New York, NY, June 30, 1995...When Austria's newly-appointed Foreign Minister H.E. Wolfgang Schuessel received a congratulatory letter from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) this June, he also got a renewed request for Austria to bring Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner to justice. Responsible for the deaths of 60,000 Austrian Jews during the Holocaust, Brunner is presently in Syria.

Elliot Welles, ADL Associate Director of European Affairs and Director of the Task Force on Nazi War Criminals, sent Minister Schuessel copies of correspondence spanning 16 years in which ADL has been urging the Austrian Government to press Syria for Brunner's return so he can be brought before an Austrian Court of Justice.

Commenting on reports that Austria and Syria are expecting to improve mutual business endeavors, Welles wrote, "We should not forget that Syria has given Brunner asylum and protection for almost forty years, denying Austria, Germany and France the right to try Brunner. Austria has not tried any Nazi war criminal since 1972, which is unconscionable...."

Welles continued, "It is shameful that the Austrian government has apparently allowed its desire for a good relationship with Syria to take priority over this matter," and has failed "to set a reward for the capture of Alois Brunner."

Welles, who is a survivor of the infamous Riga Ghetto, stated that he encountered Brunner before he was deported to Riga in 1942. "There are now only a handful of survivors of the Riga Ghetto. We are still waiting for justice to be done," Welles said.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.