Mark E. Kalmansohn
Encyclopedia
Mark E. Kalmansohn is the former prosecutor
for the United States Department of Justice
who hunted down and brought to justice Lucian Ludwig Kozminski, a Jewish oberkapo convicted in 1982 of swindling
some 3,000 of his fellow Holocaust survivors. An oberkapo was an SS-appointed enforcer within the German
death and concentration camps during World War II
.
n lineage, served as a federal prosecutor from 1977 to 1983. Years after Kozminski's initial federal convictions, and still vowing rightful justice
for the Holocaust survivors twice-victimized by Kozminski, Kalmansohn independently undertook a lengthy investigation and two (pro bono) civil actions
to make Kozminski pay for his crimes against humanity
. The majority of Kozminski's victims were elderly and many were nearly impoverished.
records from his 1982 trial, Kozminski posed as a restitution counselor who charged exorbitant up-front and service fees, then pocketed German government restitution
checks intended for Holocaust survivors. Kalmansohn estimated that Kozminski bilk
ed his victims out of an estimated $1 million, which, with inflation
and interest
, would have been worth well over $10 million by 2002.
Inspector
Lothar Fritz "Lou" Kinzler obtained grand jury
indictments against Kozminski. Pleading guilty
to eight counts of mail
and bankruptcy
fraud
, Kozminski was sentenced
to twelve years in federal prison
.
, in 1987. Kozminski was also reportedly seen numerous times following his supposed death in 1993.
Amid mounting evidence
which led to the belief that Kozminski could have faked his death to avoid paying Holocaust survivors, Kalmansohn filed civil
suits against Kozminski on behalf of Weingarten and Wolman.
In 1999, Los Angeles County Superior Court
Judge John W. Ouderkirk ruled that Kozminski's death certificate
was false and/or fraudulent and that Kozminski may still be alive. In 2000, a second judge concurred in the earlier finding.
book, updated and reprinted in 2011 entitled The Hunt for a Holocaust Swindler. It was during preparation of this book that, much to his surprise, Kalmansohn discovered Kozminski's scheme to fake his own death. The book is archive
d by the Library of Congress
in Washington, DC, and serves as a textbook
for law and social science students worldwide. Feature-length segments on Kalmansohn's quest for ultimate justice have been broadcast by both Dateline NBC
and America's Most Wanted
. DVDs of these segments are also available at the Hunt4TheSwindler website. A portion of all proceeds will be donated to anti-genocide organizations.
"I really don't know whether Kozminski, who now would be elderly, is dead or alive," said Kalmansohn. "To cite Winston Churchill's observation on Russia, the case remains 'a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.'"
of Nothing Is Too Late for auction
; proceeds benefited the Salvation Army
's educational programs for youth at risk. He currently remains engaged in a number of charitable causes and programs, including several which provide assistance to victims of war, violence, oppression or discrimination, both here and abroad.
graduates. Kalmansohn later served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney (Criminal Division) for the Central District of California, where he also served as an Assistant Division Chief for Trial Training. In 1987, Kalmansohn left a partnership at the Beverly Hills law firm of Cooper, Epstein & Hurewitz to serve as Director of North American Anti-Piracy Operations for the Motion Picture Association of America
. He later served as a founding partner of McPherson & Kalmansohn, LLP, and subsequently of Kalmansohn & Andersen, LLP, where he is engaged in an entertainment and intellectual property law practice. Kalmansohn is a member of the State Bar of California
, the District of Columbia Bar and the United States Supreme Court Bar.
degree in political science
. He graduated from UCLA Law School in 1977. While serving as a legal intern for the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights (Judiciary Committee), Kalmansohn had co-authored two government publications, "Free Press-Fair Trial," and "A Citizens Guide to Individual Rights under the Constitution of the United States of America" (Fifth Ed.) While still in law school, he also wrote "The Law, Lawyers and Literature," (Lex et Scientia, Vol. 12, No. 4, Oct.-Dec. 1976). Kalmansohn received a Diploma in International Law from Darwin College
, University of Cambridge
at Cambridge
, England
in 1984. His University of Cambridge thesis, "Application of EEC Articles 86 and 87 to Foreign Multinationals," was later published by the Law Review of the University of Amsterdam (Europa Institute), Kluwer Publishers (Amsterdam, The Netherlands).
, was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He is the son of Dr. Robert B. Kalmansohn and Dr. Katherine W. Kalmansohn. Kalmansohn, who has one brother and one sister, is divorced and has a former stepson.
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
for the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
who hunted down and brought to justice Lucian Ludwig Kozminski, a Jewish oberkapo convicted in 1982 of swindling
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
some 3,000 of his fellow Holocaust survivors. An oberkapo was an SS-appointed enforcer within the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
death and concentration camps during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Kozminski investigation
Kalmansohn, a Jewish-American of LithuaniaLithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n lineage, served as a federal prosecutor from 1977 to 1983. Years after Kozminski's initial federal convictions, and still vowing rightful justice
Justice
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
for the Holocaust survivors twice-victimized by Kozminski, Kalmansohn independently undertook a lengthy investigation and two (pro bono) civil actions
Civil law (common law)
Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...
to make Kozminski pay for his crimes against humanity
Crime against humanity
Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings...
. The majority of Kozminski's victims were elderly and many were nearly impoverished.
The Crime
According to courtCourt
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
records from his 1982 trial, Kozminski posed as a restitution counselor who charged exorbitant up-front and service fees, then pocketed German government restitution
Restitution
The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery. It is to be contrasted with the law of compensation, which is the law of loss-based recovery. Obligations to make restitution and obligations to pay compensation are each a type of legal response to events in the real world. When a court...
checks intended for Holocaust survivors. Kalmansohn estimated that Kozminski bilk
Bilk
Bilk can refer to:* Bilk, a milk beer made by the Abashiri brewery* Düsseldorf-Bilk, a part of DüsseldorfAs a surname:* Acker Bilk, a famous clarinetist...
ed his victims out of an estimated $1 million, which, with inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
and interest
Interest
Interest is a fee paid by a borrower of assets to the owner as a form of compensation for the use of the assets. It is most commonly the price paid for the use of borrowed money, or money earned by deposited funds....
, would have been worth well over $10 million by 2002.
Indictments
Holocaust survivors Jacob Weingarten and Modka "Max" Wolman took their complaints to federal authorities, who, in turn, assigned the criminal case to Kalmansohn in 1981. After an exhaustive investigation spanning multiple continents, Kalmansohn and then U.S. PostalThe Postal Service
The Postal Service is an American electronic indie pop band composed of vocalist Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and producer Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel and Headset.-Background:...
Inspector
Inspector
Inspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :...
Lothar Fritz "Lou" Kinzler obtained grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
indictments against Kozminski. Pleading guilty
Guilty
Guilty commonly refers to the feeling of guilt, an experience that occurs when a person believes that they have violated a moral standard.Guilty or The Guilty may also refer to:-Law:*Guilty plea, a formal admission of legal culpability...
to eight counts of mail
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
and bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
, Kozminski was sentenced
Sentenced
Sentenced was a Finnish heavy metal band that played melodic death metal in their early years. The band formed in 1989, in the town of Muhos, Finland, and broke up in 2005.-Early years :...
to twelve years in federal prison
Federal prison
Federal prisons are run by national governments in countries where subdivisions of the country also operate prisons.In the United States federal prisons are operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In Canada the Correctional Service of Canada operates federal prisons. Prison sentences in these...
.
Kozminski's release and supposed death
Bureau of Prisons records show that Kozminski was released from prison in late 1989, even though he was allegedly spotted walking a street in Beverly Hills, CaliforniaBeverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
, in 1987. Kozminski was also reportedly seen numerous times following his supposed death in 1993.
Amid mounting evidence
Evidence
Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...
which led to the belief that Kozminski could have faked his death to avoid paying Holocaust survivors, Kalmansohn filed civil
Civil law (common law)
Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...
suits against Kozminski on behalf of Weingarten and Wolman.
In 1999, Los Angeles County Superior Court
Superior court
In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general competence which typically has unlimited jurisdiction with regard to civil and criminal legal cases...
