Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., February 12, 2009 Shvat 18, 5769 | | Israel Time: 11:49 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Joy of Giving Travel Week's End Anglo File
Last update - 13:03 05/02/2009
After years of hunting Nazi 'Dr. Death,' Germany now looking for his body
By The Associated Press
Tags: Israel news, Jewish World 

German investigators who spent decades hunting Nazi war criminal Aribert Heim said Thursday that new information indicating the former concentration camp doctor died in Egypt in 1992 appears credible. The investigator said they would attempt to locate his corpse to rule out any doubt.

The Baden-Wuerttemberg state police unit that investigates Nazi-era crimes is preparing a request asking Egyptian authorities to allow them to pursue the case in Cairo, unit spokesman Horst Haug said.

"We want to attempt to find the body," Haug told The Associated Press.
Advertisement
Heim's son Ruediger told Germany's ZDF television that his father fled to Egypt after authorities tried to arrest him at his Baden-Baden home in 1962. The younger Heim contradicted previous statements that he had never had any contact with his father since that time, telling ZDF that he had met with him several times in Cairo, starting in the mid-1970s.

Asked about the discrepancies, Heim told the AP on Thursday that the ZDF interview was the correct version of the story. "You can trust this interview, he said.

Heim would not elaborate on why he decided to speak now, or why he kept his silence for so long.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center's head Nazi hunter, Efraim Zuroff, said Aribert Heim has previously been linked to Egypt, but that the story raises more questions than it answers.

"There's no body, no corpse, no DNA, no grave - we can't sign off on a story like this because of some semi-plausible explanation," Zuroff told the AP in a telephone interview from Jerusalem. "Keep in mind these people have a vested interested in being declared dead - it's a perfectly crafted story; that's the problem, it's too perfect."

Born in 1914 in Radkersburg, Austria, Aribert Heim joined the local Nazi party in 1935, three years before Austria was bloodlessly annexed by Germany. He later joined the Waffen SS and was assigned to Mauthausen, a concentration camp near Linz, Austria, as a camp doctor in October and November 1941.

While there, witnesses told investigators, he worked closely with SS pharmacist Erich Wasicky on such gruesome experiments as injecting various solutions into Jewish prisoners' hearts to see which killed them the fastest.

In 1961, German authorities were alerted that he was living in Baden-Baden and began an investigation, but when they finally went to arrest him in September 1962, they just missed him - he apparently had been tipped off.Heim would be 94 today if still alive.

Last summer, Ruediger Heim tried to have his father declared legally dead so that he could take control of an estimated 1.2 million Euros (more than $1.5 million) in investments in his name, saying that he would donate the money to charity.

He indicated Thursday that he might now try again to have his father declared dead so that he can access the money - though not immediately.

"I'm going to wait and see how the case develops," he said.

ZDF, working with the New York Times, reported Wednesday that they had found a passport, application for a residence permit, bank slips, personal letters and medical papers - more than 100 documents in all - left by Heim in a briefcase in the Cairo hotel room where he lived under the name Tarek Hussein Farid.

The report said Heim was living under the pseudonym and had converted to Islam by the time of his death from intestinal cancer.

Ruediger Heim confirmed to ZDF that his father used the name Farid, and that the documents belonged to him.

Haug said that the state police investigators now had copies of the documents as well, but without the originals could not vouch for their authenticity.

But, he said, we got information one way and the New York Times and ZDF got it another and they add up, so we think it is plausible, but we can't give any official statement yet that Aribert Heim is dead.

Haug said the police investigators received their information at the beginning of this week - suggesting that the media outlets had it first - from someone close to Aribert Heim.

The source confirmed the story, telling police that Heim died in Egypt in 1992, Haug said.

He would not say whether the source was Heim's son, saying only that it was a "serious source that we take earnestly."

ZDF reported that Heim was buried in a cemetery for the poor in Cairo, where graves are reused after several years so that the chance of finding remains is unlikely. Haug said that it would take some time for his office's request to be allowed to search for the body to be processed.

Related articles:
  • Report: World's most wanted Nazi 'Doctor Death' died in 1992
  • Son of Nazi doctor seeks to donate father's money to Holocaust education
    • Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    How Israel voted
    See Israel election results by city/sector.
    Israeli cover girls
    Israeli model Bar Refaeli lands Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover.
      1.   Justice 16:34  |  James 05/02/09
      2.   A true Muslim . 17:29  |  TOMY 05/02/09
      3.   Rüdiger Heim who knows where his father 18:27  |  Zvi 05/02/09
      4.   Heim in Egypt? Not surprising. 18:34  |  dlglobal 05/02/09
      5.   # 3 zvi 22:49  |  Axel 05/02/09
      6.   Zionists lost in catching him 09:29  |  Javad 06/02/09
      7.   Christianism and Islam 14:52  |  ricardo levy 07/02/09
      8.   Answer to reponse no2 20:00  |  johnny 07/02/09
      9.   Time to give Rüdiger Heim 10:27  |  Guardian 12/02/09
      10.   If the bastard did die of cancer, then 10:36  |  Guardian 12/02/09
     Haaretz Hot Topics
    Israel 2009 election results
    Israel goes to the polls
    Conflict in Gaza
    Israel vs. Hamas
    Iran: Nuclear and regional ambitions
    More Headlines
    10:44 Likud may offer top spots to Kadima, Lieberman in bid to form quick coalition
    10:54 Lieberman: I've made up my mind between Livni, Netanyahu
    09:50 Abbas urges world to isolate Likud like it does Hamas
    10:43 White House: Obama to push peace process, regardless of Israel leader
    09:12 IDF strikes Hamas post in south Gaza, after day of mortar fire
    09:36 Israel Harel / In this election, Israel's left got what it deserved
    07:54 Gideon Levy / Does Zionism legitimize every act of violence and injustice?
    06:17 Election results allow leaders to focus on bringing Shalit home
    10:34 Rightist MK: Election results show Israelis agree with Rabbi Kahane
    11:28 ANALYSIS / Who will be the next defense minister?
    02:47 Satire exit poll wins TV ratings on Israel's election night
    03:48 Yet-uncounted soldiers' votes expected to create Kadima-Likud tie
    04:45 Labor, Meretz might unite to create largest opposition party
    06:00 In aftermath of Gaza drama, new TV shows focus on the IDF
    20:08 Europeans fearful over rise of right wing in Israeli elections
    06:51 Strapped high-tech companies moving to low-cost 4-day week
    21:07 HOW THEY VOTED: See Israel election results by city/sector
    Previous Editions
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    Summer in Israel
    Israeli style - Tzofim Chetz V'Keshet 2009
    Passover Vacations
    The BEST Passover Vacations around ? Mexico, Arizona and Florida
    SURF RAMBAM
    Keep current about new-wave medical care, education and research.
    Camp Kimama Israel 2009
    The best place for your children this summer
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
    Jewish Singles Personal Ads
    Find the love of your life on JDate.com
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | | Israel 2009 election results
    Site rules | Makom: Engaging on Israel | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved