Judiciary Committee Asked to Investigate Vatican-nazi Connection

Kalman Sultanik, vice president of the World Jewish Congress, said today that the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold hearings this spring on American intelligence involvement with Nazi war criminals.

He said that he has, accordingly, asked that the committee conduct a formal inquiry into the charges contained in a 1947 State Department report which, until last year, had been labelled “top secret.” The report, known in intelligence circles as the La Vista report, disclosed that the Vatican aided in the illegal emigration of Nazis following World War II.

The formal request for the inquiry was made in a letter by Sultanik to Rep. Peter Rodino (D. N.J.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Sultanik is the current chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council to which he was appointed by President Carter in 1980.

The WJCongress official noted that an inquiry has been made, necesery as a result of the attempt by Vatican sources to discredit the La Vista report. “The refusal of the Vatican to institute a formal investigation into the serious charges made in the State Department report only makes more compelling the need for an independent and thorough investigation into the matter,” Sultanik said.

U.S., VATICAN POSITIONS CONTRASTED

He pointed out that the 1947 State Department report, whose existence was first revealed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency last February, called the Vatican “the largest single organization involved in the illegal movement of emigrants,” including Nazis.

The report was written by Vincent La Vista, a member of the American Embassy in Rome, and obtained by Charles Allen, Jr., a writer on the Holocaust. La Vista, whose report detailed the so-called “Vatican escape route,” was “a skilled intelligence/diplomatic State Department officer” and an international lawyer, according to Allen.

Sultanik, who recalled with satisfaction the Justice Department’s thorough investigation last year of American intelligence involvement with Klaus Barbie, the head of the gestapo in Lyon during World War II, said an inquiry into alleged collaboration between U. S. intelligence agencies and the operation of the “Vatican escape route “must necessarily be an important part of the upcoming Judiciary Committee hearings.

“The responsible attitude of present-day American officials looking into this sensitive issue is unfortunately in stark contrast to the position adopted by the Vatican,” Sultanik said. “The position of the Holy See, coming as it does shortly after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Vatican, is particularly troubling.”