HUNTING THE LAST NAZIS

Operation Last Chance started in the Baltics, moved on to Poland, Austria and Romania, and will wrap up in early summer in Germany. As for Alfonsas Zaldokas, he is engaged in a search of his own. As the head of the Union of Partisans of June 1941, an organization representing Lithuanians who fought to expel the occupying Red Army, he scours the countryside for unmarked graves and helps veterans gather the documents to qualify for government benefits. Like his accusers, he too has a keen sense of urgency about his work. "There's not much time," he says. "They are dying."

© 2004