Salomon Morel

Salomon Morel (November 15, 1919 – February 14, 2007) was a Polish-Jewish Communist official and an accused war criminal. After the end of World War II, he became the commander of the infamous Zgoda labour camp. During the rule of the Polish United Workers' Party, Morel rose to the rank of colonel in the political police, or MBP and commanded a prison in Katowice.

In 1994, soon after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Morel was indicted by Poland's Institute of National Remembrance for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the "revenge killings" of 1,500 ethnic prisoners from Upper Silesia (Polish Silesians and Germans). After his case was publicized by the Polish, German, British, and American media, Morel fled to Israel and was granted citizenship under the Law of Return. Poland twice requested his extradition, but Israel refused to comply and rejected the more serious charges as being false, potentially part of an antisemitic conspiracy, and again rejected extradition on the grounds that the statute of limitations against Morel had run out, and that Morel was in poor health.

Read more about Salomon Morel:  Youth, World War II, Zgoda Labour Camp, Post-1945 Career, Extradition Controversy