William R. Perl | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1906-09-21)September 21, 1906 |
| Died | December 24, 1998(1998-12-24) (aged 92) |
| Alma mater | University of Vienna Columbia University |
| Occupations | Lawyer Psychologist |
| Known for | Chief interrogator during theMalmedy massacre trial |
William R. Perl (September 21, 1906 – December 24, 1998) was aPrague-born Americanlawyer andpsychologist who was the chief interrogator during theMalmedy massacre trial.
William R. Perl was born to a textile merchant in Prague on September 21, 1906, in what was then theAustro-Hungarian Empire. He spent much of his youth and early adulthood inVienna. Perl attended theUniversity of Vienna, where he earned aPh.D. in law and amaster's degree in international business. He joinedIvria, one of several Jewishfraternities, as a student and soon became deeply immersed in the growingZionist movement. Perl established a successful law firm in Vienna after graduating and practiced law there until theNazi take-over in 1938.[1]
Perl was a protégé of theRevisionist Zionist movement ofVladimir Jabotinsky. He participated in the movement during the 1930s as it became increasingly active against theNSDAP. In 1938 he organized "Die Aktion," a circle of young Viennese Zionists dedicated to makingTheodor Herzl's dream of an independent Jewish state a reality. Less than a year later, Die Aktion succeeded in landing a number of Jewish immigrants on the coast of thenMandatory Palestine (nowIsrael). This is believed to have been the first successful landing of such refugees, when almost every other escape route had been closed to them.
Perl continued to work with Zionist groups and Greek smugglers, organizing large-scale illegal immigration of Jews to Palestine (Aliyah Bet) and prodding reluctant Jewish leaders into doing the same. Perl rescued an estimated forty thousand Jews fromNazi occupied Europe, often acting just one step ahead of theGestapo and of the British agents working to stop illegal immigration.[1]
Perl married Lore Rollig in 1938, a Viennese woman who converted to Judaism that year. Their marriage was a closely guarded secret because the Nazis'Nuremberg Laws treated such intermarriage as a serious crime. Perl immigrated to the United States in 1940 and was working to arrange for Lore to join him whenNazi Germany declared war on the United States. Lore Perl was arrested in 1943 for aiding Jewish children and was sent toRavensbrück concentration camp.[1] She escaped the camp and survived.[2]
Perl joined the U.S. Army in 1941 and became amilitary intelligence officer. He was assigned toAllied Intelligence in London, where he worked with some of the same British intelligence officers who had pursued him across Europe.
Perl risked court-martial and imprisonment to rescue Lore from Vienna in 1945, then underSoviet occupation.[1]
Perl was a chief interrogator during the Malmedy massacre trial,[3] where Col.Joachim Peiper and other members of theWaffen-SS were prosecuted for the murder of Americanprisoners of war atMalmedy, Belgium in December 1944. Together with Raphael Shumacker, Robert E. Byrne, Morris Ellowitz, Harry Thon and Joseph Kirschbaum, Perl was criticized for alleged torture at the interrogations.
The Perls settled in the United States with their two sons, Raphael and Solomon. Perl continued his study of psychology atColumbia University and then served as an army psychologist until his retirement with the rank ofLt. Colonel in 1966.[1]
Perl became the leader of the Washington, D.C. branch of theJewish Defense League in the 1970s, and received international media attention for his protests againstpersecution of Jews by the Soviet Union. He organized demonstrations outside and inside theSoviet Embassy and at public events involving Soviet officials.[1] He was arrested and convicted by a federal jury inBaltimore in November 1976 for conspiring to shoot out the windows of the apartments of two Soviet Embassy officials inHyattsville, Maryland.[3] He received a 2-year suspended sentence, placed on probation for three years, and fined $12,000.[4]
Perl remained active in Jewish affairs until his death, despite suffering fromParkinson's disease. He died at his home on December 24, 1998.[1]
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