Nazi war criminals should not be receiving Social Security benefits, a White House spokesman said.
Deputy press secretary Eric Shultz made his comments Oct. 20 in response to an investigation by the Associated Press that found that dozens of suspected Nazi war criminals and SS guards collected millions of dollars after being forced out of the United States.
“Our position is we don’t believe these individuals should be getting these benefits,” Shultz said at an informal news briefing at the White House. “The Social Security Administration and the Depart-ment of Justice have to work together within the confines of the law to cut off these benefits for these criminals.”
Schultz also said that the Justice Department has brought more than 100 Nazi criminals to justice.
The Social Security payments were made possible by a legal loophole that gave the Justice Department leverage to persuade Nazi suspects to leave the United States. If they agreed to go, or fled before deportation, they could keep their Social Security benefits, according to interviews and internal U.S. government records, AP reported following a two-year probe.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) sent letters Oct. 20 to the inspectors general of the Social Security Administration and the Department of Justice demanding that the agencies initiate investigations into the receipt of Social Security benefits by suspected Nazi war criminals.
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, according to AP. — jta