Péter
11-20-2005, 04:52 AM
The World Today - Thursday, 17 November , 2005 12:50:00
Reporter: Daniel Hoare
ELEANOR HALL: The Jerusalem-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre is calling on the Australian Government to launch its own investigation into a possible war criminal living in Melbourne.
Ninety-year-old Lajos Polgar, who has lived in Melbourne for more than 50 years, is accused of committing war crimes as a member of the Nazis' Hungarian allies, the Arrow Cross.
The Hungarian Government has launched an investigation into Mr Polgar, who openly admits he was a member of the Arrow Cross.
But the Simon Wiesenthal Centre also wants the Australian Government to investigate.
Daniel Hoare has been speaking to Effraim Zuroff from the Centre.
DANIEL HOARE: Lajos Polgar is currently being investigated by the Hungarian Government. He’s been living in Australia since the 1940’s.
The Jerusalem-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre has sent a petition to the Hungarian Embassy in Israel asking Hungarian authorities:
"to initiate criminal proceedings against Lajos Polgar if unequivocal evidence (of war crimes) is discovered."
Mr Polgar admits being a member of the Nazis' Hungarian allies, the Arrow Cross, but he denies any wrongdoing.
The director of the Jerusalem office of the Wiesenthal Centre, Effraim Zuroff, says the Hungarian investigation will determine the extent of Mr Polgar's actions when he was a member of the Arrow Cross.
But Effraim Zuroff is calling for the Australian Government to conduct its own investigation.
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: Lajos Polgar was a top official of the Arrow Cross, which is the Hungarian Fascist movement, which ruled Hungary for several months in the fall and early winter of 1944-1945, and they were dedicated to the destruction and annihilation of Hungarian Jewry, and Mr Polgar occupied positions of responsibility which related directly to the persecution and murder of Hungarian Jews, and therefore we ask the Hungarian Government to conduct a comprehensive investigation of his World War II activities.
There are many people who carried out acts of persecution and personally did not commit murder, but played an active role in seeing to it that innocent civilians were murdered.
And we suspect that Mr Polgar's one of those people.
DANIEL HOARE: What are you calling for the Australian Government to do in this case?
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: I would hope that the Australian Government would also carry out its own investigation, but given the fact that there's no special investigations unit, I think that's unlikely.
He admitted that he served with the Arrow Cross, and he made various comments regarding the Holocaust which clearly prove that he is still an adherent of the philosophy of the Arrow Cross.
DANIEL HOARE: How long have you been looking into this man's past?
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: We have been looking at the case ever since the case was discovered by Michael Danby, MP Michael Danby, who asked the query in Parliament regarding Mr Polgar.
He came to Australia in the '40s, as far as we know, the late '40s, after World War II, shortly after the war.
DANIEL HOARE: What do you hope will happen from here? Are you seeking the cooperation of the Australian Government on this case?
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: The key to the investigation is the Hungarian Government. We have approached them, we have submitted evidence to them. And we have asked them to launch a comprehensive investigation. The Hungarian Government has indicated that it will do so, and we're looking forward to the results.
DANIEL HOARE: Are you lobbying the Hungarian Government to seek extradition of this man?
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: That depends on the findings of the investigation.
DANIEL HOARE: So the investigation is still in its early stages.
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: That's correct.
DANIEL HOARE: And when do you hope to complete the investigation and go further with this case?
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: We don’t know, we're dependent on the Hungarians at this point.
DANIEL HOARE: So at the moment, what stage is the investigation at? Do you have any concrete evidence?
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: There is concrete evidence of his service in various positions, which were positions of responsibility vis-a-vis the persecuted Jews of Budapest-Hungary.
DANIEL HOARE: But at this stage no hard evidence of his actual personal involvement, what he actually did?
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: He was certainly in a position in which he could have actively participated in acts of persecution and murder. That's what has to be investigated.
ELEANOR HALL: That’s Effraim Zuroff from the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Melbourne, speaking to Daniel Hoare.
