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Gestapo Agent Who Liquidated Vilna Yivo Captured; Was Masquerading As Jewish Dp

May 21, 1947
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Herbert Gothart, a special agent of Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler, under whose direction the Yiddish Scientific Institute in Vilna was liquidated, has been captured in Lubeck, in the British zone of Germany, it was reported today.

Gothart, who speaks fluent Hebrew and Yiddish, was masquerading as a Jewish DP. At the time of his arrest he was a member of the Jewish Committee in Lubeck. His identity was disclosed to the Jewish Historical Committee in Lodz, which notified Polish officials in Berlin. The latter communicated with the British authorities, who ordered Gothart’s arrest. He will be tried in Poland.

Gothart was responsible for the removal from Vilna and the subsequent destruction of many valuable Jewish manuscripts. He also turned over to the Gestapo Neah Prilucki and other YIVO staff members, all of whom were murdered.

Karl Gallasch, assistant commander of the Grossrosen concentration camp, has been sentenced to death in Wroclaw (Breslau.) His property, most of which was seized from Jews, was ordered confiscated. Gallasch was recognized on the street by a Jewish woman who had been one of his victims.

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