The Hungarian Nazi Sandor Kepiro, considered the most-wanted still-living Nazi criminal by the Wiesenthal Center, stood trial earlier this week for his involvement in a massacre of civilians in Serbia in 1942.
According to the BBC, more than 1,200 Jewish, Serb, and Roma civilians were killed in three days by Hungarian forces. Mr. Kepiro has been charged with being directly responsible for the deaths of 36 Jews and Serbs – a charge he denies. He claims that he was the only one to refuse to use firearms and that he intervened in a corporal’s attempt to kill five people, saving their lives.
Kepiro was accused, but not convicted, in 1944 in his native Hungary. He fled to Argentina, where he was found by the Wiesenthal Center. The current trial, which is being held in Hungary, was adjourned so that Kepiro’s health could be evaluated – the judge said he was concerned that the suspect was unable to understand what was happening in the courtroom.
[Editor's note: The original version misspelled the name of the Wiesenthal center.]
