At least 23 former SS officers could stand trial in West Germany if the 1971 Franco-German Nazi retrials treaty is ratified. public prosecutors at the Cologne center for tracing former Nazi criminals said today. However, the chances of conviction in West German courts are slight because of the lack of sufficient evidence up to now. The center said the French authorities have so far refused to provide assistance, and have not allowed French court verdicts to be scrutinized. The center expressed belief that the French may, however, le waiting for the 1971 treaty to be ratified.
Treaty ratification has been blocked by Ernst Achenbach. a Free Democrat Deputy, who until his forced resignation recently was the key person in preparing the bill for ratification Achenbach, deposed after adverse publicity during the Beate Klarsfeld trial, was a former associate of Paris gestapo chief Kurt Lischka who would be one of the first to be charged if the treaty gets through.
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