The World Jewish Congress has offered to make available from a “master list” in its possession, the names, vital statistics and criminal charges applying to any of the 40,000 individuals in the files of the United Nations War Crimes Commission which operated in London from 1943 to 1948.
WJC Secretary General Israel Singer made the offer here Friday, the day after UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar rejected a request by Israel for free access to the files of Nazi war criminals. The Secretary General explained his refusal on grounds that the nations which were members of the long defunct War Crimes Commission had objected to opening the files.
Sources here told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency Thursday that 16 of the 17 member nations objected to Israel’s request, including the U.S. and Britain. It was supported only by Australia.
Singer stated, “The names of every individual in the UN files is on a master list we have obtained and we will respond to all inquiries seeking information on these individuals.” He said the WJC would confirm whether an individual is the UN files and would specify the nature, place and date of crimes charged to the individual and the identity of material witnesses.
According to the WJC, it obtained its copy of the master list from the National Archives in Washington. Each member of the War Crimes Commission received a copy. The individual criminal files at the UN contain additional data and otherwise unobtainable information on the evidence against persons accused of war crimes, the WJC said.
It denounced the UN’s rejection of Israel’s request and said WJC affiliates in 70 countries would be asked to campaign to have their governments demand that the UN open the files.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Binyamin Netanyahu, met with de Cuellar last week to request access to the files. He also asked the Secretary General for permission to inspect an additional 2,000 files, which was granted. Netanyahu will discuss the matter publicly at a press conference on Tuesday.
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.
