Dr. Efraim Zuroff

Dr, Zuroff presenting to a full house at Pellissippi State CC in Knoxville.
Dr, Zuroff presenting to a full house at Pellissippi State CC in Knoxville.

Dr. Efraim Zuroff is the Director of the Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, an international organization dedicated to Holocaust research, the prosecution of Nazi war criminals, and confronting antisemitism.

As the world’s last Nazi hunter, Dr. Zuroff co-created the project, “Operation Last Chance” that investigates and convicts Nazi war criminals. He is internationally recognized for his role in the arrest, extradition of prosecution of Dinko Šakić, the fascist commandant of Jasenovac Concentration Camp. Dr. Zuroff is also the author of five hundred scholarly articles, publications, and books about the Holocaust and related subjects. His works include: Occupation Nazi-Hunter, Operation Last Chance, Our People, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s “Annual Status Report on the Investigation and Prosecution of Nazi War Criminals.”

 

Additional portions of the same interview: 

Part I: Early Career

Part II: The Crimes at Jasenovac

Part III: Confronting The Holocaust in Lithuania

Part IV: You Have a Choice- A Message for Students

Critical Thinking Questions:

  1. Dr. Zuroff describes Holocaust distortion as “an old-new phenomenon.” What is Holocaust distortion? In what way is it an old-new phenomenon?                                                                                                                              
  2. What is Holocaust collaboration?                                                                                                                                          
  3. Dr. Zuroff says, “The Holocaust initially began not with Auschwitz. It began with the Einsatzgruppen. With the invasion of the Soviet Union.” What does he mean by this?

Writing Prompts:

  1. Dr. Zuroff explains that Holocaust distortion presents a very serious threat to the education, research, and commemoration of the Holocaust. Write a short essay in which you address the following: In what ways does it present a threat? What are the goals of distortionists? How can individuals counter the growing, global threat of Holocaust distortion?
  1. Dr. Zuroff provides several models of Holocaust collaboration. Write a short essay in which you examine three of them. What is Holocaust collaboration? Why is it significant for scholars to investigate the activities of Holocaust collaborators? Why do you think some individuals and groups collaborated with the Nazis in their effort to murder, and/or deport Europe’s Jews?

Links To More Resources:

Dr. Zuroff, Simon Wiesenthal Center

Jasenovac Memorial Site (English Translation)

USHMM article, “Jasenovac”

USHMM article, “Collaboration”