LEWISTON — Steven B. Rogers, Ph.D., will be the presenter at the USM Lewiston-Auburn Senior College “Food for Thought” luncheon to be held at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 11.

He will discuss his long career as a research analyst for the Special Litigation Unit of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service, a task force established to investigate allegations that individuals who assisted in Nazi-sponsored persecution had entered the United States after World War II. The public is cordially invited to this important and historic presentation.

Rogers was hired in 1979 as the first historian for the newly-created Office of Special Investigations in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice which assumed full jurisdiction for the investigation and prosecution of Nazi persecutors residing in the United States. During his tenure at OSI, he served as case historian on several cases involving Nazi atrocities in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

He also served on special task forces investigating the post war fugitives Klaus Barbie and Josef Mengele, Nazi gold and other Holocaust-era assets (for which he received the Deputy Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Special Initiative) He was OSI’s point man on the review of millions of pages of declassified records released by federal agencies to the National Archives and Records Administration. He retired in March 2010 after 31 years of service.

Rogers has written documents and has lectured extensively on the investigation of Nazi war crimes and related topics. His historical essays, literary criticism, poems, translations and other publications have appeared in several journals and magazines.

The program will be held in the Function Room 170 at USM LAC. The cost, which includes lunch, is $7 with advance reservation, or $8 at the door. Reservations must be made by noon on Wednesday, Sept. 9, by calling 753-6510. Any late callers will be considered “at the door.”