Vilis HāznersJudicial review and denial of motion to appeal

A10 305 336

was wearing a hat. He did not estimate the hair color or his height and build but recalled that "Hazners" did wear the Latvian army uniform without any insignia (Tr. p. 391). He identified photograph number 4 from a photograph display marked Exhibit G5 by the Service, over the respondent's objection. The immigration judge's exclusion from admissibility of this display and the evidence deriving therefrom will be discussed separately in this decision. He then proceeded to identify the respondent in the courtroom as the officer in the police station named "Hazners," over respondent's counsel's objection that such identification was "outrageous" (Tr. p. 912). This witness was the only one who testified regarding the alleged incident at the great synagogue in Riga.

Mendel Wulfowitz is another witness who testified regarding the incidents at the Riga Police Station. He was born in 1911 and was 30 years old in 1941. During the first weeks of July 1941 he was arrested in the street by three Latvian students (Tr. p. 2043). He was taken to the police station around noon and pushed into a large hall with many other Jews inside (Tr. p. 2054, 2815). He said that he heard guards calling the name Hazners as their leader (Tr. p. 2406). He was detained at the police headquarters for three days and said that he saw "Hazners" for the first time during the evening of the first day (Tr. p. 2087). He was about 5 to 6 meters away from "Hazners" when he saw him hitting and pushing the Jews into a large room (Tr. p. 2108). The next morning he was taken to work in the slaughterhouse (Tr. p. 2129). He saw "Hazners" and other guards harrassing and hitting people (Tr. p. 21310). He was at the peat bogs near Sloka from August 1, 1941 to November 4, 1941 but "Hazners" was not there. On November 4, 1941, he was returned to the big ghetto in Riga, where he rejoined his family but he did not see "Hazners" there. On November 28, 1941 he was separated from his family and placed in the small ghetto where he stayed until October 26, 1942; and thereafter went into hiding until October 13, 1944, when the Russians liberated Riga (Tr. p. 23611). He never saw "Hazners" except at the police headquarters. At the hearing he also proceeded to identify photograph number 4 from the original Exhibit 5 for identification as the man he believed to be "Hazners" (Tr. p. 25112). He described the man he saw at the police station, whom he believed to be "Hazners" as wearing civilian clothing, a suit, without a hat (Tr. p. 20713, 28114). His hair was dark blond, not dark, he wore glasses and was of medium build, and not very tall. He also proceeded to identify the respondent in court as the man he described as "Hazners" (Tr. p. 25315).

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