Nazi commander has been living in Minnesota for 60 years (Report)

A man who commanded a unit that served alongside Nazis during World War II has been living in Minnesota for the past 60 years, according to a report.

An Associated Press investigation published Friday claims that Michael Karkoc, now 94, lied to U.S. immigration authorities when he came to this country in 1949. Records obtained by the AP through the Freedom of Information Act show that he said he was not a member of the Ukrainian Self Defense Legion or an officer in the SS Galician Division. Both groups were on a blacklist that banned members from coming to the U.S. at the time.

According to The Atlantic Wire, the Ukrainian Self Defense Legion fought with the Germans against the Soviets. They took orders from the SS and other members have said that those orders included “liquidating” villages, burning homes and killing women and children. The SS Galician Division later fought in Poland, stopping the Warsaw Uprising.

The AP reports that the German government is interested in investigating Karkoc. In Germany, any Nazi with “command responsibility” could be tried for war crimes.

Karkoc wouldn’t give the AP an interview. He still lives in Minneapolis.

While Karkoc’s true past remained unknown in the U.S., he actually published a Ukrainian-language memoir in 1995. In the book, which is available at the Library of Congress, he admits to co-founding the Ukrainian Self Defense Legion and working with the SS.

The AP only found out about Karkoc through Stephen Ankier, a London-based amateur historian, who found Karkoc’s name while doing a search for SS Galician Division who moved to Britain. “Here was a chance to publicly confront a man who commanded a company alleged to be involved in the cruel murder of innocent people,” Ankier told the AP.

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