Jackson Heights: Residents WantFormer Nazi Guards Deported

As people around the world observed the 67th anniversary of Kristallnacht, which marked the beginning of the Holocaust as Germans attacked Jewish people, on Wednesday, November 9th, some in Jackson Heights were calling for justice.
Community residents Jaroslaw Bilaniuk and Jakiw Palij allegedly served as armed guards at the Polish concentration camp Trawniki, which is where 6,000 Jews were killed in November of 1943.
“Trawniki concentration camp was hell on earth,” said Floral Park resident and Holocaust survivor Larry Wenig, who was born in Poland and spent time in a Soviet Union labor camp.
The two men came to the United States in 1949, having lied about their involvement in the Holocaust, and gained citizenship in 1957.
Following an investigation by the Office of Special Investigations at the Department of Justice, Palij was convicted and his deportation was ordered in June of 2004. Bilaniuk is still awaiting judgment.
However, appeals have allowed both Jackson Heights residents to remain in the United States.
“Two Nazi war criminals are living in Queens,” said Queens Representative Anthony Weiner. “Bureaucracy cannot act as a free pass for both men to stay in this country. They must be held accountable for their actions and, while no one should be denied their right to due process, these indefinite delays are unacceptable.”
In response to the injustice that Weiner sees, he has sent a letter to Michael Chertoff, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, urging that swift action be taken.
“I urge you to use the influence of your office to remove any barriers to deporting these two shameless criminals as soon as the law allows,” the letter states.
Wenig also feels that it is only right that the two men be deported.
“They were hiding their past when they applied for American citizenship, otherwise they wouldn’t have been granted American citizenship,” he said. “In this case we are also dealing with another issue, namely lying under oath, which is a felony. Therefore, I agree with our government that those Trawniki volunteers should be deported to the country they came from.”