Michael Seifert (16 March 1924 – 6 November 2010) was an SS guard in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He was an ethnic German born in

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990) ...

(present-day

Mykolaiv Oblast Mykolaiv Oblast ( uk, Микола́ївська о́бласть, translit=Mykoláyivsʹka óblastʹ, ), also referred to as Mykolaivshchyna ( uk, Микола́ївщина, Mykoláivshchyna, ) is an oblast (province) of Ukraine. The administra ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

). Dubbed the "Beast of Bolzano", Seifert, who was living in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, was convicted ''

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in ab ...

'' in 2000 by a

military tribunal Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bod ...

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

, on nine counts of murder, committed while he was an SS guard at the

Bolzano Transit Camp , known for = , location = Bolzano, Operationszone Alpenvorland , coordinates = , built by = , operated by = SS , commandant = Wilhelm Harster Karl Friedrich Titho , original use ...

, northern Italy. He was sentenced to life in prison. Canada authorities initiated denaturalization proceedings against Seifert in 2001, and he was taken into custody in August 2002. Seifert remained in jail until November 2003, when he was released on bail. On 4 August 2007, he was ordered to be returned to jail while awaiting the outcome of his final appeals from the Supreme Court of Canada. The decision was upheld on appeal. After losing his final appeal, Seifert was extradited to Italy on 17 February 2008. His crimes involved actions taken in a prison camp in Bolzano from 1944 to 1945. At his trial, witnesses accused him of leaving a 15-year-old boy to starve to death, raping and killing a pregnant woman, and gouging an inmate's eyes out. Avi Benlolo, president of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies in Canada, noted that Seifert's imprisonment "sets an example for other war criminals, not only Nazi war criminals, but war criminals related to Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur, or any other

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...

, that there's no time limit to

justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

". After his extradition to Italy from Canada, Seifert was held in an Italian

military prison A military prison is a prison operated by a military. Military prisons are used variously to house prisoners of war, unlawful combatants, those whose freedom is deemed a national security risk by the military or national authorities, and members ...

Santa Maria Capua Vetere Santa Maria Capua Vetere ( nap, Santa Maria 'e Capua) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, part of the region of Campania (southern Italy). Though it is not connected with the ''Civitas Capuana'', the town is a medieval place and ...

. Prosecutors from Italy and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

intended to interview him regarding other war crimes that may have taken place at Bolzano. On 25 October 2010, Seifert was transferred to a hospital after he fell down in his cell, resulting in a broken femur. He died from these injuries, combined with gastric complications, nearly two weeks later. Seifert was buried in a cemetery near Caserta after his body went unclaimed by friends and relatives.

Bibliography

* Giorgio Mezzalira and Carlo Romeo (editors): ''"MISCHA" l'aguzzino del lager di Bolzano. Dalle carte al processo a Michael Seifert'', Bolzano, Circolo Culturale

ANPI (ANPI; National Association of Italian Partisans) is an association founded by participants of the Italian resistance against the Italian Fascist regime and the subsequent Nazi occupation during World War II. ANPI was founded in Rome in 1944 wh ...

, 2002
Review

References

External links

Canada sends ex-SS guard to Italy
(BBC)

(canada.com) 1924 births 2010 deaths People from Mykolaiv Oblast Nazi concentration camp personnel Nazis convicted of war crimes Nazis who died in prison custody Holocaust perpetrators in Italy Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Italy Soviet people of German descent Ukrainian people of German descent Loss of Canadian citizenship by prior Nazi affiliation Prisoners and detainees of Canada People extradited from Canada People extradited to Italy Germans convicted of war crimes committed in Italy during World War II Prisoners who died in Italian detention {{Holocaust-stub