State Department and German Embassy sources had no comment today on East German charges that Dr. Erwin Schuele, head of West Germany’s Central War Crimes Investigation Office, is a former Nazi. The Embassy here indicated that the Bonn Government doubtlessly would have a reaction to the charge against Dr. Schuele shortly.
The State Department was asked for comment on the refusal of an official in its Berlin Documentation Center to respond to a request for verification of the allegation about Dr. Schuele. Names of all former Nazis are contained in records in the Center.
A Department spokesman said that such verification is a matter for the West German Government, and that it would be inappropriate for Washington to comment on the matter. He added that the Berlin Documentation Center is open only to appropriate West German authorities and officials of the U.S. Government. When asked whether the Berlin records were public property, the U.S. spokesman replied: “They may be public property, but not to journalists.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
