Frustrated in his attempts to bring to justice an alleged Nazi war criminal still living in Germany, a Greenbrae physician has begun accusing the Israeli government of inadequately pursuing the case.
Dr. Michael Franzblau, who is also an Anti-Defamation League national commissioner and executive committee member, has been going after Dr. Hans Joachim Sewering since the German was forced to withdraw as president-elect of the World Medical Association in January 1993 under public pressure.
Sewering allegedly sent 900 German Catholic children with disabilities to a “healing center,” where they were killed during World War II. Sewering has repeatedly denied knowing the purpose of the center.
Franzblau took on Sewering’s case as a personal mission. He has traveled to Germany five times — most recently last month — to try to convince officials to prosecute the 81-year-old Sewering. He paid $62,500 for a full-page ad about Sewering in the New York Times in July 1995, and convinced a lawmaker to raise the matter in the U.S. Senate.
The cause has also won national media attention. CBS-TV’s “60 Minutes” ran a segment on Sewering in October 1996 and interviewed Franzblau.
But the Israeli government apparently hasn’t responded as forcefully as Franzblau expected since he first wrote to Israeli President Ezer Weizman in October 1994.
Sent in a diplomatic pouch to Weizman through the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco were letters from Franzblau and San Anselmo resident Walter Firestone, as well as a video of a 1993 local television news series about Franzblau’s efforts. The letters requested that the Israeli government formally ask the German state of Bavaria to investigate Sewering.
Weizman’s aide wrote back in May 1995 and August 1996, informing Franzblau that the material had been forwarded to an Israeli national police unit that investigates Nazi war criminals. Franzblau wrote to the police official in charge of the case in August 1996 and again last month but has received no response.
“I’ve never even gotten a `thank-you-very-much’ for sending the video,” said the Jewish dermatologist and medical historian, who lost more than two dozen relatives in the Holocaust.
Franzblau has since concluded that the Israeli officials have reached a “tacit agreement” with the German government not to pursue Nazi war criminals. Franzblau said he believes that Israel doesn’t want to jeopardize the strong economic ties between the two nations.
“They wouldn’t want to do anything to embarrass the German government,” he said last week. “It’s good for business.”
Nimrod Barkan, the Israeli consul general in San Francisco, is familiar with Franzblau’s efforts to pursue Sewering and called them “noble.” But Barkan also said that Franzblau’s claims against the Israeli government are unwarranted.
“Let me assure you there is no conspiracy,” Barkan said.
“We have transferred all the information he gave us to the proper authorities in the Ministry of Justice in Israel. They are pursuing in their own way Nazi war criminals according to Israeli law.”
Yet Barkan acknowledged that the Israeli Supreme Court’s 1993 acquittal of John Demjanjuk on charges that he was the notorious Treblinka guard “Ivan the Terrible” has affected Israeli officials.
“There is the Demjanjuk experience that makes us cautious with every move we make,” he said.
Barkan also concurred that an “excellent relationship” exists between the Israeli and German governments but added that this wouldn’t prevent the pursuit of war criminals.
“In particular, there is an understanding between the two ministries of justice as to the necessity of pursuing notorious Nazi war criminals and bringing them to justice,” Barkan said.
Barkan added, however, that he too is bothered by the slow pace.
“I would say that I’m not happy with the lack of response,” Barkan said. “I think it’s a bureaucratic mistake. But it has nothing to do with whether they’re paying attention or not.”
The Israeli police unit couldn’t be reached for comment.
While the ADL has supported Franzblau’s efforts to pursue Sewering, ADL National Director Abraham Foxman disassociated himself from the contentions about Israel.
“We share none of his conspiratorial views about the lack of what he considers an appropriate response from the Israeli government. I think there’s a lack of sensitivity in Germany. That’s where the blame lies,” Foxman said.
Israelis have jeopardized their lives pursuing Nazi war criminals, Foxman added. “I have only the highest regard for their concern, commitment and risk-taking.”
Franzblau himself acknowledges that he hasn’t pursued all possible avenues in Israel yet. He said that Weizman is the only political leader who was contacted because Firestone has known Weizman since they fought together in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence.
“Writing to someone `cold’ would be a fruitless act,” Franzblau said.
Meanwhile, Sewering — who allegedly oversaw a Nazi euthanasia program — continues to practice medicine in the city of Dachau, the site of a former concentration camp.
After the “60 Minutes” segment ran in the fall, Franzblau said, the German ambassador to the United States arranged for Franzblau and another ADL official to meet last month with Germany’s foreign minister and justice minister in Bonn.
Both promised to encourage the Bavarian authorities to act on the matter, Franzblau said, although neither of them has jurisdiction in Bavaria.