Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923

German States Will Move to Eliminate Statute of Limitations on Nazi War Crimes

November 21, 1968
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
Advertisement

The state parliaments of Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg will take the initiative in the Bundesrat, West Germany’s Upper House, to have the statute of limitations on war crimes prosecutions abolished, it was learned here today. The statute is to go into effect on Dec. 31, 1969. After that date, unless the statute is abolished or deferred, no new prosecutions of war criminals could be initiated.

The Central Archives of the Soviet Union has delivered microfilm copies of material relating to Nazi war criminals to the West German Embassy in Moscow, it was learned here today. The material will he sent to the Central Office for the Prosecution of Nazi War Criminals in Ludwigsburg, where it will be sifted for new evidence. Adelbert Rueckerl, head of the Ludwigsburg office, visited Moscow recently where he examined the files on Nazi war criminals in the archives. The files are said to provide the basis for bringing several thousand alleged war criminals to trial.

A 50-year-old former Dosseldorf police official who was an SS Obersturmfuehrer during World War II went on trial in Dortmund today. The defendant, Guenther Kabbert, is accused of the murder of 3,500 Jews in Poland between 1941 and 1942. His trial is expected to last five months.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement