This past week, the talmidim of Rambam had the opportunity to hear from Mr. Eli Rosenbaum. For 38 years, Mr. Rosenbaum, cousin of Aidan Mayer and Noah Mayer, worked at the Office of Special Investigations in the United States Department of Justice, eventually serving as its director. The office was responsible for interviewing, and in some cases deporting, alleged Nazi war criminals living in the United States.

This special division was formed after the United States and other European countries’ poor efforts in punishing Nazi war criminals. During his presentation, Mr. Rosenbaum described how his office operated. He 4 showed the students photographs of the suspects, pictures from the famous Nuremberg trials, signatures, signed death warrants, and shared personal stories from his experiences. In one of these cases, Mr.

Rosenbaum credits Rosh HaYeshiva Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman for his activism and teaching generations of Rambam students to rally for the causes in which they believe. The case involved Jakiw Palij, a former Nazi labor camp guard who was living peacefully in Jackson Heights, Queens. He came to the U. S. From Ukraine after World War II and claimed that he had worked as a farmer.

Although his citizenship was eventually revoked, no other country was willing to accept him. Palij maintained that while he had served as a Nazi guard, he never personally killed anyone. However, Mr. Rosenbaum’s investigations uncovered documents bearing Palij’s signature that authorized the execution of Jews, as well as evidence showing that he served as a guard at a Nazi labor camp.

There, Palij prevented prisoners from escaping before they were murdered during a mass killing operation in late 1943. Due to Mr. Rosenbaum and Rabbi Friedman’s work, Pilaj was finally kicked out of the United States and deported back to Germany in 2018. Even though he has since retired, Mr. Rosenbaum was asked by the U. S. Attorney General to assist with similar investigations related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In addition, since October 7th, Mr. Rosenbaum has been writing numerous articles condemning Hamas’s acts of terrorism and strongly defending Israel against false accusation of “genocide”. Special thanks to Aidan Mayer for organizing this important assembly after working for five years to make it a reality. Thank you also to Mr. Aaron Friedman and Reb Yitz Milworn for helping prepare the event by putting posters and other boards in the shul.

Finally, sincere gratitude goes to Rabbi Friedman, Rabbi Herschman, and Dr. Goldman for their support in making this meaningful and educational