Tscherim Soobzokov

In some documents, Soobzokov listed his year of birth as either 1918 or 1921, although these were most likely lies.

Tscherim "Tom" Soobzokov (Щэбзыхъуэ Чэрим; Черим Сообцоков) (24 August 1924 – 6 September 1985 ) was a Circassian spy, American politician, SS Obersturmführer, and Nazi fugitive.

He rose to prominence in the New Jersey Democratic Party and the Circassian community in Paterson, New Jersey.

During the Cold War, Soobzokov served the CIA as an anti-Soviet operative.

Soobzokov came to national attention in the United States with the publication of Howard Blum's ''Wanted!

Tscherim Soobzokov was born August 24, 1924 in Takhtamukay, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

In 1940, Soobzokov was arrested and sentenced to 1 year imprisonment for either hooliganism (Soobzokov claimed it had been for "throwing a rock at a judge" ) or embezzling farm tax funds.

In August 1942, Soobzokov was recruited by an SS or SD officer as chief of Nazi police in Takhtamukay.

In 1943-1944 Soobzokov served as a military recruiter for the Nazis, and in early 1945, he was promoted to the rank of Obersturmführer in the Waffen SS.

The first documented evidence of Soobzokov's involvement in war crimes comes from reports made in 1943, after the Nazis had been driven from the North Caucasus.

Soobzokov was implicated in the abduction and murder of Bachir Tlekhuch and Valeghei Skhazhok by Tlekhuch's father, and by one Soobzokov's colleagues in the Nazi Punitive Detachment.

After the end of the war, Soobzokov went into hiding in Italy; assured that the Vatican protected Nazi fugitives, Soobzokov remained there until 1947, when, with the aid of the Italian Red Cross and donations from Jordan, a group of 67 Circassian Nazi fugitives made their way to Jordan.

One of the Circassians who had journeyed on the same ship from Italy to Jordan later accused Soobzokov of trying to defraud the other passengers and stealing silverware from the ship's dining room.

In 1950, Soobzokov was first approached for employment by the CIA.

Soobzokov was admitted into the United States in 1955.

Soobzokov settled in Paterson, New Jersey and became a naturalized US citizen in 1961.

Official accusations against Soobzokov started in 1969, when a fellow immigrant named Mahamet Perchich, who had known Soobzokov in Jordan, wrote a letter to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, claiming Soobzokov had bragged about murdering Jews during the war.

In 1972, the Social Security Administration began investigating Soobzokov based on reports of his participation in a Social Security fraud scheme.

Despite the investigation and accusations against him in Paterson's tight-knit Circassian community, Soobzokov rose through the local political ranks, becoming a Democratic party apparatchik, serving as vice chairman of the Paterson Zoning Board, and eventually being appointed Chief Purchasing Inspector of Passaic County, New Jersey.

Further testimony gathered in 1976 from surviving Nazi collaborators who had served with Soobzokov confirmed his participation in raids and executions in the auls (villages) of Edepsukai-1, Edepsukai-2, and Dzhidzkhihabl.

Even Soobzokov's own father-in-law (who had himself collaborated with the Nazis in the Vlasov army) and nephew had provided affidavits attesting to his activities.

Circassian immigrants who had known Soobzokov in Paterson claimed that he had bragged about serving in German punitive detachments and participating in executions.

A number of Circassian immigrants who had ended up settling in Paterson had personally witnessed Soobzokov rounding up Jews as part of Nazi Punitive Detachments, or later in SS uniform as a military recruiter for the Nazis.

Several had said that Soobzokov had tried to intimidate them by bringing up his political connections.

Soobzokov had confidentially admitted to the CIA that he had indeed participated in an execution unit and hunted for Jews and Communists.

Witnesses said he actively participated in the rounding-up and mass executions of Jews and Communists.

The Search for Nazis in America'' in 1977, and his subsequent appearance on PBS NewsHour.

He was accused of collaborating with Nazi Germany during the invasion of the Soviet Union's North Caucasus before coming to the United States.

Accusations against Soobzokov came to national attention in 1977 with the publication of Howard Blum's exposé of Nazi war criminal residing in the United States, ''Wanted!

The Search for Nazis in America''.

Both Blum and Soobzokov appeared on the February 2, 1977 episode of the PBS NewsHour The MacNeil/Lehrer Report.

In the program, Soobzokov admitted that "I wore that uniform, but I never was any official. I never was in any service by the so-called Waffen-S.S.," and denied working for the CIA after WWII.

Soobzokov sued Blum's publisher, Quadrangle Books (a division of the New York Times Company) for libel in 1977.

After the deportation case against Soobzokov was dropped, the publisher decided to settle the suit for $450,000 before trial.

Both statements would subsequently be shown to be false by Soobzokov's own defense lawyers in his 1979 denaturalization trial, when they produced secret CIA documents where Soobzokov admitted to serving in the Waffen-SS.

In 1979, the Office of Special Investigations opened a denaturalization case against Soobzokov.

In July 1980, the OSI withdrew its suit after the CIA shared with investigators a copy of Soobzokov's State Department Form V-30, which confirmed his claims he had disclosed service with the North Caucasian Legion and the Waffen SS when applying for his US immigration visa in Amman.

In 1985, Soobzokov was murdered by a pipe bomb at his house.

He was publicly supported by Pat Buchanan and New Jersey Congressman Robert Roe.

A trove of classified CIA documents released in 2006 under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act contained admissions by Soobzokov that validated witness testimony taken from survivors in the 1970s, and vindicated Blum's research.