The only thing the United States owes former SS guards and suspected Nazi war criminals is a one-way ticket out of America. But instead, the government has paid them millions of dollars in Social Security benefits for their voluntary departure. It makes sense that the government wants to quickly remove the Nazis among us. But that doesn't justify striking a deal to hasten their departure. The payments should stop immediately. And Congress should pass legislation to make sure Americans no longer fund Adolf Hitler's former loyalists.
As many as 10,000 Nazi persecutors moved to the United States after World War II, according to a recent investigation by the Associated Press. Many lied about their pasts to gain entry and, eventually, citizenship. The Justice Department formed the Office of Special Investigations in 1979 to track down and deport Nazis who had aided in committing crimes against civilians during the Holocaust. The alleged criminals could not be prosecuted in U.S. courts because their trespasses were committed on foreign soil against non-Americans. Rather than go through deportation proceedings that could stretch as long as a decade, U.S. officials engaged in a practice called "Nazi dumping." Confirmed and suspected war criminals were run out of the United States and into other countries. If they went willingly, they could continue to receive Social Security.
At least 38 of 66 suspected Nazi war criminals kept their Social Security benefits after being removed from the United States, according to the AP. By March 1999, 28 suspected Nazi criminals had collected $1.5 million in Social Security benefits. At least four of the recipients are still alive, including Jakob Denzinger, a former Auschwitz guard who owned a plastics company in Ohio. Found by Nazi hunters, Denzinger self-deported in 1989. Now 90, he lives in Croatia and collects $1,500 a month from the U.S. government.
The law currently strips Nazi persecutors who are deported of their Social Security benefits. But if a person leaves the country voluntarily, his benefits remain intact. State Department officials have long opposed this arrangement. During the Clinton administration, a group of lawmakers tried unsuccessfully to close the payment loophole. Current members of Congress should try again. While most of the beneficiaries of the Justice Department's relocation payment program have died, the few who remain should not enjoy Social Security. There is no reason to reward people accused of such heinous crimes and who are unworthy of American citizenship.