Edgars Inde: 1988 case was previous discovery of Nazi in Minn.
The news that a man alleged to be a former Nazi SS commander has been living in Minnesota for decades is not the first time that someone residing here has been accused of crimes during World War II.
In 1988, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against south Minneapolis resident Edgars Inde, 79, a native of Latvia. The suit alleged that Inde belonged to a police commando unit that assisted the Nazis in killing unarmed Jews and other civilians in Latvia in 1941 and 1942, and that Inde assisted in the persecution of thousands of Jews and others.
• Photo gallery: Former Nazi SS commander Michael Karkoc
• News Cut commentary: Two soldiers. Two legacies
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As MPR News reported in 1988, this was the first step toward revoking Inde's citizenship and deporting him. The lawsuit said Inde misrepresented and concealed his past, or he wouldn't have been eligible for citizenship.
Like Michael Karkoc, Inde arrived in the U.S. in 1949. He became a citizen six years later, and was a retired factory worker when the lawsuit was filed. Inde denied killing Jews in World War II.
Inde lived in a blue-collar section of south Minneapolis near Lake Nokomis. MPR reported at the time that the neighbors who would talk to reporters described him as a mystery man. His next-door neighbor said Inde never talked about his previous life, and had been a good neighbor. Inde lived with his daughter, and his wife had died five years earlier. Another neighbor who delivered medication to him said Inde stayed in his house most of the time, and never came outside except to take care of his lawn.
Inde reportedly died before the court ruled in his case.