A petition signed by 68 members of the House of Representatives asking the West German Parliament to extend the statute of limitations for Nazi war criminals beyond the May 8 cut-off date has been sent to Dr. Eugen Gerstenmaier, president of the Bundestag, and to Dr. George Diedericks, Bundesrat president, it was announced here today by Rep. Emanuel Celler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. The bodies are, respectively, the lower and upper houses of West Germany’s Parliament, at Bonn.
The petition, which was signed by members of both parties, warned that Nazi criminals might return to West Germany if the statute were allowed to take effect and that international repercussions might follow. Noting that the appeal was unusual, the petition said that the solemnity of the matter dictated the action.
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