Good Guy or Bad Guy?
Good Guy or Bad GuyBy Dick Mauer
I was assigned to conduct an auxiliary investigation from Baltimore in a
denaturalization and deportation of an alleged Nazi War Criminal. I was
furnished a photo spread of males, one of which was accused of War
Crimes in Riga, Latvia during World War ll. I was to show them to a
professor at an area college who was a Riga, Latvia native who had lived
there during the time period to see if he could identify the accused.
I made an appointment to meet him at his residence. His wife and 19 year
old son were present when Barry Dixon and I arrived.
A little explanation is needed here also. Riga, Latvia changed hands 3
times during the war, between German and Russian armies, War crimes were
alleged to have been committed on both sides when the city changed
hands. When the Germans held it they hunted Socialists, and when the
Russians held it they hunted Nazi supporters. The man whose picture I
had was the Chief of Police during German occupation and the allegations
raised against him came from the New York city paper "The Daily Worker",
a socialist publication.
The professor looked at my photo spread and readily identified a man
that he said was the Chief of Police in Riga in 1943. He asked if the
man was being accused of war crimes as he considers him to have been a
great patriot of his country. Growing more agitated he spoke to his son
in Latvian and the son left to return with a stack of books that the
professor wanted me to look at. The books contained page after page of
photos of Russian atrocities of Latvians while they held the city. The
point was made that one man's patriot was another man's war criminal. I
do not know the outcome of the denaturalization and deportation
proceedings against this individual. I completed my report, sent it back
to Baltimore and got a "greenie" for it. C.I.s know what that is!