An estimated 10,000 Nazi war criminals remain in hiding, but will be free to return openly “to poison the atmosphere” after the German statute of limitations expires on May 8, 1965, the West German Embassy was warned here today by the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A.
JWV National Commander Ralph Plofsky wrote German Ambassador Heinrich Knappstein that, “from the viewpoint of human justice, there can be no coldly technical cut-off date after which these friends will be free from prosecution for their heinous crimes.”
He urged the ambassador to inform Bonn authorities of the anxiety of many Americans on this score. “There were no limitations to the barbarism of the Hitlerian sadists,” he stated, adding that “there can be no arbitrary statute of limitations to provide a mass escape route.” He asked West Germany to take steps to extend the expiration date of the statute of limitations beyond next May.
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