Wanted! The Search for Nazis in America

by Howard Blum

Recent news stories of WWII Nazi executioners living placid middle-class lives in the USA will give momentum to Blum's eerie tale of the hunters & the hunted. Like Hermine Ryan, the Queens housewife recently extradited to W. Germany, Tscherim Soobzokov, Valerian Trifa, Andrija Artukovic & Boleslavs Maikovski arrived here as displaced persons fleeing the communists. The Immigration & Naturalization Service--whether it knew of their previous identities or not--was, allegedly, more than willing to let them live unmolested. Soobzokov prospered as a Patterson, NJ, Democrat & leader of that town's Circassian community; Trifa became a Bishop of the Rumanian Orthodox Episcopate in MI. The men obsessed with tracking & unmasking them as mass murderers were an equally unlikely bunch. Tony DeVito, an INS official involved in the Ryan case, was a monomaniacal crusader; a Rumanian Jewish dentist pursued Trifa for 32 years; Maikovski's nemesis was a NYC waiter. As they compiled their dossiers on the neighborly, Americanized East Europeans, these men--DeVito most especially--succumbed to paranoia. Or did they? INS files mysteriously vanished; mounds of evidence forwarded to that bureau were received with indifference if not hostility; eyewitness testimony from Jewish survivors was deemed insufficient for government action. DeVito & others grew certain that "the fix" was in, that an "Odessa organization has infiltrated the inner reaches of our government." Does author Blum believe this? He chooses not to say; like a good novelist he writes from inside the tormented heads of DeVito, dentist Charlie Kremer & the rest. Suspense runs high as Blum drops frightful bits of circumstantial evidence without ever sticking his own neck out. Blum also notes that many of those "willing to forget" are Jews. As this stands it's an engrossing detective drama with the coverup left moot & the moral issues shelved. But one thing is sure--you'll be hearing more about these cases.--Kirkus

Genres: History, Nonfiction

241 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Howard Blum is the author of New York Times bestsellers including Dark Invasion, the Edgar Award–winner American Lightning, as well as Wanted!, The Gold Exodus, Gangland, and The Floor of Heaven. Blum is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. While at the New York Times, he was twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. He is the father of three children, and lives in Connecticut.

Get in touch!
Website: www.HowardBlum.com
Email: Howard@HowardBlum.com
Facebook: Like Howard Blum on Facebook
Twitter: @HowardBlum and @FloorOfHeaven

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd read Blum's Out There, a history of some of the US coverup of supposed UFO evidence, previously. Having just seen Mike Miley in San Francisco, who had loaned me that book on a previous visit, got me in mind to read more of him upon return to Chicago. Wanted, like Out There, is about a coverup, this time of those Nazis and their fellow travellers who had been sheltered in the USA by our government. His perspective is not, however, that of Operation Paperclip in the early postwar years, the secret program to smuggle useful Nazis into the USA. It is rather that of several individuals who, for various reasons, discovered some of the beneficiaries of such largesse, were upset and wanted to do something about it--and how their efforts were hampered, in many cases by agencies of the United States government.

[Tiffany L · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had hoped there would be information about additional Nazis in America but this book only covers a few. With that being said, the book seems very thorough talking about the search and attempted extradition of them.

I also didn't check the date written until I finished so the information is very out-of-date.

[Ruby · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little wordy but interesting and upsetting.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

[Aslan T.]

The book contains a chapter on Tscherim Soobzokov wherein allegations were made by howard blum that are completely false that resulted in a defamation action in the Southern District Court in New York. The lawsuit was filed in 1977 and settled in 1984. In 1985 Mr. Soobzokov was assassinated by a bomb placed at his home.

The falsity of blum's book was a direct cause of the killing of my father. It created hate that was based on a false premise. Blum knew that Mr. Soobzokov was innocent but he sought notoriety and fame as a Nazi hunter over truth. That is and will be his legacy.

Blum will never be the recipient of justice for his complicity in betraying the oath of honor.

Aslan T. Soobzokov

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book. Although many of the allegations were never proven there is enough evidence to make one think they might be true. Whether they are true or not, it is a good read about true cases that are now a part of American History. The true question is, what happened to the missing Nazi war criminals? Many have claimed that Odessa didn't exist, Blum makes a good case for this not being the case. Any student of missing Nazis should read this book.

[Sándor Kiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book with great almost thriller-like stories. The anger and the need for revenge burns through the pages as you are reading about the cover ups of corrupt government officials and count the years war criminals spent free living a good life. The one thing I didn't like is Blum's sensationist, often tabloid-like style. Recommended for those who like light documentarist writings.

[Roxanne Lacasse · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read the first 3rd, then skimmed the rest. I'd rather read about survivors of the Nazis. Thought it might be interesting, but was quite boring.