Ernst Wilm, the retired Pastor and chairman of the West German Evangelical Church who spent three years as a prisoner at Dachau for anti-Nazi activities, has renewed his call for the release of the last three Nazi war criminals still imprisoned in Holland. He said on a television interview that he was considering a hunger strike to obtain publicity for the prisoners because he believed their continued incarceration does nothing to alleviate the suffering of Nazi victims.
The three prisoners, being held at the Breda prison, are Ferdinand Aus den Fuenten, 66; Franz Fischer, 74; and Joseph Kotaella, 67. The West German Evangelical Church assigned Pastor Wilm the task of ministering to German war criminals still imprisoned in Gaeta, Italy but he has also taken up the cause of those in Holland. He indicated that he might stage his hunger strike the next time he visits Breda prison.
In Feb. 1972, the Dutch government was on the verge of releasing the three war criminals on grounds of their advanced age and poor health but abandoned the plan because of widespread opposition particularly from Jewish and Communist circles. Wilm said that for the past five years he has been trying to achieve the release of the prisoners by quiet representations but now he believes a dramatic gesture such as a hunger strike is necessary.
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