Three of the four Nazi criminals sentenced to life terms in prison for participation in the deportation of Dutch Jews to Nazi death camps during the war, for whom release has been sought repeatedly in recent years, will remain in prison, it was reported here today, quoting Dr. Carel Polak, a Jewish Liberal who is the new Justice Minister. In saying that the Nazis would not be released, Dr. Polak cited opposition from most of the Dutch people to the release of the war criminals.
The four Nazi criminals are Willy Lages, 64, former chief of the German security police in the Netherlands; Ferdinand Aus Der Fuenten, 67, a former SS officer, chief of the Amsterdam branch of Adolf Eichmann’s transport operation; Joseph Koatella, 58, head of the Amersfoort concentration camp, who personally killed many inmates; and Franz Fischer, 64, who helped to kill 12, 000 Jews. Lages was released for reasons of health and now lives in the Harz mountains.
In 1964 a number of Dutch citizens tried and failed to obtain the release of the Nazi criminals from Breda prison, where they are serving their life terms. Last December, in response to new rumors of such efforts, the then Dutch Justice Minister, Dr. Anton Struycken, assured Dutch Jewish leaders that the then interim Dutch Cabinet would not act to reduce the sentences of the Nazis. He had indicated he favored extraditing them to West Germany.
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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.
