TRENTON, N.J. – The Justice Department (search) has asked a federal court to revoke the U.S. citizenship of a man who allegedly served in a Nazi-sponsored police force during World War II.
Michael Bojcun, 86, is accused of joining the Ukrainian Auxiliary Police in 1941, a few months after Nazi (search) Germany occupied the city of Lviv, which was in Poland at the time and is now in Ukraine.
Bojcun allegedly served in the police force during three years when the Nazi occupiers took increasingly repressive measures against Jews.
"The UAP actively participated in confining and terrorizing the Jews of Lviv, and then in rounding them up to be murdered," said Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray (search).
After the forced relocation of Jews into a ghetto in Lviv, thousands died from disease, starvation or abuse. People living in the ghetto were later rounded up to be shot, gassed or sent to forced labor camps.
A woman who answered the phone Wednesday at Bojcun's house in Trenton said he was not available.
A lawyer representing Bojcun said he had not had a chance to read the complaint as of Wednesday evening.
"I really can't say anything other than that I'm sure this man will be vindicated of anything he's been charged with," Andrey Zielyk said.
The Justice Department declined to say how it became aware of Bojcun's alleged role during the war.
Papers were served to Bojcun on Wednesday, said Bryan Sierra, a department spokesman. He said no hearing date had been set.
The Justice Department said Bojcun came to the United States from Germany in 1949 and concealed his police work when he applied for a visa. He became a citizen in 1960. The complaint says Bojcun's wartime actions made him ineligible for U.S. citizenship.
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