Chicago — Neighbors have kind words to say about Osyp Firishchak, a retired Chicago carpenter, but the U.S. Justice Department says he played a role in one of history's darkest chapters.
Today, Firishchak, 86, is set to go on trial in Chicago over allegations that more than 60 years ago he was part of a Nazi-controlled Ukrainian police unit that transported tens of thousands of Jews to their deaths in concentration and labor camps.
The government is seeking to strip him of his U.S. citizenship and eventually boot him from the country.
The trial comes at a turning point for the Justice Department's Nazi-hunting unit, the Office of Special Investigations (OSI), as it shifts more of its focus and resources to a new mission.
Its mandate nearing an end as World War II targets die off, OSI was given new life in December when an intelligence overhaul law expanded its authority to pursue modern-day human-rights violators from around the world who now live in the United States as citizens.
But Eli Rosenbaum, OSI's director for a decade, said he has no intention yet of letting up on the Nazi persecutors who have been the office's sole responsibility until recent months.
"People often express surprise when they learn what we do at this late date, that there are still people to pursue," Rosenbaum said in an interview in his Washington office. "And I'm always surprised that they're surprised because you'll hardly meet an adult American who doesn't know someone who fought in the (war) who's still alive."
One of Firishchak's lawyers, James Maher, declined to discuss the case. Firishchak could not be reached for comment, but when the Justice Department sued to strip him of his citizenship in late 2003, he struck a defiant pose.
"Don't you think there are more problems around the world than me right now?" he told the Chicago Tribune. "I don't have anything to hide. I will tell my side in court."
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