A spokesman for the West German Ministry of Justice confirmed today charges made this week by the American Jewish Congress that Karl Arndt, president of the Restitution Court of Appeals in Bremen, had been a member of the infamous Nazi SS Corps. The spokesman, however, declined to comment on the AJC demand that Arndt be removed on the grounds that it was a matter for the State of Bremen to deal with.
The Justice Ministry spokesman said that the Government was about to investigate the matter when the AJC demand came to their attention. In his capacity as president of the Restitution Court, Arndt passed on the restitution claims by Jews and other Nazi victims in the city-state of Bremen.
In replying to the charges today, Arndt said that he had himself been a victim of Nazi persecution when the Nazis opposed his holding a professor ship at a Berlin law academy because of his “friendly” relations with Jews. At the urging of the Nazi party, he added, he was dismissed from the academy. He said he had never concealed his membership in Nazi organizations.
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