Letter to Janos Ader, President of the Republic of Hungary, and Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Republic of Hungary - Ladislaus Csizsik-Csatary

Letter

The Honorable Janos Ader
President
Republic of Hungary

The Honorable Viktor Orban
Prime Minister
Republic of Hungary

Dear President Ader and Prime Minister Orban:

We write to urge you in the strongest possible terms to immediately bring to justice the notorious Nazi war criminal Ladislaus Csizsik-Csatary. He was recently discovered living in Budapest.

During World War II, Mr. Csizsik-Csatary was a commander in the Royal Hungarian Police. He was in charge of officers who guarded a Jewish ghetto in the town of Kassa (what is now Kocise, Slovakia). A true sadist, he showed extremely cruelty toward the Jews in Kassa. This cruelty included beating women with a whip, forcing people to dig ditches with their bare hands, and enforcing a policy of shooting those with the courage to try to escape.

Most notoriously, Mr. Csizsik-Csatary coordinated the deportation of approximately 15,700 Jews to Auschwitz and 300 Jews to Ukraine in 1944. Almost all of those deported were murdered by the Nazis.

In 1948, for his crimes against humanity, Mr. Csizsik-Csatary was convicted in absentia in Czechoslovakia and sentenced to death. Like the true coward that he is he fled his punishment and, by lying about his background, was able to establish himself in Canada. He fled again in 1997 when his true past was revealed and he has been on the run ever since. The Simon Wiesenthal Center lists him as the number one most wanted Nazi war criminal.

That his crimes occurred years ago is not, and cannot be used as, an excuse to avoid action. The many years since World War II, in which he has enjoyed life, freedom, and dignity, are years he denied to so many Jews. Justice for crimes like his, those against humanity itself, is always necessary. It is time to see that he receives the justice he deserves.

Additionally, while we cannot undo the tragedy of the Holocaust, we can make sure the evil people responsible for its horrors are punished. By holding these people accountable, we honor the lives lost and ensure that we never forget what happened.

We urge you to do all you can to see that Ladislaus Csizsik-Csatary answers for his crimes. We look forward to your prompt action in this matter.

Sincerely,

Jerrold Nadler

Howard L. Berman

Gary L. Ackerman

Eliot L. Engel

David N. Cicilline

Theodore E. Deutch

Tom Marino

Brad Sherman

Albio Sires

Robert L. Turner

Shelley Berkley

Joseph Crowley

Steve Israel

Carolyn B. Maloney

James P. McGovern

Christopher S. Murphy

Jared Polis

Charles B. Rangel

Janice D. Schakowsky

Adam B. Schiff

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