{"id":171417,"date":"2025-08-24T09:56:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T09:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/171417\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T09:56:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T09:56:26","slug":"retired-machinist-charged-by-justice-department-for-lying-about-his-nazi-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/171417\/","title":{"rendered":"Retired machinist charged by Justice Department for lying about his Nazi past"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Aug. 24, according to the Tribune\u2019s archives.<\/p>\n<p>Is an important event missing from this date? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/08\/24\/chicago-history-august-24\/mailto:krumore@chicagotribune.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Email us<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"ibmoAY5PKM\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/07\/09\/amelia-earhart\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Amelia Earhart soars back into the headlines in new book \u2018The Aviator and the Showman\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Weather records <\/strong>(from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weather.gov\/wrh\/climate?wfo=lot\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">National Weather Service, Chicago<\/a>)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>High temperature: <strong>100 degrees<\/strong> (2023)<\/li>\n<li>Low temperature: <strong>48 degrees<\/strong> (1942)<\/li>\n<li>Precipitation: <strong>2.47 inches<\/strong> (1895)<\/li>\n<li>Snowfall: <strong>Trace<\/strong> (1922)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Dr. Fager ran a world record mile of 1:32 1\/5 on Aug. 24, 1968, in the $112,700 Washington Park handicap at Arlington Park. (Chicago Tribune)\" width=\"2510\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CTC-L-DR-FAGER-ARLINGTON-PARK-1968-01.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"26963704\" \/>Dr. Fager ran a world record mile of 1:32 1\/5 on Aug. 24, 1968, in the $112,700 Washington Park handicap at Arlington Park. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p><strong>1968:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-dr-fager-beats-mile-at\/179474402\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dr. Fager<\/a>, carrying jockey Braulio Baeza, set the world record for 1 mile on the dirt at Arlington Park. The doctor\u2019s time: 1:32 1\/5.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRacing with a verve born of 300 years of thoroughbred history, the bay colt carried a crushing impost of 134 pounds without noticeable effort to a 10-length victory that certainly will earn him <a href=\"https:\/\/www.racingmuseum.org\/hall-of-fame\/horse\/dr-fager-fl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Horse of the Year<\/a> honors,\u201d the Tribune reported.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Bronislaw Hajda leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on March 17, 1997, in Chicago. Hajda, a retired machinist from Schiller Park, was stripped of his citizenship by a federal judge, for lying to immigration authorities in the 1950s about serving as a guard at a Nazi slave labor camp during World War II. (Jos\u00e9 M. Osorio\/Chicago Tribune)\" width=\"1936\" height=\"351\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CTC-L-CHICAGO-NAZIS-HAJDA-1C-11PM_189207869.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"26963665\" \/>Bronislaw Hajda leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on March 17, 1997, in Chicago. Hajda, a retired machinist from Schiller Park, was stripped of his citizenship by a federal judge, for lying to immigration authorities in the 1950s about serving as a guard at a Nazi labor camp during World War II. (Jos\u00e9 M. Osorio\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p><strong>1994:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-retiree-is-accused-of-na\/179472464\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bronislaw \u201cBruno\u201d Hajda<\/a>, a retired machinist from Schiller Park, was charged with helping to murder hundreds of victims at Treblinka, which was forced labor camp in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The lawsuit by the Justice Department\u2019s Nazi-hunting unit alleged that Hajda had concealed his wartime activities both to get into the United States in 1950, then to become a U.S. citizen in 1955.<\/p>\n<p>At his trial in March 1997, Hajda <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-nazi-allegations-denied\/179473099\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">testified for three hours<\/a> that he was a victim \u2014 not a perpetrator \u2014 of war crimes. He insisted he was a prisoner at the Pustkow labor camp \u2014 toiling in the fields and kitchens \u2014 under the orders of Nazi guards.<\/p>\n<p>But U.S. District Judge David Coar <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-nazi-guard-stripped-of-c\/179473182\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">stripped Hajda of his citizenship<\/a> in April 1997, saying the evidence against Hajda was \u201coverwhelming\u201d and established \u201cclearly and unequivocally\u201d that the man referred to in German wartime rosters was in fact the defendant. Hajda was <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-us-orders-accused-nazi\/179473410\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ordered deported<\/a> in November 1998.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Alexandra Nelson, sister of Uber driver Grant Nelson who was stabbed to death on May 30, 2017, speaks to the media after a bond hearing for Eliza Wasni at the Skokie Courthouse on May 31, 2017. Wasni, age 16, was charged as an adult. (Chris Walker\/Chicago Tribune)\" width=\"4800\" height=\"502\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CTC-L-CT-Uber_driver_murder_01_181981875.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"26964314\" \/>Alexandra Nelson, sister of Uber driver Grant Nelson who was stabbed to death on May 30, 2017, talks to reporters after a bond hearing for Eliza Wasni at the Skokie Courthouse on May 31, 2017. Wasni, age 16, was charged as an adult. (Chris Walker\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p><strong>2020:<\/strong> Chicago teen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2020\/08\/25\/chicago-teen-sentenced-to-27-years-for-killing-uber-driver-with-knife-machete-when-she-was-16\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Eliza Wasni<\/a>, who was convicted of killing Uber driver <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2017\/06\/01\/girl-16-accused-of-killing-uber-driver-with-stolen-knife-machete\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Grant Nelson<\/a> of Wilmette on May 30, 2017, with a knife and machete she stole from Walmart, was sentenced to 27 years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>Want more vintage Chicago?<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to the free\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/membership.chicagotribune.com\/newsletters\/subscribe\/lid\/2d8200fe-eefd-4f1d-bcaa-26a0ce79a461\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/membership.chicagotribune.com\/newsletters\/subscribe\/lid\/2d8200fe-eefd-4f1d-bcaa-26a0ce79a461\">Vintage Chicago Tribune<\/a>\u00a0newsletter, join our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/762760217263236\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/762760217263236\/\">Chicagoland history Facebook group,<\/a> stay current with<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/tag\/chicago-history\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Today in Chicago History<\/a> and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vintagetribune\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vintagetribune\/\">Instagram<\/a>\u00a0for more from Chicago\u2019s past.<\/p>\n<p>Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/08\/24\/chicago-history-august-24\/mailto:krumore@chicagotribune.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">krumore@chicagotribune.com<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/08\/24\/chicago-history-august-24\/mailto:mmather@chicagotribune.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">mmather@chicagotribune.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Aug. 24, according to the Tribune\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":171418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[8978,97908,960,6387,97909,97911,97910,5386,1818,41047,4009],"class_list":{"0":"post-171417","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-arlington-park","9":"tag-august-24","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-history","12":"tag-dr-fager","13":"tag-eliza-wasni","14":"tag-grant-nelson","15":"tag-il","16":"tag-illinois","17":"tag-nazi","18":"tag-uber"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115083149567878502","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}