The Sun finds wanted Nazi at footie

Mingling with football fans in a pavement café, an elderly gentleman soaks up the atmosphere of Euro 2008.

Yet Milivoj Asner, out strolling with his wife, is no ordinary supporter welcoming his national side Croatia to his adopted Austrian town. At No 4 on the list of most wanted Nazi war criminals, he instead stands accused of deporting hundreds of Jews, gypsies and Serbs to World War II death camps. And he has been spared extradition only after Austrian officials insisted he was too poorly to face charges in Croatia of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Asner, who lives under an assumed name in Croatia’s European Championships base of Klagenfurt, is the subject of an international arrest warrant and on Interpol’s Most Wanted list.

The Sun tracked down the 95-year-old former police chief and Gestapo agent and secretly filmed him as he strolled confidently for more than a mile, arm-in-arm with second wife Edeltraut. Walking without a stick, he even roamed 8th May Street – named after VE Day. He stopped several times to sit in cafés, chatting to waiters and sipping leisurely drinks alongside excited football fans.

He was ignored by hundreds of armed police patrolling the streets, even though locals KNOW his real identity – and the unspeakable crimes for which he has yet to face justice.

The scenes made a mockery of Austria’s insistence that Asner is too sick to be sent home. Yet ironically, on the day we captured his carefree three-hour outing, the country’s officials restated their decision to protect him from trial.

Last night Holocaust campaigners insisted The Sun’s exposé should shame Austria into finally sending Asner back to Croatia, where prosecutors are ready to haul him before court. The Jerusalem-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which hunts Nazis worldwide, said our probe exposed the country for shielding a suspected war criminal.

Director Dr Efraim Zuroff said: “He is clearly enjoying a life that many hundreds of victims were denied when they were sent off to be murdered. The Sun found him healthy enough to stroll happily round his home town for hours. This is highly significant.

“Austria has long had a reputation as a paradise for war criminals and now they’ve been caught in the act. It is time for them to do what is right and help bring Nazi war criminals to justice. If this man is well enough to walk around town unaided and drink wine in bars, he’s well enough to answer for his past. He’s shown absolutely no remorse. It is our intention to bring this to the attention of the Austrian Minister of Justice Maria Berger and call for his immediate extradition.”

Asner fled his homeland after the war and has been living in Klagenfurt since 2006. He was indicted a year earlier in Croatia for crimes committed when he was a Ustashi police chief under the country’s Second World War fascist puppet regime.

An Interpol arrest warrant was issued with the highest priority and his photo and personal details are listed on its Most Wanted website. Anyone knowing his whereabouts is urged to call police.

The Sun traced Asner, whose first wife faked his death, to his smart third-floor flat near Klagenfurt’s stadium. The home, where he lives under the name Dr Georg Aschner, is opposite the Croatian cultural centre in a district where fellow ex-pats know his true identity.

One worker boasted how “an SS man” lived opposite. She added: “He’s a super old man. His wife is ill, but he still takes a walk most days.”

Despite joining Croatian fans in the streets in the build-up to the team’s matches, Asner stayed indoors to avoid packed streets on the day of their opening game. But one source said: “He’s fiercely patriotic and nationalistic, and there’s no doubt he’ll want Croatia to win. He may be old but his views haven’t changed – he wants them to win at everything.”

Edeltraut confirmed: “He’s a big Croatia football fan and watches all the games.”

Officials originally ruled Asner could not be sent to Croatia because he was an Austrian citizen. In September 2005, they admitted he was NOT. But they stalled again, claiming he was too ill for trial.

Six days ago, the Austrian government wrote to a Jewish group reaffirming its decision not to extradite Asner. It said Ministry of Justice tests had proved “he is not capable enough to be questioned or go before a court”.

But Dr Zuroff, whose group last year launched Operation Last Chance to nail the final surviving Nazis, said: “The passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the perpetrators. Time is running out, but Asner must face justice for the sake of all those who died in concentration camps. This is our chance for justice. I believe The Sun’s evidence could help it happen.”

Asner is alleged to have stood by in Pozega during 1941 and ’42 as Ustashi fascists burned the synagogue. Other evidence against him is said to include papers ordering the deportation of Serbs and Jews.

Last night Asner confirmed his identity when asked by The Sun – but insisted he was NOT a war criminal. And he denied taking part in deportations.

Asner said: “It is not true. It’s hilarious. I didn’t have anything to do with it. I was just an officer with the justice department – a lawyer. I never did anything bad against anybody.”

The Sun