Accused Nazi and Former Lithuanian Security Police Chief Aleksandras Lileikis Stuns Norwood Neighbors-September 22, 1994

Federal authorities have initiated proceedings to revoke the U.S. citizenship of 87-year-old Norwood resident Aleksandras Lileikis, accusing him of serving as a senior-level Nazi official responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Lithuanian Jews during World War II.

U.S. Justice Department Allegations and Wartime Role

According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Boston by the Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations (OSI), Lileikis headed the Nazi-sponsored Lithuanian Security Police for the province of Vilnius between 1941 and 1944. Federal prosecutors assert that Lileikis directed a 100-member police force that systematically hunted, arrested, and interned Jews in the Vilnius ghetto.

Captured documents preserved at the Lithuanian State Archives indicate that Lileikis repeatedly signed and issued orders directing that arrested Jews be held at the Lukiski Hard Labor Prison for interrogation before being transferred to the “special detachment” killing squad and German Security Police. An estimated 40,000 men, women, and children—including a 6-year-old girl named Fruma Kaplan and her mother—were shot to death over large pits in the nearby Paneriai woods.

Eli Rosenbaum, acting director of the OSI, called the case against Lileikis “one of the most important Nazi cases brought anywhere in the world in recent history.” Norwell resident Allan Ryan, former head of the OSI in the early 1980s, noted that Lileikis played a critical logistical role in the mass murder.

After retreating from Lithuania in 1944, Lileikis spent 11 years in Germany before immigrating to the United States. Though his initial 1950 visa application was denied after authorities discovered his police background, federal prosecutors contend he successfully entered the U.S. in 1955 by concealing his wartime activities on immigration forms. He lived in Dorchester before moving to 331 Sumner St. in Norwood about a decade ago with his second wife, Grace Makaitis.

Shocked Neighbors and Local Reactions

News of the federal action stunned residents along Sumner Street and Pilgrim Drive, who described Lileikis as a quiet, polite neighbor who kept to himself.

• Laurie Preibis, a Pilgrim Drive resident whose husband’s family once owned the land where Lileikis lives, expressed complete astonishment: “I’ve lived here 41/2 years and I would have never known. Who would know? It’s a weird feeling that someone who could do such horrible things lives right across the street.”
• Nellie Pezwick, who lived next door and occasionally gardened with Lileikis over the fence, remarked, “He was a normal person… He was friendly. It surprised me when I heard.”
• The Rev. William Wolkovich, pastor of St. George’s Church (Norwood’s Lithuanian parish), noted that Lileikis’ health had been failing recently, stating, “As far as I know, he’s a good, decent man. Everyone’s innocent until proven guilty.”
• Rabbi Pamela Barmash of Temple Shaare Tefilah observed that the true surprise was not that an accused war criminal resided in Norwood, but that individuals with such backgrounds were permitted to enter and remain in the United States unchecked for decades.

When approached by reporters at his pale yellow home behind a row of towering pine trees, Lileikis declined to comment, stating briefly through a cracked door, “I am not a murderer.”

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger