Nazi war criminal found in Hungary

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BUDAPEST, Hungary, July 15 (UPI) -- Nazi war criminal Laszlo Csatary, who is charged with the murders of more than 15,000 Jews, was discovered in Hungary after a 15-year search, officials said.

Csatary's location was recently passed off to Dr. Ephraim Zuroff, head of the Wiesenthal Institute in Jerusalem, by a local Hungarian man, Haaretz reported.

"We negotiated with the source about the reward he would receive -- and then he gave us the information," Zuroff told Haaretz on Sunday.

Csatary, 97, is charged with sending 15,700 Jews to Auschwitz during the spring of 1944, when he served as police commander in the city of Kosice, formerly Kassa. This year, he was put at the top of the Wiesenthal Institute's list of most wanted Nazis.

Prosecutors in Hungary are currently reviewing an independent investigation conducted by the British newspaper The Sun to decide how to proceed, The Sun reported.

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Dr Jeno Varga, said: "There is an ongoing investigation. Prosecutors are studying the information submitted."

"Now that The Sun has found this war criminal he must be put on trial in Hungary," Zuroff said.

Peter Feldmajer, president of the Hungarian Jewish Community, said: "Several thousand Jewish families have felt sorrow and hurt because of this man and it would be a disgrace, for the entire Hungarian nation, if Csatary were to escape justice."