Dutch Prosecutor Says Chances Are Slim That Many More War Criminals Will Be Tried in Holland

Paul Brilman, the Public Prosecutor, believes chances are slim that many more Dutch war criminals will be tried and sentenced in Holland in the years ahead.

Brilman, who is in charge of the search for and prosecution of persons who committed war crimes in The Netherlands in collaboration with the Nazi occupiers during World War II, expressed his views in a television panel discussion yesterday. The discussion was prompted by the acquittal last Friday of Albert Talens who was a “kapo” (inmate leader) at the Kaufbeuren Riederloh forced labor camp near Dachau.

Talens, the only non-Jew in his section, was charged with crimes against humanity and especially cruel behavior toward his fellow Jewish inmates. But he was acquitted by a special tribunal sitting in a Maastricht District Court for lack of conclusive evidence. Several of the prosecution witnesses gave testimony in conflict with what they had given during a preliminary hearing.

Brilman pointed out that with the lapse of 40 years since the end of the war, memories are no longer fresh and there is an increasing chance that evidence presented by different eye-witnesses will not correspond. He noted further that many Dutch war criminals succeeded in fleeing Holland after the war and have been living abroad for many years and acquired citizenship in their countries of residence. Most countries do not extradite their own nationals, he said.

Nevertheless, Brilman felt that his office should continue its efforts to bring war criminals to justice, despite the acquittal of such a person as Talens. “Justice must have its way, even though the results may be very small, ” he said.