Eli Rosenbaum

Eli M. Rosenbaum (born 1955) was the director of the U.S. DOJ Office of Special Investigations (OSI), which was primarily responsible for identifying and deporting Nazi war criminals[1], from 1995[2] to 2010, when OSI was merged into the new Human Rights and Special Prosecution Section. He is now the Director of Strategy and Policy in the new Section.[3]

Education and Career

Rosenbaum graduated summa cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he also received his MBA degree. He came to the Justice Department through the Honors Program after his graduation from Harvard Law School in 1980. He was a trial attorney with OSI from 1980 to 1984, In 1984, Rosenbaum left the Department to work as a corporate litigator and then as general counsel for the World Jewish Congress. He later returned to OSI in 1988 where he was appointed as Principal Deputy Director.[1] Rosenbaum has been considered a "Nazi hunter" in his professional career and personal life.[1]

Kurt Waldheim controversy

Rosenbaum was the primary author of Betrayal: The Untold Story of the Kurt Waldheim Investigation and Cover-Up, a book which details Waldheim's contribution to war crimes while serving in the German-Austrian military as an officer under the Nazi regime and an alleged effort or conspiracy to whitewash his history.[4] Waldheim had become Secretary General of the  United Nations and later president of  Austria and was never officially considered to be a suspect in any war crimes.

Rosenbaum's stance against Waldheim brought him into conflict with widely respected Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal who ardently defended Waldheim's innocence of any crimes against humanity or complicity in any unlawful acts of war.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Never Forget: Eli Rosenbaum '80 is driven to bring Nazis to justice before it's too late, Harvard Law School, 2002, http://www.law.harvard.edu/alumni/bulletin/2002/summer/feature_3-1.html 
  2. ^ Eli Rosenbaum Named Director of Office of Special Investigations Press release of the DOJ.
  3. ^ http://www.justice.gov/criminal/hrsp/about/
  4. ^ Eli Rosenbaum (1993), Betrayal: The Untold Story of the Kurt Waldheim Investiation and Cover-Up, St. Martin's press