A Congressional petition asking the Bundestag house of West Germany’s Parliament to extend the statute of limitations for trial of Nazi war criminals beyond May 8 was introduced in the House of Representatives today.
Rep. Thomas J. McGrath, New Jersey Democrat, a signatory of the petition, said the unusual direct approach of American legislators to German legislators arose from American concern lest Nazis escape prosecution for heinous war crimes. He said that open emergence of Nazis, immune from trial, after May 8, would represent a threat to peace. Such a return of Nazi criminals would facilitate a resurgence of Nazism, he said.
The State Department today made known that the United States Government has invited West Germany to search the U. S. archives for material that could be used in the prosecution of Nazi war criminals. The invitation was extended in response to a German request for assistance in collecting evidence against Nazi criminals before the expiration of the statute of limitations. An American note responding to the German Government said America “has long had a deep interest in the efforts of the Federal Government to find, prosecute, and convict Nazi criminals not yet brought to justice.”
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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.
