The news that the former commander of a Nazi SS-led military unit has been living in Minneapolis for decades is an especially startling revelation for people who lived through Nazi persecution.
Many such people still live in Minnesota, where 94-year-old Michael Karkoc has lived a quiet life in the decades since he served in the Ukrainian Self-Defense Legion. An AP investigation found that Karkoc lied about his military background when immigrating to the United States.
88-year-old Sam Rafowitz of Minnetonka was 15 when he was taken from his native Warsaw and spent four years in concentration camps. Rafowitz said he believes Karkoc should be put on trial for lying alone. Rafowitz says he hasn't forgotten the misery of his imprisonment despite it being some 70 years ago.
