August 18



RUSSIA:

Remembering Russia's largest Holocaust Massacre


A memorial ceremony took place near Rostov-on-Don to commemorate nearly
30,000 Jews and thousands of other victims murdered here 65 years ago in
the biggest single atrocity of the Holocaust in Russia. The event
occurred at the 'Zmievskaya Balka' Memorial near the village of Zmievka.
Busloads of people made their way here via the same route taken by those
who met their death here the crowd holding the same constituency as those
who perished here young and old, Jews and non-Jews, from all walks of life.

Led by Chief Rabbi of Rostov-on-Don Chaim Friedman, the procession
involved lay leaders from local Jewish communities, representatives of
City and Regional Administrations, other leading figures and activists.
Near the monument and the eternal flame, Rabbi Friedman opened the
ceremony and said the Kaddish, followed by an Orthodox liturgy for others
buried here, including prisoners of war and non-Jewish family members of
Jews who met their fate here.

"The only thing we can do for those buried here is remember this horrific
tragedy, when tens of thousands were wiped out in one day, and to pass
their memory on to our children so that the Holocaust may never again be
repeated, not for any people," expressed Yuri Rubinov, the Chairman of the
Jewish community of Rostov-on-Don. Several participants underlined the
critical need to prevent the spread of neo-Nazism in its early stages.

The event wrapped up with an award ceremony. On behalf of the Federation
of Jewish Communities of Russia, Rabbi Zeyev Wagner presented medals to
two persons bestowed with the title "The Righteous of Nations" for risking
their lives to save Jews during World War Two.

(source: The Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS)






CANADA:

B.C. Appeal Court denies release of convicted war criminal


A Vancouver man convicted in absentia for crimes committed at a prison
camp during the Second World War has lost a bid to be released from
custody while he appeals his extradition to Italy to the Supreme Court of
Canada.

Michael Seifert was sentenced to life in prison in Italy after being found
guilty in 2000 of nine counts of murder, committed during his term as an
SS guard at the Bolzano transit prison camp in northern Italy.

The Italian government alleged the 83-year-old Seifert beat, tortured,
starved and murdered inmates.

Earlier this month, the B.C. Court of Appeal rejected Seifert's appeal to
avoid extradition to Italy and he was placed in custody.

He then asked the court to order his release while the Supreme Court of
Canada decides whether to hear his application for leave to appeal.

But Justice Jo-Ann Prowse rejected his application.

"The crimes upon which Mr. Seifert has been ordered surrendered are
atrocities of the worst order," she said in a decision released Thursday.

"In my view, public confidence in the administration of justice would be
undermined if I were to order Mr. Seifert's release in these
circumstances."

The Canadian Jewish Congress is pleased with the court's ruling, said
chief executive officer Bernie Farber.

"I think the important message here is the Canadian justice system is
finally taking a strong stand," he said.

"I think it's an important message for future generations, and that is we
are going to be taking war crimes seriously, we're going to be taking war
criminals seriously and despite the passage of time, we will apply
justice."

Seifert's lawyer Doug Christie has filed an application to the Supreme
Court of Canada for leave to appeal the decision upholding Seifert's
extradition.

"I have concluded that none of the grounds of appeal put forward can be
described as strong or very strong," Prowse wrote.

"Some of them are frivolous and I would describe the balance as weak."

She said it is open to Seifert to renew his application for release if the
Supreme Court grants him leave to appeal.

Seifert, who has lived in Canada since 1951, has denied he committed any
of the atrocities, saying he was not a guard at the camp but was there as
a prisoner.

Seifert had been sentenced by a German military court for rape and, as a
soldier serving in the German army, was assigned to guard isolation cells
at the Italian camp.

At the Italian trial, people testified that Seifert starved a 15-year-old
prisoner to death, gouged out a person's eyes, beat prisoners before
shooting them and tortured a woman before killing her and her daughter.

Seifert has been fighting efforts by the Canadian government to strip him
of his citizenship based on allegations he hid his past when he entered
the country.

Farber said Seifert's is only the third extradition case involving Nazi
war criminals.

Albert Rauca was extradited to West Germany in May 1983 to stand trial for
murder of more than 11,500 Lithuanian Jews. He died in prison a few months
later at age 75.

Jacob Luitjens was deported in 1992 to Holland and jailed for helping
Nazis capture Dutch resistance fighters. He was released in 1995 at age
75.

The Seifert custody ruling underscores the point that someone who
committed cold-blooded murder, even 60 years ago, should not be walking
around free, said Farber.

"People ought not to be rewarded for evading justice," he added, referring
to arguments that Seifert should be given bail because of his age.

"They ought to remember him not as he is today but as he was when he
committed his brutal murders."

(source: Canadian Press)