Wanted Nazi Samuel Kunz Dies
Samuel Kunz, one of the world’s most wanted Nazis, died in Germany before he could be brought to trial.
Kunz, 89, who was charged earlier this year with assisting in the murder of 430,000 Jews during the Holocaust, died Nov. 18, the court in the German city of Bonn said Monday, according to reports.
He was No. 3 on The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s list of most wanted Nazi war criminals.
Kunz allegedly assisted in murdering Jews at the Belzec death camp, and also was accused of taking victims from trains, pushing them into gas chambers and throwing victims’ bodies into mass graves.
Kunz’s activities were revealed during investigations into John Demjanjuk, who is on trial in Munich for allegedly helping to kill 27,900 Jews.
No trial date had been set for Kunz, who was behind only Sandor Kepiro of Hungary and Milivoj Asner of Austria on the Most Wanted list.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO