Seifert, the former SS prison guard had been trying to keep himself from being extradited to Italy to serve a life sentence for murder. In 2000, he was convicted by an Italian military tribunal. The former guard was in absentia which meant he was absent in court when the tribunal had convicted him. He faces 11 counts of murder that took place in a prison camp in Bolzano, Italy.
However, he denied taking part in the murders. But, Seifert does admit that he worked as a guard in the camp. He left from Toronto, Canada via a military jet.
According to Bartolomeo Constantini, the military officer in charge of the prosecution said that Seifert was a bit wobbly once he got on the plane. He adds that Seifert is generally healthy but is using a pacemaker. Seifert’s health could come into question later because of the pacemaker.
Due to his age, Seifert may serve his life sentence under house arrest. He had to undergo a medical examination to check if he was indeed healthy enough to stand trial. The tribunal convicted Seifert said they had received testimony that he had committed the atrocious acts of murder while being an SS guard at the Bolzano prison camp.
Seifert is accused of acts such as leaving a prisoner to start to death, gouging out the eyes of an inmate, along with the rape and murder of a woman who was pregnant. The prisoners were a combination of Jews, those in the resistance, and those who had deserted from the Nazi army.
After World War II, Seifert fled to North America. He had entered Canada in 1951 and had lived there while concealing his past as a Nazi soldier. Seifert hid in Canada from 1951 until 2008.
His extradition to Italy has been praised by various groups advocating that Nazi war criminals be brought to justice. The case of Seifert looks to be the first reported sentence of a Nazi war criminal in 2008.
“It sets an example for other war criminals, not only Nazi war criminals, but war criminals related to Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur or any other genocide,” according to Avi Benlolo who is from the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies in Canada.
However, Seifert’s lawyers accused Canadian authorities of being biased along with arguing that his conviction in Italy was unfair.
There are still many war criminals out in hiding today. Seifert is an example of one of them. Most war criminals in the World War II era in hiding are about the same age as Seifert if not older or slightly younger.
Before being discovered, Seifert has been off the radar for about 56 to 57 years.