945 in Germany. armed guards for prisoners in the concentration camp.
“Berger’s removal shows the commitment of the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners to ensure that the United States is not a safe haven for those who have participated in crimes against humanity and other human rights violations,” the acting attorney- general, Monty Wilkinson, said. ‘The department has gathered evidence that our human rights department and special prosecutions have found in archives here and in Europe, including reports from the Nuremberg historic trial on the most notorious former leaders of the defeated Nazi regime. In this year in which we 75th anniversary of the conviction in Nuremberg, this case shows that over the course of many decades the Department will not be deterred from pursuing justice on behalf of the victims of Nazi crimes. ”
Officials say Berger served in the Neuengamme concentration camp system.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in November 2020, the Immigration Appeals Board upheld a decision by Memphis, Tennessee, the immigration judge, that Berger could be removed under the 1978 Holtzman Amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act because he ‘Willing to serve as an armed guard of prisoners in a concentration camp where persecution took place’, aided in the Nazi-sponsored persecution.
Officials said the court found Berger was serving in a Neuengamme sub-camp near Meppen, Germany, and that the detainees there included “Jews, Poles, Russians, Danes, Dutch, Latvians, French, Italians and political opponents” of the Nazis. . The largest groups of prisoners were Russian, Dutch and Polish citizens.
“We are committed to ensuring that the United States will not be a safe haven for human rights violators and war criminals,” said Acting ICE Director Tae Johnson. “We will never stop persecuting those who persecute others. This case illustrates the steadfast commitment of both ICE and the Department of Justice to pursue justice and to hunt relentlessly for those who have participated in one of the greatest atrocities in history, no matter how long it takes. “
This removal was supported by ICE’s enforcement and removal operations and the Office of the Chief Legal Adviser, as well as the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC).
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