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1508968.htm
Reporter: Daniel Hoare
ELEANOR HALL: The Jerusalem-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre is calling on the Australian Government to launch its own investigation into a possible war criminal living in Melbourne.
Ninety-year-old Lajos Polgar, who has lived in Melbourne for more than 50 years, is accused of committing war crimes as a member of the Nazis' Hungarian allies, the Arrow Cross.
The Hungarian Government has launched an investigation into Mr Polgar, who openly admits he was a member of the Arrow Cross.
But the Simon Wiesenthal Centre also wants the Australian Government to investigate.
Daniel Hoare has been speaking to Effraim Zuroff from the Centre.
DANIEL HOARE: Lajos Polgar is currently being investigated by the Hungarian Government. He’s been living in Australia since the 1940’s.
The Jerusalem-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre has sent a petition to the Hungarian Embassy in Israel asking Hungarian authorities:
"to initiate criminal proceedings against Lajos Polgar if unequivocal evidence (of war crimes) is discovered."
Mr Polgar admits being a member of the Nazis' Hungarian allies, the Arrow Cross, but he denies any wrongdoing.
The director of the Jerusalem office of the Wiesenthal Centre, Effraim Zuroff, says the Hungarian investigation will determine the extent of Mr Polgar's actions when he was a member of the Arrow Cross.
But Effraim Zuroff is calling for the Australian Government to conduct its own investigation.
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: Lajos Polgar was a top official of the Arrow Cross, which is the Hungarian Fascist movement, which ruled Hungary for several months in the fall and early winter of 1944-1945, and they were dedicated to the destruction and annihilation of Hungarian Jewry, and Mr Polgar occupied positions of responsibility which related directly to the persecution and murder of Hungarian Jews, and therefore we ask the Hungarian Government to conduct a comprehensive investigation of his World War II activities.
There are many people who carried out acts of persecution and personally did not commit murder, but played an active role in seeing to it that innocent civilians were murdered.
And we suspect that Mr Polgar's one of those people.
DANIEL HOARE: What are you calling for the Australian Government to do in this case?
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: I would hope that the Australian Government would also carry out its own investigation, but given the fact that there's no special investigations unit, I think that's unlikely.
He admitted that he served with the Arrow Cross, and he made various comments regarding the Holocaust which clearly prove that he is still an adherent of the philosophy of the Arrow Cross.
DANIEL HOARE: How long have you been looking into this man's past?
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: We have been looking at the case ever since the case was discovered by Michael Danby, MP Michael Danby, who asked the query in Parliament regarding Mr Polgar.
He came to Australia in the '40s, as far as we know, the late '40s, after World War II, shortly after the war.
DANIEL HOARE: What do you hope will happen from here? Are you seeking the cooperation of the Australian Government on this case?
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: The key to the investigation is the Hungarian Government. We have approached them, we have submitted evidence to them. And we have asked them to launch a comprehensive investigation. The Hungarian Government has indicated that it will do so, and we're looking forward to the results.
DANIEL HOARE: Are you lobbying the Hungarian Government to seek extradition of this man?
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: That depends on the findings of the investigation.
DANIEL HOARE: So the investigation is still in its early stages.
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: That's correct.
DANIEL HOARE: And when do you hope to complete the investigation and go further with this case?
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: We don’t know, we're dependent on the Hungarians at this point.
DANIEL HOARE: So at the moment, what stage is the investigation at? Do you have any concrete evidence?
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: There is concrete evidence of his service in various positions, which were positions of responsibility vis-a-vis the persecuted Jews of Budapest-Hungary.
DANIEL HOARE: But at this stage no hard evidence of his actual personal involvement, what he actually did?
EFFRAIM ZUROFF: He was certainly in a position in which he could have actively participated in acts of persecution and murder. That's what has to be investigated.
ELEANOR HALL: That’s Effraim Zuroff from the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Melbourne, speaking to Daniel Hoare.
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1508968.htm