Accused Nazi back in Estonia

Estonian prosecutors will decide next week if the state will charge a suspected Nazi war criminal who fled to Estonia in July ahead of a U.S. court ruling to strip him of his American citizenship.

Officials in Tallinn are examining evidence from the United States in the case of Michael Gorshkow, an Estonian citizen accused by the U.S. Justice Department of helping murder Jews in Belarus during World War II.

Authorities confirmed that Gorshkow, 79, obtained an Estonian passport in person on July 15 in Tallinn.

A U.S. federal court revoked the Gorshkow's U.S. citizenship on July 31, because he allegedly had obtained it illegally by lying about his wartime past.

The United States could not prosecute him for alleged war crimes because they occurred outside American jurisdiction. The most severe punishment was to deport Gorshkow.

But under Estonian law he can be tried.

Estonia's prosecutor's office is currently analyzing and translating documents handed to it by the U.S. Justice Department.

Prosecutor's office spokeswoman Inga Lill said she expects a decision on whether to charge Gorshkow by Sept. 9.

"It's too early to say anything," Lill said.

Gorshkow was not wanted by Estonian police as of press time.

Gorshkow was born Mikhail Gorskov in the Tallinn suburb of Numme and immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1951. He was granted U.S. citizenship in 1963.

He allegedly served as an interpreter and interrogator for a Gestapo unit that killed thousands of Jews in the Belarusian city of Slutsk in 1942 and 1943.

The Estonian Citizenship and Migration Board issued him a passport and national identification card under his birth name, said Heikki Kirotar, a spokesman for the Citizenship and Migration Board.

Gorshkow's alleged war service was not a factor in his passport application because he was born an Estonian citizen.

"Someone born an Estonian can't be deprived citizenship, no matter what they do, according to the Estonian constitution," Kirotar said.

Government authorities declined to confirm local media reports that Gorshkow was living in Estonia. The Tallinn office of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has been monitoring Gorshkow but also declined to say whether he was living in the country.

He was living in Panama City, Florida, when a federal court opened a case against him in May to revoke his U.S. citizenship.

About 3,000 Jewish men, women and children were shot to death or burned alive in Slutsk when the Nazis set fire to the Jewish ghetto and shot anyone that tried to escape, Department of Justice officials said.

"The Nazis' advance order for the liquidation of the Slutsk ghetto identifies Gorshkow by name as one of the Gestapo men deployed to participate in the horrific 1943 massacre of Jewish men, women and children at Slutsk," said Eli M. Rosenbaum, director of the U.S. Department of Justice's office of special investigations, in an Aug. 1 press statement.

"Our goal has been met," said Drew Wade, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice. "But we will cooperate with any government that is trying to pursue him."

Gorshkow's denaturalization case has been discussed by U.S. and Estonian officials many times through normal diplomatic channels, said Helen Kaljulate, a spokeswoman for the Estonian Foreign Ministry.

"We find it very positive that the U.S. side has kept the Estonian authorities informed about the evidence gathered against Mr. Gorshkow," Kaljulate said.

Estonian authorities have never charged anyone with a Nazi war crime.

About 1,000 Estonian Jews were killed during the German occupation of the country, and more than 4,000 Jews and others were brought to the country and murdered.

Prosecutors have said there has been insufficient evidence to bring charges against anyone.

The Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Center is urging Estonian officials to charge Gorshkow.

"We call upon the Estonian government to bring Gorshkow to trial and to do it as quickly as possible," said Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Jerusalem office. "The Estonians now have a perfect opportunity to initiate the prosecution of the first Estonian Holocaust perpetrator. They should be very happy; it was given to them on a silver platter."