US bill would end benefits to Nazi war criminals

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan bill introduced in the US House of Representatives would cut off Nazi war criminals from US benefits.

The bill introduced this week by Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Leonard Lance (R-N.J.) comes in the wake of an Associated Press investigation that found that dozens of suspected Nazi war criminals and SS guards collected millions of dollars after being forced out of the United States.

The measure authorizes new immigration hearings to determine whether suspected war criminals were receiving benefits.

Maloney said she hoped Congress would pass the bill in the “lame duck” session, the few weeks between the November 4 elections and Christmas — the last weeks of this Congress, when it is unusual for new legislation to succeed.

“We should work in a bipartisan and expeditious manner to terminate these benefits once and for all,” she said at a news conference. “The American taxpayer should not be subsidizing the retirements of those guilty of the worst atrocities in human history.”

There are at least four living beneficiaries, including Jakob Denzinger, a former guard at Auschwitz. Denzinger, 90, lives in Croatia, where he receives approximately $1,500 a month in Social Security payments.