Chancellor’ S Security Chief, Accused of Killing Jews, Hangs Himself

Ewald Peters, 49, chief security officer of President Heinrich Luebke and Chancellor Ludwig Erhard, hanged himself in his prison cell at Dortmund today. He had been in jail since last Thursday, when he was arrested on charges of having murdered or aided to murder about 2,000 Jews in Russia during the Nazi occupation of Soviet territory in World War II.

Peters had been arrested only a few hours after his return from Rome, where he had been in charge of the security arrangements in connection with Chancellor Erhard’s official visit to the Italian capital. His arrest came as a surprise to some of West Germany’s highest-ranking officials. The warrant for his apprehension had been issued by the Municipal Court here, and specified only that he was a “suspect.” While no details of the crimes of which he was suspected had been announced officially, he was suspended from duty immediately by Minister of the Interior Herman Hoecherle.

The high security officer had served in Russia with the German forces during the war, being designated as a police officer, but was not a member of either the Gestapo or of the SS, Hitler’s Elite Guard, A spokesman for the Central Office of Investigation of Nazi Crimes, at Ludwigsburg, said Peters’ arrest was not related to any investigations conducted by the agency.

While Peters’ assignment was to protect the Federal Republic’s highest officials, he was actually a member of the Federal Police Bureau, detailed to the Bonn Security Group. As such, he accompanied Chancellor Erhard last December when the Chancellor went to Texas to confer with President Lyndon B. Johnson. It is believed that he was also in charge of security arrangements when the late President Kennedy visited Germany last year.