Knesset Firm on Statute of Limitations

The Knesset united yesterday behind Justice Minister Shmuel Tamir’s appeal to the West German government not to permit the statute of limitations to apply to Nazi war crimes. If the present law is not changed, the Bonn government will be unable to try Nazi criminals after Dec. 31, 1979.

The German Ambassador Klaus Schuetz sat in the visitors’ gallery when Tamir spoke. The Justice Minister said that “if the law is not changed, people like Bormann and Mengele, who still hide somewhere in Latin America and other places, will be able to come out of their hiding, lift their heads and be immune to German extradition requests.”

He charge that if the law is not changed, “it would not only give retroactive immunity to the worst kind of murderers in the history of the worst kind of murderers in the history of the human race, but it would also serve as an all national German cover to a crime that was shared by the entire nation from 1933 to 1945.” Tamir said that the crimes of Nazi Germany have not been erased and cannot be erased, and the least present day Germany must do is not show apathy toward its blood-soaked past and cynicism toward the survivors.

The German envoy sat through the entire 21/2-hour discussion with a woman interpreter at his side. Some 12 Knesset members, ranging from the Likud to Rakah, emphasized their opposition to ending the statute of limitations. Later, Schuetz told reporters that the Knesset’s appeal would undoubtedly influence the debate on the subject in Germany. The Knesset resolution declared it “inconceivable” that the concept of limitation be applied to genocide and other Nazi crimes. The resolution also called upon the West German government to continue to bring Nazi criminals to justice.