Munich

The Simon Wiesenthal Center announced today that four cases brought to its attention as a result of the poster campaign it launched this summer for "Operation Last Chance" in Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne, have already been submitted to German prosecutors.

In a press conference held here today, the Center's chief Nazi hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, announced that two cases of concentration camp guards (one in Auschwitz and one in Dachau) had already been submitted to German prosecutors, as well as a case related to the Oradour (France) massacre, and a case of a potential suspect who had amassed numerous weapons and ammunition in his home.

According to Zuroff, the Center has already received the names of 111 suspects from 19 countries, most of them from Germany (81), with others from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Austria, Spain, Mexico, Sweden, and other countries including one suspected Kapo from Israel. To date, two-thirds of the names have been investigated.

Zuroff announced that a second round of about 3,000 Operation Last Chance posters would be launched starting tomorrow in eight German cities, half in the east and half in the west: Munich, Leipzig, Frankfurt am Mein, Stuttgart, Nuremburg, Dresden, Magdeburg, and Rostock.

"If the response to the initial round of posters is any indication, we are likely to receive the names of quite a few additional suspects, which can be submitted to local prosecutors and hopefully will result in the prosecution and punishment of Holocaust perpetrators," said Zuroff.

For more information 972-2-563-1273 or 972-50-721-4156, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).