German Forces

WANTED- ALOIS BRUNNER

A top Nazi criminal, an aide to Adolf Eichman. Born in 1912 in Austria's Burgenland, he may or may not be still alive, but now he is on a "wanted" list issued by the Austrian authorities. A notice posted on the Austrian Justice Ministry’s website has photo/description of Brunner and offers rewards for information leading to his capture. Brunner is described as having mutilated hands and only one eye, after reportedly being disfigured by letter bombs. Alois Brunner did not end his criminal career when the Third Reich fell. He was able to escape capture with the help of a ratline organized by Bishop Alois Hudal. Brunner had been sentenced to death in absentia in the 1950s, but France repealed the death penalty in 1981. In 1987 an Interpol notice was issued for him. Interviewed by the Austrian magazine Bunte in the 1990s, Brunner declared that his sole regret was not having murdered more Jews. In a 1987 telephone interview to the Chicago Sun Times he stated: "The Jews deserved to die. I have no regrets. If I had the chance I would do it again..." He was last seen alive by reliable witnesses in 1992. On March 2, 2001, he was found guilty in absentia by a French court for crimes against humanity, including the arrest and deportation of 345 orphans from the Paris region (which had not been judged in the earlier trials) and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The trial was largely symbolic - an effort to honor the memories of victims such as Celestine Ajzykowicz, 11, Jean Bender, four, and Alain Blumberg, a two-week-old baby kicked to death by an SS guard.