2 Florida Residents Face Trial for Hiding Their Past as Nazis
MIAMI — Two Florida residents face trial in Immigration Court, accused of illegally entering this country decades ago by concealing their World War II jobs as Nazi concentration camp guards.
Mathias Denuel, 73, of Golden Gate and Alexander Schweidler, 71, of Inverness were arraigned Tuesday.
The Justice Department alleges that Schweidler was a guard at Mauthausen concentration camp, and that his job was to shoot prisoners attempting to escape.
Attorney Alfred Zucaro Jr. said he plans to challenge a statement Denuel gave federal authorities last year in which he said he worked at Gusen concentration camp and was a member of Adolf Hitler’s elite Waffen SS.
“The problem is that my client made a statement but doesn’t speak or understand English very well,†Zucaro said.
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