Ex-Nazis paid millions in U.S. Social Security


Since 1979, it has emerged that at least 38 suspected Nazi war criminals received millions of dollars in American Social Security payments in exchange for leaving the U.S. and giving up their citizenship


Jakob Denzinger

Former guard at several Nazi camps, including Auschwitz, Poland

Fled to Germany from Ohio in 1989 after learning of denaturalization proceedings. Denzinger, 90, lives in Osijek, Croatia


Wasyl Lytwyn: Served in SS unit that took part in destruction of Warsaw Ghetto in 1943

Agreed to leave Chicago in 1995 after admitting he concealed his SS service. Lytwyn, 93, is believed to live in Ukraine


Peter Mueller: Former SS guard at Natzweiler concentration camp, France

Left Illinois to return to Germany in 1994. Mueller, 90, now living in Worms, Germany


Martin Hartmann

Former SS guard at Sachsenhausen camp on outskirts of Berlin

Moved to Berlin from Arizona in 2007 before being stripped of U.S. citizenship under agreement with U.S. Department of Justice. Hartmann, 95, now lives in Berlin


Arthur Rudolph

Prominent German rocket scientist invited to U.S. for his technical skill. Accused of using slave labour to build V-2 rocket. 

Renounced U.S. citizenship on return to West Germany in 1984, Rudolph died in 1996


John Avdzej: Regional mayor in occupied Belorussia, accused of aiding in arrest and execution of thousands of Jews

Agreed to leave U.S. in 1984, renouncing American citizenship in West Germany. Died in 1998


Martin Bartesch: Former SS guard at Mauthausen concentration camp, Austria.

Fled to Vienna in 1987 two days before his U.S. citizenship was revoked. Bartesch died in 1989


Source and Pictures: Associated Press