Judge John W. Ouderkirk ruled that Kozminski's death certificate
Death certificate
The phrase death certificate can describe either a document issued by a medical practitioner certifying the deceased state of a person or popularly to a document issued by a person such as a registrar of vital statistics that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death as later...
was false and/or fraudulent and that Kozminski may still be alive. In 2000, a second judge concurred in the earlier finding.
The Hunt For A Holocaust Swindler
Years after Kozminski's 1982 convictions and sentencing, and disturbed that virtually none of the victims' purloined funds had been recovered, Kalmansohn continued to be haunted by the unfinished business of the Kozminski case and the mystery of Lucian Kozminski. Kalmansohn dealt with it in a non-fictionNon-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
book, updated and reprinted in 2011 entitled The Hunt for a Holocaust Swindler. It was during preparation of this book that, much to his surprise, Kalmansohn discovered Kozminski's scheme to fake his own death. The book is archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
d by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
in Washington, DC, and serves as a textbook
Textbook
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions...
for law and social science students worldwide. Feature-length segments on Kalmansohn's quest for ultimate justice have been broadcast by both Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
and America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
. DVDs of these segments are also available at the Hunt4TheSwindler website. A portion of all proceeds will be donated to anti-genocide organizations.
"I really don't know whether Kozminski, who now would be elderly, is dead or alive," said Kalmansohn. "To cite Winston Churchill's observation on Russia, the case remains 'a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.'"
Charity
At the 2007 Trump Invitational Golf Classic in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, Kalmansohn donated a signed first editionFirst edition
The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed “from substantially the same setting of type,” including all minor typographical variants.- First edition :...
of Nothing Is Too Late for auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
; proceeds benefited the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
's educational programs for youth at risk. He currently remains engaged in a number of charitable causes and programs, including several which provide assistance to victims of war, violence, oppression or discrimination, both here and abroad.
Career
In the late 1970s, inspired in part by the deeds and calling of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Kalmansohn served as a trial attorney at the United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, which had hired him as part of the U.S. Attorney General's Employment Program for honor lawLaw
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
graduates. Kalmansohn later served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney (Criminal Division) for the Central District of California, where he also served as an Assistant Division Chief for Trial Training. In 1987, Kalmansohn left a partnership at the Beverly Hills law firm of Cooper, Epstein & Hurewitz to serve as Director of North American Anti-Piracy Operations for the Motion Picture Association of America
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
. He later served as a founding partner of McPherson & Kalmansohn, LLP, and subsequently of Kalmansohn & Andersen, LLP, where he is engaged in an entertainment and intellectual property law practice. Kalmansohn is a member of the State Bar of California
State Bar of California
The State Bar of California is California's official bar association. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, and prescribing appropriate discipline...
, the District of Columbia Bar and the United States Supreme Court Bar.
Education
In 1974, after being awarded a University of California Regents Scholarship, Kalmansohn graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA with a bachelor of artsBachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
. He graduated from UCLA Law School in 1977. While serving as a legal intern for the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights (Judiciary Committee), Kalmansohn had co-authored two government publications, "Free Press-Fair Trial," and "A Citizens Guide to Individual Rights under the Constitution of the United States of America" (Fifth Ed.) While still in law school, he also wrote "The Law, Lawyers and Literature," (Lex et Scientia, Vol. 12, No. 4, Oct.-Dec. 1976). Kalmansohn received a Diploma in International Law from Darwin College
Darwin College, Cambridge
Darwin College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.Founded in 1964, Darwin was Cambridge University's first graduate-only college, and also the first to admit both men and women. The college is named after the family of one of the university's most famous graduates, Charles Darwin...
, University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
at Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1984. His University of Cambridge thesis, "Application of EEC Articles 86 and 87 to Foreign Multinationals," was later published by the Law Review of the University of Amsterdam (Europa Institute), Kluwer Publishers (Amsterdam, The Netherlands).
Family
Kalmansohn, a native of Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He is the son of Dr. Robert B. Kalmansohn and Dr. Katherine W. Kalmansohn. Kalmansohn, who has one brother and one sister, is divorced and has a former stepson.