Deport Nazi Guard From Queens, Secretary Of State Told

NEW YORK CITY, NY – A convicted Nazi guard living in Queens should be deported, New York's members of Congress Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

The 21 lawmakers said the U.S. should kick out Jakiw Palij, 92, who was convicted for his role in the Holocaust and had his citizenship revoked – but remains in the country because Germany, Poland and Ukraine refuse to take him.

“Those who participated in the atrocities of the Holocaust have no place in our communities,” Queens Rep. Joe Crowley said in a statement. "The Nazis’ crimes were beyond heinous, and we have the responsibility to pursue justice on behalf of their victims. I’m proud to join Reps. (Jerrold) Nadler and (Dan) Donovan in urging Secretary Tillerson to decisively step forward and intervene personally so the victims of Jakiw Palij’s crimes see justice done.”

The letter said Palij was a guard at the Nazis' Trawniki camp in Poland.

He had claimed he was a farmer during World War II, according to the Daily News, but a judge stripped him of his citizenship in 2004.

“As a guard at the infamous SS camp in Trawniki, Poland, Mr. Palij was a part of the Nazi genocide machine that killed millions of innocent Jewish men, women and children during the Holocaust," Nadler, who represents Brooklyn, said in a statement.

"I hope Secretary Tillerson will treat this case with the urgency it requires so that we can finally make sure Mr. Palij is deported and forced to answer for his crimes.”

Along with Crowley, Donovan and Nadler, 18 members of Congress signed the letter: Nita Lowey, Thomas Suozzi, Peter King, Eliot Engel, Adriana Espaillat, Grace Meng, Nydia Velazquez, Lee Zeldin, Kathleen Rice, Jose Serrano, Hakeem Jeffries, Carolyn Maloney, Louise Slaughter, Brian Higgins, Paul Tonko, Yvette Clarke, Gregory Meeks and Sean Patrick Maloney.

Lead image by Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP.