There was no longer any doubt here today among political observers that Parliament will extend the statute of limitations for prosecution of war criminals when it takes up the issue, as scheduled, in the Bundestag, the lower house, on March 10, and in the Bundesrat, the upper house, two days later.
That prediction was being made here freely today following issuance of the full report made on the issue to the Cabinet last week by Minister of Justice Ewald Bucher. Dr. Bucher himself, the report showed, has not yet abandoned his opposition to extension of the statute beyond the present cut-off date of May 8. But he had told the Cabinet that “even with further prosecution of Nazi crimes, a complete uncovering of all misdeeds and punishment exactly befitting the personal responsibility of the perpetrators cannot be guaranteed.”
Emphasizing the proportion of Nazi war crimes already completely “dealt with” in West Germany, Dr. Bucher predicted that, if the cut-off date is lifted, “as time went on, the likelihood of acquittals and unsatisfactory verdicts would grow.” He stressed his contention that West German efforts to bring a number of major Nazi war criminals to trial “have been frustrated by other countries.”
Among the major criminals “protected” by other countries, he listed Dr. Josef Mengele, receiving refuge in South America; Dr. Hans Eiselle, the infamous Dachau camp physician, who enjoys asylum in Egypt; the Auschwitz “medical experiments” practitioner, Dr. Schumann, now in Ghana; and others who have found havens in Italy, Chile and elsewhere.
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.
