VILNIUS — In a last-ditch effort to maximize the chance to bring Nazi war criminals to justice, the Simon Wiesenthal Center is offering $10,000 “to any person who submits relevant information which will lead to the prosecution and conviction of a Nazi war criminal who will be punished for his or her crimes.”
The reward was announced in Vilnius Monday at a news conference kicking off “Operation: Last Chance,” a special program to help identify as many perpetrators and potential witnesses as quickly as possible, thereby facilitating bringing to justice unprosecuted Holocaust perpetrators.
It was designed and implemented by Dr. Efraim Zuroff, head of the Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office, together with Targum Shlishi, a charitable foundation founded and headed by Aryeh Rubin of Miami, who conceived of the project.
“Time is rapidly running out so we have to devise innovative ways to obtain the maximum information necessary to enable the prosecution of as many Holocaust perpetrators as possible,” Zuroff said. “This project will hopefully significantly increase the number of prosecutions and convictions and enable the punishment of some Nazis who otherwise would never have been brought to justice.”